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Dr. Sophia Chavez - K9 Doc, 2350 Gillette Drive, Fort Collins, CO (2026)

11/25/2022

Who needs to cut a Turkey when you can cut a splenectomy 🤷🏽‍♀️🦃🔪😝

Forever thankful for

🩸 my career
🩸 my mentors
🩸 my fellow New ER Doctors
🩸 my vet techs/ assistants & CSRs

I’ve always believed we have the best job in the world - so I can’t really complain about saving lives on Thanksgiving day.

11/14/2022

life isn’t perfect
but I’m out here, living my dreams.
everything I’ve been dreaming of for so long.
everything I’ve been working my butt off for.

a doctor.
ER AND K9.

learning from amazing mentors, supported by the best family, friends and peers.

I’m exhausted. But things are good.
& for all of that - I’m thankful ❤️‍🔥

10/23/2022

first c-section.

mama had 4 puppies on her own (one deceased) and presented for not being able to pass the other puppies (what we call a dystocia).

we surgically removed 3 puppies but unfortunately this little man was the only viable baby. the others had already passed.

it’s a harsh reality of the ER to not save them all but at least we got one guy out!

it’s hard, but i love my job.

10/13/2022

Is life easier after vet school? Yes. But no.

It’s taken me a bit to realize how different my life is than I had imagined it to be post grad.

I can very easily tell you vet school was the worst time of my life. But life now is SO much better. For the first time in years I’m actually happy - on a daily basis - and having few things to truly complain about compared to before.

So yes life is better, but I can’t say it’s easier.

Do I have more free time on my hands? Yes (kinda).
Do I stress about studying (or not when I should be), exams, assignments, PASSING, etc? Hell to the no.
Do I feel even an ounce of the frustration, isolation, stress or anxiety that I did just a few months ago? Thank God, no.

All of that is truly life changing, but taking on the role of doctor is a huge change, too. The emotional toll that comes from the humans and the animals, the cases, the imposter syndrome, the work hours, the continued education, learning to find time for work AND life - 🥵 it’s draining.

Right now the cycle goes: work 13-14hrs a day, 3-4 days a week. Nothing besides work happens on a work day because I come home dead. 1 day off is dedicated to continued education, 1 (sometimes 2) day off is dedicated to my business and the last is chores/errands. Rinse & repeat.

I’ve also traveled for about a week every single month since graduating for continued ed. - which has been BEYOND incredible - but e###hhaaustingggg.

I can’t tell you the last time I hand fed / trained my dogs. ME. The gal who always bitc**s about putting your dogs first 😵‍💫 (but I have an amazing partner who has essentially taken over all things dog during this transition).

Summary: I’m exhausted. I feel like I’m never home. I don’t even know who my dogs are anymore. I don’t know the last time I binge watched tv. BUT.

I’m truly so happy. I’m exhausted but I absolutely love what I do. I’m grateful to wake up everyday and pursue my dream, grow my baby practice, and continue to pursue education so I can be that much better of a doctor.

It’s not easier once you cross that stage, but it’s so much better.

10/07/2022

What ACTUALLY brought me to Veterinary Emergency Group?

I’ve known about for about 4 years now. I first learned about them at the career fair my first year of school, then started following them on instagram.

I learned a lot about the VEG way through their social media and their website. One of the main things I love about that VEG is that we keep people and their pets together (at all times, no matter what - there is no such thing as ‘taking your pet to the back’), but what ultimately won me over was the VEG Cares Share Day.

VEG Cares Share Day is a day VEG celebrates yearly where 100% of revenue gets donated to a good cause.

50% goes to Veg Cares, and 50% goes to a charity of the employee’s choice. For example - VEG donated $12,600 just to Mission K9 Rescue ( ) last year! They actually raised over $755,000 total last year to donate 😵

The fact that I can work at an ER that has similar values to my own, but ALSO goes above and beyond to give back to their community, is absolutely amazing.

Your first job as a veterinarian can make a HUGE impact on your career, so picking the right place is incredibly important and I can say confidently I picked the perfect place.

& look who stopped by San Diego today! CEO

09/29/2022

Nothing beats good on shift mentorship. But even in the best mentorship programs (like VEG’s Early Entry Track 😉, where you have a designated mentor with you every single shift) digging through books and finding information out for yourself is still really helpful.

I’ve never been a fan of textbooks, or lugging books around in general. But there are a few books I swear by - and for my general practice medicine the New Vet Jumpstart Guide has been super helpful!

Coming from a mostly ER background - my general practice medicine can be a bit rusty - so this book has been super helpful for those few “GP” shifts we see in ER, and for when I did GP relief earlier this summer.

It covers the 20 most common general practice cases seen in day practice, and covers a bit of pathophysiology about the disease, diagnosis / diagnostic options, treatment, walks you through client communication, and finishes each case with a quick wrap up summary.

& are releasing an ER version of this book and I’m so excited for it 🙌🏽

Highly recommend for both new grads AND 4th year clinical students! You can find it on Amazon!

09/10/2022

2022 vs 2021 🚀

1 year ago yesterday I received my offer from to join the VEG ‘NERD’ (New ER Doctor) program for July of 2022 and she invited me to drop by IVECCS the next day to come celebrate and hang with all my (now) fellow VEGgies.

I packed my bags and drove 3 hours to Nashville and FINALLY got to meet so many VEGgies in person, including &

& now here we are, 1 year later, I’m back at IVECCS, but OFFICIALLY a New ER Doctor for VEG.

I have been waiting so patiently to join VEG as a doctor ever since I accepted my student ambassador offer in June 2020, but even more so since my NERD offer in 2021.

2 months into the program and I’m loving every single second of it. I’m exhausted, no doubt, but fulfilled, and finally happy.

Eventually I’ll find the words to describe how much better things have been since vet school, and share how the experience as a VEGgie has been, but for now here’s a yearly photo of me and the most amazing CEO & trust my words when I say - VEG is all of the amazing things they say they are and I feel so lucky to be here.

09/03/2022

Because at VEG, we see anything that walks through the door & we always find a way to say yes.

Yesterday my mentor (Dr. Shapiro) & I did abdominal surgery on this 6 week old piglet.

He’s doing great and going home today.

K9 doc or porcine doc? You decide 🐷

08/27/2022

It’s been 1 month of being a VEG New ER Doctor, aka a NErD & so far I’ve spent 2 weeks in hospital, and 2 weeks in Colorado for continued education.

I’ve had 8 hospital shifts (ranging from 12-14 hours), and completed 45 (YES FOURTY FIVE) hours of continued education.

I have a post about my first trip to CSU, where we practiced/performed a ton of small animal emergency gastrointestinal surgeries on cadavers.

This time we had 2 days of POCUS (Point of Care Ultrasound), 2 days of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy then a last day of Basic and Advanced Life Support via the Recover Initiative.

I have always been “afraid” of ultrasound, because I had minimal experience scanning during vet school. At the start of the POCUS course, we were ‘tested’ on finding 23 anatomical locations (in the heart/chest/abdomen) on a dog in lateral recumbency, within 6 minutes. Ya girl found maybe 10 😅
 After 2 days of scan, scan, scan, I can confidently find all of those 23 locations, in CLOSE to 6 minutes! I seriously can’t wait to get back in hospital and POCUS all of the things.

I also got to scope several different dogs & retrieve many foreign bodies from cadavers. It’s literally the ultimate video game 😂

& finally I am now re-certified in Basic and Advanced Life support 💪🏽 & feel so much better about running codes in hospital. That lab was a ton of fun as well.

This CE is literally incredible. It has been so valuable and is already making me such a better doctor.

Up next: 5 hospital shifts & 1 school day until we fly out to San Antonio for IVECCS. The fun never ends at VEG 🤩

08/20/2022

once upon a time, I bought a german shepherd, the same month I was starting veterinary school 😵‍💫
 When I say Jaxx changed my life - I mean that very seriously.

I lost my heart dog unexpectedly a few months prior to Jaxx. My little Farrah, a 4lb yorkie. I loved that dog to death, she was my literal shadow. but I still can’t tell you she impacted my life like Jaxx has.

I got Jaxx as a 4 month old lean, long, awkward lookin string bean and shipped him to a 1 month board & train + e-collar training because I was as green as they come with owning a working breed dog. I understood and was ready for the commitment ahead of me, but needed a hand with the training.

He was going to be my vet school buddy as I moved cross country alone & my intro dog to the world of working / sport dogs.

Well. He’s not the drivey insane bitey dog I had hoped for, but he’s been the best introductory working dog I could have asked for. He’s been enough of wild for me to get my feet wet, and he’s been the most willing and forgiving dog to learn with.

He’s taught me the importance of obedience, CONSISTENCY, structure, patience and COMMITMENT that ALL dogs should have - but especially dogs of working nature.

He’s solidified my passion for being a working dog handler and opened up a new vision of becoming The K9 Doctor. He truly has been a huge influence on the choices I’m making with my career.

If I had gotten another yorkie and not Jaxx, I don’t think I’d be making the moves I currently am.

This dog was my absolute rock during the hardest years of my life & for that I owe him the world. But I swear to you, he has shaped my future as a veterinarian (and dog owner/handler). Big things are happening BECAUSE of him and everything I’ve been exposed to since owning him.

So, thank you big dog. For saving and changing my life. Here’s to 4 years together & hopefully many more 🥺🖤

08/01/2022

All aboard the rocket ship - I just finished my first week with VEG 🚀

I spent the past 5 days in Colorado at CSU’s Translational Medicine Institute (TMI) learning and doing a variety of emergency surgeries / procedures.

We were able to perform:
🚀 Temporary tracheostomy tube
🚀 Esophagostomy tube
🚀 Gastrostomy tube
🚀 Tail amputation
🚀 Enucleation
🚀 JP Drain
🚀 Abdominal explore + multi organ biopsies (because there’s no such thing as a negative explore 😉)
🚀 Gastrotomy
🚀 Gastrectomy (with a crazy cool stapler)
🚀 Gastropexy (incisional & belt loop)
🚀 Enterotomies
🚀 Enterectomy (resection and anastomosis; both with suture and stapling techniques)
🚀 Splenectomy (bath with suture and ligasure)
🚀 Cystotomy

This is an all expenses paid trip by VEG - as just one part of the continued education we partake in, in the New ER Doctor Program (Aka Early Entry Tract, or EET). AND, this is only ONE PART of the TMI hands on training program - I’ll be back later this fall for ultrasound, BLS/ALS, endoscopy, exotics & critical care 🤓

I also got to meet a ton of new / amazing doctors all apart of EET & I can’t wait to meet the rest soon!

But for now - some R&R before I start my first in hospital shift this week! 🚀

06/28/2022

life as a new grad vet ✨

the first month: move home / unpack into my parents house in CA and LOTS of R&R

month 2: I started working at a local GP practice, where I was a volunteer in high school, then a kennel assistant, then a technician. One of my absolute favorite mentors is the medical director & I’ve been working 2 shifts a week with her just to get my feet wet and keep my brain from completely rotting 😅

I started day 1 with a full schedule, with a majority of sick pets and I’ve learned a ton. The transition has been wild.

I look up a LOT of things. I am always using Plumb’s or Vetcalculator app (get it, it’s worth the $11). I definitely choke over my words when introducing myself as “Dr. Chavez”. I absolutely love talking face to face with clients. And charting is annoying 😂

So far I’ve only done a few hands on procedures: hind limb dewclaw removal an ear hematoma repair, and broken nail removals, but I’ve done a pretty decent variety of medicine/sick cases.

I only have 3 shifts left, and then, in about 3 weeks, Jaxx, Clover, Anthony & I move to a new city & I start my full time ER gig at

I come home so exhausted from each shift, but on cloud 9 and in disbelief that this is my life.

Dr. Chavez, who is she?!?

I’ve got something pretty awesome in the works as well… stay tuned 👀

Dr. Sophia Chavez - K9 Doc

11/25/2022

11/14/2022

10/23/2022

10/13/2022

10/07/2022

09/29/2022

09/10/2022

09/03/2022

08/27/2022

08/20/2022

08/01/2022

06/28/2022

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