READY VET GO

Local Vet Mark Motichka

We take a minute with the owner of Parker Center Animal Clinic

Q: How did you become a vet? And how did you end up with this practice in Parker.

A: "Since I was a little kid the only 2 things I remember wanting to be were a fighter pilot or a veterinarian. You can probably throw national geographic wildlife photographer in there somewhere, but it really was a veterinarian or fighter pilot. That was it. My eyesight is terrible, so while I still dream of flying in a military jet, actually flying them wasn't going to work as a career.

A bit of a fun story: I grew up in Parker and to this day I still remember being a kid driving through town and seeing a building on fire. Turns out it was abandoned and the fire department was using it for training purposes. Once burned, a veterinary hospital would be built in its place. That is where Parker Center Animal Clinic now stands. I never imagined that as a kid dreaming of being a veterinarian, I would be watching the beginnings of the building and hospital I would one day work at and own. Fast forward many years, Kelly [his wife] and I were visiting my dad for Thanksgiving break my first year of vet school. We ended up taking his dog for an appointment at PCAC. The appointment was with the owner of PCAC at that time, who ended up being my mentor. We got to talking and he ended up hiring me to work as a technician assistant the next summer. I would spend all of my breaks through the rest of vet school working at PCAC and was then hired as an associate veterinarian once I graduated. The plan had been for me to slowly buy in as an owner, but we ended up buying the entire practice about 3 years after I graduated. It was a crazy thing to do that early out of school; we learned a lot of hard lessons (especially early on, but they never stop coming), but it has been one of the best decisions we ended up making. And it would not have happened without Kelly - she was instrumental in actually going through with the purchase to begin with, as well as working in the hospital as a receptionist, being our business administrator, running the books and marketing, and taking care of all of the little things that go on behind the scenes that no one else knows about.

Q: What type of animals do you treat?

A: We treat dogs and cats as well as exotics and pocket pets which include small mammals (guinea pigs, rabbits, sugar gliders, gerbils, hamsters, rats, mice, etc.) and reptiles (lizards, turtles, tortoises, and nonvenomous snakes).

Q: Why is PCAC different. And what is something “special” (ie technology, procedures etc) that PCAC brings to the community.

A: Good question, and not always easy to put into words. What makes PCAC special is the total experience that clients can expect. We have as much or more technology, surgical, and medical offerings as any general practice around. This includes minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery for spays, gastropexies, liver biopsies, and cryptorchid neuters, ultrasound and digital radiology, CO2 laser for surgical procedures, advanced dentistry that includes full mouth digital x-rays with every procedure, Class 4 therapy laser for post-op pain management, as well as chronic pain management for conditions like arthritis, a full suite of in-house lab machines, TightRope cruciate ligament repair and more. All of these technologies allow us to effectively diagnose and treat the pets we see. However, none of this technology matters without our people. Our entire staff is dedicated to taking care of the pet parents that go along with the dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles, and any other animal that comes through our doors. Our staff sees them as an extended part of our PCAC family. The compassion that our PCAC family shows the pets and pet parents each and every day is the heart of how we make all of the advanced technology matter. This combination of technology and compassion is ultimately what makes PCAC special and allows us to partner with each pet parent to help take care of their family as best as we possibly can.

Again, hard to put into words. I hope that we show how we are special in our actions better than I can try to explain it. And I feel very fortunate that each individual that makes up our PCAC family strives for that each day.