Help us welcome the newest addition to our veterinary staff.
Dr. Jessica Borgmeyer says she can't ever remember a time when she wasn't planning to be a veterinarian. “The first word I spoke was “cat”, and some of my first memories are playing doctor with our dogs.” She loves animals and never had a doubt that being a veterinarian was always her first choice.
When she was young, her family adopted a kitten that ended up being very sick; it was feline leukemia positive. “When we took the kitten to the vet, he talked to me and told me what to expect and how to care for it. Even though my mother was the one paying the bill, he spoke to me as the caregiver for the pet, in spite of the fact that I wasn't the adult in the room. That interaction was definitely a defining moment. I try to do that with my patients and families, encouraging everyone to be involved. If kids accompany my patients and the kids show interest, I try to fuel that interest. I want to help each family improve the human/animal bond, and make their particular situation good for everyone involved with it.”
Graduating from Truman State University with a major in biology, and a minor in equine science, she headed to vet school thinking her focus was going to be horses. She quickly learned that she wanted them to be her hobby, not her career. After graduating from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri in Columbia, she moved back to St. Louis and, for 8 years before joining Back on Track, worked in a large practice which was a combination of private practice mixed with urgent care/emergency medicine.
While home life with her husband and two beautiful children keeps her busy, she tries to find time to enjoy cooking, trying new restaurants, traveling, crafting, and exploring with her kids. In addition to the people family, their four-legged family includes two dogs, Lambert and Gertie, and an older cat, Roxy, who was found wandering the streets while Jessica was still a student at Truman. Lambert and Gertie are rescue pets. Both of them are mixes, and she says she has no idea what either of them are.
There is also her show horse, Divinia. Outside of family and veterinary medicine the vet’s other passion is dressage, and she has been competing for several years. “The partnership that develops between horse and rider is so beautiful. Dressage really focuses on your relationship, the movement, the harmony of the horse and rider together. I love being with the horses, I love riding, I love the connection that I have with the horses. When riding, you're trusting a 1500 pound animal with your life, and as far as showing, there’s always something to work on, there's always growth. No one is ever 100 percent, that is why I keep going back to it.”
Dr. Borgmeyer learned the practice was looking to add a veterinarian and she “went in, talked to 'em. Fell in love the moment I walked in the door.” She is very excited to be working with Dr. Witten and the rest of the staff. “I think we hit it off as soon as we started talking. We have the same ideas of how we want to treat patients and the families as they come in, and have the same core values and goals for each appointment. And how we see ourselves developing in the practice. The facility itself is beautiful. It's very calming as you walk in the door, very comforting for people as well as animals.”
One thing she appreciates about the philosophy of care at Back on Track is the importance of rehabilitative care as part of overall healthcare. “I have used some aspects of rehabilitation and massage, acupuncture, or chiropractic work with my horse. For a sports animal, or a sports related injury, I’ve seen it make a difference. I think this area of veterinary medicine has a lot of potential, but is under used. I’m excited to be able to use the rehabilitation tools here to help improve the quality of life of any animal, and any injury or ailment that they might have.”
Dr. Borgmeyer also admires Back on Track’s low stress handling techniques approach to patient care, which makes everything run smoother during appointments for the patients and their owners. She knows so much more can be accomplished when the patient is calm. And, low stress techniques create a more positive environment for everyone, making the next time that patient comes in easier by reducing the stress and anxiety that can develop even before the client leaves the house. “They know that they're coming into something that is going to be easy for them so they aren’t anxious about being here.”
Dr. Borgmeyer is excited to work with the Back on Track team, helping develop the healthcare of our patients from newborn to senior, and watching them develop and grow in their families. Her interests in veterinary medicine are critical care, internal medicine, and helping develop the human/animal bond. “I love having pets as part of my family and helping pets be healthy members of other people’s families as well. I look forward to helping your loved one throughout their life.”
