Meet Our Staff
Veterinarians
Dr. Kristen DeCola
Veterinarian
Dr. DeCola is a proud mother of a daughter Lilly, a golden retriever named Archie Lee. She graduated from Texas A&M in 2004 with a degree in Biomedical Science and 2008 with her doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. She proudly graduated with honors in both rigorous degrees.
Ready to start saving lives she joined the Emergency Pet Clinic where she worked and trained under two board certified criticalists where she learned to manage and treat the sickest and most injured patients through medical and surgical intervention. During her transition to day practice her passion for client education, long term patient care and business management continued to grow. In 2017 she became the area's first Fear-Free certified veterinarian. Caring about and addressing a pet's emotional well-being along with their physical health came naturally to Dr. DeCola. In April 2019 she opened Pet’s Choice Animal Hospital. She is a family veterinarian and will treat your pets like the family members that they are.
Dr. Sydney Harter
Veterinarian
Sydney graduated with her B.S in Animal Science at the University of Arkansas in 2019 and her D.V.M at Mississippi State University in 2023. She did an externship with Pet’s Choice Animal Hospital in February 2023 and loved the kind and supportive environment they provided and was very excited to join their team. She has a love for ophthalmology as well as equine medicine and hopes to provide her service to horse owners in the future. She also enjoys educating clients to help give them the tools to better care for their pets at home! Sydney has two cats, Kanani and Kawika, and a corn snake, Gizmo. She grew up dancing and riding horses competitively in multiple disciplines, both are hobbies which she still pursues today.
Dr. Barbara Vasquez
Veterinarian
Originally from McAllen, Texas, Dr. Barbara Vasquez, graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University at Kingsville with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science and from Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine, where she also received the Excellence in Surgery Award. Dr. Vasquez pursued advanced surgical training for three years throughout the US before she gladly returned to Texas to bring her veterinary experience to her community in Central Texas.
Prior to becoming a vet, Dr. Vasquez spent as much time as she could working with animals. She worked as a veterinary technician in central Texas while pursuing her dream to become a veterinarian and while attending vet school. After vet school she achieved advanced training by successfully completed a series of internship programs, including two vigorous surgical internships at Capital Area Veterinary Specialists/Texas Veterinary Oncology Hospital in Austin, TX and at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as a rotating internship at Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners near Nashville, Tennessee. Upon her return to Texas, Dr. Vasquez worked as a relief vet in Central and Midwest Texas as she and her husband happily welcomed their two amazing children.
She and her family are delighted to call New Braunfels home. Her hobbies include gardening and various outdoor activities. She enjoys spending as much time as possible with her family, chasing her young, energetic children as well as with her Plott Hound mix, Perdita, mini Australian Shepherd mix, Stevie Nicks, and her mutt of multiple flavors, Carly Simon. Dr. Vasquez loves nothing more than family and community. She believes pets play a vital role in both and as a veterinarian, will treat them as such.
Staff
Jaycie
Hospital Manager, Veterinary Nurse
Jaycie has been in veterinary medicine for 11 years. She has experience in emergency and general practice medicine. She started as a receptionist and worked her way up to practice manager. Her passion for animals made the transition into veterinary medicine an easy choice. In her free time, she likes to relax at home, travel and spend time with friends. She is happy to work with such an amazing company.
Hannah
Hannah was born and raised near Detroit, Michigan but fell in love with Texas ever since moving here in May of 2016. Hannah graduated and got her LVT license in the state of Michigan in 2015 and has worked with a variety of different animals throughout her career (although she holds a special place in her heart for cows and exotic birds). She is a pet mom to a dog named Semper which you will occasionally see in the front yard when you visit Pet's Choice! Hannah's favorite procedure to perform is dental cleanings. She prides herself with her ability to take the smelliest of mouths and reveal those pearly whites your fur babies have (but she highly recommends dental treats and daily brushings). Outside of being a veterinary technician, Hannah loves to challenge her creativity and adventure in different ways such as practicing photography, exploring different places with beautiful views, and baking delicious treats. Hannah is proud to be a part of the team at Pet's Choice Animal Hospital and looks forward to meeting new patients and clients and building strong relationships with you!
Meghan
Meghan has been a veterinary technician since 2016 and has loved every day of her journey in the field. She is a pet mom to 2 dogs and 2 cats. Her favorite aspect of her job is getting to care for each pet as if they are her own and getting to work with animals of ALL sizes. Meghan proudly practices fear-free techniques so that each patient may have the best experience as possible while in her care. She has always taken an exceptionally large interest in animal behavior and training, understanding the patients' emotional well-being is her number 1 priority. She could not think of a better way to help patients than to help their owners understand what is going on with their pets and how to continue giving them the best care at home.
Lindsey
Lindsey joined Pet’s Choice Animal Hospital in October of 2021 as a kennel technician in boarding, she then voluntarily moved up front to learn reception, and is now a Vet Tech assistant for our wonderful doctors! Lindsey has grown up loving all sorts of animals from farm animals, to indoor pets, and always knew she wanted a career in the animal field. She has found her passion helping pets daily, and wants to further her knowledge with animal medicine. She has 3 pets of her own: 1 orange cat- Tobi, & 2 dachshunds- Remi & Kimber, and occasionally pet sits for friends and family. Outside of work she enjoys spending quality time with her family and pets, whether it be out and about, or relaxing at home. She is excited to meet & assist you and your furry babies!
Amanda
Amanda joined our team back in 2021 and became our Lead Kennel Technician for two years. In that time, Amanda has since received her Bachelor's Degree in Animal Science from Texas State University, her new home as she is originally from Houston, TX. Amanda has moved positions in our practice to Veterinary Assistant and is always opened to new opportunities and learning new things. Amanda still very much misses spending lots of time with her boarders and will visit them on her down time. She is always the first to greet them very happily! If there is a favorite thing that Amanda likes to do at Pet's Choice, it would be taking care of our clinic cats. Outside of work, Amanda is a dog mom to a handsome Boston Terrier named Beaux and is always looking for a new hobby!
Kayla
Kayla has always had a soft spot for animals of all shapes and sizes and wanted to join the animal field since she was young. She grew up with many pets, and currently has two cats of her own, Mushroom-brown tabby and Ender-Tortishell/calico. In her free time, she likes to explore new places & new sights, or just stay in and relax at home with her fiancé. At Pet's Choice, you will see her up at the front as one of our receptionists. She is also currently training as a nurse assistant, and plans on following through to become an established nurse. She loves working with her team here, and loves nothing more than to help you and your furry babies.
Taylor
Taylor joined Pets Choice Animal Hospital in July 2023. Taylor has always loved animals and started her animal career working at the humane society. She loved taking care of each animal and helping them on their paths to find their forever home. She would stay after hours to help build trust, give love, and show someone cared. She fostered those who needed a little more help and time before they could find their new families. Since then, she knew she wanted to do more and started working as a receptionist. Here at Pets Choice Animal Hospital, she is in training to become a nurse assistant and eventually a nurse. She is a proud wife and mother. She spends her free time with her family and loves to take her girls on adventures. She is very excited to be a part of this team and can’t wait to help your four-legged family members.
Allie
Allie is a wife, mom of 2 and has 1 fur baby named Champ. She grew up with dogs and horses and has always wanted to work in the veterinary medicine field. She is always looking for ways to learn and advance her skills. Allie loves working at pets choice and looks forward to caring for your fur babies!
Zoe
Zoevhas always had open arms for every animal. She has been working with animals for the past 7 years, with a pet sitting business, since 2022 in the veterinary field. She plans on attending A&M to be a veterinarian. She is very excited for her future with animals! She loves her co-workers, doctors, and most importantly her boarders!
Hanna
Hanna has been working as a veterinary technician for over 13 years and has held a passion for animal care since she was young. As someone who enjoys rehabilitation, you will find that most of her pets came to be part of her family through the needing of medical intervention and additional care; including a 16 year old leopard gecko and two cats that were only days old when she took them home.
In the field, Hanna most enjoys surgery and dentistry and takes the steps in anesthetic protocols extremely serious.
Some of Hanna’s interests outside of work include, yoga, wood-burning, writing and wildlife photography.
Kenzie
Kenzie is one of our amazing kennel technicians. Kenzie is a lover of all kinds of animals but there is a special place in her heart for horses as she could ride horses before she could walk! She is a mother of her daughter, Wrenley Saige, and her fur baby, Endo Lynn. Kenzie is planning to go to school to become a veterinary technician and is excited to learn with Pet's Choice along the way!