About Our Veterinary Hospital

Dr. Lauren Ranivand and Dr. Melissa Gosline both started out as veterinary technicians and met while working at a local hospital. It was obvious early on that they shared a similar approach to working with and treating pets. They both quickly bond to their patients and want to ensure that they receive the best care and experience possible. We want bringing your pet to Fairfax Veterinary Hospital to be a positive experience for you and your pet. That’s why we have taken extra effort to minimize stress and anxiety by becoming a certified Fear-free practice and a Cat-friendly practice. Please see our Fear-free and Cat-friendly sections to learn more about what we have done to make this possible.

One of our core values is a commitment to integrative medicine. We recognize the importance of looking at the whole picture of health in your pet. This means considering physical, biological, environmental, nutritional and lifestyle factors. In addition, we are always seeking more knowledge and training for our doctors and staff so that we can provide the most comprehensive care.

Our doctors and staff are known for their emphasis on the special bond between humans and their pets. We pledge to work with you to help keep your pet happy and healthy through every stage of your journey together. Just as they are a member of your family, we want you to be a member of ours.

Address: 10396 Willard Way, Fairfax, VA 22030

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Dr. Garner has always treasured the human-animal bond and has never considered any career other than being a veterinarian. When Dr. Garner’s first childhood dog Fannie got sick, she found comfort in caring for her in her final days. Since then, she spent the rest of her childhood taking care of sick or injured pets and wildlife. Dr. Garner officially entered the field of veterinary medicine at the age of 16 and worked as a veterinary assistant through high school and college, up until going to veterinary school. During veterinary school, Dr. Garner developed a passion for working with zoo and wildlife species. She completed many zoological externships where she had the opportunity to work with numerous animals, some of her favorites including marine mammals, elephants, tigers, and giant pandas. Following graduation from veterinary school, Dr. Garner completed a small animal rotating internship at The Regional Veterinary Referral Center. Dr. Garner is now excited to enter into general practice.

Dr. Garner has two dogs, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Clara Belle and a Saluki named Ernesto. When not working Dr. Garner enjoys horse riding, hiking, and traveling- especially to Arkansas to spend time with family.

Dr. Garner received a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science from the University of Arkansas in 2019, and her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University in 2023.

Grew up in northern Virginia with cats and dogs. She has spent much of her life working with horses and once owned a ball python named Frank. Izzy has been pet sitting since childhood and worked as an assistant stable manager for 3 years. She has been working full time in the pet service field in 2015. When not working or spending time playing tabletop role playing game, Izzy enjoys spending time with her two black cats, going on camping events, and traveling to cold weather places with her family.

Stephanie has dreamed of being in the veterinary field since she was a young girl. She would spend all her free time pet sitting, volunteering at animal shelters, and finding opportunities to learn more about the field. She treats all our patients like family.

She completed Animal Science classes in high school, has 4 years of experiences as a Veterinary Assistant, and she is currently in school to become a Licensed Veterinary Technician. Stephanie has also loved learning about Integrative medicine. She also hopes to become proficient in many areas such as massage, dentistry, and Equine medicine to name a few.

Jazzii fell into the veterinary field with a random opportunity. She was keeping the hardworking team of Fairfax Veterinary Hospital caffeinated at their favorite coffee shop as a barista when she learned of an opening. She took a chance and was able to join Fairfax Veterinary’s team! Now, she gets to enjoy two of her passions, coffee, and animals! What more could you ask for? She has always loved being around animals and worked with them through pet sitting and volunteering, but never thought she would get into the animal field professionally.

Jazzii has fallen in love with the field while working here and has gotten to learn so much. She has appreciated being educated all about the Fear Free movement in the veterinary world. Keeping the environment stress-free and enjoyable for the animals means a lot to Jazzii. She hopes to express that as soon as you and your pet walk through the front door at reception. She wants to make sure you start and end your visit with a smile and a happy tail! She hopes to continue learning about all that the veterinary world has to offer as she works with the team.

Since Zoey was a little kid, she’s loved all types of animals. Much to her parent’s surprise, Zoey learned how to walk when she saw a bird in the yard and ended up following it down the street. She grew up with a number of pets, from dogs to beta fish, parakeets, even a ferret named Frankie. She was known to everyone as the one you call if you found an animal in the road, a snake in the garden, or a moth stuck inside.
Even though she loved all animals and wanted to always help them when she could, working at a veterinary hospital wasn’t her first option in her career goals. She was worried that seeing animals sick or hurt would be too hard for her. Zoey started to volunteer with local dog and cat rescues. She would volunteer by walking the dogs and socializing them, taking care of the animals when they were sick or hospitalized. She also would care for and feed the feral cats in her community and worked to get them spayed and neutered. Once Zoey saw how fulfilling it was to help out animals in need, she knew she had to work at a veterinary hospital to help others with their own animals.
Besides her love for all creatures, Zoey spends her time working out at the gym (to make sure she can lift those heavy dogs!) and spending time with her loveable pittie Ozzie, and her 6 rescued cats.

For as long as she could remember, Zoe has dreamed of working at a veterinary hospital. From playing with her toy vet kit as a toddler, to examining her dog’s ear wax in her Discovery Kids microscope as a tween, Zoe spent years dreaming and learning. While a student at NVCC, Zoe took a detour, and developed both interest and skills involving interpersonal relationships and historical patterns in humans. Even though her education took a different route, Zoe worked as a freelance pet sitter and dog walker, staying immersed with animals. In 2021, Zoe graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Social Sciences. Utilizing her interpersonal skills, Zoe sought out vet receptionist positions, and eventually got into the veterinary field in 2022. She has been a part of the FVH team since July of 2023! Zoe’s second great love (next to animals) is music. When you walk into our lobby, odds are she is quietly singing along to her selected genre of the day! In her free time, Zoe likes to see live shows, walk nature trails, relax in the hammock, and cuddle with her beloved dog, Yana.

Olivia grew up near Richmond, VA on a small farm with all types of animals. It was evident from a very young age that she had a deep compassion for animals when she started rescuing caterpillars from the playground. Her love of animals continued throughout college, where she volunteered with the SPCA and joined UVA’s riding team.
She has always had a passion for medicine. Her interest started with human medicine but has actually transferred to veterinary medicine. She is passionate about caring for patients without a voice. She loves learning about the parallels between us and our fur babies! She plans to attend vet school in pursuit of a career in equine medicine!

Natalie grew up in Colorado where she has always had a love for animals. She made her start volunteering for the organization Freedom Service Dogs. When adopting her soul dog Polo in 2018, she realized working with animals gave her incredible fulfillment. She began volunteering at Fairfax Animal Shelter and knew she needed to do this full-time. She started working as an Animal Care Technician with a local animal shelter where she cared for the well-being of the animals and helped to find their forever home. This is where she also learned about Fear Free and became certified. While there, she became incredibly interested in helping the animal’s overall health and started taking courses through Penn Foster for a career diploma in Veterinary Assistantship, which she completed at FVH. She is thrilled to be a part of this incredible FVH team, which has deepened her passion and love for the field as she pursues her license to become a veterinary technician. Natalie is incredibly passionate about animal behavior, preventative medicine, and client education. She can’t wait to continue helping pets and their families live their best and healthiest lives!

Natalie got into the veterinary field 9 years ago after being an avid pet sitter and owning a handful of guinea pigs, rabbits, and dogs. After spending 4 years working at various general practice clinics in both kennel and reception, she found her niche working at Animal Behavior Wellness Center working with the families of anxious and fearful pets. Owning a nervous pup herself, she found that working with anxious animals and their families was where she was meant to be. After 3 years she made the decision to move back to general practice. Since finding her passion in behavior and fear free techniques, she knew she couldn’t go anywhere that wasn’t a fear free practice. Natalie found her home as an FVH client care representative where she loves her work interacting with clients and assisting them with scheduling their pets.

Meet Maggie. She’s a veterinary assistant at Fairfax Veterinary Hospital and loving every bit of it! She previously worked as a farm hand with many large animals! She has always wanted to be a veterinary technician! Her mother was an LVT, so she’s following in her footsteps! Maggie will be attending the Vet Tech program at Northern Virginia Community College starting in the fall. She has two babies; a dog named Rosie, and a cat named Spice! Although she’s always known she wanted to work in vet med, FVH has confirmed it!

Katie was born and raised in Northern Virginia with a huge passion for animals, starting mostly with all the pets she had growing up. Katie received her degree in Psychology from Northern Virginia Community College, in addition to completing a marine animal college program at SeaWorld San Antonio. She got her start formally working with animals volunteering at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, VA, where she handled and cared for endangered animals, including black-footed ferrets, red crowned cranes, and red pandas. This experience led her to seek out additional work with animals – she began pet-sitting any chance she got while going to school and nannying. In 2015, Katie secured full-time animal work at a high-volume referral practice. She spent three incredibly educational years there and has also worked at a general veterinary practice and as a supervisor at a large pet resort. Katie’s last position was at Animal Behavior Wellness Center for almost three years where she learned a lot about behavior! Katie joined the FVH team in February 2022. She became a licensed veterinary technician in early 2023. She has a love for Fear Free, behavior training and all things pets! When not working with animals, she enjoys spending time with her husband, stepson, and two dogs (Ashes and Maggie).

Katherine has always had an interest in animals since she was very little but her love for them sparked during a trip to visit her family in Peru. Seeing all the stray, injured dogs and cats made Katherine want to start a career in the veterinary field. She started off by taking veterinary science and dog grooming classes in high school and then after graduation she went straight into veterinary technician school. Katherine began working at Fairfax Veterinary Hospital in October 2022. When she is not at work she likes to spend time with her German Shepherd, Cookie, and her two cats, Lucy and Gio.

Jessica joined the veterinary field because she loves helping senior pets. A lot of focus is on kittens and puppies, but her favorite animals are the older ones. Jessica first joined the veterinary field in 2022 when she started working at a small animal clinic. She joined the FVH team in August of 2023. In her free time, she likes to play video games and go on walks with her dog. She wants to further her veterinary knowledge by becoming a licensed veterinary technician, which she is currently in school for.

I have always been a pet lover, I grew up with Rottweiler, who was her best friend, and cats. I started her veterinary journey working as a pet care associate at a large pet resort. It was there that I developed an interest and desire to learn more about the medical side of pet care. I worked at an emergency hospital as well before joining the Fairfax Veterinary Hospital in September 2022. iIam currently in school to become a Licensed Veterinary Technician. My love for animals shines through to everyone, especially her family as she is the first call they make if they have questions about their pets. When I am not working, she enjoys spending time with her dogs Tona and Mali and her cats Bell and Mohawk and travelling to and participating in Native American Powwows.

Eva’s love of animals developed as a child. For as long as she can remember, there was always a dog or cat that she was asking to pet or begging her parents to adopt. Her love of medicine developed as a result of entering the veterinary field as a receptionist in 2004. In this role, she learned the importance of valuing pet parents as much as you value their pets. After some time as a receptionist, she transitioned to the role of veterinary assistant. She remembers her excitement during this time and her love for animals continued to grow as did her handling skills. Her curiosity and thirst for medical knowledge increased as well. That curiosity and thirst led her to veterinary technician school which she graduated from in 2009.

After two years as a technician, she wanted to give back to the profession that she loved so much. She went to work for a non-profit shelter as their anesthetic technician and shelter population medical coordinator along with their shelter veterinarian. The shelter is where her interest in behavior bloomed and was nurtured. She learned a lot about how to recognize behaviors, how to manage those behaviors, and also how the environment can impact the behavior of an animal, for better or for worse. Her position at the shelter was very fulfilling for Eva and one that she loved. After two years with the shelter, she realized she missed the day-to-day connection with an animal, the privilege of watching them grow through life, and the connection with their pet parent.

So, she returned to private practice and continued to learn more and more about veterinary medicine and behavior and became a lead technician. In that role, she developed an assistant training program focusing on practical skills, reading dog behavior, and low-stress handling. One of her favorite things is seeing a dog who is nervous at the vet blossom into a happy pup just because we have taken the time to learn what makes him nervous and how to handle him to mitigate those nerves. The final transition Eva has made is to the post of the practice manager. She is very excited to be working with like-minded people in a hospital whose focus is on low stress handling for both cats and dogs and also practices the highest quality of medicine. Say hi to her the next time you’re at the hospital, and forgive her if she greets your pet before saying hi to you! She can’t help her love for your pet!

At 8 years old, Dr. Gosline was already taking in and caring for stray neighborhood cats. It was obvious at this young age, that she was meant to be a veterinarian. Dr. Gosline received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from James Madison University. Her passion for animals drew her to the veterinary field, and so she continued her schooling to become a Licensed Veterinary Technician. While working as a technician, her love of the field grew and motivated her to become a veterinarian. She earned her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Virginia Tech in 2010. While studying there, she was recognized by her professors for her exemplary skill with animals when she received The Sherrie Clark Compassion and Caring Award.

After veterinary school, Dr. Gosline entered private practice, but her learning didn’t stop there. She continued to expand her skill set into integrative medicine by becoming certified in acupuncture and learning Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation (VOM). The benefits of these therapies to her patients compels her to continue learning and integrating eastern and western medicine.

Dr. Gosline rescued a German Shepherd mix named Reese (AKA “Reese Cup”) and an orange tabby named Mr. Jones. She loves to travel and go hiking in her spare time and you may see some of her baked goods around the clinic from time to time.

Dr. Ranivand’s bond with animals began as early as she can remember. Any chance that she got, she spent outside or at the barn riding horses and taking care of the animals. Dr. Ranivand learned the profound value in the human-animal bond through horseback riding, and later as a Barn Manager and Riding Instructor. She will never forget the special bond she shared with a horse named Max, whom she competed with throughout her high school and college years. Dr. Ranivand earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and knew she wanted to continue working with animals.

Dr. Ranivand entered the veterinary field as a technician in a private practice in 2005. Her interest in the human-animal connection, combined with a curiosity about health and medicine, inspired her to earn a Masters of Public Health degree from Drexel University. While studying there, Dr. Ranivand worked with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine on the 9-11 Search and Rescue Dog Project and her own Masters’ thesis, A Comparative Study of Human and Feline Asthma Trends in the Philadelphia Region. Her thesis project earned her the Exemplary Community-Based Masters Project Award. Her bond with animals and her experiences at Drexel inspired Dr. Ranivand to continue on to veterinary school at Virginia Tech.

After veterinary school, Dr. Ranivand entered private practice. She continues to be inspired by her patients and by the internal and external factors that affect their health. This has led to an interest in integrative medicine, as she has expanded her skill set to include Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation (VOM), ultrasound and laser therapy.

Dr. Ranivand has a brown tabby, named Roo, and loves to travel and practice photography. She also works with World Vets Organization to provide international veterinary services to communities in need.

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