DR. THOMAS CARLSON
Dr. Tom grew up on a farm in Chokio, Minnesota. In 1989 he graduated from the University of Minnesota with his doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. Since then he has worked at the Cold Spring/St. Joseph/Paynesville Veterinary Clinic. His professional duties have always included all species of animals: large and small.
He lives on a hobby farm with horses, sheep, cats, chickens, etc. In his spare time, he and his family produce pure maple syrup every spring. He gardens a lot during our short growing season and goes fishing way less than he ought to.
DR. CHRIS POWERS
Dr. Powers grew up on a dairy farm near Hawick, MN. He graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2011. His professional interests include bovine ultrasound, calf management, and bovine medicine. In his spare time, Dr. Powers enjoys traveling, grilling, and spending time with his wife Marta.
DR. TRACI DIGGS
Dr. Traci grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She worked as a surgical technician for 10 years while taking classes at the University of Texas, Brownsville before applying to vet school. She graduated from Texas A&M University, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. Dr. Traci has worked with the Cold Spring/St. Joseph/Paynesville Veterinary Clinic since June of 2002. She works with small animals with a special interest in soft tissue surgery. Dr. Traci also volunteers at the Tri-County Humane Society weekly, performing spays and neuters.
Dr. Traci lives in the country with her three dogs (Nellie, Pearl, and Turtle) and a small herd of cats. In her spare time, she likes to travel, read, and cook.
DR. DENNIS BECHTOLD
Dr. Dennis grew up on a dairy farm in St. Joseph. He obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Minnesota, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2005. He has been with the Cold Spring/St. Joseph/Paynesville Veterinary Clinic since 2007. Dr. Dennis’ professional interests are small animal medicine, ultrasound, and dentistry. In addition, he enjoys avian and exotic medicine.
He lives in the Richmond area on a hobby farm with his wife Rachel, who is a Certified Veterinary Technician, and his 2 sons. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family and their two German Shepherds Sarge and Tank. In addition, they have many other pets including cats, a cockatiel, chickens, peafowl, emus, goats, a rabbit, a tortoise, and many others. He also enjoys gardening of all types.
DR. ERICA RAMTHUN
Dr. Erica grew up in Brainerd, MN. She obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. Her professional interests include small animal ophthalmology, neurology, and dentistry.
She currently lives in St. Cloud with her chihuahua, Taz. Outside of veterinary medicine she enjoys playing tennis, fishing, and reading.
DR. LAURA WILLENBRING
Dr. Laura Willenbring BVM&S MSc MRCVS CVA CVFT finished her undergraduate degree in Natural Science (with honors) at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph before going to veterinary school at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, UK, where she also earned her Master’s degree. She is a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Food Safety and Public Health Veterinarians, the American Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the World Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her professional interests include internal and integrated medicine, One Health, preventative health strategies, nutrition, food safety and public health, and hospice/palliative care. She holds certifications in veterinary food therapy and acupuncture, and continues her studies in veterinary herbal medicine and Tui-na veterinary massage. She lives with four furbabies Charlotte (her buddy pictured), Chaucie and Mr. Dickens (orphan and bottle-raised brother kitties), and Remi, a street-smart tomcat who adopted and follows her husband around like a pup. When not celebrating all things feline, veterinary or study, she can be found gardening with her husband, teaching Ayurveda and yoga, and exploring music.
DR. BECKY RIPPLE
Dr. Becky is an experienced, energetic veterinarian with a focused interest in progressive well care, dentistry, and geriatric medicine. She graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2007. She has practiced in an array of settings from a small 2 doctor private hospital, a multi-location mixed practice clinic, and a corporate-owned hospital. Along the way gaining a broad range of knowledge in different medical, surgical and management practices and learning from client-doctor interactions and experiences.
Dr. Becky strives to have a collaborative environment where she can maintain long-term patient and client relationships and continue to be excited about the practice of animal medicine. She enjoys spending time with family exploring state and national parks, maintaining bee hives, bird watching, reading and soap making.
DR. MARTA POWERS
Dr. Marta Powers grew up in Minneapolis, MN and graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary in 2011. She enjoys preventative care, internal medicine, and the topic people would rather not think about, evaluating a pet’s health and quality of life and discussing when it’s time to say goodbye.
In her spare time she enjoys cooking, reading, bird watching, and time with her husband, Chris, and their daughter.