Meet Our Doctors
Dr. Bridget Ferguson, ABVP-Certified in Avian Practice
Dr. Ferguson completed her undergraduate degree in Avian Sciences at the University of California in Davis with a minor in Veterinary Medical Entomology and Nutritional Sciences in 1992. She graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University in 1997. After working in an "exotics only" clinic in San Francisco, California she obtained her Board Certification in Avian Practice in 2003.Over the past 18 years, Dr. Ferguson has treated a wide variety of companion animals including birds, reptiles, ferrets, rabbits, rodents, and hedgehogs, in addition to cats and dogs. She enjoys consulting with local veterinarians as well as performing advanced diagnostics, treatments and surgery on exotic patients.
Dr. Ferguson has consulted with several rescue groups for non-traditional pets, including Mollywood Avian Sanctuary, Zazu's House Parrot Sanctuary, All Parrot Rescue, Hookbill Aviary, and Everlasting Hope Rescue in Washington. She has also served as the medical director for Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue in California for the past 14 years. In addition, she consults with Traipse Bengals, a USDA-licensed Bengal cat breeder located in Snoqualmie, and Beaker's Parrot Place in Wilkeson.
In her spare time she enjoys hiking and gardening, as well as spending time with her family and menagerie of pet animals including three horses, three goats, a hawkhead parrot, three dogs, two cats, twenty or so chickens, four hives of bees, and a salt water habitat filled with reef critters.
Favorite animal: Hummingbird
Dr. Amanda Zellar, DVM
Dr. Zellar graduated Summa Cum Laude with her undergraduate degree, in Organismal Biology, from Montana State University. She completed her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University.In addition to cats and dogs, Dr. Zellar enjoys seeing a wide variety of animals including reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, ferrets, rabbits, rodents, and hedgehogs. She has special interests in fish medicine, and is working towards a board certification in reptile and amphibian medicine.
During her veterinary education, Dr. Zellar devoted herself to working with a wide variety of animals, studying at the Exotic and Animal Care Center, in Raleigh, NC, the Bird and Exotic Animal Hospital of Seattle, Burge Bird Services, in Kansas City, KS, and Southwest Animal Hospital, in Portland, OR. She worked with the Denver Aquarium on research in fish anesthesia, and co-founded the CSU Aquatic Animal Medicine Club. She has conducted research in snake vascular disease, avian influenza, pack dynamics in African wild dogs, and foot disease in Asian elephants. Dr. Zellar has also worked extensively in wildlife rehabilitation of birds, reptiles and marsupials, with the Bozeman Raptor Center, in Bozeman, MT, and the Native Animal Rescue Center, in Western Australia.
Off duty, Dr. Zellar enjoys hiking with her dog, Renly, painting, mixed media art, photography, and spending time with her geckos, and tropical freshwater aquarium.
Dr. Zellar's research publications include:
Zellar A, Olea-Popelka F, Campbell T. A Comparison of Anesthetic Induction and Recovery Time Using Alfaxalone and Tricaine Methanesulfonate (MS-222) in Two Fish Species. J Exot Pet Med. 2018. 27(4): 82-8.
Zellar A, Klaphake E, Han S. Arteriosclerosis and Arteritis in Two Colubrid Snakes. J Exot Pet Med. 2018.
Favorite animal: Pangolin
Dr. Cassie McArtor, DVM
Dr. Cassie McArtor spent her time as an undergraduate at the University of Idaho studying pre-veterinary medicine but transferred to Murdoch University in Perth, Australia to finish out her veterinary degree where she graduated in 2015.In the last year of vet school Dr. McArtor specialized in wildlife and exotics medicine spending time at numerous zoos including: Perth, Melbourne, Monarto, and Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. She has also been a part of numerous wildlife research projects including working with: platypus, Australian rosellas, and midwestern USA grassland passerines as well as having a paper published on kangaroo poxviruses. Having a passion for conservation she has also volunteered at wildlife rehabilitation centers on Salt Spring Island, in B.C. Cananda, and in Thailand, and spent 4 weeks with a wildlife veterinarian in the field in South Africa where she did extensive work with white rhinos amongst other species. She is now currently volunteering with Featherhaven in Enumclaw. Needless to say Dr. McArtor will see most any species in addition to dogs and cats.
In her spare time she and her husband enjoy most anything to do with outdoors and exercise including: hiking, camping, rock climbing, and are becoming more interested in mountaineering. They recently welcomed a new addition to their family, a lovely baby girl named Freya! When not enjoying her duties as a new mother, she also enjoys playing music, reading, gardening, and traveling. She had a pet duck in Australia named Abigail Thundertail, who is now living with a friend there, but who is still very much her pet at heart.
Favorite animal: Pekin Duck
Dr. Chandra LeFevre, DVM
Originally from Lake Forest Park, Washington Dr. LeFevre completed her undergraduate education at Washington State University where she graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Zoology in 2010. Prior to attending school for her doctorate, she did quite a bit of volunteer work with wildlife and shelter animals here in the Northwest. She then went on to attend the University of Prince Edward Island in Canada for her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2014. She then completed a yearlong internship in exotics and emergency medicine in Oceanside, California before coming back to Washington where she worked in a mixed practice for 4 years in the South Sound, seeing everything from snakes and rabbits to goats and horses.She is very excited to start her new position here at Pine Tree. When she isn't working at the hospital, she enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest by hiking, backpacking, skiing or anything near water from sea kayaking to stand up paddle boarding. She also enjoys video games, board games, and reading. She and her husband love to travel, and she loves lavishing all of her animal adoration on her dog, Orion; a mixed breed rescue from California and her rescue cat Jonesy.
Favorite animal: Loch Ness Monster