About Us: Staff: Doctors

  • Dr. Rob Spitz Dr. Rob Spitz, DVM At LABAH Since: Forever

    Following graduation Dr Spitz spent 2 years in San Antonio. One year at a small animal practice with exotics and the next at a practice specializing in orthopedics. He also made himself available for fill in work at emergency clinics. His next 3 years were spent in Austin as Chief of Staff for an emergency clinic, this time filling in at regular practices during the day.

    A desire to practice pet medicine his way, in ‘the best interests of the pet’ way, led him in 1989 to open Lake Austin Boulevard Animal Hospital.

    Dr. Spitz enjoys Austin. He loves the outdoors and lives on a secluded acreage in Dripping Springs with his son Caleb, with whom he often ventures forth on many an outdoors type fishing /camping expedition.

    They also live with Andy – supercute dog and the clinic Head of Fun and Security. Also to be found out there are Ginko B and Rock the cats, both lucky rescues to land at the Spitz residence. The Spitz pond is home to a large number of assorted fish and is grazed round the edges by Josie and Diddo, horses who could actually pass as big slow yard dogs if it wasn’t for the fact that they are in fact, actually horses.

    Floyd, Floyd, Flo and Lloyd-

    Rounding out the Spitz household are Floyd, Floyd, Flo and Lloyd, the kind of pets one inherits as an occupational hazard of being a ‘nice vet’. Floyd, Floyd, Flo and Lloyd are birds. Exotic birds. The kind of birds that those of us at LABAH think should not be stuck in cages. But first, there was Floyd and Baby.

    An ailing client comes into the clinic one day. “Please Dr Spitz, take my birds. I am not well and I have to find a home for them and I only trust you.” Well, what’s a ‘nice vet’ to do? Dr. Spitz does not believe birds like this should be pets. But he reluctantly agreed, took them home and built a large aviary on the side of his house so they could at least fly a bit. Not long after that Baby died. Then a friend ‘inherited’ another of the same breed in his divorce. “Here Rob”, the man says, “why don’t you take this bird to keep your other company, he’s no good with me. His name's Floyd."

    Well Floyd and Floyd seemed to get on pretty well. Making bird noises, swooping around, doing bird stuff. One day Dr. Spitz notices Floyd & Floyd made a hole under the eaves of his house inside their aviary. Upon investigation, the humble hole proved to be home to a nest which in turn was home to, yep, two baby birds, now known and loved as Flo and Lloyd. The family is well and happy, but to prevent the flock from getting any larger no eggs make it much past the laying stage these days. The moral of this story: Never trust a Floyd's a Floyd just because he says he is.
  • Dr. Leslie Wilson, DVM At LABAH Since: 2005

    Leslie Wilson, D.V.M. is from West Virginia. She always knew she wanted to be a vet and graduated from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1992. She has worked as a veterinarian in Georgia, California and College Station. The latter being where she met her future husband who, lucky for us, enticed her to come to Austin.

    What attracted her to LABAH, she says, is that Dr. Spitz and the clinic had the same philosophy as she did with regard to quality, compassionate pet medicine. She also liked that the clinic did so much rescue work.

    That’s what attracted her initially. And now that’s she’s been here a while? “The staff are wonderful.” High quality, compassionate, talented, skilled. Front desk and vet techs and fellow vets. “The clients are great too.” LABAH has clients, she says, and it's unusual, who really care about their animals and trust the clinic to do what’s best for their pets.

    Her pets? All rescues.

    Bella – a Chihuahua/terrier mix she c-sectioned out of the mama 8 years ago.

    Delilah – a lovely 4 yr old white Husky mix dropped off at her clinic in College Station with infected gunshot wounds.

    Lester – another c-section – a 4 yr old tabby she bottle fed.

    Roscoe – a 2yr old rescue from the clinic (welcome to LABAH, here have a cat) and last but not least, Helen – a mostly blind kitty found in a dumpster a year ago.
  • Dr. Kim Herndon, DVM At LABAH Since: 2007

    Kim Herndon, D.V.M. graduated from Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995. Dr Herndon joined LABAH fulltime in 2007 after starting here as a relief vet. “Bottom line” she said, “is pet welfare. Here it’s all about the pets.” She hates being bored and says she is never bored at LABAH. “It’s more family here than fellow staff and we care about each other and our patients like they are all family.”

    Dr Herndon lives in Bastrop. Her ‘at home’ pet family consists of 4 cats and 1 dog.

    Panza is her ‘Bastrop trash hound’ and trusty hiking partner.

    Dag Burger is 3. As a kitten he was flat and orange. And so was named after a cheese burger. Birdie is 2. Named after the golfing term ‘Birdie’ when he was hit by both a golf club and a golf ball as a kitten. Eudora Welty is big and white and received reconstructive face surgery after being hit in the face as a youngster. Her namesake, the ‘real’ Eudora Welty was a Pulitzer Prize winning author from Jackson, Mississippi. Stagger Lee is a famous blues song about a murderer. It is also the name of Dr Herndon’s youngest cat. This 4 legged young Stagger Lee is feisty!
  • Dr. Portia Kelly, DVM At LABAH Since: 2012

    Dr. Kelly graduated from UC Davis in 2009. She volunteered for a clinic that serves homeless pet owners, as well as trap-neuter-release (TNR) feral populations in Sacramento. LABAH is very excited to add Dr. Kelly to the LABAH family!

    More information coming soon.