Staff

Dr. Thomi was born in Switzerland and spent most of his childhood near Basel.  After graduating from technical school, obligatory military service and working as a machinist for one year, he continued his education first in England and then New York State. When the opportunity arose to work at a rural school in the Dominican Republic, he moved there without hesitation.   Dr. Thomi ultimately spent over four years working and living in an isolated community, called Rio Limpio, located in the central mountain range in the Dominican Republic near the Haitian border.  After leaving the Dominican Republic he first moved to Maryland and then to Colorado to complete his Bachelor of Science degree in agronomy followed a doctorate in veterinary medicine at Colorado State University.

Shortly after graduating Dr. Thomi moved with his young family to Helena. For the first year after graduation he worked at the Animal Center and completed his acupuncture training at Colorado State University. In 2000 Dr. Barkemeyer, Dr. Fehlig and Dr. Thomi opened the Companion Animal Hospital, a small and large animal hospital, on North Montana Avenue. The Companion Animal Hospital closed in 2010 after Dr.
Barkemeyer had passed away. In December 2010 Dr. Thomi and most of his staff moved to the newly constructed Apex Animal Hospital, which was designed as a modern small animal internal medicine and surgical hospital with a state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation facility.  Dr. Thomi’s special interests are orthopedic and advanced soft tissue surgery, but he also enjoys
challenging internal medicine cases.  Although Dr. Thomi mostly works on dogs and cats, he has performed surgery on animals as small as a 6 gram toad that had swallowed a rock, to a Grizzly bear with a fractured jaw.

While Dr. Thomi strives to continuously improve his hospital and provide the best services possible for his patients and clients, he also loves to learn new skills in his free time and challenges himself physically and mentally.  Hobbies include bee keeping, raising sheep and sheep herding with his dogs, SCUBA diving, sailing, standup paddle boarding, wood carving, fishing and hiking.

Carla was born and raised in southern Idaho.

In 1987 she graduated from the College of Idaho as a Gipson scholar, with a double major in Biology and Psychology.

She worked at the Missoula Humane Society and Missoula Veterinary Clinic while her husband went to graduate school.

In 1995 she graduated from Washington State University School of Veterinary Medicine. She developed a deep interest in the human-animal bond. She was active
in the Delta Society involving therapy work with her dogs and cat.

She has been a veterinarian in Helena since 1996. She has a great interest in behavior and surgery.

She is married with one daughter and two mini American Shepherds.

She enjoys knitting, spinning, painting, hiking, camping, and backpacking, particularly if it involves Glacier or Waterton.

She also enjoys dog sports, having dabbled in agility, herding, tricks, scent work, freestyle, rally, and obedience. 

Dr. Autumn Harris was born and raised in Northwest Arkansas.

She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. After graduation, she moved to Helena, MT and began working as an Associate Veterinarian. She enjoys complicated internal medicine cases and building long term relationships with her clients.

She is married and lives on a small “farm” with 5 dogs, 2 cats, horses, chickens and ducks. She is active in competitive barrel racing as well as the fitness community, participating in CrossFit and as a Health and
Wellness Coach.

She enjoys essentially any outdoor activity; particularly hiking, dock diving with her dog, Zoe and traveling with her husband.  

Dr. Swanson is a Montana native and has been practicing veterinary medicine in Montana since graduating from Colorado State University in 2015. She discovered her passion for emergency and critical care in 2021 and has been working in pet ERs since then. When she is not providing after hours/emergency services for Helena and surrounding communities, she can be found somewhere in the mountains with her beagle mix Sammy or hanging out with her husband, stepdaughter and two cats.

| made Montana my permanent home in 2004 after relocating from Asheville, NC, where | co-owned an AAHA veterinary hospital with my (now ex-) husband.

Becoming a veterinarian was a lifelong dream of mine. As a child, | spent summers on my grandparents' dairy farm in Wisconsin, bottle-feeding calves, riding horses, socializing lambs, and setting up 'mouse hospitals' to rehabilitate the mice caught and injured by the barn cats.

My veterinary dream was realized when | graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (UTCVM) in 1992. Since then, | have obtained certification in veterinary acupuncture from the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society and my certification in canine rehabilitation (CCRP) from UTCVM. 

My interest in rehabilitation therapy was rooted in my experiences with injury and injury prevention as a track and field athlete in high school and college and as a mountain biker and trail runner in my adult life. I spend my free time with my husband, Tom, riding bicycles and motorcycles, hunting and fishing, and working on projects around the house. 

Our home is filled with three goofy standard Poodles: 'Princess' Moki and the wild boys, Carlos and Billy. Several years ago, | succumbed to chicken math and now have a flock of laying hens of various breeds. If you need eggs, let me know :)

Animals have always been an integral part of my life. | believe that every animal we share our lives with is an emotional support animal. | love being part of a profession that makes a difference in the lives of animals and their families daily.

Jennifer completed her physical therapy (PT) degree from University of Colorado in 2000. She began her PT journey working in an inpatient/outpatient hospital setting. After a number of years of working as a human PT, she started asking the question, how could I
bring canine rehab to Montana? After developing a working relationship with both PT and DVM state boards she completed her CCRP in 2004. And then went on to pioneer a path for canine rehab in Montana that brings out the best of both PT and DVM for each canine
patient.

Jennifer’s deep connection to canines is the driving force for most everything she does. The ability to use her knowledge of movement science, anatomy, balance and strength training allows her to bring her canine
patients from postop back to top-notch performance.

She has been working with canine patients since 2004, and exclusively for since 2009. Her work allows her to travel the central Montana corridor working with a fantastic collection of veterinarians. She sees primarily orthopedic and neurological cases. She is certified in
Rock Tape kinesiology tape techniques. Her clients also benefit from her manual therapy skills as well as her gift of being able to zero in on the painful, limiting or dysfunctional structures. Thus assisting the veterinary team to arrive at the final diagnosis.

Jennifer remains active in the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). She has served for three years on the nominating committee for the Animal Rehabilitation Special Interest group in the APTA. She has taught numerous workshops and seminars on canine core fitness throughout Montana.

After many years of attending agility trials to watch and cheer on her former patients, she has taken the plunge and entered the ring herself. She has begun teaching agility workshops & private lessons.

Her affinity for athletics has been lifelong. She’s completed the rigorous 140 mile ROTPOD bike tour three times and also the Park 2 Park 400 mile bike ride from Glacier National Park to Yellowstone National Park. Of late, her summertime addiction is standup paddle
boarding and wintertime skijoring in the mountains of Montana with her dogs.