A Dream, Tenacity, and Hard Work

When you know, you know. Dr. Rena Dunahoo was in no more than fourth or fifth grade when she set her sights on becoming a veterinarian. Even though that is her earliest recollection, she feels like she has known it forever.

As far back as she can remember, Rena grew up saving animals all her life, from the normal pets one might rescue to the random squirrel. One family favorite story is that Rena never believed anything was beyond saving, even a frozen solid and seemingly dead squirrel which she gathered and promptly thawed out and revived. Rena didn’t give up on anything she set her mind to.

Knowing she wanted to be a vet, she realized very early on that her grades, classes, service, along with school and community projects had to align. She became heavily involved in school and in the local livestock shows. She took interest in multiple projects from pigs to cattle, always adding many home economic projects in order to push herself to be well rounded. Her parents expected that she be very involved in the livestock process and hands on, so Rena learned to handle her animals from start to finish with an eye on the end result of success, which she routinely obtained both locally and around the state.

Dr. Dunahoo graduated top of her class in high school and without any hesitation chose to head straight to Texas A&M for what she and her family knew to be the best vet school around. At Texas A&M she was very involved in extra curricular activiites such as Block & Bridle, Saddle & Sirloin, the beef show team and many agriculture groups.

Rena graduated Cum Laude during her undergraduate years at Texas A&M and met veterinarian school with the same passion and tenacity. Rena was always one of the veterinarian students to assist, given the chance. She took every opportunity to volunteer during campus hosted events. Rena loved being hands on when youth would come to visit the veterinarian school and enjoyed helping their young hearts learn to love what she loved.

After graduation, Dr. Dunahoo returned to Central Texas where her fiancé was from and there was a wonderful clinic opportunity in Temple where she decided to set down her roots. Rena’s opportunity there, came with a potential future buy in which of course was perfect for her goal oriented spirit. Since that time the clinic’s growth has been exponential.

One thing Dr. Dunahoo will quickly tell you of her many lessons learned through the years, is that great “support” is the key. Having a solid support staff is essental to a successful clinic and knowing you can trust that staff to be as dedicated as you are is an absolute must. Rena will tell you that along with success comes changes and trials. Each day you put one foot in front of the other, make changes and adjustments as the times dictate, and stay firm in the end goal of being the very best caregiver to the beloved pets she’s entrusted to care for each day.

In talking to Dr. Dunahoo, she will remind you that the family support is a must as well, there being understanding of the long hours and intermittent interruptions that is a part of her life. She is very proud of all the support she gets from her husband, Nick, and her girls, Addison and Emery.

When asked if the girls will follow in her footsteps, Rena chuckles and says that Addison is set on being a plastic surgeon, and Emery is set on being an over achiever but is still young enough to not yet know in what area.

One thing this family shares is a passion for pets, theirs AND yours. They also have a drive for striving for high achievement and putting in long hard days, as both girls compete in competitive cheer. Undoubtedly the upcoming years for this family will be filled with varied schedules, long days and always an eye on success.