His Dream Job

He knew he should have been studying.

But Dr. Eric Behlke, then a first-semester veterinary student, just couldn’t shake the feeling he had more important things to do than focusing on his upcoming anatomy final.

“I was studying for finals in the library and I asked myself ‘why I was in vet school?” Behlke recalled.

The answer came almost instantaneously.

“I wanted to be a vet,” Behlke said. “It was my dream job and right then and there I decided where I wanted to work.

“I stopped studying and typed a letter to Feedlot Health Management Services by Telus Agriculture (Feedlot Health), who I had previously identified as leaders in the field of feedlot medicine and production consulting, telling them I intended to work there after graduation.”

Graduation was still three-plus years away. Behlke’s eagerness to work at Feedlot Health must have struck a chord with the company. It wasn’t much later that he received a reply from the Canadian firm, encouraging him to stay in contact and at some point, to meet face to face.

Today that email is framed and hanging in Behlke’s Okotoks, Alberta, office.

After graduating from Iowa State with his DVM (he also holds a master’s in animal science from The Ohio State University and a PhD in animal science from the University of Nebraska), Behlke joined Feedlot Health, a professional services company that provides comprehensive herd health programs, veterinary services, and veterinary and production consulting services around the globe.

He has been there ever since. After three years he was offered and accepted an ownership stake in the company, and he currently leads the individual Animal Management Team. While he is headquartered in Calgary, his job frequently takes Behlke to the USA, Kazakhstan, and even Mexico on occasion.

The Nebraska native has become known for applying data toward practical management decisions in feedlot health management. He describes himself as a professional services veterinarian and production consultant.

“I had an early fascination with cattle,” Behlke said. “I have lived and breathed beef cattle my whole life. Cattle are unique animals in that they have the ability to convert cellulose to protein, and I truly love working with not just the animals, but also the people who are raising and caring for them.”

It doesn’t matter if Behlke is in Canada, his home state of Nebraska or halfway around the world in Kazakhstan, he says the people in the industry are one and the same.

“There is a common thread among these individuals,” he said, “and that’s the general love for the animals we care for.”

In his role with Feedlot Health, Behlke spends a vast majority of his time on-site, communicating with clients. He is constantly reviewing data from his clients and advising them on decisions relating to herd health going forward.

Feedlot Health oversees more than four million head of cattle annually with their clients ranging from small operations of 500 head to over 150,000 in one location. Regardless of the size or location of the feedlot, Behlke says the challenges and opportunities on feedlot operations are surprisingly similar, just on different scales.

“Since we are an international firm, it is important for me to know and understand any differences and make the appropriate adjustments in what we recommend,” he said. “That’s what keeps the job exciting.”

No Place Like Home

As long as Dr. Adam Hansen could remember, he would job shadow his father, Dr. Donald C. Hansen (’73).

He remembers walking from his junior high school to the Shelby Vet Clinic after classes were done for the day. If there was a call in the night, Adam would tag along with his dad. Summer, school breaks, holidays – it was all the same, Adam spent time with his dad and at the clinic.

“As far back as I can remember, I would go with Dad on calls anytime I had a chance,” Adam said. “My goal was always to come back and work with him – that was my dream since a young age.”

Even when he was a veterinary student at Iowa State, Adam would make the two-hour journey back home from Ames. Weekends, summers, it didn’t matter, he was back at the Shelby Vet Clinic.

“Almost any chance I got, I was back here,” Adam said. “Looking back, I probably should have spent more time getting to see how other practices operate, but it has worked out pretty well.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Adam joined the practice after graduation and has remained in his hometown. Even then he couldn’t stay away too long.

“I graduated on a Saturday, took Monday off, and then started work right away,” he said.

“I told him to get back home and get to work,” Don chuckles. “He knew the people already and that made it an easy transition. Adam was always a good, hard worker, and he brought back a lot of new ideas.”

Shelby is and has been home to Adam. He calls it a good fit for him and now as an owner of the clinic after Don retired in 2019. The Shelby Vet Clinic is a four-veterinarian practice. All the vets are Iowa State graduates and, like Adam, have a connection to the Shelby area.

“Our goal is to find local people so hopefully they’ll stay as we continue to build a successful practice,” Adam said.

A mixed animal practice, the Shelby Vet Clinic sees primarily beef cattle with herds ranging from 30 head all the way up to 1,000. The clinic’s veterinarians also see companion animals and a few horses and small ruminants.

Shelby is a small town just off of I-80 in the western part of Iowa. With a population of just 727, the Hansens and their staff work well past the city limits to see patients. Clients come as far away as Council Bluffs to seek services from the Shelby Vet Clinic.

“It’s pretty unique to have four vets in a small community like Shelby,” Adam said. “We stay pretty busy, but we do have to travel a lot of miles.”

Don joined the Shelby Vet Clinic a year after graduating from Iowa State. In 1980 he bought the practice and has developed a client base that has passed along to Adam and his partners. Over the years, the clinic has expanded, which the son gives a lot of credit to his father.

“Dad was a pretty progressive vet,” Adam said. “Over the years he has allowed us to purchase lots of equipment and update the practice, which has allowed us to practice a better quality of medicine.”

It’s a better quality of medicine in the community both Hansens love.

“I know these people,” Adam said. “They were lifelong clients of my Dad’s and now they are lifelong clients of ours.

“I love working in my hometown. It gives me a chance to help all the families that Dad helped.”

A Forever Home

If an animal comes to the Family Pet at Perry Creek clinic needing a home, there is a good chance Dr. Michelle Bader will find them a new forever home.

And chances are that home is Bader’s own house.

Like the time a cat ran into the glass doors at the Sioux City (Iowa) clinic. A vet technician ran outside to bring the cat in for treatment. Today the cat lives with Bader and her husband, Brad, after efforts to find the owner failed.

In all, Bader has two dogs and four cats.

“We have three fish tanks as well,” she said. “We’ve adopted them from rescues. Others, the owners have given up. One of the cats we have had a broken jaw.

“It just happens. It’s not like I’m going looking for animals and I always check with Brad before I bring another animal home.”

Bader is making up for lost time. She says her family didn’t have any pets until she was in high school. Despite that, she says her career path was set at an early age. After she job shadowed a small animal clinic in Lincoln, Nebraska, her profession was decided.

“That experience cemented for me that I wanted to be a veterinarian,” she said.

The Family Pet at Perry Creek clinic is Bader’s second stop after graduating from Iowa State. She spent a little more than two years at a small animal practice in Springfield, Illinois, before moving to Sioux City.

Despite all of her training, Bader says she was “scared out of my mind” on her first day at the Springfield clinic. This despite the fact her first patient was a wellness appointment only required updated vaccines/

“I don’t want to make mistakes,” she said. “I thought I would miss something or make a wrong diagnosis. My clinic did a good job of easing me into seeing patients and after I finished with that first appointment, I thought to myself ‘oh my, I’m a doctor now.’”

Over the ensuing decade, Bader has gained confidence that comes with time and repetition. And these days, it seems she sees more and more unusual cases.

“If a challenging case comes through our doors, it usually ends up with me,” she said. “I really enjoy those – it makes the job fun and interesting.

A recent case was a hamster who was presented after they had stopped eating. Bader says this typically means the pet is nearing the end of its life.

She started the hamster on antibiotics and expected the animal would die at home. Instead two weeks later the hamster returned to Family Pet at Perry Creek.

“He was eating and was much better,” Bader said. “When I can fix things or make an animal better it is really rewarding.”

On the Move

Chicago. Ames. Oregon. Arizona.

Now Dr. Kari Christianson can add a country to the list of places she has lived and worked.

For the past two years, Christianson has worked at WAVES, a 24/7 emergency and specialty hospital in Victoria, British Columbia. She is an emergency and critical care veterinarian at one of only three veterinary hospitals in this sprawling metropolitan area on Vancouver Island.

“It’s been interesting,” Christianson said. “I didn’t know this was how things were going to go when I graduated.”

After leaving Iowa State in 2010, Christianson practiced on the Oregon coast for a year before deciding that state was a little too rainy. She changed it up by moving to Arizona to be near family where she started her own mixed animal practice in the rural White Mountains.

There she treated all types of animals and wildlife, both in the clinic and on the farm.

“I was the only doctor in the area,” Christianson said. “Before I got there they didn’t have a lot of access to service and I was on call essentially 24/7.

“When you have your own clinic it is a never-ending job. There are advantages as never having to compromise or making fun decision about purchasing equipment.”

While Oregon experienced too much precipitation, Christianson dealt with other issues in Arizona. So, when an opportunity to move again came about, Christianson jumped at the chance to live in British Columbia. While the weather is more ideal and the crime is lower, the professional issues she faced in her previous stops were no different in Canada.

“We have lots of clients who are traveling five and six hours to see us,” she said. “Since the pandemic we’ve seen a huge uptick in business but you just have to tell yourself to only concentrate on doing the best you can do.”

While emergency and critical care are her passions, Christianson dabbles in caring for wildlife and exotic animals. She did some zoo work and wildlife rehab while in Arizona. Before moving to Canada, she couldn’t say she had drawn blood from a river otter.

She can say that now.

Christianson can also say she has continued her volunteer work in her new home. While in Arizona, she became active with the local search and rescue team, searching for missing hikers and kids or individuals suffering from dementia who have wandered away from campsites. 

Since moving to Canada, she has started a new dog in training and is waiting to learn if his assessment will allow him to be accepted on a team.

“To be a part of a search and rescue unit involves a lot of training and certification,” she said. “I like to give back to the community and they needed people.

“I love hiking, the outdoors and working with horse and dog teams. I don’t like to have a lot of down time.”

Perfect Fit

Dr. Amanda Ahrens Kress had always planned the traditional veterinary career path. She wanted to work in a mixed animal practice.

She did just that after graduating from Iowa State, first at a clinic in North Dakota for a year followed by five years at a Wyoming clinic.

Something was missing however in Kress’ professional career. She wanted something different, but couldn’t place her finger on what that would be.

A trip to the national AVMA Conference in Denver came at the right time. While at the conference, Kress went to a session on career changes.

“I knew if I was going to move on that private practice wasn’t for me,” Kress said, “but I had no brilliant ideas of what to do next.”

The session Kress attended included careers in lab animals veterinary care. Despite no experience with lab animals, the possibility intrigued Kress. Afterwards she sought out the American Society of Laboratory Animal Practitioners booth in the exhibit hall. 

It turned out to be a perfect fit for Kress.

“The work is still clinical. It’s still hands-on, plus I would be involved in research,” she said.

She made the decision to make a career leap. She applied for residencies and reached out to the Laboratory Animal Resources (LAR) at Iowa State.

Kress was encouraged to apply for an open veterinary position in LAR/ Today she is one of LAR’s veterinarians who provide quality animal care to animals used in Iowa State research projects.

LAR is located in the basement of the College of Veterinary Medicine and although some of the animals are used in research projects undertaken by the college’s faculty, the two organizations are not affiliated.

Ironically, as a veterinary student, Kress was unfamiliar with the office. In fact she says she “would walk right by the office and didn’t realize what it was.”

Kress describes her clinical work as a “mixed animal practice” with a variety of responsibilities. Some days are spent sitting at a computer (“not my favorite days”) and others are spent with clinical responsibilities.

“I still get to do surgeries, although they are different,” she says. “Not as many spays and neuters.” 

She does rounds, looks at sick animals and prescribes treatment plans. She will treat dogs, goats, sheep, rats, mice and hamsters. She had to learn how to give IV injections to mice.

It’s those challenges that Kress loves about her job.

“I still get to do herd health, but it’s more with mice than cattle,” Kress said. “We play a role in making sure the university and its researchers are following all the required protocols and that we meet or exceed expectations in the care of our research animals.

“As a team, we work to help make the various research project successful. I also serve as an advocate for the animals, making sure they have the best welfare possible.”