Our vet team consists of six passionate and dedicated Holistic Veterinarians: Dr Henry, Dr Renee, Dr Natalie, Dr Catherine, Dr Donna & Dr Nicole.
We see clients from all across the Sunshine Coast and many from further afield. Clients travel from Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Hervey Bay and Rockhampton to have their pets cared for by our devoted team. Many also contact us from all over Australian for telephone or video consults.
Dr Henry
Our Wise Wizard and Mentor who spends his days off meditating, mountain biking, hiking and driving around the country attending music gigs for his children’s various bands.
Dr Henry Stephenson graduated with Honours from the University of Queensland’s vet school in 1979. He has pursued further studies in various alternative modalities, including a Bachelor of Veterinary Homeopathy and IVAS (International Veterinary Acupuncture Society) accreditation to practice Acupuncture.
Dr Henry has guest lectured at the University of Queensland introducing vet students to alternative modalities, and regularly contributes case reports to numerous medical journals including the International Homeopathic Journal.
Dr Henry is a devoted Holistic Vet with an excellent reputation around Australia and the world for his dedication to the art of healing using homeopathy and alternative methods. He brings to The Natural Vets an immense depth of knowledge of the disease process and is always looking to cure.
Dr Renee
Dr Renee didn’t always know she wanted to be a Vet. She thought she might become a Chopper Pilot but somehow ended up at Vet School instead. She graduated with high hopes of curing all her patients’ ailments but within a year discovered the limitations of her conventional medical training. And so, Veterinary homeopathy, Chinese herbal medicine and nutrition became her areas of expertise, as well as critical anaesthetics, pain management and fixing grotty mouths with her dental prowess.
Walking the holistic veterinary path ultimately led her to open The Natural Vets with Dr Henry, where she could finally practice the veterinary care she had always dreamt of. Saving animals really does make her soul shine, and the balance of chronic curable illness, emergency cases, grotty mouths, cute puppies, and an incredibly dedicated team floats her boat every day.
When not healing your pets, Dr Renee can be found singing and playing music, writing songs, dancing, chasing after her three (human) wildlings, eating delicious vegan food, and living a limitless life of adventure.
Dr Natalie
Our Oil Queen who was the Mastermind behind the development of many of our essential oil products. Natalie is also a very talented musician who on her days off an be found strumming her guitar or ukelele and singing with the voice of an angel. She strives to live a sustainable life, treading gently on the earth.
Dr Natalie graduated with Honours from the University of Queensland’s vet school in 2011. She had already started becoming familiar with alternative modalities such as acupuncture and Chinese herbs for her and her pets’ own health. Dr Natalie then started her first job in Inverell where she was able to incorporate some complementary modalities.
Dr Natalie gained excellent surgical experience from the high case load of emergency patients ranging from caesarians to eye ulcers to leg amputations. She was also able to incorporate essential oils, Chinese herbs and Western herbs into the clinic’s treatment toolkit. Dr Natalie has completed a number of workshops and courses on acupuncture, Chinese herbs, essential oils and animal massage. She has recently completed the Essentials of Veterinary Western Herbal Medicine course at The College of Integrated Veterinary Therapies. She is passionate about essential oils in particular and was a welcome addition to our veterinary team here at the Natural Vets, bringing great energy and passion to the clinic.
Dr Natalie is currently on maternity leave looking after her two beautiful human wildlings and will be back consulting from February 2023.
Dr Catherine
Dr Catherine has recently returned to the Sunshine Coast after years wandering the planet, particularly Asia, India, the Himalayas and Tibet, where she helped set up the charity Vets Beyond Borders and coordinated several animal welfare programs. She won the 2009 Young Alumni of the Year award from the University of Queensland for this work. Her other studies included eye diseases of whales and dolphins, conservation, wildlife medicine, veterinary anthropology, Asian studies, buddhist studies and human animal relationships. Catherine worked in Africa with wildlife and helped run post- bushfire search, rescue and triage teams! She is finishing up her PhD thesis on the traditional veterinary medicine of Bhutan and Tibet after studying Tibetan language, medicine and buddhism and spending 20 years working in Asia.
Dr Catherine has tried to “retire” as a vet several times and became an environmental educator, rock climbing and outdoor guide, travel guide, academic, NGO manager, consultant and author. But her deep love of healing and animals keeps bringing her back to Holistic Vet work as she is fundamentally deep down a healer. She has had an interest in integrated and herbal medicines since vet school and pursued training in veterinary acupuncture, energy medicine, herbal medicine and nutraceuticals since then.
Dr Catherine has a soft spot for the oldies and is passionate about geriatric medicine and palliative care, along with dental health and a whole body/mind approach to health and healing. She loves the natural environment and all things outdoors and adventurous, especially where there are ocean or mountains. She and her partner are excited to explore the recent explosion of wonderful vegan restaurants in south east Queensland and can often be found cooking a gourmet vegan BBQ on the beach in Caloundra after a kayak or swim.
Dr Donna
Dr Donna’s grandmother inspired her interest in nutrition and health as a child. At first, she thought she wanted to be a nutritionist. Then she discovered the human-animal bond and there was no turning back. Through vet school and further education she has been able to have the best of both worlds.
After graduating in 2007, Donna worked for 12 years at Melbourne University teaching final year vet students in the surgery department, and in the emergency department. She also spent two years in Whistler, Canada, where her interest in mobility issues was peaked.
Dr Donna has owned her own clinic in Melbourne now for 10 years and over the last two years the focus has been integrative medicine and canine rehabilitation. She is qualified in veterinary acupuncture, animal rehabilitation and chiropractic and has a special interest in regenerative medicine (stem cell therapy).
Dr Donna moved to the sunny state late 2021 and now enjoys working alongside other integrative veterinarians. She enjoys the warm weather, beaches and great outdoors with her husband and two furry companions in tow.
Dr Nicole
We are blessed here on the Sunshine Coast to reside on the migratory route for Southerners – Dr Donna Scott joined our team from Melbourne last December, and now we are welcoming Dr Nicole from Adelaide!
Dr Nicole Gruszczynski (don’t ask us to pronounce her surname) graduated from the University of Glasgow and travelled across the aisles landing in Oz. Within a short period of leaving vet school she realised her veterinary education was lacking, especially when treating chronic conditions and geriatric patients. She discovered holistic veterinary modalities and a passion was ignited.
Having completed studies in western herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, Nicole has found a like-minded team to work alongside here at The Natural Vets. She is especially interested in nutrition and the power of food as medicine.
In her free time, she loves to be in nature, on the beach, doing yoga, exercising, and exploring new places. And so, the Sunshine Coast is the perfect place to call her new home!
The Natural Vets are a full service veterinary clinic integrating traditional western medicine with alternative therapies. We are based on the Sunshine Coast but also treat animals Australia wide via phone or video.
We do normal stuff. Differently.
If you would like to make an in-clinic, phone or video appointment with one of our fabulous vets please call 07 54767674 or reserve your appointment online: BOOK NOW