Oasis Veterinary Hospital

For this week's #TinaTuesday, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. Louisa Asseo, Owner of Oasis Veterinary Hospital located across from the Virginia Hills Shopping Center.  ​First off, let me tell you a little about Dr. Asseo (Louisa).  As a child, her love for animals and a passion for science made the decision to pursue a career in Veterinary medicine a “no brainer”. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in General Biology from UCLA, and then received her DVM degree from UC Davis in 2002. Louisa has practiced in Contra Costa County since her graduation from Veterinary school.  In 2015, she became a Diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners with a specialty certification in dog and cat medicine and surgery. Dr. Asseo has an active interest in exotic animal medicine and dedicates some of her career focus to reptile and small mammal medicine and surgery.  She is an active participant in the international Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) and currently co-chairs a committee for the ARAV.  She is also an active member of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians.  Her focus and dedication to these special species has gained her recognition as one of the leading exotic veterinarians in the area.  She says she'll treat anything with fur or scales.  To serve her local veterinary community, she has served on the board of directors for the Contra Costa Costa Veterinary Medical Association (CCVMA) for the past 6 years and is the current president of the CCVMA.  After being at Hillcrest Veterinary for many years, she was able to realize her dream of opening her own clinic in April of 2016, Oasis Veterinary Hospital, which she formed under the Wiley Corporation (which is named after her late dog "Wiley").  Louisa has a couple of passions...Animals (of course), tropical getaways and diving, so she created her own little "Oasis" right here in Martinez/Pleasant Hill for her animal clients (and it truly has a bit of a tropical feel when you walk in the doors).  Each room is even named after tropical places like Belize, Baja, Bonaire, Palau.  

Her love for animals is also evident at home.  She and her husband (Trevor), currently have 12 animals (and no that does not include Trevor).  ;-)  They have 3 cats, 2 dogs, a squirrel, 2 snakes, a Meyers parrot, 2 turtles and a lizard skink that she has had since 1994.  Now, that's a lot of animal love!  While visiting Louisa at her clinic, I was able to see a few of the exotic and not so exotic animals in her clinic at the time.  I met a Basilisk Lizard (aka, the Jesus Christ Lizard that can run on water), a turtle, a Sugar Glider (which is a nocturnal gliding possum, which I'd never heard of but it's the cutest thing ever!), and 3 of the cutest little kittens that someone had found in a car that was just about to go through a car crusher (thank goodness they found them before that happened).  And of course, I totally wanted to walk out with one of them!  I think if I worked in the same line of business as Louisa, I too would probably have a plethora of animals at home.  I asked Louisa what she wanted people to know about animals that they want to adopt or are adopting, be it exotic or not, and she said..."make sure you know what you're getting into, do research and get them set up right in the beginning."  "Each animal has their own special requirements."  “Also, get them in for a well check, especially if you have questions.”  

Here are some of the services that Oasis provides...

• Health Examinations
• Preventative Medical Care including Vaccines and Parasite Control
• Radiology including consultations with Board Certified Radiologists
• Dental Care including Cleanings and Periodontal Treatment
• Comprehensive Laboratory Services including In-Hospital Laboratory
• Surgery
• Senior Care
• Pain Management
• Pharmacy
• Dermatology
• Neurology
• Orthopedics
• Ophthalmology
• Oncology
• Internal Medicine