Getting to Know Us- Dr. Tracy and Dr. Melissa

This month I decided to write about a topic I’ve never really tackled before… Us!
I’m Dr. Tracy McFarland and I founded The Cat Doctor & Friends in 1994. A question I’m often asked is why I decided to limit my practice to “just cats” after spending my first 10 years as an associate in general practice.
In order to answer that, I need to share a bit about my history and how I got here. I was raised in a pet loving family and grew up with multiple cats as well as three Great Danes. After high school, I enrolled at UC Davis earning my Bachelors degree in Animal Physiology and then my DVM.
When I graduated, there were very few Cat only practices in the entire country, let alone in Southern California. So, I accepted a position in general small animal practice in Sherman Oaks, met my future husband in an exam room, got married and had two children. We moved to the Santa Clarita Valley before our first child was born. By the time I was ready to start my own practice, I knew that while I enjoyed working with dogs, the mystery and challenges of feline medicine were and are my true passion.
So 24 years have gone by and my practice went from an 800 square-feet leased space with two exam rooms and two employees to a 4,300 square foot space with 24 employees, all of us dedicated to “just cats”. I also became a certified veterinary acupuncturist and a Don Low fellow in Small Animal Medicine. My hobbies are reading and taking singing lessons, even though I am a very mediocre singer.
Lately, I’ve also been looking for a partner- a veterinarian who shares my passion for feline medicine, dentistry and surgery, as well as my core values of hard work, kindness and compassion. Enter Dr. Melissa Waller! A native of Kansas with a Bachelors degree in Agricultural Economics, her DVM from Kansas State, and a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, Dr. Melissa also loves to read and shows Norwegian Forest Cats. She has a special fondness for special needs cats, as one of her rescues is blind and another is deaf. She was fortunate enough to go straight into feline practice upon graduation and has spent the last several years at a feline practice in Reno. Her goals are becoming a Board Certified specialist in Feline Medicine and becoming my partner and eventual successor. I couldn’t be happier!
The Cat Doctor & Friends is located at 26055 Bouquet Canyon Road. To schedule an appointment please call 661-259-5288.