Poorna Chowdry, Staff Veterinarian

Dr. Chowdry was born and raised in New York. She completed her BA in Philosophy and MS in Biology at Case Western Reserve University in 2004 and 2006, respectively. During graduate school she studied captive cheetah behavioral endocrinology at the Cleveland Zoo. She then attended Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and earned her DVM in 2010. During veterinary school she received a Morris Animal Foundation grant to study dental disease in kangaroos in conjunction with The Ohio State University.

After vet school Dr. Chowdry completed a rotating internship at VCA West Los Angeles from 2010-2011. Following her internship year, she was a full-time relief veterinarian in the Los Angeles area and a part-time veterinarian at Los Angeles Zoo. Dr. Chowdry has extensive training in the care and treatment of exotic species, and is now an Associate Veterinarian in the Avian and Exotics Department at VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital. She is currently pursuing specialty certification in exotic animal practice. Her professional interests include wildlife conservation and advanced imaging in exotic species.

In her free time Dr. Chowdry enjoys scuba diving, snowboarding, and international travel, as well as being an avid underwater hockey enthusiast. She represented the USA on the women's national underwater hockey team for the 2013 world championships in Hungary and is currently an active member of the Los Angeles club team. Dr. Chowdry shares her home with her three-legged dog Bubbles and her pet rabbit Sunny, both rescues from local shelters.