As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a veterinarian. In fact,  I can pinpoint the precise moment. I was 6 years old. My babysitter, a local vet student from Washington State University, had fallen asleep on the couch. So naturally, I went through his stuff. I came across a thick, heavy textbook, which I carefully removed and began studying. Hours passed. Something ignited inside me. Later that night as I counted sheep vertebrae in my sleep, my mind was made up. I wanted to be a vet.

Seemingly destined to work with animals from an early age, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life. Well, except being a full-time beach bum. Growing up the daughter of the State Herdsman for the Washington Sate University Dairy Teaching Herd, my backyard was like a living classroom. My teachers included my father, professors from WSU, the farm itself, and of course, animals.

I graduated from Washington State University in 1986 with a Doctrine in Veterinarian Medicine. Shortly after, I began an internal medicine residency at the WSU’s Food and Animal Clinic. One afternoon in the clinic, a young llama named Nairobi was admitted for a “fever of unknown origin.” This unlikely encounter changed my life forever.

Under my supervision, Nairobi became the first camelid to ever be CAT scanned. And eventually she made a full recovery. Good thing, too. I married her owner, Andy Tillman, two years later. We moved to Bend, Oregon and opened Tillman Llamas and Suri Alapacas.

For eight years I ran my own veterinarian practice called Llamas Exclusive Veterinary Practice, while at the same time helped Andy run the ranch. I treated llamas and alpacas all over the Northwest. At the time, I was one of only a handful of camelid vets in the entire country. I worked very hard to ensure proper research was conducted and shared within the ever-so-growing profession and industry.

1996 proved to be my greatest achievement as a camelid veterinarian. I was the first owner/veterinarian to ever be allowed by the USDA to manage the health care of an importation of camelids from South America. Under my watchful supervision, the importation of 60 llamas, 182 suri alpacas, and 250 huacaya alpacas from Bolivia, Hacienda Acero Marka LLC, was the healthiest importation in history. I was also responsible for implementing improved health care at the Harry S. Truman Animal Import Center. We had the most animals to ever leave quarantine alive, and successfully imported the finest micron fiber on record.

Today, life is a little less hectic. But not by much. I review camelid research proposals for the Llama Medical Group and the Morris Animal Foundation, help Andy manage the ranch, act as full-time veterinarian for our herd and medical consultant for friends and valued customers and supervise at least one internship a year to senior veterinary students from Washington State University and Oregon State University.

In case you’re wondering what happened to Nairobi. Andy gave her to me as our wedding present. What a romantic!