There is a new set of paws working with the animals at Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals, but they certainly are not a fuzzy set. Dr Kaneha Vali, Dr Rakesh Vali’s son, has officially been working as a doctor of veterinary medicine for about two years.

“My dad’s Doctor Vali,” Vali said, “My brother’s a human MD … so he’s also Doctor Vali, and I’m the third.”

Vali explained that he “practically kind of grew up” in the practice and was helping as an assistant around the age of 13. He officially started as a doctor at Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals in July of 2024. Vali splits his time between Pleasant Paws Pet Center and the hospital, but referred to himself as “always on call” because he does not “like them bothering Dr Vali Senior” too much.

Growing up in the animal hospital watching his dad was a source of inspiration for Vali. He said, “I didn’t really have too many choices growing up. It was either be like a doctor or some sort of lawyer or engineer, you know, you only had like three paths … When I was going through college and things like that, I always thought I wanted to be an MD, a human doctor, but then I shadowed here a bunch of times when I was younger, and as I got older, I just really appreciated how [my dad] practiced medicine and how he spoke with clients.”

Vali continued, “He [has] like a lot of compassion and empathy … he [has] really good problem-solving skills. Then, like, obviously, just the human-animal bond is just really strong. I find that people sometimes care more for their animals than they do their siblings or parents. And so, you have to be like really careful on how you word things and talk to them and show your expressions. He did all that really masterfully. You get to really help animals out, and in turn, you’re helping people out. And so, you get the best of both worlds.”

Vali spent four years in college studying to be a vet, then completed a one-year rotating internship in Iowa. He said it was “a bit different.” He explained that those who study to become “human MDs” participate in a match program for their residencies, and he did something similar, which brought him to Iowa. Vali’s focus and special interest is ophthalmology.

“That was fun,” Vali said of his time at the Iowa hospital. The internship was extensive. Vali shared that he worked 80-100 hour weeks during his time in Iowa and felt like he “lived” at the hospital.

Vali tries to stay away from larger farm animals, like horses and cows, and exotics, as another doctor in the office is more experienced in exotic care. During his internship, he worked on other small animals, like rabbits, but now focuses mostly on cats and dogs. He spent a lot of time studying emergency and critical care, with internal medicine and ophthalmology as his focuses. However, while shadowing at a zoo in New York, he was able to sit in on cataract surgery for a seal.

Returning To Newtown

Vali said he felt like he would always come back to Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals.

“[My dad has] supported me through all these years, like mentored me essentially. I feel like it’s kind of a good thing to come back and support him, too,” Vali said. “Take things off his plate so he could worry about not just the clinical practice but the business itself.”

Now that Vali is two years into his practice at Mt Pleasant, he feels like “everything’s going great.” He said that he knows the clientele well, and their animals well. He has adjusted to the function of the hospital and has a good, supportive staff behind him, too.

“If I could work every single day, like I would do that. I just literally love my job so much … if I could stay here I would,” Vali shared. Vali loves problem-solving with his clients and their pets and interacting with them.

During his time practicing, he has learned that getting a good patient history from the pet owner is vital in understanding the pets and their needs. The more behaviors Vali has seen displayed in animals, the more “in-tune” he is with what is going on.

Vali said, “I think it’s important to have someone that’s a relatively a new graduate out on the field that had a lot of different perspectives from an internship going into this. Maybe some newer, more advanced perspectives on medicine because sometimes when you are older, sometimes your perspectives don’t change very much … Sometimes it’s good to have someone new that has new ideas and thoughts and opinions on things and can help with elevating the standard of care that we have.”

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.