Deborah A. Edwards, DVM, DABVP (feline practice)
"People who don’t like cats just haven’t met the right one yet.”
Dr. Edwards can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a veterinarian. Her mother says she started telling people she wanted to be a “doctor for animals” at the tender age of 4. She grew up in Largo, surrounded by dogs, cats, horses and cattle (Largo was more rural back then). She attended the University of Florida, where she received her Bachelor Degree in Zoology in 1979 and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1983.
Although she has always loved cats, it wasn’t until after she started practicing medicine that their care became her passion. “The more cats I saw as patients, the more intrigued I became with them. Feline medicine is exciting, challenging and incredibly rewarding.” Following her heart, she founded All Cats Hospital in 1986, the first cat only veterinary hospital in the southeastern United States.
Always striving for excellence, Dr. Edwards went through the grueling process to become board certified in feline practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (ABVP) in 1996. She is one of 5 veterinarians in the state of Florida with this distinction. To learn more about the ABVP visit http://www.abvp.com/
She has also been active in the larger veterinary community. As well as being an active member in local, state, and national veterinary organization she has served in the capacities of Secretary/Treasurer of the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), President of the Academy of Feline Practioners, Co-Chair of the Feline Antimicrobial Recommendations Panel, and member of the AAFP FeLV/FIV Testing Recommendations Panel. She has served as a consultant in feline geriatric care to pharmaceutical and pet nutrition companies.
And the best part of it all has been the relationships she has made with her patients and their human companions. “That is why I come to work everyday.”
Dr. Edwards shares her home with her husband Rick, their daughters, Julianna & Grace, a Labrador retriever, Maddie, and a beautiful shelter kitty, Piglet (who isn’t fat at all – but would like to be) and two former patients, Gabby and Baybee.
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