For many people, the beginning of January often includes planning and making goals for the year ahead and many times those goals include prioritizing health and wellness. While it’s crucial to take care of yourself, it’s also important to take care of your furry
friends.
When it comes to making sure your pet is healthy, it’s key to have a veterinarian that you trust. But when scheduling vet appointments becomes another thing on the to-do-list, or when your pet is sick and needs immediate care, sometimes getting an
appointment becomes a challenge. That’s why Williamson County Animal Hospital has a unique model, operating as a walk-in hospital to bring convenience and prompt care to your pets whether they are sick or injured or if it’s just their annual checkup.
Since 1975, the team at Williamson County Animal Hospital has helped care for the pets of the area. They know that pets are like members of the family and when they are sick or injured immediate care is important. They even offer urgent care and service after normal office hours throughout the week.
This past fall, the team of over 20 employees expanded as Dr. Courtney Beasley joined the practice, bringing her knowledge and love of animals to the hospital. A native of Parsons in West Tennessee, Dr. Beasley earned her undergraduate degree from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville where she majored in animal science with a minor in biological science before completing veterinary school at Auburn University. She says the practice’s positive work environment and Christian-based morals and values drew her to Williamson County Animal Hospital, as well as it being a privately owned practice.
She is currently in her third year as a veterinarian but has known since she was a child that being a vet is what she was meant to do. “I just knew in kindergarten it’s what I wanted to do,” she remembers. “I would say even more so around sixth grade because I had my own personal pet get sick and kind of having that helpless feeling. I didn't want to ever really feel that again.”
Growing up, Dr. Beasley had a lot of animals in her home and her family pets went far beyond your typical dogs and cats. She had those as well as horses, chickens, rabbits, fish, and lizards. Having such an array of pets has benefitted her profession as she cares for a variety of animals including dogs, cats, exotic animals, reptiles, small mammals, and birds. “I have seen and treated wildlife in the past, as well. So I'll see them here, too, in the future,” she says, as she works with Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
on that process.
When it comes to making sure your pets stay in the best of health, Dr. Beasley highly encourages they get a vet checkup every year. “For just a general healthy animal, your yearly visits are usually sufficient. But if you’ve got a geriatric, ‘senior’ in animals is usually seven and up for a dog or a cat— younger in your big breeds—if they've got issues or for monitoring things usually they should see a vet every six months. If they have more serious issues, then that's kind of case-by-case, but I would say for your older ones, six months to a year depending on how they’re doing and what’s going on.”
Additionally, Dr. Beasley says one of the best wellness treatments that you can do for your pets is a simple practice that can be done at home: brushing their teeth every day. “Brushing their teeth, that is the gold standard in preventing plaque buildup with the
teeth” she says. “The teeth are one of the big, big issues with just small and large breed and that can lead to a lot of other health issues too. Consider having some type of dental regimen whether it be with a certified chew or water additive. but brushing the teeth actually gets in there and knocks all of the buildup off.” She encourages brushing teeth daily for dogs, cats, and even Bearded Dragons, which can be done with a cotton swab.
Another wellness marker that she encourages tracking is your pet’s weight. “Keeping an eye on the weight and knowing what a healthy weight is for that specific breed is important,” says Dr. Beasley.
When she’s not busy looking after the animals of Williamson County, Dr. Beasley is hanging out with her own crew of pets which include her 11-year-old boxer, three cats, and a snake. With such a busy work environment, she enjoys relaxing hobbies like
reading and painting but also is big into photography—primarily wildlife and landscape—as well as traveling and snowboarding. “I do a lot of traveling and hiking [and] camping. I just got back from Iceland in October, so I was there for two weeks. We were in a camper van around the island,” she says of the trip where she got to witness the Northern Lights.
Williamson County Animal Hospital was voted as The Sizzle Awards’ “Best Animal Practice” in 2024, which recognizes the best businesses in Williamson County. WCAH.org