Vet Bio

About Donna Kelleher, D.V.M.

Avery, Dr. Donna, and Damon

Donna Kelleher graduated from Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1994 where she took alternative surgery. Prior to that she lived in England where she trained for one and a half years to become a British Horse Society Assistant Instructor, and worked in homes for the elderly as a Community Service Volunteer. Her undergraduate work was completed at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.

Inspired by an internship with Dr. Allen Schoen, she received a scholarship for the veterinary acupuncture training (IVAS) while still a senior veterinary student. She received the senior award for her vet school thesis entitled, "The Scientific Approach to Veterinary Acupuncture," and was authorized to treat some of the patients at the veterinary college with acupuncture. One of the most memorable was "Footlights," a Dutch Warmblood suffering from severe urticaria or hives. She began treating the horse three times a week at five in the morning before the hospital was busy. The horse improved and her career as a holistic veterinarian began.

Dr. Donna treating Angel the cockatoo with acupuncture

Dr. Kelleher is certified by the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (1994) and has served as an IVAS teaching assistant for budding veterinary acupuncturists (2000, 2001). The last course was taught in Havana, Cuba. She went through training in the American Herbalists Guild (AHG) Master Herbalists Program and Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET). Certified by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (1997), she uses chiropractic in combination with acupuncture, herbs and nutrition to heal animals. Holistic veterinary medicine is her passion, as you can read in her upcoming Scribner book, The Last Chance Dog and other true stories of holistic animal healing.

She is President of the Washington Chapter of the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, and through her efforts, this association became the first in the country to gain acceptance as a chapter of the local conventional association. Having worked for several years in emergency conventional medicine prior to opening her holistic practice, she understands and is committed to animal healing whether the approach is conventional or complimentary.

In the Press

Dr. Kelleher has been published in Pets: Part of the Family (Rodale Press, July 1999), Holistic Health Journal (2000), and the book, The Sweet Breathing of Plants: Women Writing on the Green World (Farrar, Straus, Giroux).

Pets on Pins & Needles, Donna Kelleher, DVM on MSNBC

Articles about her practice have appeared in:

MSNBC, Pets on pins and needles, The case of the itchy dog and the acupuncturist Aug (2004)
Utne Reader, Sept/Oct (2002), See "Fido Goes Holistic" article
International Conference on Exotics (2002)
Bark magazine (2002): Issue 18 (Gold beads), Issue 19, Issue 20 (IVAS in Cuba)
New Age Journal (1999)
The Seattle Times (1997)
The Spokesman Review (1994)

Contact Info

If you have questions about your pets, you can contact me. You may also find sites which answer your questions on my favorite links page.