Carissa Hoffman DVM, CVA, CCRT

Dr. Carissa Hoffman’s love of animals has been a lifelong passion. As a child, her mother nurtured her love of animals with weekly trips in spring and summer to Cleveland Zoo, Sea World, various aquariums, and animal parks. She would read various books, including ZooBooks, about all the different animals and even began pretending to be a veterinarian as a young child with her stuffed animals and doctor kit. Growing up she took care of a menagerie of pets, including dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and turtles.

All that passion and love for animals led Dr. Hoffman to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. She began her higher education in her home state of Ohio at Youngstown State University, graduating Summa Cum laude with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. When she started to shadow and then work with veterinarians prior to applying for veterinary school she learned about integrative medicine. Her mentor practiced integrative medicine by combining acupuncture, chiropractic, and traditional veterinary medicine. He offered not only prescription medications, but herbals and other therapies to provide pain relief. This was a breakthrough moment that changed her path in veterinary medicine. Dr. Carissa wanted to be able to provide these services after seeing the power of combining the two medical philosophies. She continued her pursuit of veterinary education in the Buckeye State (OH-IO!), completing her Doctorate at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. While attending veterinary school, she met her future husband Dr. Nicholas Hoffman within the first week. They dated throughout veterinary school and Dr. Nick proposed on graduation day in 2016. The doctors began their careers in Upstate New York in small animal preventative and general medicine and were married the following year on beautiful Lake George.

The Drs. Hoffman later decided to relocate to California after many years of Dr. Nick’s boasts of the beautiful weather and natural beauty. As part of Dr. Carissa’s continuing education and pursuit of her long-term goals, she completed her certification in Veterinary Acupuncture (CVA) at The Chi Institute (now Chi University) and more recently her certification as a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist (CCRT) from Canine Rehabilitation Institute. Dr. Carissa has a strong hunger for new knowledge and plans to continuously pursue new skills and tools to help your pet.

Dr. Hoffman’s empathetic nature is second to none. Her ability to personally understand how to navigate the road towards finding quality care – and to understand the emotions that come along with accompanying a beloved pet on the path towards optimum quality of life – is a result of her own journey with her beloved Boxer Sammie that developed chronic pain. Sammie fell one day after running then jumping off of stairs and became acutely lame in her right hind leg. After examination, it was found she had a disc issue in her back and not a knee injury. This led to years of management for her chronic back pain and issues with her hind legs. Using an integrative approach, the doctors were able to give Sammie a great quality of life. They have truly “walked a mile in your shoes.”

When she’s not delivering exceptional care to pets, Dr. Carissa enjoys hiking, traveling with her husband (especially to Hawaii and Europe), beach days, live music, crafting, pop culture – and, most importantly, spending time with Dr. Nick and their fur children Maui, a fun loving Boxer boy, and Toby, their “too cool for you” cat.

read more

Nicholas Hoffman DVM

Dr. Nicholas (Nick) Hoffman first showed an interest in veterinary medicine in elementary school which expanded to a general interest in science and technology throughout his formative years in Northern California. He attended The University of Connecticut where he studied Animal Science, Pathobiology, and Pre-Veterinary Science graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Theory and Composition.

He attended The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine where he met Dr. Carissa within the first week. They dated throughout veterinary school and he proposed on graduation day in 2016. The doctors began their careers in Upstate New York in small animal preventative and general medicine and were married the following year on beautiful Lake George. He then switched to small animal emergency and urgent care for a year. The doctors decided to move to California in 2018 where Dr. Nick returned to preventative and general medicine for a year and a half. The doctors then both joined a dentistry-exclusive practice where Dr. Nick was primarily performing oral surgery with a hint of general medicine. With the COVID pandemic there was a massive emergency veterinarian shortage across the country which returned Dr. Nick to small animal emergency and urgent care in Los Angeles for almost two years. Currently Dr. Nick is a small animal relief veterinarian working out of the greater Moorpark area.

Dr. Nick’s professional interests include soft tissue surgery, dentistry, internal medicine, dermatology, and preventative medicine. He spends his free time with his wife and his fur babies Toby and Maui. He also enjoys traveling, cooking, music, movies, and video games.

read more