Meet Pam Montgomery-fittz, Dvm

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pam Montgomery-fittz, Dvm. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pam below.

Pam, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

In my work, I am a perpetual 2-year-old – “why? why? why?” I am curious about everything. When I became a veterinarian 30 years ago and came up against the ole mindset of “oh, that just happens,” it didn’t sit well with me. In my work, disease doesn’t just happen, it’s curated. When I see a patient with X disease, I want to know how we got there. Certainly we can manage diseases, but what if we could catch it and correct it when it is the early state of simple dysfunction avoiding the disease entirely? All disease has to start somewhere, so why not go back to the beginning, derail the disease-forming process and create a healthier, longer life?

If you can imagine, it took me to a place that few veterinarians go. In the last 24 years I have amassed a multitude of holistic trainings and ending up in the human functional medicine classes. I have found that curiosity is an emotion of movement. It keeps us moving forward in a path regardless of challenges that appear. The “why…why…why…” literally propels me forward. The is no doubt that fear is a potent paralytic emotion, but curiosity instantly pushes beyond the fear and moves me into action. Certainly, I have been tested. Some in the traditional veterinary industry dismiss the value and or effect of this type of work, mostly because they have not seen the results firsthand. Sometimes, it can be isolating and frustrating. But, if I step back when I am frustrated and revisit the space of curiosity, then it launches me into an active search for answers.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My practice, Revitalizing Pet Care (RPC), offers a different approach to curating a healthier, longer life for pets, ensuring more time for those sloppy kisses, purrs and tail wags. I have found that working from the ground up starting with foundational nutrition and appropriate supplementation, we can build a framework of health for your pet using a variety of modalities. I offer modalities such as foundational nutrition, therapeutic nutrition, acupuncture, animal chiropractic, homeopathy, Western herbs, Chinese herbs, Functional Bloodwork Analysis, and microbiome restoration all through a functional approach.

In Functional Medicine, the focus is on cellular health, as healthy function of the cells means healthy function of the body systems. Since all cell processes rely on nutrients to drive the internal mechanisms, each case is started with a shift to a healthier whole food diet. Luckily, we have many commercially available options in the pet food industry these days. The key is finding the best format that fits the pet and takes them to a healthier

As you might imagine, we see a lot of pets with existing disease. My job is to improve the pet’s quality of life by slowing the progression and rolling back the disease to a healthier state. The proof is in the transformation! The goal is to blend with their existing treatment and improve the body’s processes, so fewer medications are needed. We see amazing results in an array of cases like kidney disease, liver inflammation, cardiac disease, pancreatic dysfunction, Cushing’s or Addison’s disease, musculoskeletal issues, neurological disease, genetic diseases, cancer and more.

We see many aged pets in our practice, but the magic happens with starting a puppy or kitten off on the right paw. I coach pet parents on building a solid foundation of health, so that these pups and kittens can live a longer, healthier life with fewer medical interventions. From food to vet selection to vaccines to preventative care, the focus is always on creating your pup’s or kitten’s best life.

Throughout the year, RPC offers Coffee Talk with open Q&As, purification programs, Functional Bloodwork Analysis Awareness Months, Heartworm DNA testing, TiterFests, and other functional testing, to name a few. We partner with regular veterinarians to bring about the best care possible, as we do not offer traditional services, like x-rays, surgeries, radiographs, etc.

This type of work is very pet-focused, and the pet parents are a HUGE aspect of my practice. We finely tune a working relationship that helps bring their pet to a higher level of health. You could say that pet parents are like the Watson to my Sherlock Holmes. They act as my eyes, ears, nose and observer at home, providing me intel so that I can assess their pet’s response and adjust treatments to get better, longer lasting results. I couldn’t do it without them! Here’s the thing – our pets give us unconditional love; and they are not just our pets, they have become our furry children. Of course we want them to live a long, healthy life. When we work together, the impact is at a much higher level.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I believe that passion, curiosity and perseverance are the three major factors that have the most impact in my career. Notice these are all factors of movement. To me, passion is innate. Find something you are passionate about to keep the fire alive in your pursuit of it. Then, become very curious about the subject matter. Ask yourself : “Why does it happens the way it does?”, “How could it be made better?” and “What could you do to create a newer, better path forward?” Then pursue it with a dogged determination to find the answers you seek. Life is too short to trudge through it. Fill it with things that bring you joy and, at the same time, be willing to work hard to make it better. Remember it is the hard times in life that help you grow. Like a muscle, you have to tear things down to remake them stronger and more powerful. I call it the “deconstruct to reconstruct” phenomenon. You can’t have greatness without experiencing powerlessness. You can’t have joy without feeling sorrow. Life is not about avoiding all the bad things, rather it is moving through those to get to a more refined and better place. Don’t be afraid to fail, because the only true failure you have in life is when you don’t learn from it.

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

The veterinary industry has changed dramatically in the last 5 years. Over COVID, corporations made a huge move on independently owned veterinary hospitals. Now the landscape has changed. In the 30 years of being a vet, I have never seen my industry like this. My biggest challenge is adapting to this change.

My practice was founded on the concept of working with the client’s regular veterinarian so that together, we can bring about the best possible care for our patients. For 30 years I cultivated working relationships along with my skill set. With the corporations taking over, the soul of veterinary medicine is struggling. The isn’t the same individualize attention and continuity as in the past. The doctor-client relationships have also changed. The clients talk to me about this change quite a bit.

My challenge is how to adjust to the change without compromising my patients’ care. I see the challenge and get curious about it. How would I like to see it work? What steps can I take to get the goal of high-quality patient care? I am forging new alliances with specific facilities to make sure appropriate testing can be done and increasing my clinic menu for the things I can. I have located and continue to expand a list of vets willing to work with what we do and pursue closer professional relationships. I show these vets by deed how our methods work. It is like starting over and that can be scary but, you know what? Do it anyway. I will say, networking in a professional life is important. Learning to adapt to change without compromising your work ethic is a skill that I think every person should hone.

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