Did you know that Keizer has its own team of Pet Health Superheroes?.
Leanne Eggert, DVM
Dr. Eggert is a Keizer native who remembers the inside of the Keizer Heritage Community Center from its days as Keizer Elementary School. She is a proud graduate of McNary High School who continued her education at Lewis and Clark College and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University. After working at practices in Veneta and Salem, she is thrilled to own Creekside Veterinary Clinic, right here in her home town.
She is a long time volunteer and former board member of the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, working hard to improve the health and reduce overpopulation of feral cat colonies. While still in veterinary school, she partnered with the Humane Society of the Palouse to found Feral Cat Solutions, a similar trap-neuter-return program for the Paulouse region of Washington and Idaho. Prior to moving back to Keizer, Dr. Eggert was a founding board member of the Community Veterinary Center, which provides veterinary services to the pets of low income people in Lane County, Oregon.
Her interest in exotic animals stems from having a wide variety of pets. Over the years, Dr. Eggert's pets have included eleven hamsters, three dogs, five cats, four ferrets, and numerous fish. She has worked diligently to expand her knowledge about many of the interesting pets that her clients enjoy. In addition to the most common pets, she sees ferrets, rabbits, rodents, reptiles and birds. For most of us, Dr. Eggert is the only person we know who has given injected medications to a betta fish.
Dr. Eggert lives in Keizer with her husband, also a McNary High School graduate, and two future McNary grads. She has a mixed breed dog, Sage, two cats, Millie and Emily, plus Sylvester and Jinx the clinic cats (Sylvester seen here).
Megan Strahon, DVM
Dr. Strahon was raised in the small town of Marcola, Oregon, and can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a veterinarian. Her interest was certainly helped by growing up with a wide range of pets that included cats, dogs, goats, chickens, mice, hamsters, rats, fish, and hermit crabs.
She was educated at the other orange and black OSU, Oklahoma State University, where she studied premedical sciences and then earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. Dr. Strahon worked in the Willamette Valley for more than ten years prior to joining us at Creekside Veterinary Clinic. She is also a long time volunteer for the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon.
Dr. Strahon enjoys giving people the information they need to make the best decisions for their pets. Her other particular interests in veterinary medicine include pain management and endocrinology, which your pet will likely appreciate.
Outside of the clinic, Dr. Strahon enjoys traveling, cooking, gardening, and reading. She lives in Salem with her husband, their two boys, and their cat.
Megan Angstrom, DVM
Dr. Angstrom grew up just outside of Salem in the Macleay community and showed an interest in animal health at a very young age. When she was a wee tyke, her family’s cat caught and injured a mouse, which the future veterinarian helped nurse back to health.
She has an Oregon based education through and through. After excelling at Blanchet Catholic School, she went on to study Animal Science at Oregon State University before continuing with the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine at OSU. Faith and service are very important to Dr. Angstrom, leading her to serve with two missions in Belize during her college years.
In addition to general practice with dogs and cats, Dr. Angstrom has a particular interest in chicken health care for flocks of all sizes.
When she isn’t working, Dr. Angstrom enjoys travel, spending time with her friends, and competing with her brother to see who can eat the spiciest food. She lives in Salem with her cat, Aslan.
Amanda
Amanda comes to us from Texas where she worked as a Veterinary Technician before becoming the Practice Manager at a large veterinary hospital. After moving to Oregon and taking a well earned break, she brought her awesome skills to our clinic. One of the cool things about her is that Texas thing where if she asks for a Coke, you can hand her any kind of soda and get away with it.
Emily
Before coming to Creekside Veterinary Clinic, Emily worked in human healthcare in New Hampshire. She worked directly with patients and also on the administrative side of things. The combination of health knowledge and organizational skill makes her a powerhouse on our team.
Gillian
Gillian has several years of customer service experience and a strong dedication to assisting our clients. We met her when she was a guest at one of our team parties and the next time we were looking for someone, we thought, “Hey, Gillian was really nice.” You’ll see what we mean.
Reneé
After working as a veterinary technician for most of her career, Reneé decided to shift to a front desk team while studying for a degree in health information management. Her wealth of knowledge in patient care comes in handy for answering your questions.
Brendan
Brendan has a knack for putting patients and clients at ease with his calm demeanor and strong skills. He is a certified veterinary technician and has a wealth of experience with pets of all kinds, including birds and exotics. Brendan graduated from McNary High School in 1996 and has been working in the veterinary world since 1998.
When he is not working here, he operates an equine boarding facility in Aumsville. Brendan has been married to Sarah since 1999 and they have three children, Elizabeth, Grace, and Jackson. They live with four dogs, two cats, and a big barn full of horses. Brendan's joys include his family, riding horses, playing music, home brewing craft beer, and anything mechanical (that's a long list, maybe he really enjoys just about everything, which would explain all the smiling).
Kristy
Kristy is one of our dedicated veterinary asssistants. She worked in retail for a few years, but always knew she wanted a career in the veterinary field. Kristy worked her way up from kennel technician, to kennel supervisor, to veterinary assistant before joining our team. Shortly after moving to Oregon, she worked for another veterinary clinic, but saw us in the Iris Festival Parade and brought her beloved guinea pigs to us. Thank goodness she did because after meeting her, she was top of our list to work with us.
Besides working with other people's pets, Kristy enjoys spending time with her husband and their pets, playing board games, videogames, camping, hiking, and assembling puzzles.
Cydnee
Cydnee is another of our success stories of hiring someone who was a client before joining our team. She had experience as a veterinary assistant at other clinics and brought that experience to us in 2016. At Creekside Veterinary Clinic, Cydnee developed an interest in reptiles and is becoming one of our go-to team members for the cold blooded pets.
Her dog Piccolo has a special knack for eating clothes. Her family owns a candy store on the Oregon coast and occasionally we all get to enjoy the benefits of that.
Annie
Annie comes to us from a veterinary clinic in northern California where she got her introduction to veterinary medicine. Shortly after she moved to Oregon, we welcomed her to our team of veterinary assistants.
Emily
Emily, who is Dr. Eggert's niece, is a very hard working, and very client focused person. She's quickly learning the ropes as a veterinary assistant, but after high school, she plans on going to college and becoming a Registered Nurse.
Jon Eggert
Jon is our behind the scenes guy, our practice administrator. He installed the computers, manages the website, set up the phone system, and repairs whatever breaks. Jon graduated from McNary High School, has a degree in Physics from Lewis and Clark College, and in addition to helping out here, he works as a Senior Software Engineer for a small company based in Portland.
Jon is married to Dr. Eggert and lives with the same great kids and pets that she does (see above). He enjoys hiking and snowshoeing with his family.