Kathy Baxendell, DVM: 30 years, still going strong

As far back as she can remember, Kathy Baxendell wanted to become a veterinarian someday.

It all started with Baxendell’s love for horses as a young child and has progressed to a 30-year career as a licensed veterinarian and the 20-year anniversary of the Groton City Animal Hospital, 794 Cortland Rd.

Growing up on the north shore of Long Island, which Baxendell said was very rural in those days, her mother signed her up for horseback riding lessons when Baxendell was 8 years old.

“It was pretty much the thing a lot of girls just did at that age,” Baxendell said. “My mom had loved riding when she was younger but had a back injury, which prevented her from continuing. She wanted me to experience what she no longer could.”

At Smithtown High School West, Baxendell spent the bulk of her after-school time trading labor in exchange for horseback riding lessons at local stables. She graduated from there in 1979.

Baxendell pursued her dream and attended SUNY Cobleskill, earning her associate in horse husbandry in 1981. She had initially applied to Cornell University but was denied, which is understandable with how competitive the vet program at Cornell is.

An admissions counselor at Cornell had advised Baxendell to attend a two-year school and then transfer to Cornell, which she did and later earned her bachelor’s in animal science in 1983.

“Wanting to be a vet started with my love of horses,” Baxendell said. “But I also just really loved science. I found biology and the way bodies work fascinating, and I will never stop being fascinated by the miracle of [the] birth of anything.”

While at Cornell, Baxendell met her now-husband, Scott Baxendell, who was a student in plant science. Initially, they were good friends, but that morphed into dating and then marriage in 1986.

Prior to that, Kathy had applied to Cornell Vet School but was not accepted, so she went to work milking cows at a dairy farm in Milford, New York, while Scott was busy working for his father’s nursery and landscaping business in Rochester.

One year later, Kathy took a job as a dairy and livestock agent for Cornell’s Cooperative Extension in Syracuse, applying to Cornell Vet School four years in a row until she was finally accepted in 1986.

“That was quite the year,” Kathy said. “I was married in June, got accepted at Cornell in July and started classes in August. Scott took a job at the Cornell Equine Center, and we bought our house and four acres on Groton City Road, where we still live today.”

Kathy said they had not specifically sought to live in Groton but were looking for something anywhere that had a barn and some land.

“I am so glad it turned out this way because Groton is an amazing place that we came to love,” Kathy said. “The sense of community is so strong, and it’s a great place to raise children.”

Kathy and Scott raised their own children in the area, with their daughter, Kelly, being born in 1996, and son, Christian (Chris) being born in 1998.

In the meantime, Kathy had earned her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) in 1991 and started her veterinary career.

After a short stint as an associate veterinarian in Fayetteville, New York, Kathy worked at a large-animal practice in Cortland for the next six years.

“I was so fortunate there because the owner, Mike Griep, allowed me to expand the practice to include horses, sheep and goats, but unfortunately, he did a merger with the Animal Barn of Cortland, which was not a good career plan for me,” Kathy said.

At that point, Kathy established her own practice, Groton City Veterinary Practice, which started out as a large-animal practice out of her home and car, with visits to local farms.

Kathy’s clients began asking her about treating small animals. She decided to expand and started looking for additional property in Groton.

Kathy and Scott purchased 3 acres and an old farmhouse from Tom and Sally Brown, which is the current location of Groton City Animal Hospital.

It took seven months for Scott and his best friend, Kurt Oster, to remodel the farmhouse and build an addition from the ground up. Oster, who is a veterinary practice manager, designed the whole thing, and primarily the two of them did all the hard labor.

“We had our grand opening in summer 2001,” Kathy said. “We had Chris Allinger from Q-Country there and a chicken barbecue put on by the McLean Fire Department and gave tours of the building all day long.”

When she started out those 20 years ago, Kathy had seven staff members and one other veterinarian. Today, she is joined by Bethany Austin, DVM, and Katherine Dart, DVM, and 10 staff members, most of whom Kathy said have been with her the entire time.

A sentiment Kathy would like to express to the community is “to just be kind.”

“People can be rude and angry to people around them due to their own frustration,” Kathy said. “My staff works very hard to accommodate, but they can’t always deliver because the circumstances are beyond their control. Industrywide, veterinary care is very busy right now. We get three to eight calls a day for appointments with no slots to put them in.”

Groton City Animal Hospital is a full-service animal hospital and welcomes both emergency treatment cases as well as pet patients in need of routine medical, surgical and dental care. Beyond first-rate pet care, Kathy and her staff strive to make the clinic comfortable, kid-friendly and calm.

The practice provides care for horses, alpacas, llamas, goats, sheep, dogs and cats. Its website, grotoncityvet.com, has extensive information on all it has to offer.

“I’ve had an interesting 30-year career and a 20-year anniversary of the practice,” Kathy said. “We didn’t get to celebrate properly due to the pandemic, but we’re hopeful to do something next year.”

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922. 

In brief:  

Pre-kindergarten registration 

Groton Elementary School still has some openings for incoming students for pre-kindergarten this fall. Eligibility requires that your child resides in the Groton Central School District, and New York state immunization requirements for the program must be met.

If your child’s birthday falls between Dec. 2, 2017, and Dec 1, 2018, they are eligible for the 3-year-old class. Eligibility for the 4-year-old class requires a birthday to fall between Dec. 2, 2016, and Dec. 1, 2017.

Both programs will be held at Groton Elementary School. There is no charge. Bus transportation is available for all 4-year-olds, but there is no transportation provided for 3-year-olds.

The 4-year-old program will operate on the same calendar and hours as the rest of the elementary school. As will the 3-year-old program, but there are two half-day sessions: a morning class from 8:40 to 11:00 a.m. and an afternoon class from 12:30 to 2:50 p.m.

Selection will be determined by a lottery process. Children who are currently enrolled in the 3-year-old program will have an automatic seat in a 4-year-old classroom. The 4-year-old class has 36 seats, while the 3-year-old classes have 12 in each of the morning and afternoon classes.

To obtain a registration packet, please contact the school office at (607) 898-5853.

Groton Virtual Art Show  

The Groton Central School art classes, in conjunction with The First National Bank of Groton and the Community Arts Partnership, invite the community to view the Groton Virtual Art Show, which will be held in place of its usual show during Groton Olde Home Days.

The virtual show may be viewed at grotonartclass.wordpress.com.

Ocean Commotion 

Groton Assembly of God, 701 S. Main St., will be hosting Vacation Bible School Aug. 22 through Aug. 26. The theme is “Ocean Commotion” and will focus on Noah and the Flood, so be prepared to get wet!

Open to children, age 5, who have completed kindergarten, through seventh grade, including those who just completed the grade.

Be sure to come back to the “Groton on the Inside” Aug. 18 edition for more details on this and Groton Olde Home Days Aug. 26 to 28.