Educational Background
Certified Pet Nutrition Counselor- College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies: Natural Animal Therapies Consultant- (2 year program)
>>>>I balance all diets using AAFCO and NRC standards<<<<
Portland Community College: Nutritional Therapy - Human Nutrition (2 year program)
Pet Partners: Pet Therapy Team-Certified: 4 years
California State University, Sacramento: Communications: Interpersonal & Small Group
Work Experience
Pet Food and Supplement consultant-1 year
Presenter- Wild Blue Dog-3 years
Petworks, Pet Nutrition Counselor-1 year
Pet Nutrition Counselor- Independent Contractor -10 + years
Pet Nutrition Counselor, Mountain View Animal Hospital and Holistic Pet Care -3 years
TrailBlazer Pet Supply, Manager -7.5 years
Butte Humane Society (Outreach and Rescue/Adoptions) -3 years
Pet Therapy- 4 years- Pet Partners International
Services I Provide
Biography-Phase One!
What can I say, I have a huge heart for animals! After graduating with a degree in Communications at Sacramento State University, I discovered that my true passion in life was to support the human-animal bond. I have followed this passion in a variety of ways, beginning as a volunteer with my "furkid" Izzy, as a pet therapy team through Pet Partners. Visiting hospitals, convalescent homes, and assisted living facilities was an eye opening and transformative experience. Seeing how beautifully an animal can touch a person's life through these visits expanded my heart to help animals in other meaningful ways. It was then that that I took a job at a local Humane Society for many years, where my heart for adoption really took root. It was at the Humane Society that I learned how uniquely different animals are. I found that each animal was unique in personality, behavioral tendencies, and physical issues even within the same breed.
Working at the Humane Society changed my life and my view of the human-animal bond. Knowing that I wanted to support pet-parents further, I took a job managing an independent pet store for over 7 years, who's mission aligned with mine. It was through this experience that I became passionate about helping pet owners like myself, improve the health, wellness and longevity of their pets. My experience in the store fueled the discovery I had with my my own dog Izzy, than an animal is only as healthy as the food they are given. Food is medicine! Knowing that food is the building blocks of life, I have learned that finding the right nutrition can be the key to overall healing success.
Empathizing with pet parents
I had one amazing "furkid" named Izzy Santosha (Santosha means contentment). Izzy has been my greatest teacher! Izzy was rescued from maltreatment and abuse when I lived in Florida as an AmeriCorp Vista volunteer. Izzy suffered from mange, yeast infections, food sensitivities, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic ear infections, as well as extreme fear and anxiety.
After moving to California, I discovered a holistic veterinarian who talked to me about the importance of a raw diet and boosting overall health and vitality through nutrition. Izzy was definitely not thriving on her current prescription diet, that much we could see. After switching Izzy to a raw food diet most all her symptoms began to disappear. She no longer had constant bouts of diarrhea, ear infections or multiple skin issues. She also was a more confident dog and didn’t suffer from anxiety any more.
Sticking to a wholistic model of health for Izzy, whenever “dis-ease” would manifest, instead of suppressing her symptoms, I always worked to create healing plans for Izzy in order to support her own body’s natural healing capabilities. Along with nutritional therapy, I have used biofeedback (Glacier Peak’s Sensitivity test), chiropractic care, acupuncture treatments, laser therapy, ozone therapy and Traditional Chinese Therapy to help Izzy through the healing processes.
Healing is a process that changes over-time. Looking back to when I adopted Izzy and how frustrated and helpless I felt, I can really empathize with my current clients. Just as I have found help along Izzy's healing journey it is my mission and passion to help other's in need. Together we can fuel your pet's health and vitality!
A New Chapter-Phase two
I have spent over a decade creating my own unique path that fuels my passion to help support the human animal bond. This wasn’t not a direct bath, but one with twists and turns in order to build a tool chest that could support pet parents through their own unique journey with their pets. I feel that not ONE SINGLE program could educate a pet nutrition counselor like I have developed. I can look at an animal’s health from a biological perspective, environmental, emotional, behavior using a variety of tools like Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbology, ozone therapy, microbiome testing, immunology, urinalysis, fecal test, skin tests, blood tests and so much more to understand the big picture of how and why an animal has manifested dis-ease. I empower pet parents with the tools they need to listen to their pet and their own intuition to find a path to health and longevity. I have had pet parents over the last decade tell me that when they read the book The Forever Dog, that it was like they were channeling me. I am honored to be one of their vetted pet nutrition counselors and love how it has connected me with so many amazing people.
Since starting my journey over 15 years ago with Izzy (who has since pasted at the age of 16), I now have the honor of being called mom. I have two wonderful kiddos! It was always my goal to be a stay at home mom, while having the opportunity to still follow my passion. Working as a pet nutrition counselor has met this goal! I get to work with a select few of people each month while also being home with my kiddos. I always trust that the right person and animal will find me when they need me the most!
If you are looking to make your own pet nutrition consultation for your dog or cat reach out! I’m here to help when you need me.
