From the time she was four years old, she told her mother that she wanted to become a veterinarian. Somewhere along the way, Dr. Brooks took a detour while pursuing her dream.
While volunteering as a Special Olympics track coach, Dr. Brooks was offered a position with Developmental Services Center (DSC) in Champaign, Illinois. She moved up the company ladder fairly quickly as a dedicated employee her desire to make the world a little friendlier for those with developmental disabilities became obvious to those she interacted with. She worked as a residential instructor before moving on to developmental instructor and then to vocational trainer. After nine years of service Dr. Brooks became engrained as a central member of the production department as Developmental Training Coordinator and Production Supervisor.
During her time at DSC, Dr. Brooks adopted a young German Shepard puppy that had been abused. Affectionately named Toast, this pup was never far from Dr. Brooks and became her touch therapy dog for the clients at DSC as well. At only 13 months old Toast began having severe seizures. Despite a multitude of testing and medications, there was no improvement in Toast. Sadly, on one very cold December afternoon, Toast slipped into a seizure that was too much for her body to take. After more than 20 minutes of seizing, Toast was euthanized, but not before Dr. Brooks promised her dear friend that she would return to school and pursue that long ago childhood dream.
In 1997, while working as a veterinary technician, Dr. Brooks enrolled at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. She graduated Magna cum laude less then 3 years with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. Dr. Brooks was honored to be accepted at the University of Missouri-Columbia, College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2004.
After graduation, Dr. Brooks spent four years working as an associate veterinarian in a multi-doctor practice in St. Louis County. It was during this time she developed her next dream to purchase her own veterinary clinic.
On August 1, 2008, that dream became reality when she purchased Affton Veterinary Clinic. With this dream met,
Dr. Brooks continues to set new goals and strives to provide quality medicine and compassionate care to all of her patients and their owners. And to this day, Toast lives in Dr. Brooks’ heart and more recently
Affton Veterinary Clinic’s new logo.
Dr Brooks, owner of Affton Vet Clinic
Dr. Shivelbine
Dr. Shivelbine is very excited to be joining the outstanding team at Affton Veterinary Clinic. He came to St Louis after graduating from the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. He spent two years working at an emergency & critical care hospital, then spent the next 8 years in private practice. Before veterinary school, he studied biology & music at Truman State University in Kirksvkille, Missouri. Dr. Shivelbine is originally from Cape Girardeau, MO where his family has operated a music store for 60 years.
Dr. Shivelbine's medical interests include soft tissue surgery, internal medicine, exotic animal medicine and preventative care. He is a member of the American Animal Hospital Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians.
Dr. Shivelbine's family includes his wife, Jenna, their son Olin, two cats - Oslo & Clever Dan, and an awesome old mutt named Flea, who closely resembles main character of the children's book "Walter the Farting Dog". Jenna is a fabric artist who designs mittens, stuffed animals, baby clothes, etc. Jenna and Matt are both former members of the punk-bluegrass band The Monads. They miss playing live music but love being parents. They also love watching bad scary movies and laughing a lot. Olin loves reading books, pretending he's a dinosaur, and playing with toy trains.