Meet the Veterinarians & Team of Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in Oconomowoc! We’re pleased to provide exceptional vet care for your pets! Please call us at (262) 567-2122 to speak to one of our caring veterinary staff members!
Dr. Katrin Witz was born and raised in Germany. She has always had a great interest in animal health. Growing up she gained experience by volunteering at shelters and veterinary clinics, as well as helping the elderly care for their pets. After moving to the US, she worked for many years as a Certified Veterinary Technician at a busy, well-equipped small animal clinic.
Dr. Katrin received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree at the University of Wisconsin, School of Veterinary Medicine. In August 2014 she purchased Oconomowoc Animal Hospital from Dr. Lauridsen. She looks forward to serving the community by providing compassionate veterinary attention to all patients. She values patient care, client education and strives to practice with integrity, treating each animal as her own. She treasures the human-animal bond and tries to guide the owner through all stages of their pet’s life by providing preventive care, medicine, dentistry services and surgery.
Dr. Katrin stays current with the ever-evolving field of Veterinary Medicine by attending continuing education meetings and being an active member of the WVMA (Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association) and the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association).
When not at work, Dr. Katrin likes to spend time with her husband, 2 children, along with their menagerie of furry, feathered and scaly family members. Together they enjoy hiking, camping, kayaking and exploring the great outdoors.
Dr. Dawn Miksic grew up in the Lake Country area and is a 1997 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. She joined the team at Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in 1998. She loves the challenges a busy veterinary practice provides and enjoys helping families care for their pets.
Dr. Miksic lives in Oconomowoc with her daughter. Her hobbies include reading and spending time in the North Woods of Wisconsin at her parent’s cottage canoeing, fishing and swimming.
Dr. Dawn Heraly graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and after practicing at a very busy clinic in Packer Country, she joined Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in 2024. Dr. Dawn uses low-stress techniques with both dogs and cats to make visits at OAH as pleasant as possible and she has a special interest in feline medicine. She finds it very satisfying when she is able to treat an upper respiratory infection in a kitten, manage chronic kidney disease in an adult cat and provide palliative care to a senior kitty to ensure they have a high quality of life. She values kindness and respect when interacting with patients and clients and wants pet parents to feel comfortable discussing their pet’s health and their future goals. She knows that really listening and being compassionate are critical in everyone’s health care journey.
She and her fiancé share their home with their five cats (Boo, Spooky, Autumn, Night and Chip) and Lady Fishers, the fish. When she’s at home, Dr. Dawn enjoys gardening, watching movies, reading and hiking. She also enjoys her creative side using mediums like water colors, painting, sketching and photography.
Stacey has been a Certified Veterinary Technician since 2003. She earned her Associate of Applied Science degree at the Medical Institute of Minnesota (now Argosy University) in 2002. She was employed as a CVT for over 11 years at a very busy small animal practice in SE Wisconsin before coming to Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in 2014. She is passionate about pain management, and preventative care. Her favorite things to do in the clinic are client education and mentoring staff members. She also runs the educational programming at the clinic. She loves talking to kids about the fascinating, fun, smelly and usually gross field of veterinary medicine.
Stacey is married to her high school sweetheart and together they have 2 children, Ayla and TJ. The family has 2 second-hand dogs–a crazy German Shorthaired Pointer named Lainey, a Lab/Beagle mix named Etta, and a blue tongue skink named Milton. In her free time she enjoys being a Girl Scout Leader, reading, and watching her kids do all of their crazy activities.
Stacey loves being a team member at OAH and looks forward to providing excellent veterinary care through all the stages of your pet’s lives.
Amy got her start in veterinary medicine working as a kennel attendant and then as a veterinary technician at MADACC (Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission) in 2007. She then spent 9 years working as a technician at a busy small animal hospital before starting at OAH in October of 2017. She enjoys working with people and their pets through all of life’s stages–from puppy visits to senior wellness exams. She wants pet parents and their furry companions to be relaxed and comfortable while at the vet to help ensure their visits are as stress and worry-free as possible.
Amy grew up with a large array of animals including rabbits, lizards, birds & horses, which started her love for animals. Amy lives with her husband, Kris, their cattle dog mix, Lilly, their cats Willow and Boosty, a blue-tongued skink and 4 snakes. In her spare time she enjoys going to the race track, camping, fishing, hiking, reading and bonfires with friends. Amy has been part of our OAH family since 2017.
Sarah graduated from MATC Madison Veterinary Technician program in 2014 and spent the last 8 years working at a clinic in SE Wisconsin before joining us at OAH in the fall of 2022. Her favorite part of veterinary care is providing client education so her patients are as happy and healthy as possible.
Sarah grew up in and still lives in Ixonia with her husband, James, and her daughter, Norah. Stella the dog and Timothy the turtle (affectionately nick-named Turbo) complete her family. When she is not working, Sarah enjoys reading, baking, and taking trips to Door County and the Milwaukee County Zoo.
Cherri grew up in Whitewater, WI with a variety of different animals including cats, dogs, rabbits, leopard geckos, and snakes. She started her career working with animals on a dairy farm in Whitewater and also showed dairy cattle, rabbits, and horses through the local FFA. After high school, Cherri attended UW-Whitewater where she received a bachelor’s degree in biology in the spring of 2019. While attending school, Cherri worked as a veterinary assistant for 5 years. Cherri joined the Oconomowoc Animal Hospital team in 2023.
Cherri currently lives in Whitewater with her fiancé, her sister, and a multitude of animals including Robert the black lab, 3 cats; Ashes, Doobie, and Ziggy, and many reptiles including a bearded dragon, leopard geckos, and 3 snakes. In her free time, Cherri enjoys spending time with her friends and family, fishing, and being outside.
Sarah’s love and fascination for animals started when she was very young with her own family pets. Not only did she push her cat around in a baby carriage and train the family dogs, she bred hamsters and guppies for the local pet store. As a teenager she began rescuing birds and other local wildlife. She also had summer jobs at local horse stables and the Michigan City Zoo. Her interest didn’t wane as she continue into her college years where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with an emphasis on Animal Behavior and a minor in Biology. Sarah also had some amazing experiences working for John Ball Zoo and volunteering at wildlife centers in Grand Rapids during the summers.
After college, Sarah moved to the Milwaukee area and worked at a pet store, ran her own pet-sitting business and volunteered for a local no-kill shelter. She gained valuable experience working at another large veterinary clinic for 13 years before coming to work at Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in 2014.
Sarah is married with 2 wonderful children and a house full of furry, feathered and scaled family members.
Zach has been in the veterinary field since 2017. He attend the Milwaukee Career College and got his first job at WVRC running anesthesia for the surgery department. He joined our amazing team at OAH in 2022. His favorite part of his job is reuniting our patients with their parents after surgeries and seeing them so happy to see each other after a day apart.
Zach just adopted a 4 year old terrier mix, Griffey, who is named after his favorite baseball player, Ken Griffey Jr. In his spare time, Zach umpires baseball games and has a goal of seeing all 30 MLB ballparks. He also enjoys hiking, disc golf and watching a good horror movie. He’s incredibly happy to be a part of such a great team and very grateful to work at OAH.
Originally from Texas, Andi worked in Dallas as a veterinary technician for 10 years before moving to Ixonia in July of 2022 with her fiancé. She is very excited to be a part of the Oconomowoc Animal Hospital family!
Andi and her fiancé live with Demi the Doberman and BMO the cat. She plans to become a certified veterinary technician within the next few years. In her spare time she likes to spend time with friends and play guitar, and she is a sucker for a good video game.
Lauren was born and raised in the Lake Country area and grew up with a variety of critters including dogs, cats, bunnies, a chinchilla, leopard gecko, fish and guinea pigs. She started her career with animals working at a local dairy farm where her favorite thing to do was taking care of the calves.
During her senior year of high school Lauren participated in a DEA program for Firefighters/EMTs. After the program she realized she really enjoyed working with animals, and she joined Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in 2021. She left us briefly for an exciting move to Arizona but we’re so happy she decided Wisconsin (& OAH) are more her style.
Lauren currently lives in Ixonia with her husband, their dog, River, and their cat, Bruno. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family, camping, gardening, hiking and walking her dog.
Jae began their veterinary career path fresh out of high school! At first, they truly didn’t know what they wanted to do after graduating, but Jae decided to go with their heart. Initially they were going to enroll in UW-Milwaukee, but made a last minute change and decided to pursue a college that focused specifically on veterinary medicine. There were certainly struggles along the way, and it was a big leap to make these choices. Nonetheless, Jae jumped right into vet med studies at Milwaukee Career College, and graduated the accelerated classes with new skills to get them on their feet in the vet world!
Laurie has been working at the front desk of Oconomowoc Animal Hospital since September 2002. She loves animals and enjoys working with dogs and cat. She also enjoys seeing our new reptile friends. One of Laurie’s favorite things at OAH is interacting with pet owners. She has made many wonderful friendships over the years.
Outside of work Laurie enjoys spending time with her husband and their cats. In the warmer Wisconsin months she loves to garden and hang laundry out to dry. In the colder Wisconsin months she loves watching the Green Bay packers and movies with her husband.
Amanda graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a BA in psychology. She’s worked in the veterinary field for over 20 years and was employed at a very busy small animal practice in SE Wisconsin before coming to Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in 2019.
Amanda shares her home with her beautiful brown tabby rescue cat Fiona and her other rescue cat, Amelia. In her free time Amanda enjoys spending time with her family and friends, gardening, baking, reading and crafting. She is very excited and happy to be part of the OAH family.
Debbie has been working in various veterinary clinics for nearly all of her adult life and has been at OAH since 2016. She enjoys critters of all shapes and sizes, and if she’s not at home with her 4 Golden Retrievers, 2 cats and 24 chickens, she’s enjoying her work at our veterinary hospital! She always has fun exchanging stories of life with pets with our wonderful clients.
Debbie’s golden boys keep her running, as they keep busy with agility trials, field and obedience competitions, and occasionally play “pretty dog” at conformation shows. When she gets some time to herself, Debbie enjoys gardening, which can be challenging when the dogs try to help her!
Tasha has always had two loves–animals and art. In 1995 she joined those two passions and became a professional pet groomer. She enjoyed making pets feel better and look great. Over the years, the physicality and strain of dog grooming took a toll on her. Tasha and her husband, Mike, decided to start a family, and she transitioned to the front office in veterinary service. She joined Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in summer of 2019.
Tasha’s priorities remain her family (both furry and non-furry), feline behavior and stretching her creative abilities when she finds time. She is happy to have found a home at OAH where the like-minded environment shares her love of helping people and animals.
Kristi moved to Oconomowoc in 2020. She has lived in five states over the past 20 years and finally settled in Wisconsin near her husband’s family. She has a MSW (Master of Social Work) from Nebraska and worked as a social worker before taking time off to be home with her two boys. Her sons are now in college and she wanted to do what she loves best, helping people and sharing their love of pets. She joined OAH in 2021.
Kristi and her husband have 2 dogs at home, Shih Tzus Lacey and Stella. When she’s not at Oconomowoc Animal Hospital she enjoys reading, gardening and traveling to see friends.
Heike joined Oconomowoc Animal Hospital in November, 2014. She was born in Germany and lived there until June of 2010. She has had different jobs throughout her life and most enjoyed a professional office environment. She is working on many office and administrative projects at OAH.
When Heike came to the United States she spoke very little English and has worked very hard to learn the language. Heike is lucky enough to see her grandchildren daily and when not at work she enjoys exloring her creative side creating art projects experimenting with different types of medias, reading, gardening and spending time with her husband, Ralf, and their cat, Pirate Annie.
Jack spent a few days with us when he developed his first urinary obstruction. While we do our best to control their pain and discomfort, it’s not always fun for them to be here. Once he was feeling better we sent him home. He re-obstructed within 24 hours and his family was at a crossroads.
We gladly took Jack back in and he’s been a part of our OAH family since June of 2017. He has 20+ women who fawn over him daily, feed him his special urinary food, rescue him from dogs, bend to his every whim and listen to him complain loudly when he thinks he’s dying because we’re not punctual enough with his dinner (his opinion).
He has several beds throughout the clinic and relishes spending some occasional supervised time upfront. He can only be in our reception area under very close supervision because he likes to go shopping. His favorite is the largest bag of Hills I/D dog food and he will chew his way into the bag in a matter of seconds!
You can frequently find Jack on our Facebook and Instagram pages because we just can’t stand how cute he is.
Clarence the bearded dragon joined our OAH family in June of 2019 after he was surrendered to a local pet store. We don’t know much of anything about him except that he is a super chill, friendly boy, unless we try to feed him kale (see more about that below).
His tank is in the office so he can watch some of the hustle and bustle of daily life in the clinic. He gets especially excited when kitties spend some time in the office. He loves when kids come to visit him and he likes to show off his bug-catching and eating skills for his visitors. He loves spicy veggies like mustard greens, cilantro and arugula along with the occasional blueberry, strawberry and peppers, but if we even try to slip a small piece of kale in with his hand-fed salad, he will go and pout in the corner.
