Sammy

Do you have any nicknames?
My nickname is Sammy, short for Samantha. I’ll go by Sammy or Sam, but I avoid using the name, Samantha. My full name reminds me of when I was little whenever I got in trouble…

In your words, what is your job at Frontier?
Part of my job is nursing care, and the other part is technical work. I perform wound care treatment, take blood samples, administer vaccines, perform dental cleanings, and anesthetize and prepare patients for surgeries. I also run lab work, take radiographs, dispense medications, and much more. Above all, my job is to be an advocate for all animals!

Why did you decide to work at Frontier?
I started working here as an assistant while I was going to tech school. When I did my interviews here, I immediately felt like I could start my career here. My fellow co-workers are super friendly, patient, and extremely knowledgeable, and skilled. The environment in this hospital is warm and welcoming, and I felt secure bringing my own pets here for check-ups.

Do you have any pets?
I have a number of pets! Three cats and four chickens, to be exact. Jada, Bebe, and Maple are my girl kitties, all sassy in their own way. Jada is a seven-year-old brown/grey tabby whom I rescued from a barn when she was just four weeks old. Bebe is a ten-year-old brown tabby whom we adopted from Bonnie Hays Animal Shelter in 2013. Maple is a nine-year-old tortie whom my boyfriend adopted as a kitten.

Jada has a tall cat tree that she lays on for 90% of the day and loves watching birds. She chitters at them when they’re chirping really loud. Bebe is a quiet girl who stays in the room most of the time. When new people come over, she hides, and it takes months of coming over consistently for her to get used to them! Maple is kind of a chunky girl who needs to lose a few pounds, but back in her day; she was quite the bird hunter before we decided to keep her an indoor-only cat. They all get along…for the most part. They mostly tolerate each other, but I’ll take tolerating over killing each other!

My four chickens are Miki (Rhode Island Red), Agatha (Cuckoo Marans), Elvira (Black Marans), and Queenie (Lavender Orpington). They’re all about 1.5 years old and in their egg-laying prime! Miki is the sweetest girl, Aggie is the worrywart, Elvira is the head hen/protector of the flock, and Queenie is the prettiest lady. They all have such big personalities, and it’s so fun caring for them.

Tell us a little known fact about you!
During my “free time,” I work at a mobile large animal vet clinic as well! We see all kinds of animals, including goats, sheep, llamas, alpacas, pigs, cows, chickens, and we even do house calls for dogs and cats. My favorite animal is a cow, and my most memorable experience was working with a humongous steer named Norman, who was close to 6 feet tall at his shoulders (with his horn span being about the same in length)! Norman was a very sweet cow and surprisingly tolerant of us treating him, despite being well over 3,000 lbs.

Another fun fact: I was a wrestler in high school! I was on the team all four years, except I had to sit out for half the season during Junior year due to a knee injury. I came from a small school in Vernonia, Oregon, and was the only girl wrestler during my senior year. I wrestled mostly boys since other schools in our league didn’t have many girls to match up with me, although they’d sometimes set up a special match if there was another girl on a different team. During my senior year, I went to a Women’s State Championship and got 3rd place in my weight class. Wrestling is a very demanding sport, so I was pretty ripped in high school.