Craig Young / Loveland Reporter-Herald
Dr. Stephanie Buchholtz, right, veterinarian and owner of The Cat Doctor at 4855 Thompson Parkway in Johnstown, poses Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, in her new cats-only clinic with part of her five-person staff, from left, Heather Berry, veterinary nurse/technician; Erica Chippendale, veterinary nurse/technician; and, seated, Lisa Burkland, customer-service representative. 
JOHNSTOWN — There’s not a hand-lettered sign saying “NO dogz alowd” on the door of The Cat Doctor’s new clinic, but if cats could write, there would be.
Dr. Stephanie Buchholtz has opened a clinic at 4855 Thompson Parkway in Johnstown specializing in cats, meaning that a dog won’t ever darken her door.
It’s not that Buchholtz, a veterinarian with 26 years’ experience doctoring small animals, doesn’t love dogs, but she knows that her feline patients do better in an atmosphere free of dogginess.
“The cats are calmer; they’re easier to examine,” she said. “They’re just not as afraid, because of the lack of sounds and smells that come from dogs.”
Buchholtz received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Colorado State University and spent most of her career so far at Sheep Draw Veterinary Hospital in Greeley.
When she decided to strike out on her own with a clinic that treats cats exclusively, she chose Johnstown Plaza at the intersection of Interstate 25 and U.S. 34 because it’s right in the middle of so many population centers, she said.
The Cat Doctor clinic, which opened Feb. 11, is set up almost like a kitty spa, with thought given to counters where cat carriers can be set off the floor facing a window; pheromone diffusers that emit the soothing feline equivalent of “warm bread or cookies right out of the oven”; soft music; warm towels on the examining-room tables; and even a large overstuffed chair where cat owners can snuggle with an aging pet while it receives subcutaneous fluid treatments.
The clinic has three examining rooms — to accommodate additional veterinarians in the future — a nurse’s office; a surgery room; an X-ray room; a large space containing a dentistry area, lab, pharmacy, warmed recovery cages, an isolation unit and other equipment.
In the back, past the sign that says Catz Carlton, is the boarding room that features large windows, eight units for guests (each including a “master suite”) and wireless webcams with night vision that allow cats’ owners to check on them at any hour, from any location with an internet connection.
The Cat Doctor is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, and 8 a.m. to noon the first and third Saturday of the month.
For more information, call 970-278-0000 or go to thecatdr.net or facebook.com/thecatdoctorllc.
