Meet the Doctors: A Q&A with Dr. Debra Nicholson
At Rainier Veterinary Hospital, we want our veterinarians to spend as much time as possible with every patient, and, in turn, truly get to know every client. Just as important is our clients getting to know us. And so our “Meet the Doctors” series continues, where we find out more about our four veterinarians—their passions, pets, and personalities.
Today, we’re chatting with Dr. Debra Nicholson, who purchased Rainier Veterinary Hospital in April 2014 and has been growing the practice ever since—modernizing the facility while keeping the affordable, service-focused mission intact. Dr. Nicholson’s journey since graduating from veterinary school has taken her all over the western part of the United States, giving her the opportunity to gain a variety of experience in domestic, wildlife, and exotic veterinary medicine and surgery and also in profit and non-profit business. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface. Let’s learn more!
Was it always a dream to become a veterinarian?
Since I was little, I wanted to be a vet. My first year of college was all math and science classes, and I had a rude awakening when I realized how much work it took to get As and have a chance at getting into vet school. So I took a year off from school and worked at a mixed-animal veterinary clinic in Oklahoma while also working two other jobs to make ends meet. Thanks to that experience, I was able to decide—on all levels—that I wanted to be a vet, and I felt that I had the self-discipline to accomplish it. A lot of kids think that they want to be vets because they love animals, but then they learn fast that they have to do math, chemistry, surgeries, release anal glands, and flush out abscesses, and it starts to not seem so glamorous. But after working in a vet clinic, I discovered that I really was passionate about all aspects of veterinary medicine. I went back to Colorado State, got straight As, volunteered with Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, did some field studies on turtles, fit in some hiking and snowboarding in Colorado, and then went back to Oklahoma for vet school.
You’ve worked in a variety of places and types of facilities. What was it like working with wildlife?
When I worked at Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation, we serviced all of the native wildlife in Hill Country [Texas] and housed many other animals rescued from labs or other situations. A couple of Baylor University bear mascots were retired there. We rehabbed thousands of baby birds, opossums, squirrels, raccoons, raptors, and bobcats. I also gained some unique surgical experience—egg-bound iguanas, primate vasectomies, spayed a mountain lion, and many other primate wound repair. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of fighting amongst the primates. The rescue also housed macaques that carried Hepatitis B and Herpes B, both of which can be fatal to humans. They’re also very difficult to keep inside the outdoor enclosures, and hot wires won’t stop them. If one of the macaques had gotten off the property, it would have been very dangerous, not to mention a PR nightmare for the organization, so that turned into top priority. I found myself, the majority of the time, on a golf cart with a tranquilizer rifle trying to dart a monkey out of a tree.
Is that what inspired you to start your own wildlife rescue?
I had the dream of being back in Colorado and running my own wildlife rescue and rehabilitation and veterinary clinic. So we bought a 40-acre property in Dolores, Colo., and formed a 501(c)3 to rehabilitate native mammals. We also opened a veterinary clinic in town for domestic pets. We had volunteers who helped us build enclosures for bobcats, raccoons, and baby deer. We had a garage where we raised orphaned small mammals—lots of raccoons—and rehabilitated sick or injured animals.
Rehabbing the fawn and successfully releasing them into the wild was the most rewarding. It’s not possible to rehab an adult deer; they tend to die from the stress of being around humans. Many does would get hit by cars, leaving the fawns orphaned. We had to be very careful to not let the fawns imprint on us; they had to stay wild to have any hope of surviving in the wild when released. Our enclosure had baby bottle stations on the outside of enclosure where we could feed them silently without them able to see or hear who was feeding them. When the fawns lost their spots, we loaded them up onto a trailer to take them somewhere remote that the Division of Wildlife had approved as a safe release location. They ran off the trailer as soon as it opened, stopped and looked back at us for five seconds, and then kept running.
Is that facility still open today?
Unfortunately, no. We were open for three or four years, but the economy downturn happened. The vet clinic was a relatively new business in a tiny town, my husband was a real estate broker at the time, and there just wasn’t enough income to keep everything going until the real estate market recovered. It was incredible learning about running a non-profit and starting a new vet clinic. I was working as the sole vet at the clinic, and I was on call 24 hours a day/every day for our clients. I was feeding and cleaning orphaned raccoons, fawns, and squirrels every three to four hours while taking care of my own baby, who was born at that time. I’d remember literally running around the property with him attached in his Babybjörn, trying to make it in time for the next feeding. I was living the dream, but man I was tired!
What led you to Utah to work at Best Friends Animal Society?
Best Friends was in need of a new vet that could also treat exotics as well as wildlife. It was great to work at Best Friends, because it is the most successful animal non-profit in the United States. Many animal non-profit organizations tend to think only of the animals but not the people working there. Best Friends did both, and they did it very well. I gained a lot of medical and surgical experience with parrots. I even wrote a chapter in the Shelter Medicine for Veterinarians and Staff, which was about how to keep birds in shelters.
Many large, old dogs are housed at Best Friends, and I gained so much experience with emergency gastric dilatory volvulus surgeries. This is a 50% survival condition, where we saved them almost 90% of the time probably because we just did so many of them. And we did so many spays and neuters and trained fourth-year vet students. It became almost routine; I could do a cat or small dog spay in seven minutes, where the animals recovered so much quicker with the short surgery time.
What separates you from other veterinarians?
I think it’s my experiences. I’ve had a diverse background since I graduated, and I have developed different skills and understand different types of animal businesses. I’d say I’m different in that I take risks for the sake of getting a new experience, so I can always be learning and growing, regardless of how hard it is or whether I fail or succeed.
How is Rainier Veterinary Hospital different from other clinics?
Our history is amazing. It was almost like a non-profit in the beginning, because they had such low prices and were really focused on helping the community. This area was a very low-income area when Rainier Vet was first started. I like to think of the vets who started RVH as being very much like James Herriot from All Creatures Great and Small. The vets wore their hearts on their sleeves, and it was about helping people and their pets. For me, as a new owner, I feel that it’s my job to keep that alive. Although there’s a lot that’s changed in our neighborhood and advancements in technology, Rainier Vet remains being about the community we serve and helping homeless pets. Heart first!
With all of your incredible and vast experience, what do you love most about being a veterinarian?
Today, I would say the clients and the connection with them. As sad as it is, I hear amazing stories when it’s time for people to euthanize their animals. I hear all of the trials and tribulations people have gone through with their pets. They remember how pets have helped in every chapter of their lives. I see many big, tough guys completely fall apart when it comes time to put down their dogs. They have stories of a wife and children leaving them, but the dog never did. Pets show us that an unconditional love is always there for us and, literally, stares us in the face when we hit rock bottom.
Animals have a sneaky way of catching us when we fall, giving us hope in such simple ways—by loving us, making us laugh, getting us up to go on walks. Through animals, we’re able to rise up when we otherwise might have chosen to stay down. I don’t know any church or group or even drug that has had as big an effect on our well-being as animals do. Of course, when I first graduated, I would have said I loved the animals and want to help them, but after 15 years of being a vet I think it’s the animals helping us, and, in many situations, saving us.
