Who we are and what we do...
Dr. Mark Burgess and Dr. Melinda Surrency have devoted their professional lives to the treatment of numerous species of “exotic” pets, including ferrets, rabbits, rodents, marsupials, reptiles & amphibians, and even invertebrates such as tarantulas or millipedes.
Dr. Burgess has focused on exotic pets since graduating in 1986, giving him extensive experience with these species that few practitioners can match. He opened Southwest Animal Hospital in 1995, and the practice now consists of 95% exotic pets and 5% dogs and cats, the highest ratio of exotic pets in any practice in Oregon. In over 20 years of practice Dr. Burgess has discovered numerous new diseases of exotic animals, and is a published author both in medical journals and textbooks. He teaches exotic pet medicine at Oregon State University’s Veterinary School, and has lectured at national and international medical conferences. He has appeared in television and newspaper stories covering exotic pets and their medical problems, and was featured in Ferrets Magazine as one of “Eight Great Ferret Vets” in the United States. For more details of his accomplishments, see credentials
Dr. Melinda Surrency is a native Oregonian. She graduated from Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and has completed multiple preceptorships at Audubon of Portland’s Wildlife Care Center, the Oregon Zoo and Wildlife Safari. Dr. Surrency has experience with rabbits, guinea pigs, degu, rats, skunks, cats, dogs, fish and reptiles. Many of these have been personal pets. Currently, she lives with one degu, one skunk and several cats. Dr. Surrency has a strong interest in internal medicine, pain management and surgery.
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