Dr Nick Markette, DVM, has been dividing his time between Pleasant Paws Pet Center and Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals for three months. Since joining the teams at the South Main Street and Mt Pleasant Road facilities, respectively, Markette has shared his passion for taking care of animals with whoever walks through either location’s doors.

“When I came into this practice, everybody was so welcoming with open arms. It was like I already worked there for years,” Markette said.

Born and raised in Naugatuck, Markette earned his Bachelor of Science degree in animal science at UConn and his DVM from St George’s University in Grenada, West Indies.

Markette said he knew he wanted to become a veterinarian ever since he was young. In the second grade, he took a stuffed animal to school for show and tell. When someone put it on their head and it fell, he remembers he exclaimed, “Oh no, it broke its leg!” That stuffed animal incident fostered the passion and drive towards taking care of animals.

From that moment on, Markette would always check out the veterinarian books whenever he went to the library in school. As he grew up, he said, he continued to gravitate toward the science field, specifically medicine or veterinary medicine.

“With this field, it’s not for everybody. And I’m very honest about that with people coming in. The more experience they have in the area to know whether they like it or not, the better,” Markette said. “It can be very difficult at times, but also very rewarding.”

As a veterinarian, Markette is driven to keep his patients as healthy as possible and provide them the best treatment he can. He hopes to instill that same passion for care into pet owners and educate them on how to best take care of their pets.

“I always want to educate my clients, because I find that the more that they understand why I’m doing things, then I tend to get better responses for treatment. If I just prescribe an antibiotic and call it a day, they’re kinda like I’m not sure why I’m doing this,” Markette said. “Just teaching people the basics of things, being empathetic and patient with certain conditions for them, really I’ve learned that on the job more than anything else I’ve done.”

For more information, contact Pleasant Paws at 203-491-2770 or woofwoof@pleasantpawspetcenter or visit pleasantpawspetcenter.com.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.