Cover Story: Dr. Turnera Croom

A DOG MAY BE A MAN’S BEST FRIEND, BUT A DOG’S BEST FRIEND IS DR. TURNERA CROOM

By Dave Person david.r.person@gmail.com

Dr. Turnera Croom is a veterinarian without an offi ce, which is just the way she likes it.

“I decided to start ... (Dr. Croom Mobile Veterinary Services) because I don’t like to be stuck in a building all day,” she says. Dr. Croom, whose mobile clinic covers the greater Kalamazoo area, including surrounding small towns and cities, also is outside the norm because she primarily offers holistic-health services.

She even recently became a certifi ed animal chiropractor, which she has added to her practice that includes food therapy, Chinese herbs and her own brand of pet CBD products, which are available online and at various locations in Kalamazoo. “I like to be able to give people a holistic alternative,” she says. Although she still offers standard veterinary services, she is phasing them out in favor of her specialized approach. With two exceptions, she is not taking new patients other than those whose owners are interested in her holistic approach to treatment. Those two exceptions are puppy and kitten vaccinations and her Last Wishes service, in which she comes to a people’s homes to humanely euthanize their aging and ailing pets. “I still do new puppy (and kitten) appointments. ... Keeping unvaccinated puppies and kittens away from older animals (through in-home visits) is crucial to keeping them from becoming sick with parvovirus, distemper and cat leukemia,” she says. Dr. Croom says her typical patient is a middle-age dog whose owners have a regular vet for diagnostic and surgical procedures, but want holistic treatment for other ailments.

As with all of her visits, with the exception of the Last Wishes service, the initial consultation is via Zoom, an aspect of her practice that was necessitated by the Covid outbreak and has been enormously successful. “We have instituted the video visit as the crux of our practice,” Dr. Croom says. “I can see them and hear what they’re saying,” she says of the pet owners. “I can give them my full attention.” “We (also) get to see their pet,” she says, “and I can give an initial physical exam that way.” From there, she can either schedule an in-person visit — which during Covid is held outdoors — or suggest a holistic remedy using products that she will have delivered to the home if she has them in stock, or that the pet owners can order.

While telemedicine is becoming more common for medical doctors, it is relatively new in the veterinary fi eld, Dr. Croom says. “This is how it’s going to be,” she says. “I like to think that I’m ahead of the pack.” Because of the video consultation, she now knows before heading out on an appointment what she needs to bring with her, and whether she needs to be accompanied by her veterinary technician, Toni White. Dr. Croom, 46, grew up in Grand Rapids, the middle of three daughters of James and Gertrude Grant Croom, schoolteachers who stressed the importance of a good education.

Her father was a middle school life-sciences teacher and “his love of science, in general, pulled me that way,” she says. While in high school, she traveled to Australia and New Zealand for two weeks to study marine mammals as part of the People to People Science Exchange. After high school, she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and pre-medicine from Xavier University, a historically black university in New Orleans, La. She followed that up by getting her veterinary degree from the Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine in Tuskegee, Ala. Tuskegee University also is a historically black university. Dr. Croom then served for four years in the Army Veterinary Corps at Travis Air Force Base in California, training soldiers and airmen in conducting medical procedures. She retired with the rank of major. After her military experience, Dr. Croom returned to Michigan where she worked as a clinical research veterinarian with the former MPI Research in Mattawan and then as a public health veterinarian with the U.S. Department of Agriculture before opening her veterinary practice about four years ago. In addition to White, known as Vet Tech Toni in her own practice, Dr. Croom is assisted by her daughter, Imani Jenkins, who serves as her offi ce manager. Dr. Croom lives in Portage with her 4-year-old cattle dog-mix Mio, which she rescued last year. In addition to her practice, Dr. Croom has led students from elementary through high school in a Future Veterinarian Program. Although the in-person program has been suspended during Covid, she is working on a virtual version that will be suitable for college students as well. She also treats farm animals. “It’s more like herd health,” she says of her work with chickens, goats, sheep and the like. Dr. Croom is enthusiastic about the benefi ts of holistic healing. Besides using her own line of hemp-derived CBD products that she says aid in the reduction of pain, infl ammation, stress and anxiety in pets, she promotes other products that help animals with hip and joint issues, and helps pet owners improve their pets’ nutrition. Her work, she says, is especially important for older dogs. “They could really be living a lot longer by using holistic services,” she says. Dr. Croom believes the sky’s the limit when it comes to holistic medicine for animals.

“I’m adding new holistic modalities — creating new holistic offerings — all the time,” she says. She can be reached through her website, www.DrCroom.com, where you can schedule yourself under the appointments tab. You also can follow her Facebook page, DrCroom.ArmyVet. Or to order pet supplements, go to www.drcroom. nevetica.com/our-products.