Tom Dock
Thomas F. Dock is a long term animal lover and avid cat enthusiast. He as spent more than 20 years working with all manner of pets, from reptiles and birds to dogs, cats, and exotic small mammals. After more than 15 years working as a veterinary technician, Tom has recently joined the Veterinary News Network as their Chief Scriptwriter and Researcher. Tom’s duties include exploring topics for pet health related news stories as well as maintaining relationships with more than 350 veterinarians across the US and Canada. Many of the VNN news stories can be seen at veterinary offices around the country on PetCareTV and EmebaVet client education systems.
Tom has always had a passion for providing a high level of education to pet owners. As the Director of Education for seven veterinary hospitals in Indianapolis, IN, Tom helped to train more than 200 employees about many pet health related topics. In turn, those employees could then share their information with the thousands of pet owners in Central Indiana. Now, by joining the Veterinary News Network and PetLifeRadio, Tom feels that he can extend that education to millions of pet lovers. Tom has also been a speaker at the Southwest Veterinary Conference, American Animal Hospital Association annual meeting, the Veterinary Management Institute and the Western Veterinary Conference.
And he definitely wants all that education to be correct and factual. Tom is an enthusiastic researcher going back to his days at Purdue University where he received a BS in Genetic Biology and a minor in Chemistry. Since leaving college, Tom has been involved with numerous cat breed rescue groups and has spent several years working with local animal shelters, educating staff and clients on the proper wellness care for pets. Twice yearly, Tom volunteers his services to help with a large adoption event, known as PetFest, in Central Indiana. At each event, more than 400 animals and their records are reviewed by Tom before they can be adopted.
Tom’s addiction to cats started with his first domestic long haired kitten in 1988. Since then, he has fostered and shared his home with more than 20 individual cats. His favorite breed is the Siamese and he has raised several litters of Siamese kittens, as well as litters of Shaded Silver Persians. Tom is fascinated by the genetics of coat color in cats as well as genetic and hereditary diseases that plague our feline friends.