Meet Our Team

Education

• UW-Madison
• Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine
• Dr. Torhorst is the founder and former owner of North Shore Animal Hospital. He sold the practice in 2012 and still works part-time, performing surgeries at NSAH.
• 
  He was born in Burlington and has been an important member of the community and  North Shore Animal Hospital for almost five decades! Dr. Torhorst graduated from UW- Madison with a degree in Economics and then went on to receive his degree in Veterinary Medicine from Michigan State University in 1968. (UW-Madison did not have a Veterinary School at the time).
•  In 1972 he became a Veterinarian at the Racine Zoo where he worked until 1997.  He was the Zoo Director and President of the local Zoological Society for several years and also became a Wildlife Rehabilitation Veterinarian. It wasn’t unusual to see wildlife and zoo animals, such as; Fox, Bald Eagles. Deer, Leopards and Ostriches at the clinic back then.
•  Dr. Torhorst also performed many surgeries for injured wildlife and zoo animals, including a c-section on Bonnie, the zoo’s famous White Tiger. 
• Dr. Torhorst and his wife, Jeanne have three sons and nine grand kids, a retriever named Annie and a cat named Tebs. Their home also doubled as a nursery for Orangutans, Fawns, Lion Cubs and many other furry babies that needed extra TLC and rehabilitation.

Education:

• UW-Madison
• UW-Madison college of Veterinary Medicine

As part of the NSAH team since 1999, Dr. Linda Axnick enjoys practicing preventative medicine as well as performing surgery. Along with her husband Dr. Whitney, she spends much of her free time participating in dock diving and agility with their four Retrievers.

Education:  UW-Madison

UW-Madison College of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Whitney joined the North Shore Animal Hospital Team in August of 2012 when he became a co-owner with his wife Linda, who is also a Veterinarian here at North Shore Animal Hospital. 

Dr. Whitney is from Green Bay and graduated from UW Madison in 1995 with a degree in Veterinary Medicine. One of his favorite things about working at North Shore Animal Hospital is educating clients regarding pet health and especially helping new puppy and kitten parents with behavior training to give them a happy start. When Dr. Todd isn’t spending time with NSAH patients, he enjoys spending time with his wife Linda and their four dogs; Pink, Skye, Effie and Duncan. They travel around Wisconsin and the country competing in (and winning) Canine Agility and Dock Diving Competitions with their dogs.

Education

• UW-Madison
• UW-Madison College of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Heidi Jahn has been with NSAH since 1991. She has a special interest in internal medicine and working up complicated cases. She loves her patients and they love her back.

 Dr. Jahn received her degree from the University of Wisconsin with the second graduating class in the School of Veterinary Medicine. She has been a Veterinarian since 1988 but has been keeping North Shore Animal Hospital patients happy and healthy since 1991!

When Dr. Jahn isn’t giving lots of attention and TLC to our client’s pets, she has five cats of her own that she enjoys spoiling and spending time with her two senior cats; Bucky, Esme and four year old feline twins, Gilley and Roarke. She also enjoys traveling, photography and spending time at the lake hiking, swimming and lots of book reading.

Education:

• Purdue College of Veterinary Medicine

As part of the North Shore family since 1992, Dr. Arbas currently works part time and enjoys educating our clients on the importance of preventative medicine, wellness exam and vaccines.  When he isn't helping keep our patients healthy, Dr. Arbas enjoys cooking, golfing and being outdoors, fishing and traveling with his wife, Anne.

Education

• Pepperdine University
• Colorado State School of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Ayres-Ruud has been a part of the North Shore Animal Hospital Team since 1997.  She and her husband have three children and several dogs, cats and horses.  Dr. Ayres- Ruud enjoys spending time with her family, competing in horse shows with her children and is an avid Iron Man Triathlete.  Due to her busy and active family life, she currently fills in and helps keep our patients healthy and happy when other doctors are out of the office.  

Education: UW-River Falls, University of Minnesota-College of Veterinary Medicine 

Dr. Hollis grew up in the Twin Cities and graduated from The University of Minnesota in 1998 with a degree in Veterinary Medicine. She moved shortly after that and began her career working with horses. For the past nineteen years she has worked at Small Animal Veterinary Hospitals in SE Wisconsin and enjoys creating bonds with clients and their furry family members. 

She has many dogs, cats, goats, chickens horses and a mini donkey. Besides caring for her own furry and feathery critters, she also enjoys being outdoors with her family, camping and trail riding with her horses.
Dr. Hollis has many passions when it comes to her position as a Veterinarian including Feline and Canine Dentistry. She also loves counseling families with new kittens and puppies to ensure that they have a good start in life as well as helping senior pets live the longest, healthiest and happiest life possible.

Education

• Concordia University
• Concordia University

A member of the NSAH team since 1983, Lori started out as the morning kennel cleaner. She loves her job and feels fortunate to have such a great place to work. Lori and her husband Eric have 2 daughters, 3 Border Collies, 6 cats, 5 goats, 2 rabbits and a horse. In her free time Lori serves as a board member of H.O.P.E. Safehouse and Wisconsin Border Collie Rescue.

Kim joined our staff in 1988 as a Certified Veterinary Technician. She and her husband Chuck have seven cats. At the hospital we often refer to Kim as the cat whisperer because she has a special way with making cats feel calm her at NSAH.

Suzanne has worked at NSAH since 2006.

Lindsay worked at North Shore Animal Hospital in high school as a Kennel Technician and returned in 2009 after graduating from Arkansas State University. She is now one of our Certified Veterinary Technicians. Lindsay and her husband Chase have two children and several pet family members that include two cats; Beaker and Aliquot,  a three legged bottle fed kitty and Beebe, an adorable fluffy Bichon mix, two parakeets and a Cockateil named Fiddlesticks.  In her spare time, Lindsay enjoys crafting, artwork and spending time with her family and her pets.  

Sue has lots of experience in the veterinary field and with animals and has been a team member at NSAH since 2010.  She and her husband Tim live on a farmette with their three children.  Besides, chickens, a cat and a dog, Sue has a herd of goats that she milks and several hives of bees.

Joining the hospital in 2010 as a receptionist, Vicki also brought her many years of dog training experience with her. Vicki has three grown children and several dogs, including a special needs Dalmatian that she rescued.

Patti joined our NSAH family in 2012.  She brought experience from working at a couple other animal hospitals in the area. Patti and her husband John have two children and two adorable grandchildren.  She also shares her life with three dogs and a cat named Dwayne. In her spare time Patti enjoys scent training and competing in agility with her dogs. 

Corrie joined our NSAH family in October 2013.  She came to us with an abundance of experience in the veterinary field after having worked at another local veterinary hospital.  Corrie and her husband have a son and a dog.  In her spare time Corrie enjoys running, spending time with her family and enjoying their cabin.  

Michele is one of our receptionists and has been working at NSAH since August of 2016.  Michelle and her husband have two children; Haylee and Brandon and many pets in their family including a dog, a cat, two rabbits, hermit crabs and fish.  Michele’s has a passion for all animals but especially enjoys riding horses.

Sue joined the NSAH in July of 2018 but has been working as a Certified Veterinary Technician since 1973. She has a Border Collies named Bizzy who is an agility champion and a Golden Retriever named Kwik who loves to do Dog Sports with Sue, such as Dock Diving and Fast CAT.  Sue enjoys training and attending for agility competitions in her spare time.

Chris joined the NSAH team in November of 2018. She recently moved back to Wisconsin with her husband and their pets; Kevin a seven year old Retriever mix and their cats, including Waldo, a special needs cat with CH (Cerebellar Hypoplasia). They also have two grown daughters. Chris has been working for Veterinary Clinics and has been volunteering and fostering with animal rescue organizations for more than thirty years including; The Wisconsin Humane Society, H.O.P.E. Safehouse and Kindred Kitties. She has an affinity for cats and opened Ohio’s first cat café, Eat, Purr, Love Cat Cafe.  Chris is one of our receptionists and also helps with our social media and marketing.

Melissa was born in Chicago and moved to Wisconsin in 2019. She has twenty years of experience working in small animal practices and emergency veterinary hospitals and is looking forward to meeting and creating bonds with our NSAH clients and patients.

She enjoys spending time with her two dogs; a Maltipoo named Dumpling and a Jack Russell Terrier mix named Sesame. Melissa has had several special-needs pets as well, including a diabetic dog and a dog with Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA).

In her spare time, Melissa likes to shop, attend concerts and work outs at Burn Boot Camp.

Annalise is a Racine native currently studying Animal Behavior at Carroll University. She has three dogs of her own; a Lab named Max and a Polish Sheepdog named Dillon and a Labrador Retriever named Diablo and two cats.

Annalise is studying Animal Behavior and enjoys working with animals.  Before joining the NSAH Team, she worked at a doggy day care.

One of her favorite things to do is walking with her dogs and her favorite movie is The Secret Life of Pets.
She is excited to meet all of our NSAH clients and patients!!!

When Karla isn’t working at North Shore Animal Hospital, she enjoys spending her time with her husband, Leo and all of her pets, which include several active dogs and a horse named Penny. Her favorite hobbies are camping, horseback riding and show jumping and training and competing in Dog Sports; Flyball, Dock Diving and Disc competitions.

Hailey is our newest Veterinary Assistant and joined the NSAH staff team Decmeber of 2020.. She has been a valuable part of our team and is enjoying meeting our patients and clients.

She is currently in the Veterinary Technician program at Gateway Technical College and also works at a Doggy Daycare and pet/farm-sits for pets and critters of all kinds.
Her family includes four dogs; Gilbert, Winnie, Rosie and Lacy.  Hailey enjoys going hiking with them in her free time.

Myla

Staci

Laurel

Kim