Our professional staff is truly the most important feature of our hospital. Several of our dedicated team members have been with us for 10 years or more! We emphasize continuing education and team training, enabling us to provide the best possible medical care for our patients, and the best service for our clients. Our medical support staff includes licensed veterinary technicians as well as several veterinary assistants, and our administrative support staff includes management and client services representatives. We all love our work, we love our team, and we love your pets!
Veterinary Technicians
Credentialed veterinary technicians are the nurses of the veterinary profession. They must show proficiency in the care of species with fur, feathers, and scales. They are important members of your pet’s health care team, and crucial to our efforts to provide the highest quality of animal care and humane treatment of all animals. A veterinary technician must graduate from a two-year, AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) accredited program from a community college, college, or university; must pass a state credentialing examination to earn their license; and must earn continuing education credits every year in order to maintain their credentialed status. In addition to nursing care, our veterinary technicians coordinate all of the veterinary assistants’ activities and duties; prepare patients, instruments and monitoring equipment for anesthesia and surgery; perform dental prophylaxes; analyze urine samples; draw blood samples; perform digital radiographic diagnostic imaging; and serve as client educators.
Jenni Riha, Senior Veterinary Technician / Equipment & Inventory Manager
Jenni Riha and Tweety Bird (portrait by Andrea Dahlberg)
Jenni hails from Springfield, Nebraska, and after many years as an active participant in 4-H, she graduated from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in 2001 with an Associates Degree in Veterinary Science. She joined our Bellevue Animal Hospital team in July 2006, and now serves as our Lead Veterinary Technician. Jenni is also a registered Pharmacy Technician. In September 2021, Jenni took on the role of Equipment and Inventory Manager for our hospital as well.
Jenni devotes a great deal of her free time to caring for foster kittens in her home: she is the founder and president of The Foster Kitten Project, specializing in the newborns and itty-bitties that require bottle feeding and devoted care. Foster-failure Fergus was added to Jenni’s own fur family at the insistence of previous foster-failure Dean Winchester, and with the approval of senior cats Tab (aka Fatty) and Squeaker! In January 2017, Jenni became the proud mama of a rescue Greyhound named Cascade (also known as Cas!) and added rescue Greyhound Tweety Bird to the pack in February 2020. When Jenni’s not at work, taking care of foster kittens, or spending time with her own pets, she loves to support her nieces and nephews by attending school concerts, plays, or athletic events!
Lauren Smalley, Lead Technician
Lauren Smalley and Whiskey
Originally from southwest Iowa, Lauren attended the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA) for her Associate of Applied Science degree, and finished up her degree in Veterinary Technology online, through Cedar Valley College. She joined our team as a Veterinary Assistant in June of 2019. In April 2021, Lauren got the great news that she had passed her Veterinary Technician National Exam; after she waited what seemed like forever to receive her state license, we’re now proud to say that she’s a full-fledged veterinary technician! Lauren says that she basically grew up with her own petting zoo – everything from birds and dogs to donkeys and llamas! Her first calf came home with her in the back seat of a tiny Ford Taurus, which seems appropriate. Currently, Lauren’s home zoo includes one Petite Basset Griffon Vendeen, a Catahoula Leopard Dog cross, and one of the most spoiled “freebie” cats known to man!
Nicole (Nikki) Casey, Training Coordinator
Nicole Casey
Nikki grew up in Council Bluffs, Iowa and moved to Papillion, Nebraska in 2017. She attended Iowa Western Community College, earning an associates degree in Applied Science, and she earned her Veterinary Technician license in 2007. Some of our long-time clients may remember Nikki from her first tenure with us as a “baby tech” back in 2007-2010! She returned to our team in May 2024; we were glad to welcome her back, and her many years of experience are an invaluable addition to our practice. On the job, Nikki most enjoys anesthesia and dental procedures, and she has a special affinity with our spicy kitty patients (she says “we share mutual feelings at times!”)
Nikki and her wonderful husband, Dustin, have two wonderful children, Kora and Korbin. Their fur family includes two female senior cats, Kid Sister and Grimlock, and two dogs: Reginald, a Chow / Shepherd mix, and new puppy Thor, a Chow / Mastiff mix. Both dogs were adopted from Muddy Paws Rescue in Council Bluffs. In her free time, Nikki enjoys working out as a great stress reliever, and she also enjoys eating “and just food in general!”
Nathan Kucera
Nathan Kucera and friend
Nathan is a Bellevue native and graduated from Bellevue East High School. He joined our medical support staff team as a veterinary assistant in June 2022, at the same time keeping up with his studies in Veterinary Technology at Iowa Western Community College. Nathan earned his Veterinary Technician license after passing the national board exam in July 2023. When he’s not hard at work, Nathan enjoys video editing, art, and board games of all kinds. Nathan and his fiance’, Taren Denny, have a Chihuahua named Deedee (a.k.a. Peanut); two cats named Sylvester and Tweety; and two rats named Sylva and Ilumi. Recent additions to the fur family in June 2024 are new kittens, Bugs, Daffy, and Scrappy!
Barbara Rodriguez
Barbara Rodriguez and Robbin
Barbara graduated from Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon Facility of Veterinary Medicine and Zoology in Mexico in 2015. She joined our Bellevue Animal Hospital team in July of 2022 as a graduate technician, and received her temporary technician license through the State of Nebraska in October 2022. (A temporary license allows a person who has graduated from an AVMA-accredited Veterinary Technician School or program, or its equivalent, to perform the duties of a veterinary technician for up to one year, while awaiting testing via the Veterinary Technician National Exam to become a fully licensed veterinarian technician.)