About Me

Let's get this blog on the road with a little biographical information about me...and then a little input from you.

I was born here in Columbia, SC in 1972. I went to Irmo High School (information for my fellow Columbians--we all like to know who went where in our hometown), and then attended the Honors College at the University of South Carolina. I graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.

I took four years between college and veterinary school to pursue my first career as a professional ballet dancer. I danced with the Columbia City Ballet from 1988 until I was ready to move on to my next dream career in 1995. I took one last, fun, dancing job performing in a magic show in Germany in 1996, then got busy applying for veterinary school.

In 1998 I was accepted into the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, and I graduated summa cum laude in 2002.

Since graduation I have worked as an associate veterinarian at the Columbia Cat Clinic in Columbia, SC. The Columbia Cat Clinic is part of Shandonwood Animal Clinic, and both are located on Daly Street, right off Millwood Avenue, behind Dreher High School.

Working with just cats has been wonderful! I have always had a special love for cats, and I was a veterinary assistant right here at the Columbia Cat Clinic, before vet school, back when we first opened. I started then to appreciate and enjoy the particular challenges presented by feline medicine and surgery, and I was thrilled to take over here as the resident "cat doc" upon graduation. I am a member of the American Association of Feline Practioners, an international society of veterinarians sharing a passion for cats and advocating for the advancement of feline medicine.

This year I have been studying acupuncture for dogs and cats at the Chi Institute, a school for veterinarians that teaches many aspects of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine. I was moved to explore alternative modes of therapy by my frustration with feline diseases that have no reliable, effective treatments. There are many! Western medicine has a poor understanding of many feline ailments, such as inflammatory conditions of the urinary bladder, the lungs, and the gastrointestinal tract, and this is reflected in the plethora of treatments tried for conditions such as these...often with disappointing results.

It is fascinating and amazing to me to see how well my patients have responded to acupuncture treatments so far. There is a lot of ongoing research on the topic, but Western doctors don't know very much yet about how acupuncture works. But we know for a fact that it does work, both in people and animals. So far I have successfully treated such conditions as coughing, painful urination, ear infection, pain due to degenerative joint disease, nausea, diarrhea, and anxiety in various feline patients. I advocate an integrated approach to veterinary medicine, using wisdom and research from both Eastern and Western medical traditions, and I like to combine acupuncture with more conventional treatment modalities to achieve better success and swifter patient comfort.

As of this writing, I am not yet certified in acupuncture. I just completed the course and lab work at the Chi Institute, and I am currently working on my internship, under the expert guidance of Dr. Maria Glinski in Aiken and Dr. Holley Cone in Charleston. These two veterinarians are among the vanguard of alternative veterinary therapies here in South Carolina, and our state is very lucky to have them. Once I have completed my internship hours to their satisfaction, I will need to write up a thorough, well-researched case report that conveys the depth of my understanding of acupuncture...similar to a "thesis." When all this work is done I will be adding "Certified in Veterinary Acupuncture" to my curriculum vitae. That will be a proud day!

Personally, I have six cats and a dog at home. One of my cats is featured on the front page of this blog, and I will gradually introduce the rest of my pets over time, just for fun. Aside from scooping litter boxes, my hobbies include reading and studying, hang gliding, tango dancing, enjoying nice food and wine, and ballet...and I'm just beginning to learn about yoga, so I'll go ahead and add that to my list of hobbies as well.

I started this blog for two major reasons. Firstly, and most obviously, I want to get my name "out there" for people to find who are in search of a veterinarian with a special interest in cats, a veterinary acupuncturist, or both. I hope this blog will lead my neighbors in Columbia and surrounding cities and towns to my doorstep so we can get to know each other. I am looking forward to meeting your beloved companions, and also looking forward to sharing my darlings with you!

Secondly, I must confess to a penchant for the soapbox. I love to delve deeply into the subjects that interest me most--cats, in this forum--and I love to talk to other people about what I know and what I think on those subjects. There is an awful lot of misinformation available to us regarding feline medicine. For one thing, only relatively recently has the veterinary profession begun to outline all the myriad ways cats differ from dogs and other domesticated species. So it is easy to obtain outdated, incorrect information even from otherwise reliable sources like pet food manufacturers, older texts and references, and advice of intelligent people who have "always had cats." For another thing, there's this new-fangled invention called The Internet...perhaps you've heard of it...where anyone (including me) can post anything (including this) and call it the truth. I hope that my credentials, my passion for research, and my grim determination to stay up-to-the-minute on advances in feline medicine will set this blog apart as a reliable source of progressive information on cats and their medical, nutritional, and husbandry needs.

Now I'd like to invite anyone who is still reading this tome to let me know if you have a particular subject about which you'd like to learn more. For example, I plan to post essays about behavioral disorders in cats, kidney disease, and lower urinary tract disease. I'd like to outline pathogenesis, treatment options, and prognostic indicators for the disorders I discuss. I welcome topic suggestions for these essays, so please feel free to leave comments with any that may come to mind.

And finally, the big disclaimer: In no way does what I write here EVER replace sound medical advice from a veterinarian who can actually see, listen to, and touch your cat. I may give you ideas of questions to ask of your vet, but please don't make the mistake of home-diagnosing. I can tell you from experience that no matter how "obvious" a diagnosis may be after taking a history and performing a physical exam, cats will trick ya every time (happened today, in fact). Diagnostic testing is vital to good medicine on those slippery, tricky felines.

And good medicine is my life's goal. Thank you for reading this. I look forward to writing more for you soon!

Leigh Sheridan