Cindy graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. From there she taught and was the director of a preschool  for 5 years. She has always loved animals and wanted to work with them. Throughout her career, she started working in a pet store (when she was 13), multiple Veterinary Practices for cat and dogs, A Veterinary practice that specializes in exotic, and in two Veterinary ER and Specialty Hospitals. She has been in the field for over 25 years.  The most rewarding part of her career has been able to help so many families and their beloved pets throughout the years. 

Cindy is married to her wife, Patty, who also works in the veterinary field as a technician. Together, they have two dogs: Zander and Odie; and four cats:  Loki; Nutmeg; Otter; and Dottie. One of her greatest life accomplishments has been marrying her wife. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, scrapbooking, gardening, and enjoying nature. In fact, she loves Yellowstone National Park, and makes it a point to go there every year! 

Esther is our senior surgical veterinary technician. She attended Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois where she earned an associate degree in Veterinary Technology. Growing up on a farm, Esther has always been surrounded by animals.

Aside from dogs and cats, she also loves horses. She counts walking thoroughbreds as one of her favorite activities. She recently rescued a retired racehorse, and enjoys spending ‘therapy time’ with her. When not at work, Esther enjoys traveling, cooking and spending time with her husband, Scott, and her dog Nebbio, and horse Moon. 

Allie has always loved animals and knew from a very early age that her passion would ultimately lead to a career.  Allie became a member of the team part-time in 2007 and has been here ever since.  She attended Augustana College in Rock Island, IL where she obtained a degree in psychology and a minor in biology as well as worked as a student athletic trainer.  After graduating, she held a position in a school working with children with special needs while still working hours part time at Fox Animal Hospital.  

In 2020, Allie became a full time veterinary technician and is continuing her studies through the Penn Foster veterinary technician program.   

When she isn’t working she enjoys horseback riding, baking, planting, watching sports and spending time with her family. 

Lucy chose veterinary medicine because she prefers animals over people. Some of her favorite experiences in the field so far have been participating in the Blood Donor Program and going to the firehouse to help firemen triage pets. Lucy has a menagerie of pets at home, including 3 dogs, Mr. Fluffer, Cici, and Kaya; 4 cats, Luigi, Cloud, Thomas, and Sebastian; and 6 chickens. In her free time, Lucy loves readin, going to concerts, haunted houses, and watching movies. 

Alyssa has always loved animals and the outdoors. She earned her associate degree from the Bel-Rea Institute, obtained her technician certification in Colorado, and is now working on getting her Illinois certification. Alyssa started working at pet stores as soon as she was old enough. However, she didn’t find the work very rewarding, so she decided to go into veterinary medicine. Alyssa has now spent over 20 years in the industry. Her passion is working with senior pets and handling behavioral cases. 

Alyssa and her husband have 2 children and multiple pets, including Pit Bulls Ridge and Zoe; Wowie the Chihuahua; Barry the bearded dragon, and 4 tanks’ worth of fish. In her spare time, Alyssa enjoys hiking, camping, reading, gardening, and aqua-scaping her fish tanks. 

Jen’s love for animals began when she was a child and continued as she grew up and traveled to Lima, Peru with her family. Seeing the poor living conditions of the stray dogs there led her to adopt a stray and inspired her to pursue a career in the veterinary field. When she isn’t caring for sick pets, Jen loves singing in her band, playing the trumpet in her free time, and spending time with her 3 dogs and 2 cats. Although she greatly enjoys caring for animals as part of the Fox team, Jen considers her second love to be music. 

Austin chose a position in the veterinary field because of his grandfather, who was a significant role model and taught him nearly everything he knew. Growing up surrounded by various animals, including ducks, a bearded dragon, a ferret, multiple dogs, and cats, Austin developed a deep passion for animal care. The most rewarding aspect of Austin’s job is helping families with their pets. He understands the frustration of having a misdiagnosed animal and values being part of a dedicated team that strives to prevent such issues. 

His fiancé, Bryana, has been his greatest support system throughout his vet tech career. Austin feels incredibly fortunate to have such a wonderful partner by his side. Outside of work, Austin enjoys playing board games or the Wii with his fiancé and listening to music. He considers his career in the veterinary industry his greatest life accomplishment, as it allows him to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and do what they both love. Currently, Austin has three beloved pets: Reign, a 4-year-old purebred German Shepherd; Shiloh, a 4-year-old mix of Labrador, Beagle, and other breeds; and Patches, a 1-year-old Harley Quinn rabbit. 

Although I started out like many of us and chose veterinary medicine as a career for over 20 years, I have since changed careers to go into human medicine. Oh no worries, I’m still working part-time in veterinary medicine. As I love animals. I have the best of both worlds with both careers.
I started working with Fox Animal Hospital and an emergency clinic. While I currently don’t have any furry family members, I get to love on the fur-babies that come.

My career in human medicine I work as an Interventional Radiology Technologist. I love what I do and the people I work with.
In my free time, I love to read and watch sports. Go Cubs!!!

Elyssa comes to us with an interesting background! She earned her Juris Doctor degree from Southwestern Law School, but chose to forego a career in law. Instead, she chose to follow her passion for veterinary medicine and we couldn’t be happier that she did! Elyssa finds that the most rewarding part of her position is working with and getting to know all of the animals we see! 

Tacoma is one of our certified veterinary technicians. She started working here in June 2017. She loves spending time with her daughter. They also have two dogs at home named Diva and Heavy.

Klaudia joined Fox in September of 2023 when she moved back to the area after living in the PNW for the last 8 years. While in the PNW, she attended Willamette University and received her Bachelors degree in biology with minors in chemistry and anthropology.

Her and her family have always had animals growing up from dogs to cats to guinea pigs. In college she rescued her own dog, a German shepherd mix named Hazel. A few years later, Klaudia added to her little family with her horse, Kenna, then another German shepherd, Olive, and finally a cat, Booger. Booger was rescued from a car engine as a kitten and had a sinus infection that Klaudia got her treatment for and thought it was only fitting to name her after all the snot bubbles she was blowing in those first couple of weeks. In her free time, you can find Klaudia horseback riding, hanging out with her dogs outdoors, eating or napping. 

Mary Kay (MK) is a veterinary technician assistant. After spending many years working in an office, she realized it just wasn’t fulfilling. So, she traded her business casual attire for scrubs and animals, and it was the best decision she ever made! Because of her remarkable ability to keep scared and painful animals calm and comfortable, she has earned the title of Fox Animal Hospital’s “Comfort Care Specialist.” She is also considered a cat whisperer. MK has been with the practice for almost 20 years.

She is the mother of two grown children and a grandmother of four. She has two cats of her own, Juniper and Nugget (she once had 8 cats all at one time!). MK loves spending time with her family and working on word games and puzzles. She also loves to buy weird things online, like “as seen on tv.” 

Growing up, Carson had 5 dogs and 3 cats, which inspired him to go into veterinary medicine. His ultimate goal is to pursue a career in biomedical research. He is currently working on a degree in biological systems engineering at UNL. Carson has 2 cats at home; an orange domestic longhair named Cosmo and a shorthaired tuxedo named Jojo.

Along with being a part of our team, Carson has volunteered with the Street Dog Coalition to aid the homeless. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games, watching movies, and cuddling with his cats. 

Silvia joined the Fox Animal Hospital Team as a receptionist in 2020. She graduated from Loyola University with degrees in Political Science and Public Relations in 2019. She has been a lifelong lover of animals and has two pets; a cat named Lilah and dog named Percy. Silvia coordinates our social media and loves getting to have photoshoots with all the clients! In her free time she can be found horseback riding, baking (and eating), or reading.  

Jymmy has always loved pets. He started his journey in vet med at an animal ER, and has worked in veterinary rehab, oncology, and general practice for the last 14 years. Jymmy enjoys using his 30+ years of customer service experience to help pets and people. He and his husband, Joe, share their home with three dogs and two cats: Krueger, a Boxer/German Shepherd mix; Emmit, a Westie mix; Crawford, a Pitbull/Shepherd mix; Sin, a blonde domestic shorthair tabby; and Fury, a domestic longhair tuxedo cat. 

Some of Jymmy’s favorite things to do outside work include cooking and baking. He’s also obsessed with rollercoasters, and he loves squirrels. He became proficient in reading at the age of 4 and has seen the movie “Drop Dead Gorgeous” over 400 times. 

I don’t have any pets, but I love animals, specifically my best friend’s cat Simba who I consider my stepson after rooming with them for a year. He’s a sneaky but also cuddly orange cat. I have a lot of experience working with people so I figured this job would be a good combo of my skill set and passion for animals.

Outside work, I love reading, hanging out with my partner and friends, and writing. As I go through this transition period between college and life, I hope to grow and collect enough stories and knowledge to one day write a book about my life. As well as maybe a TV or movie adaptation.

Coming soon!