Dr. Arsenault worked for Lafayette in a relief capacity before joining us on a permanent basis as an Associate Veterinarian in 2012. She grew up in New Hampshire and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in Pre-Vet. She continued her education at the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she earned her DVM degree in 1982.

Dr. Arsenault has 20 plus years of diverse veterinary experience, having worked in a variety of practices, ranging from small animal to emergency care hospitals. Her favorite part of practicing veterinary medicine is the variety. She thoroughly enjoys meeting new patients and clients, as well as seeing patients she has seen time and time again. Dr. Arsenault also enjoys being kept on her toes, and always rises to the occasion no matter what is placed in front of her.

She lives here in NH with her two cats, Buddy and Pistol. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and also spending time with Leon.

Dr. Brown-Hendry attended Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine after completing a Bachelor of Science at Syracuse University. She has worked in many facets in animal health and care including shelter medicine, high volume spay and neuter, exotic animal medicine and animal related legal issues. Dr. Brown-Hendry has a passion for soft tissue surgery, dentistry, emergency care, new animal appointments and palliative care for elderly and terminally ill patients.

Dr. Brown-Hendry lives in Portsmouth with her husband and young daughter. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cooking and spending time with her family.

Dr. Courtney Abbott joined the Lafayette team in June 2021 as an Associate Veterinarian. Dr. Abbott received her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree from the Atlantic Veterinary College and the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, PEI, Canada. During veterinary school, Dr. Abbott was involved in organized veterinary medicine through American Veterinary Medical Association and advocated for improved mental health support for veterinary students across North America. She continues to be involved in organized veterinary medicine via the New Hampshire Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Abbott strongly believes in the importance of building personal relationships and trust with her clients. She enjoys taking time to answer questions and explain diagnostic test results, medications, and disease processes to clients. She also enjoys cases that involve clinical pathology.

Dr. Abbott was born and raised in New Hampshire and is happy to be close to friends and family. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and exercising.

Kathy is the office manager at Lafayette Animal Hospital, and has been since the practice opened its doors in 1994. With over 25 years of veterinary assistance experience, she uses her education certification to lead a caring, cheerful, and well-educated staff. Though her title is the office manager, she wears many hats here at the clinic. You will see her at the reception area, even in an exam room or the surgical suite, more than you will see her behind her own desk. She truly enjoys being involved in all aspects of our hospital.

Kathy enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters. as well as her Boston Terrier named Mabel. She also owns three Morgan horses, one of which she won a world championship at the Morgan Grand National Horse Show in Oklahoma City in 2014. She enjoys being outdoors at her and her husband’s camp, at the horse shows, or just taking the dog for a walk on the beach. You may also see her with her sisters at the local art and craft venues, promoting her primitive painting collection. She looks forward to seeing you and meeting your pet at Lafayette Animal Hospital.

Whitney is the Veterinary Technician Supervisor at Lafayette Animal Hospital and has been working at Lafayette since the winter of 2017. She started off part time while she was finishing her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences at UNH, but once she finished up, Kathy pulled her on full time! While she is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her pup, Josie, working on her car, painting, using her film cameras, and paddle boarding. Whitney loves chatting with clients and is always up for setting aside time for extra love for the patients, especially after surgery!

Sam graduated from Great Bay Community College in 2014, where she received her associate degree in Applied Science. Shortly thereafter, she passed the challenging Veterinary Technician Exam to become a Certified Veterinary Technician. Sam originally came to us as an intern during her schooling, and then was invited to join our full time staff in May of 2014. Sam has a well-rounded approach to her veterinary technician work because of her kind, and hard-working personality. She is always willing to learn or try something new. Since she has started, she has developed into a skilled veterinary technician, who excels not only in the surgical suite, but also in the exam room.

Sam has two cats of her own, Zayla and Bailey and 2 French Bulldogs named Severus and Salazar. You can say she is bit of a Harry Potter fan! In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family, and doing outdoor activities such as hiking or kayaking, and playing with her frenchies.

Megan first started with Lafayette in 2005 working part time while in high school. After attending college she worked for two other veterinary clinics before returning to ‘home’ at Lafayette in the beginning of 2015. Megan can be seen wearing many hats around the clinic but is officially the reception supervisor and a veterinary technician. When not at work she enjoys spending time with her young son and husband, baking, gardening, spending time with her dog Tilly and cat Toby, and spending time in the barn with her family’s horses. Megan enjoys helping clients take the best care of their pets as possible. 

Sydney joined our team in late 2018. She had been working at a local doggy daycare at the time and jumped on the opportunity to work at a veterinary clinic. She started out as a receptionist with us and worked her way up to Veterinary Technician Assistant within a year of joining the team. Sydney will be advancing her career by attending school in the fall to become a Certified Veterinary Technician. Her love and passion for animals grows everyday working in this field. She has three dogs of her own, Dozer (Daschund mix), Champ (Beagle mix), and JD (German Shepherd).

Amanda graduated from Great Bay Community College in 2019, where she received her Associates degree in Applied Science. Shortly after, she passed her National Exam to become a Certified Veterinary Technician. Amanda comes with experience in surgical specialties and loves everything about surgery/anesthesia. She Joined the Lafayette team in December of 2021. When she isn’t at work she enjoys hiking and spending time with her dog Harley and cat Luna.

Melissa has been working in the veterinary field since 1999 working as a Client Care Coordinator. She graduated from North Shore Community College with an Associate’s Degree in Animal Care. She is our cat enthusiast at Lafayette Animal Hospital and has a strong interest in feline health, behavior, and diet. Melissa currently has five cats Wesley a Seal Point Siamese, Quinn a Lilac Point Siamese, Emmett a Flame Point Siamese, Maui a Domestic Medium Hair, and Pot Roast a Domestic Short Hair.

When Melissa isn’t feeding, medicating, and cleaning the many litter boxes at home, she enjoys dressing up Joe (our hospital cat) as well as her own pets in Halloween costumes, painting her pets on canvas, ceramics, and traveling to Disneyworld and Disneyland and going to concerts.

Donna and her husband have been entrusting the staff and doctors at Lafayette Animal Hospital with their beloved pets’ care since our second month in business in 1994! After working as a receptionist in the human medical care industry for 30 years, she retired. Donna has been working at Lafayette Animal Hospital since 2017 as a Client Care Coordinator.

She enjoys spending time with her family and her three Border Collies, Finnigan, River, and Dash, in her off time. Donna also competes (very successfully, might we add) with all three dogs in agility trials. Feel free to check in with her the next time that you are in the office to see what accomplishments her pups have made. She also has a Morgan Horse named UVM Kyros and loves spending time at the barn.

Joe is our resident animal hospital cat. He has been with us since March of 2015. He was an “owner surrender”, who made himself right at home here. Our staff instantly fell in love with him, and quickly asked if we could keep him… who could say no to that face?

Joe spends his days playing with Kathy’s Boston Terrier, overseeing medical procedures from a safe distance, walking across keyboards as our staff tries to get some work done, and above all else, lounging in his favorite, quirky spots. Our staff truly spoils him with love, and attention, and in return he makes us all laugh, especially on days that we need an emotional pick me up.