Sometimes it is hard to find your true calling and other times, you just seem to be born with it. Dr. Kelly Brawner of 30A Vet is one of the latter; before she could even remember, she loved animals.
“The way my parents tell it, my first word was dog, not dad,” Brawner laughed. “I grew up on a professional quarter-horse farm in Alabama, so animals were just our way of life. We had mainly horses, but we also bred Labrador Retrievers, had some goats, a few cows and a fish tank.”
Growing up with a physician as her father, Kelly said that she always knew she would go into medicine of some sort. From her first job as a pharmacist, to working in a large animal practice during high school, Kelly got to try her hand at a little bit of everything. Still, it wasn’t until she was a few semesters into her undergraduate degree that she decided to focus on her true passion; animal medicine.
“At first, I was intrigued by everything from aerospace to marine biology, but I’ve always loved and had compassion for animals, it’s always been my thing,” she said. “I went the pre-med route but changed my major to zoology during my undergrad at Auburn."
From there, Kelly went on to finish her graduate studies at St. Matthew's University then began a hard and fast-paced job in a specialty hospital in Fort Myers.
“It was hard working in an emergency animal hospital, but I learned a lot,” she said. “Now, I just want to bring the best of animal medicine here to the Destin area.”
When it comes to unique offerings to veterinary medicine in the area, 30A Vet is one of the only practitioners in the area to offer laser therapy. This therapy is unique in that it does not use invasive measures to treat inflammation and can be used to target a variety of different ailments.
"Laser therapy is a red-light laser that we use, that helps with cell regeneration,” said 30A Vet Practice Manager Chelcie Barden. “It helps to heal damaged cells and even multiply and regenerate cells. We can use it for ear infections, post-surgery incisions, practically everything except cancer because you do not want cancer cells to multiply or regenerate.”
Kelly explained that the laser technology can be customized to each patient down to the minute details of weight, hair length and skin type and can be dialed into target tissues at the molecular level.
“I call it my Voodoo magic,” Kelly said “I can see my patients relax during the therapy and it can be utilized on any tissue that is inflammatory but not cancerous. It has worked wonders for my personal family as well.”
Nestled in the heart of Gulf Place, on Scenic Highway 30A, 30A Vet offers a boutique veterinary experience. The clinic has been serving dogs and cats of every size in the 30A area since 2013, with Dr. Kelly Brawner acquiring the practice in 2018.
"We’re super small at 900-square feet, but we squeeze a lot in with three exam rooms and a surgical suite," Kelly said. "We are very blessed with the clients that trust us to care for their pets. We treat everybody like family, and stay very involved with the community.”
