Senior Veterinarian & Clinical Leader

Dr Karen Spencer

BVSc (Hons)

Dr Karen has had a deep love and affinity for animals since the day she was born. She grew up in Cairns where she was surrounded by dogs, cats, chickens, fish, yabbies, birds, tadpoles and whatever other creature she could lure home and convince her parents was a stray that needed a home. Her inspiration for being a vet was watching ‘A Country Practice’ which led her to believe that all vets were female and had a pet wombat. Her happiest childhood memories include dressing her beloved cat Nutmeg up in her baby clothes and pushing her around in a doll’s pram, and taking her favourite bantam chicken Marmalade to school for show and tell where she laid an egg much to the delight of all the other children. Once Dr Karen declared at age three she was going to be a vet there was no turning back and she graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (Hons) in 2001. Following university, Dr Karen has worked exclusively in small animal practice in south east Queensland and also in the UK for 2 years where she met many exotic pets and travelled extensively to many countries.

Dr Karen has been a part of the Wilston Vet team since 2014 and gains immense joy from the long-term relationships she has built with patients and clients alike. She is an exceptional general practice veterinarian with a wealth of knowledge and skills that she loves to share with other staff and clients at every opportunity. Throughout Dr Karen’s career she has undertaken many hours of continuing education to ensure that the most up to date knowledge and techniques can be passed on to your pet.

Dr Karen’s areas of interest as a vet include Internal Medicine, Soft tissue Surgery, Dentistry, Dermatology and complex geriatric case management including pain management. Her greatest joy comes from investigating complex cases and developing practical solutions for both the client and patient and you can guarantee she will not rest until she has an answer for every case. Dr Karen will always go the extra mile for you and your pet and you can be certain that she will do it with humour and compassion along the way.

Outside of work Dr Karen shares her home with her husband, two small human boys, a cat called Clarabel plus whatever resident foster kitten/wildlife patient she has brought home that week. Dr Karen enjoys long distance running, supporting other women in achieving their health and fitness goals, plus going on weekend adventures to the beach, art galleries, bush walking, baking, catching up with friends over coffee and attempting to keep her new collection of fickle house plants alive.

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