Dr. Michael Cavanaugh served as CEO of the American Animal Hospital Association for over a decade, stepping down in 2020. The 1983 graduate of the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine practiced in Illinois and Colorado before opening AAHA-accredited West Ridge Animal Hospital in Topeka, Kansas, in 1988. He was a part-time consultant with Hill’s Pet Nutrition until 1996, when he sold his practice, and a technical services director for Heska Corp. before joining Pfizer Animal Health in 2000. Dr. Cavanaugh is an American Board of Veterinary Practitioners diplomate (Canine and Feline). He and his wife of 44 years, Beth, live in Montrose, Colorado.
1. How did you become AAHA’s CEO?
I found out that my predecessor at AAHA, Dr. John Albers, was retiring. I immediately reached out and applied. It was a several-month process, and I interviewed with the board of directors and staff members. I remember having to do presentations for both, and I used props to make it fun and different. After my 10½ years at AAHA, the board of directors decided to go in a different direction.
2. What did you do next?
My last day was June 30, 2020, and that’s when COVID was blowing up. I reached out to my network and thought I would do something else, like maybe one more executive-type position. I talked to lots of people and interviewed for lots of things, but more times than not, they were hiring an internal candidate. About that same time, my wife was a principal in a private elementary school in Denver, and she found out her position was getting divided into two and, by the way, she wasn’t one of the two. So we looked at each other in January 2021 and said, “I think the universe is telling us it’s time to retire.”
3. What are you doing these days in veterinary medicine?
Currently, I am helping the Veterinary Hope Foundation as I believe strongly in its mission, which is to help people stay mentally healthy and avoid going into a downward spiral. I’m at the point where I’m focusing my volunteer efforts closer to home, so in addition to working with the Veterinary Hope Foundation, I’m on the board of directors of the Second Chance Humane Society in Ridgway, Colorado.
4. Do you have opportunities to use your veterinarian skills?
About a year and a half ago, Second Chance’s full-time veterinarian had to leave, so they asked if I would consider helping. After 27 years of not being in practice, I said I would. I’m already licensed and insured and just had to get my DEA certificate renewed, so then I became the veterinarian of record for them.
5. How’s it going after not being in practice for so long?
It was gratifying to know the skills are still there. I always say all my patients have lived to tell about it, so that’s comforting. On another level, it felt good that I enabled the organization to continue doing good work. They hired another full-time veterinarian, who is due to start in the next couple of months, so I’ll be winding down and maybe helping occasionally.
6. When did you know you wanted to be a veterinarian?
I’m not one of those who knew when they were 5 years old. I was about 19.
7. What sparked your interest in veterinary medicine?
When I went off to the University of Kansas, I thought I was going to go to medical school. I didn’t do well in a course called “Chemical Analysis,” which was kind of a weed-out class. At the time, my girlfriend, who is now my wife, was going to Kansas State. After that first year and getting that D, I went to Kansas State so I could be closer to her. I retook chemical analysis, got a better grade on it and started looking at veterinary school. I got my acceptance letter on Friday the 13th. In my life, Friday the 13ths are always good.
8. Did you have animals when you were growing up?
We always had a dog around. Looking back, when I was really little, I had a bad feeling about veterinarians because we were pretty poor. We loved our pets, but we didn’t have the money to do all the veterinary stuff they should have had. Once or twice, I remember having to take a dog in to be euthanized, and it always felt very cold. I remember seeing older white-haired men who were veterinarians, and they didn’t seem very caring.
9. Did that experience impact your work and how you connect with clients?
Yes, it might have played into my desire to get into the veterinary profession and show that you could do it with a degree of empathy and caring for people and animals.
10. Do you have an example?
A family came to me when I had my practice in Topeka, Kansas. They had a little Sheltie dog that I had taken care of for a number of years. We had to euthanize the pet due to some incurable illness. I went to their house and euthanized the pet there and took care of the body. Years later, when I was working for Pfizer, I was at Kansas State to give an award. At the end, this young man introduced himself, and then his mom walked up, and I recognized her. Well, it was that family with the Sheltie dog. The kid had gone to veterinary school and won several awards. I was blown away when he told me he decided to become a veterinarian when I came to the house and put their pet to sleep. I was proud I had an effect on the guy.
11. What was your veterinary journey like after graduation?
I knew I was probably better suited for small animal medicine, but I didn’t want to be the age I am now and wonder if I would have liked large animal better. So, I searched for a practice that was mixed animal but had AAHA-accredited small animal facilities. One of them happened to be hiring, and it was in Dwight, Illinois. I feel like I got large animal out of my system. I worked hard at it and felt I did good work, but it was also pretty stressful. So, we decided to move back to Colorado. On my second to last day there, I went with one of my bosses to a farm that was getting horses ready for the track. We were pulling wolf teeth on a bunch of 2-year-olds. The very last one was sedated and had his head propped up on hay bales. We’re working when, all of a sudden, he came unglued, jumped up and struck with his front hooves. I backed myself into a corner. When his hooves came down, I felt one flick my nose, and then it clipped the inside of my arm and my chest. I didn’t get badly hurt, but I thought, “If there’s ever been a sign from God that you’re doing the right thing, that must’ve been it.” The very next day, I had a U-Haul loaded up and drove to Colorado. That experience made me feel I was making the right decision.
12. What was practice ownership like?
After working for a few practices, I started getting the itch to have my own hospital, and that’s when I opened West Ridge Animal Hospital in Topeka. I worked my tail off, and it was hard having a young family and working all the time. My wife said the hospital was my mistress because it took me away from the family so much. Ownership was a good experience from the standpoint of learning a lot and building the practice into something, but I also burned myself out.
13. When did you decide to sell?
I had started doing work with Hill’s Pet Nutrition because the headquarters, at that point, was in Topeka. I was on the consultation service, where people call in and ask questions about different diets. One night, I was signing paychecks at my kitchen table. I looked at the clock and it was 2:30 in the morning. I’m like, “Holy cow, this can’t be healthy.” I was getting to the point where I would see maybe 30 people that day, but I would remember the one not-so-nice person instead of the 29 nice people. I recognized that for my own sanity and to not lose my family, I needed to make a major change. That’s when I decided to sell that practice to my associate. We moved to Colorado again in 1996, and I worked with Heska.
14. How did you process retirement from AAHA?
We worked with our financial person, connected with Realtor friends over dinner and talked about selling our place in Conifer, Colorado. It was right when the Denver real estate market exploded, so we put it on the market, and it sold. That’s when we said, “Well, we can retire a little bit early.” I get my first Social Security check next month and my wife got her first one last month.
15. Where did you move after selling the house?
We thought about retirement communities in Texas or Arizona. When we were out here on the Western Slope in Montrose, my wife said, “This reminds me more of the Colorado we fell in love with when we were teenagers.” We both agreed it was the spot for us.
16. What do you see when you look outside?
Every day, we see the stunning San Juan Mountain range. Looking in the other direction, you see the Grand Mesa, which is the largest flattop mountain in the world. And looking in another direction, it’s the Uncompahgre Plateau, which is really beautiful.
17. How have you connected with your new community?
We volunteer with the Valley Symphony Association. I’m blown away by the musical talent out here. I’ve enjoyed whitewater kayaking and rafting over the years, so I got involved with a group called Friends of the River Uncompahgre. We’re focused on the health of the river.
18. What is your biggest regret?
I wish I had been bolder when I was young. In veterinary school, for instance, I wish I had asked more questions and not worried about, “I’m going to sound really stupid if I ask that.” I’m sure it was a lack of self-confidence. Today, I’m a firm believer that you belong in any room you walk into.
19. You have played in a few bands. Is music an important part of your life?
I’m trying to play the drums and sing a few songs every day because my voice was really out of shape. I’m a big Eric Clapton fan and John Mayer fan. The ones I love are not the ones who win Grammys anymore.
20. Anything else you’d like to share?
People ask me, “What do you miss?” I miss seeing my friends. I always enjoyed seeing and interacting with them. The relationships, the friendships, the shared experiences — all of that — are really meaningful.
125 YEARS AGO
State veterinarian Solomon Bock, writing in the biennial report of the Colorado Veterinary Sanitary Board, concluded: “I am glad to say that during the year 1900, the state of Colorado has been remarkably free from all epizootic diseases in cattle, horses and sheep.”