MEET THE STAFF

Dr. Katheryn Hinkle - Veterinarian - Medical Director - Owner
Dr. Hinkle is a 1990 graduate of Colorado State University and began practicing in Sonoma County for over 17 years, founding "The Animal Hospital of Cotati" in 1998. She says that the seed of being a veterinarian was planted early in life, and then reinforced with a position working in New Mexico during high school with a veterinarian specializing in wild animal rescue. She comes from a science background, with her parents holding multiple degrees in computing and physics, which provided her with a wonderful background to approach veterinary medicine with an integrated approach, offering bioresonance. She lives in Petaluma with her husband Carlton, her two children Samantha and Tim, and her two dogs, three cats.

Dr. Mary Ellen Leavey
Dr. Leavey is a 1993 graduate of the University of California at Davis. She has practiced in Northern California for over 15 years. Prior to becoming a veterinarian, Mary Ellen worked for the National Parks Service in resource management, which was a job that sparked her interest in veterinary medicine. She lives in Petaluma with her two dogs, two cats, and her very understanding husband, Greg.

Mary Ellen is very happy to have found a home at Animal Hospital of Cotati and says that she truly enjoys surgery, but if she had to pick her favorite aspect of being a veterinarian, it would be the personal interactions with the owners of the animals with which she has the privilege to work.

Dr. Laura Adams
Dr. Adams is a 1995 graduate of the University of California at Davis. She has practiced in Northern California for over 15 years. She lives in Sebastopol with her dog, four cats, two horses and her husband, Ken. Dr. Adams is a Certified Veterinarian/Acupuncturist and loves to be able to provide clients with the option of integrated medical options. She provides the highest-level possible of “Western” medicine as well as being able to provide them with the “Alternative” options such as Acupuncture and Bioresonance. This allows us to truly pick what is best for the animal.

Dr. Jill Mercado - Veterinarian
Dr. Jill Mercado is a 2005 Graduate of the University of California at Davis and has been practicing for 6 years. The part of veterinary medicine that she loves the most is being able to truly help the animals she treats and seeing an improvement in quality of life for everyone. Jill Mercado, DVM

Katerina Kidwell - Veterinarian
Dr. Kidwell is a 1993 graduate of University of California at Davis. She has practiced for over 13 years. She loves the veterinary field and specifically the incredible bond between animals and owners. Dr. Kidwell is also the proud parent of triplet boys and we have been able to utilize her multitasking skills that she has fortunately perfected with her busy home life.

Heather Hughes - Head Receptionist
Heather was born and raised in Petaluma, where she still lives on the same street as her parents, grandparents, and great grandmother, Mary. She has two dogs, a sweet black lab named Waylon and a beautiful pitbull named Dalila. In her spare time (which isn't much) she enjoys reading, writing and spending time with her brothers, T.J. and Garrett. She is also studying to achieve her Veterinary Practice Management Degree, and would one day like to be the manager of the Animal Hospital of Cotati.

Lisa Ostello – Receptionist
Lisa was born in San Francisco but raised in Santa Rosa where she lives with her son Joe, and her daughter, Megan. Her second set of kids includes two dogs named Shorty and Chiquita. She enjoys spending her free time with her boyfriend Kerry, shooting pool, going to car shows, camping and just being with friends.

Barbara Crouch - Receptionist
Barbara loves her work as a receptionist because she truly loves people and believes that the nicest people are always animal lovers. She comes to us from a professional medical background but as required is a true animal lover as well. Barbara has two cats, Steve and Little Man who sometimes drive her crazy but also love her very much. Barbara favorite pet is a gray shorthair husband named "Jeff". During her free time you might find her spending time with her grandson Sebastian, or you just might find her making noise on the streets on her Harley as this lady is no typical grandma.

Tina Wright - Head Veterinary Technician
Tina attended the Veterinary Technician Program at Yuba College and has worked in both emergency and general practice veterinary medicine since 1980. Tina is a certified Veterinary Technician and has additionally received her certification in veterinary dentistry. Tina is extremely proud and devoted to her son Christopher, her granddaughter Marlee. She lives in Cotati with her crazy Chihuahua named Pebbles and her boyfriend Steve. She also has Adam, a semi-famous cat that she helped rescue after he was severely burned in June of 2007. Her hobbies include scuba diving, backpacking and watching movies at home.

Zineb Caron – Veterinary Assistant
She says she doesn't have, but is actually owned by a naughty Beagle named Shiley who keeps her in Petaluma. Her free time is spent traveling, outdoors, snowboarding with family and friends.

Scott Werner - Veterinary Technician
Scott has substantial experience working in the veterinary industry. He previously worked in the field as well as owned clinics in Arvada Colorado. Scott is a certified Animal Health Technician, and an extremely valuable resource for the hospital. Scott spends his free time hanging out with friends and enjoys hiking.

Nicole Grey - Veterinary Technician Assistant
If you look up true animal lover in any respectable reference material, it will show you a photo of Nicole. She is a true animal love and takes her position at our hospital very seriously. Everyone at the hospital strives to make every animal as comfortable as possible but Nicole goes above and beyond to not only make sure they are comfortable, but enjoying there stay. Nicole was instrumental in helping us design our cat room to make it as relaxing of an environment as possible for our feline friends. Nicole is a pleasure to work with and is a extremely interesting person that has seem much of the world and we are very lucky to have her as a member of the Animal Hospital of Cotati Family. Nicole is owned by a beautiful black cat named Howard.

Megan Bullis - Veterinary Technician Assistant
Megan is a hard working college student. In addition to her education, she is a member of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau and is active in the Young Farmers and Ranchers. Megan is an avid horseman and has a sweet cattle dog named "Dixie" who keeps her active hiking at their favorite local spots.

David Burns - Veterinary Technician Assistant
David is a recent transplant from Ukiah where he worked in a leading veterinary clinic in that area for four years. Dave has a cat named Kes but is also a dog lover. David is currently pursuing his veterinary technician certification at SRJC and is enjoying living in the Santa area. In his free time Dave likes to spend his time gaming, playing frisbee golf, hiking and hang out with his friends and girlfriend. Dave is looking forward to one day owning a motorcycle spending time exploring the great back roads of Northern California.

Liz Pierce - Veterinary Technician Assistant
Liz has worked in the veterinary industry for over five years. She enjoys her position at the hospital very much enjoys working with the animals and there owners. Liz has a BA in Anthropology from Berkley and she truly loves to travel and experience other cultures. Just prior to Liz joining our hospital she spent the previous four months working in Ghana West Africa working with mothers and children providing medical support including vaccines. She spends her free time with Ryan, boyfriend she is devoted to and her stepdaughter Zoe. Liz believes she is lucky to live in the same area as her parents and sister and enjoys spending time with her family.

Carlton Hinkle – Owner – Hospital Manager
Carlton is a really great guy, but then he is also the one writing this.

Carlton is originally from Roswell New Mexico, and attended New Mexico State University where he received a BA in Marketing. His most recent work experience outside the management of the hospital has included 18 years working for a division of Ogilvy Advertising. He lives in Petaluma with two dogs, three cats, his beautiful wife Kathy, his quick-witted son Tim, and his amazing daughter Samantha.