Waka Blair, DVM, CVA, CVFT, CCRP

Owner

Dr. Blair is the owner of Acorn Veterinary Clinic. She worked as a veterinary assistant at Acorn and as a registered veterinary technician/Small Animal Renal Transplant Coordinator at UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital prior to attending veterinary school at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, where she graduated with honors in 2010. Following graduation, she trained through the small animal medicine and surgery internship at Texas A & M University as well as the small animal emergency and critical care specialty internship at UC Davis. She studied eastern medicine for animals while working at a busy after-hour emergency clinic and furthered her studies through Chi University in Florida by training in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). Her certifications include certified veterinary acupuncturist (CVA), food therapist (CVFT), and certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner (CCRP) from the University of Tennessee. She is currently in the process of obtaining a certification in Palliative and End-of-Life Care through Chi University. Her professional interests include animal physical rehabilitation and integrative medicine. She was born and raised in Japan and is fully fluent in both English and Japanese. She enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter and three furry children (two cats and a dog), gardening, skiing and working out.

Kim Nixon, DVM, MPVM 

Dr. Nixon earned her veterinary degree from UC Davis in 1985, and her Masters in Preventive Medicine the following year. She has worked at Acorn since 2005. She has a special fondness for exotic pets, and enjoys treating birds, reptiles, and small mammals, in addition to cats and dogs. She loves her pets, her garden, cooking and quilting. She has three children and lives in Davis.

Amy Wolfe, DVM

Dr. Wolfe joined Acorn in early 2018.  She has lived all over and originally came to Davis to go to veterinary school, but after graduation in 2009 decided that it was where she wanted to call home.  Since then she has been in general practice, the majority of the time in Fairfield, although she has done some work for clinics and shelters closer to the Davis area.  She is interested in all aspects of general practice from dermatology and dentistry to surgery and radiology.  When not at work, she spends time with family which currently includes two human children and three of the four-footed variety (total number may vary.) 

Tracy Alexander, DVM (she/her/hers)

Dr. Alexander grew up in Riverside and moved to Davis for her undergraduate studies in 2001. She ended up loving the town so much she made it her permanent home! She is twice a graduate of UC Davis (BS 2003, DVM 2010) and practiced in Shasta County and Rancho Cordova before joining the Acorn team in January 2019. Dr. Alexander is interested in all aspects of general practice but especially likes focusing on preventive medicine, including heartworm disease prevention. In her recreational time she and her husband love taking their two young sons backpacking in the Trinity Alps. 

Katy Siquig, DVM, MPVM

Katy Siquig grew up in northern California and graduated from Princeton University, obtaining a degree in cultural anthropology. After a few years of work, she attended vet school at the University of California at Davis, graduating in 2010. She has worked in and around the Sacramento region in small animal practice for over a decade. She also returned to UC Davis in 2018 and obtained a Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM) in 2020, completing a project that focused on a time series analysis of seabird strandings along the California coast. In practice, Dr. Siquig has a particular interest in feline medicine, pain management, and geriatric care for both cats and dogs. She is a member of both AVMA and CVMA. She enjoys any time spent outside, particularly backpacking in the Sierra mountains and visiting the California coastline. Travel highlights include trips to New Zealand to kayak and several trips to Ladakh in northern India for trekking, as well as a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon in 2021. Other interests include gardening, swimming, and reading a wide range of fiction.

Carla Weinberg, DVM

Dr. Carla Weinberg is a true "California Girl"-- raised in the Fresno area and attended Occidental college in Los Angeles. Wanting to try something different, she moved to Illinois for graduate school in Physiology and received a Master’s degree there but realized her heart was in California so she returned home. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from UC Davis in 1997 with a focus on small and exotic medicine. Dr. Weinberg lives with her husband, daughter, 2 dogs, 3 cats and 1 cockatoo (Bobby). She is interested in the human/pet bond and quality of life for the owner and their furry, feathered and scaled family members. She loves time with her kids and husband, water sports, bike-riding, reading and traveling. She can't wait to meet you and your pets!

Arlene McKinstry, DVM, CCRP, CVA (she/her/hers)

Dr. McKinstry received her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University in 1994. She fulfilled her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian after studying Animal Science at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez. Her experience and interests include internal medicine, surgery, geriatric care, physical rehabilitation, and pain management. Her passion is to improve the quality and enjoyment of life for all her patients. She has expanded her general practice experience by furthering her training with an interest in Integrative Medicine. Her certifications include Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner (CCRP) from the University of Tennessee and Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist (CVA) from the Chi University in Florida. She is currently working on obtaining her certification in veterinary Chinese herbal medicine. Outside of work she enjoys spending time traveling with family and friends, reading, photography, and scrapbooking. Her family includes her husband, children, dogs, and a tortoise.

Rick Bertsch, DVM

Dr. Bertsch earned his veterinary degree from UC Davis in 1986 and has worked at Acorn since 2005.  He has also worked for the Humane Society and the Yolo Shelter. His current interest is surgery. He has resided in Davis since 1980 where he has shared his life with many cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, tortoises, and donkeys. He has one daughter. He enjoys reading history and anthropology.

Lynnette Waugh, DVM

Lynnette joined Acorn and Oak Tree in 2023. She grew up in California and attended UC Davis for undergraduate and veterinary school. While working as a specialist in zoological medicine, Lynnette developed a special interest in the management of geriatric patients. She is currently studying to earn a Masters degree in Integrative Veterinary Medicine through Chi University, and this is what lead her to Acorn.

Integrative Veterinary Medicine combines conventional veterinary medicine with complementary techniques to expand diagnostic and treatment capabilities for those cases where conventional medicine reaches the limits. Lynnette treats dogs and cats as well as zoological companion animals (small mammals, reptiles, birds, and amphibians) in general practice with Acorn Veterinary Clinic and also provides integrative medicine through Oak Tree Animal Rehabilitation. Lynnette practices traditional Chinese veterinary medicine using acupuncture and herbal therapies, veterinary medical manipulation (chiropractic like treatments performed by a veterinarian), and physical rehabilitation.

Lynnette lives in Sacramento with her dog, TJ. She enjoys hiking with TJ and spending time with her friends and their children.

Andrea Kirsch, DVM

Dr. Andrea Kirsch is from Ventura County, California. Prior to college she was an equestrienne and, given her connection to animals, she decided to pursue a career in veterinary medicine, graduating from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1988. While completing her undergraduate and 1st year vet studies, she competed for the Cal Aggie Cyclists bike racing team and met her husband Doug. They still enjoy weekend bike rides, swimming, and walking their Jack Russell cross “YoYo.”

She has been practicing small animal medicine in Northern California since graduating from veterinary school. In 2006 she started Natomas Veterinary Hospital in Sacramento, California, and she owned the practice for 15 years. She then worked at UCD Primary Care mentoring 4th year students seeing general practice cases. Her professional interests include general health and wellness care, ultrasound, anesthesia, dentistry, and exotics. Dr. Kirsch believes in providing high-quality veterinary care in a friendly, upbeat environment, as she loves educating clients about their pets’ health. She is excited to be a part of the Acorn Veterinary Clinic team!

Joy Jackman, DVM

Retired

Sally Borges, DVM, MSc

Retired