Vancouver veterinarian a leader among his peers

Thomas Meyer has devoted more than 35 years of his life to caring for animals across Clark County. Fresh out of college, he and his wife, Jean, opened Mountain View Veterinary Hospital in the garage of their Ridgefield home in 1979.

In the years since, they’ve cared for cats and dogs — watching as pets slowly became more like children than animals — and provided care to Clark County farmers, keeping their horses, cows, goats, sheep, llamas and alpacas healthy.

And though he recently turned 65, Thomas Meyer has no intention of slowing down.

“What is retirement as long as you’re enjoying (your career)?” Meyer said.

“I’m not one that’s going to find a rocking chair and put my feet up,” he added. “I still got some gas in the tank.”

Instead, Meyer keeps adding more to his already lengthy r?sum?.

In July, Meyer was voted president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association, which has more than 86,000 member veterinarians around the world. He’ll serve as president-elect for a year before being the association president in 2016. Then, he’ll serve one more year as the organization’s past president.

“I’ve been able to experience veterinary medicine as a rewarding career on many facets,” Meyer said. “Our intent is to make sure AVMA helps guide and lead the profession forward.”

Meyer has spent much of his life in Clark County. His family moved to Vancouver in 1957, and he graduated from Ridgefield High School in 1968. Thomas Meyer grew up on a farm and long had an interest in science. So it wasn’t a stretch to see Meyer study biology, zoology and, later, veterinary medicine.

“It became a calling,” Meyer said. “It’s a profession, but it’s also my passion.”

Meyer received his doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Washington State University in 1978. The following year, he married Jean, a classmate at WSU, and together they opened their home-based mixed-animal practice. Jean Meyer handled the small animals, while Thomas Meyer focused on field work caring for farm animals.

Three years later, in 1982, the Meyers opened their practice at its current location in Salmon Creek. The practice continued to grow through the years, requiring two expansions to keep up. The facility now has four exam rooms, a lab, a pharmacy, surgery suites, X-ray rooms, dental workstations and a large-animal room. Meyer also has an ambulatory truck stocked with medications and supplies so he can work in the field.

The practice has five small-animal veterinarians — in addition to Meyer, who focuses on larger animals — and a total of 26 employees.

In October, Meyer will open a new facility behind the hospital called Mountain View Play and Stay — a doggie day care and boarding business. The new building will have a large indoor and outdoor play area, as well as 20 runs and two upscale suites for dogs staying overnight.

“It’s part of my vision to offer full service to our clients and patients,” Meyer said.

In recent years, Meyer has scaled back some of his large-animal field work, as he’s devoted more time to running his practice and serving in leadership roles for state and national veterinary organizations.

When he was working full-time in the field, Meyer spent his days providing routine animal care and responding to emergency calls. A typical day could include preventive care for a horse, equine dentistry and reproductive work at a dairy, he said.

Veterinarians’ involvement in livestock production affects not only animal health, but human health, as well, Meyer said. Veterinarians work in food safety, research, disease control and animal safety and welfare.

“Veterinarians touch everybody’s lives, and you don’t often think about it,” Meyer said.

That involvement in an ever-changing, healing profession is why Meyer has no plans to slow down for retirement.

“I’m hopefully doing something that’s changing people’s lives,” he said.