April Van Valin

Medical Director

Dr. Van Valin is no stranger to helping enrich the lives of Northwest Animal Hospital's clients and their pets. Prior to joining Northwest Animal Hospital as an associate veterinarian in November 2017, she spent 15 years of her life working with pets and animals in our community. In fact, the first job she ever held was with Northwest Animal Hospital working as a kennel assistant, then moving into the veterinary technician role. She worked part time with Northwest while attending college for her undergraduate degree and throughout veterinary school.

After completing her undergraduate degree in Microbiology at Colorado State University, she went on to obtain her Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She then attended Iowa State University where she obtained her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine in May 2012. After practicing in the Pikes Peak Region for five years, she took some time off from work to welcome son, Brendan, to her family. She is excited to be able to come home to Northwest Animal Hospital and continue giving back to this wonderful community. In June of 2019, she welcomed her second son, Isacc, to her family.

As a general practitioner and Medical Director of VCA Northwest Animal Hospital, Dr. Van Valin provides primary care for pets of all ages, and her special interests include internal medicine, with an emphasis on endocrinology, feline medicine, and dentistry. Preventative care is also one of her areas of focus. In addition to her dedication in providing superior quality of medicine and service to our patients, Dr. Van Valin's other favorite part of working for Northwest Animal Hospital is the relationships that are formed with clients and patients. "Building long-term relationships with our patients and their families, and becoming part of their extended family brings me great joy and satisfaction."

Outside of her work life, Dr. Van Valin enjoys singing in an A Capella barbershop show chorus (she hopes to win a national contest with her chorus one day), running (she'd love to eventually run a half-marathon), curling (where she holds the position of Skip on her curling team), reading, horseback riding, and painting. She also loves spending time with her husband (Brett), son (Brendan), their two dogs (Remington and Ronin), and their cats (Wilber and Henry).

Something that most people do not know about Dr. Van Valin is that it is one of her life goals to star in a Broadway music