About Pulse

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Simone grew up on a farm in a small town in southern Alberta, which from a young age, sparked her passion of caring for animals, big and small. Growing up she had always known she wanted to work in Veterinary medicine and in 2015, she graduated the Animal Health Technology program from Grande Prairie Regional College. Simone has 5 fur-kids – a derpy Siberian Husky, 2 cats and 2 Quarter Horses. She loves being outdoors whether it be riding her horses in the mountains, camping, snowboarding or just enjoying time with friends. 

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Jayme was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. She has finished her bachelor’s degree in biological science with a specialization in animal biology this year. Jayme has worked in the veterinary field for 5 years. Her ultimate goal is to one day be a veterinarian. Jayme has one orange tabby cat named Helios who loves attention and cuddles. In her spare time, she enjoys biking, hiking, and rock climbing.

Laurel graduated from the animal health technology program from NAIT in 2018 but has been working and volunteering in the vet industry since 2015. She has always had a love for animals and enjoys working with them. Laurel is a proud dog mom to her mixed breed Kyrie, and they enjoy going on many long walks together.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Taylor went to NAIT into the Veterinary Medical Assistant program and graduated in 2014. In 2016, she went back into Animal Health Technology at NAIT and graduated with honours in 2018. Before working at Pulse Veterinary, Taylor had worked in general practice, shelter medicine, and emergency clinics as a tech assistant and an RVT. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, music, and being outdoors. Taylor shares her home two cats, Zeppelin and Rocket, who keep her consistently wondering where the “dog person” in her has gone.

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Born and raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Bryce graduated from Grant MacEwan University and received designation through Chartered Professional Account School of Business. When not at work, Bryce enjoys everything outside and anything that goes too fast! He shares his home with wife Jenna, yellow lab named Bailey, Fish tank with red tail barbs, and 20 laying hens.

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Rachel was born and raised in St.Albert, Alberta. Rachel has worked in the Veterinary field for 8 years since taking her VMA at Olds College in 2012. Since then, Rachel has been in a variety of roles, including shelter medicine, and specialty and emergency medicine. In Rachel’s spare time, she enjoys playing ringette, downhill skiing and going on any camping or hiking adventures.

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Nikki was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. She graduated from the Animal Health Technology program from Lakeland College with honours in 2014. Since graduation, she has worked in emergency and specialty care. Her three fur babies Scarlett Johannson, Stella Potato and foster failure Sylvia keeps her daily life busy. When she is not at work, Nikki enjoys hiking and being outside with her partner Corban.

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Dr. Curtis Cathcart grew up in Edmonton, moving to Saskatoon when accepted to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine class of 1999. After graduation he enjoyed 7 years of small animal general practice and owning a clinic in Victoria, British Columbia. His draw to surgery became undeniable, leading him to internships, research positions, and eventual residency and took him to Texas, California, Georgia, and Ohio. He completed his residency in 2014 and has been ACVS board certified since 2015. Dr. Cathcart is glad be back to offer small animal surgical services in his hometown. He enjoys time with his family which includes his wife, a clinical pathologist with IDEXX, parents, sister and her family, and his cats and dogs. He’ll spend as much time as he can outside and does enjoy winter, switching from mountain bike to fat bike when the snow flies.

Dr. Casey Smith graduated from the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine in 2013.

After graduation, she spent a year at both a rotating internship in Pittsburgh followed by a surgery/neurology internship in San Antonio. She then returned to Canada to pursue a
neurology/neurosurgery internship in Vancouver and the following year worked as an ER clinician.

In 2017 she accepted a residency in neurology/neurosurgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She will be completing her residency in July 2020 and will be eligible for the board certification examination in June 2021.

Her professional interests include subarachnoid diverticula and spinal malformations, MRI, and all aspects of spinal and brain surgery.

Dr. Smith grew up near Edmonton and is looking forward to returning home and joining the team at Pulse as the first veterinary neurologist in Edmonton.

Dr. Hannah Smith completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Davis and graduated from the University of Edinburgh with her veterinary degree in 2015. She then completed a year-long equine rotating internship at the University of Queensland. After moving to Edmonton, she worked in equine and small animal general practice before joining the Pulse team. Hannah enjoys spending her free time with her cats, Mouse and Leo, and her horse, Jasper.

Dr. Eryn Hanak graduated from the first class at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2012. During her vet training, she developed a love of zoo, exotic, and wildlife animals and upon graduation moved to Ontario, where she could practice with a high exotics patient caseload. She returned to Alberta to continue working with all different kinds of species, and started working in emergency medicine as well in 2014. As the procedures and care she was providing for her exotic patients became more advanced, she decided to pursue additional training and completed an internship in Zoo, Exotic, and Wildlife Medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2019. She looks forward to combining her love of exotics and emergency medicine at Pulse Veterinary Referral Centre!

When she’s not working, Dr. Hanak enjoys hiking, travelling and sheep herding with her two border collies, Vimes and Locke

Dr. Carol graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, and has been working in small animal practice since 2005. In between skiing, hiking, and biking, she has been providing after hours on-call emergency services in Jasper and Canmore since 2012. She also has previous experience working in a 24 hour emergency hospital. Carol has enjoyed playing various sports throughout the years, but recently stays active chasing her toddler! She is happy to be back in the Edmonton area and close to family, and is excited to join the team at Pulse!

Dr. Dawn grew up in a military family, moving around Canada and Europe. From a young age she knew she wanted to be a veterinarian. She completed her undergraduate degree in Marine Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax. She then pursued her veterinary degree at the University of Prince Edward Island, graduating in 2012. Following graduation Dawn completed a Small Animal Rotating Internship at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Massachusetts. Since this time she has spent time working both as a general practitioner, as well as an emergency veterinarian. She has a true passion for emergency medicine, and this has brought her to Pulse Veterinary Specialists and Emergency. Dawn has a particular interest in toxicities of any kind!

In her spare time, Dawn enjoys anything outdoors, and loves competing in running races and triathlons. In her down time, she loves to spend time with her two adorable cats, Maddie and Bonnie.

Dr. Meghan is originally from Saskatoon where she pursued her degrees in Biology with a Minor in Spanish, and her veterinary degree at the University of Saskatchewan. Meghan graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2012 and soon after moved to Edmonton to practice Emergency Medicine for several years, and also dabbled in Pharmacology and General Practice, but is excited to return back to the Emergency Room again! In her spare time, Meghan loves to travel, try new food, and learn languages (she is proficient in French and Spanish, and also able to communicate in Sign Language), and bringing her husband and children on her many adventures.

Dr. Danyse Lewis was raised just outside of Cochrane and graduated from the WCVM in 2011. After graduating she completed a year-long internship in equine practice at Moore Equine Veterinary Centre where she worked with horses of all disciplines. She then spent another year completing an internship in Diagnostic Imaging where her time was focused solely on creating and interpreting various imaging studies (ultrasound, x-ray, CT, MRI, Nuclear Scintigraphy) on all kinds of animals.

After completing her continuing education she decided to enter mixed animal practice, then finally emergency small animal practice. She also enjoys volunteering her time with the ASNTF.

Danyse enjoys primarily an outdoor lifestyle with her fiance Jeff and their dog Tipper. In their spare time they are usually in or near the mountains; skiing, biking, or climbing.

Sarah has always been passionate about animals and their wellbeing. She graduated with honours from the Animal Health Technology program at NAIT in 2009. Shortly after, she became a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Assistant. In her spare time, Sarah is kept busy with her Bernese Mountain Dogs, Greta and Moose, and her evergrowing indoor plant collection. She enjoys camping, hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding, jogging, scuba diving and travelling.

Sarah looks forward to building many trusted relationships with the clients and patients of Pulse.

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Natashia graduated from the Animal Health Technology program at NAIT in 2012. She has worked at both mixed and small animal practices. She loves her job and is part of our ophthalmology department, she also has an interest in anesthesia/analgesia. Natashia has two fur babies, Benny and Nugget, who keep everyday life interesting. In her spare time, she can be found practicing yoga, going for a run, hiking the mountains, and travelling the world.

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Born and raised in Newfoundland, Cheryl has been involved with the veterinary industry for over 7 years. She has a high interest in specialty medicine as she joins the surgery team. When not at work, Cherly is spending time with her husband and two kids. She enjoys camping, dog sports when time allows and spending time with her friends and family. Cheryl has also been a Siberian husky owner since 2003 and currently has a 12 year old Siberian Husky named Flint.

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Julie graduated from the Animal Health Program at NAIT in 2006. She has been a surgery tech for over 8 years with some emergency background. Julie is hoping to complete her Veterinary Technician Specialty in anesthesia in the future. She currently resides in Red Deer with her husband, kids and two dogs, Marcus and Lyra. Julie’s interests outside of work include family time, travel, and gardening.

Originally from New Brunswick, Dr. Ashleigh completed her Bachelor of Science at the University of Prince Edward Island and Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at the Atlantic Veterinary College. Following graduation, she relocated to Alberta for a one-year rotating internship at the CARE Centre and then practiced as an emergency veterinarian before moving to Canmore.
Her interest for emergency never faded and she was called back to emergency practice and is happy to be joining the Pulse team.

Ashleigh currently shares her home with her dogs Duke and Margie and two cats. If she’s not at the clinic, you can usually find her on a mountain somewhere either climbing (rock and ice), scrambling, backpacking, or skiing

Dr. Kim Hawkes graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. She completed a veterinary cardiology residency at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph. Thereafter, she successfully obtained her board certification from the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine—Cardiology subspecialty. Dr. Hawkes has been offering referral cardiology services for over 10 years in the Edmonton area. She is thrilled to continue offering advanced cardiology services to the Edmonton area, and continue developing relationships with the referral community.

Dr. Lukas Kawalilak graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2013. He completed a veterinary diagnostic imaging residency in 2018 that included training at both the Michigan State University and Colorado State University. He successfully completed board certification in Veterinary Radiology in 2018. He is looking forward to working with the referral community as the first veterinary radiologist in Northern Alberta.

Dr. Penelope Buechner graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2010. She completed a veterinary ophthalmology residency in 2014 and successfully completed her board certification to become a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in 2016. Penelope is so proud to offer her advanced ophthalmology services with Pulse Veterinary Specialists & Emergency. She has been, and will continue to be a staple in the Edmonton community.

Dr. John Williamson graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College with honours in 2005. After completing a rotating small animal internship at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. John has completed a certificate in advanced imaging in 2012, and to date has performed over 2000 abdominal ultrasounds and is working on completing his boarded practitioner designation. He has been fortunate enough to work at, and direct some of the busiest emergency clinics in Canada. He is very excited to return to Edmonton to help Pulse Veterinary Specialists & Emergency grow.

Dr. Christopher Sauvé graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 2012. Dr. Sauvé found his passion for veterinary dentistry while he practiced both primary care and emergency medicine in Edmonton for five years. In 2019, he completed a three-year veterinary dentistry and oral surgery residency in Kansas City. He is excited to return home to the Edmonton-area to perform advanced oral procedures and help his peers improve their professional satisfaction through continued education.