Veterinarian Overview
Dr Forslund was born and raised in the beautiful province of Quebec, Canada. Growing up, she immediately discovered a strong love for animals. She grew up with dogs, cats, hamsters and goldfish. She spent countless hours on a friend's 500 acre land amongst horses, deer, peacocks, chickens, ponies, rabbits etc... From the time I was 5 years old, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian and help animals. She graduated from the University of Montreal, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1990 and practiced in Canada for the first few years of her career. She had her own veterinary hospital from 1992 to 2000 in Labrador City, Newfoundland, Canada. In the great white north, she enjoyed winter sports such as skiing and snowmobile and summer/fall activities of fishing, swimming, berry picking, long walks with her dog, relaxing in her peaceful A frame cabin. For several years, she was the head veterinarian for the legendary Labrador 400 miles sled dog race. After several years of northern living, she decided she was ready for warmer climates and moved to Southern California. She has been practicing in Southern California since 2000 and now dedicates her professional carreer to pet hospice care and in-home euthanasia. My favorite part of being a veterinarian is helping people and pets by increasing the pets' quality of life and life expectancy. When she was in clinic practice, she enjoyed internal medicine and dermatology the most. Now she dedicates all of her veterinary skills to helping old pets have a more comfortable end of life experience by doing hospice care, quality of life consultations and in-home euthanasias. In her spare time, she enjoys music, playing her violin, drama, riding her horse and jewelry making. She dedicates most of her free time to her family and her 2 children. Her family also includes 3 cats (Ayla, Aslan and Padmae); two rescue Greyhounds (Mary Poppins and Hiro); a horse, (Emma) and 2 pet snakes (a corn snake named Titan and a Kenyan Sand Boa named Lostris). Throughout her career, Dr Forslund couldn't help noticing how stressful it is for some pets to go for a vet visit. The last thing people want is to have the last moments of their loved pet's life be stressful or painful. A dog with severe arthritis or a serious medical condition may experience a lot of pain having to be lifted in the car and transported to a veterinary office. "When I had my practice in Labrador, I used to do home euthanasia pretty much routinely. It was a small town, a small practice and life was a lot more laid back than in the fast lane of California living. Here, it's not that veterinarians aren't compassionate or don't care. It's just not realistic for a doctor to leave his hospital unattended for an hour to 2 or 3 hours in the midst of a busy day to drive to a client's house to perform a euthanasia. I know most veterinarians would love to be able to do that for their clients and be there for them at a time like this, but it is just not realistic." This is what led Dr Forslund to start a home euthanasia service.
