The team at Turquoise Animal Hospital is comprised of highly trained and experienced animal health professionals who have a genuine love for working with pets. Our staff treats every patient with the highest quality of medical care as well as a gentle touch.
Doctors
Dr. Melissa Reed, DVM
Veterinarian
Dr. Melissa Reed, DVM graduated from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 2011. She completed several exotic animal externships and advanced surgical training. She has one dog, two cats, and a finch: Maya, Voltaire, Chorizo, and Houdini. Dr. Reed and her wife Shannon have a young son named Jasper. Dr. Reed enjoys dancing, hiking, music, and travel.
Why did you become a veterinarian?
My mom grew up on a farm so we were allowed to have any non-venomous pet as long as it wasn’t a tarantula. 🙂 Growing up we had cats, dogs, green iguanas, garter snakes, hermit crabs, mice, rats, hamsters, hedgehogs, ferrets, a guinea pig, a rosy boa, a rabbit, budgies, a cockatiel, an Australian tree frog, an alligator lizard, a crawdad, many fish, axolotls, a gopher snake, Western box turtles, Eastern red eared sliders, a softshell turtle, Pacific tree frogs, ducks, and chickens. Being a veterinarian was the coolest, most rewarding job I could think of!
What are your special interests in veterinary medicine, and why?
I love exotics! I think this is because I grew up with a wide variety of interesting critters. I also really love geriatric dogs and cats. I like treating arthritic animals with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), stems cells, acupuncture, and cold laser therapy as the results can be miraculous. Surgery is also a special interest. There are many painful conditions that are curable with surgery. I’m delighted to work at a hospital that treats ‘small animals’ (dogs and cats) as well as exotics.
What is the best part of your job?
I enjoy taking an animal that is in pretty bad shape and ‘putting them back together again.’ My cats were strays in Trinidad, and my dog is also a rescue. I also enjoy teaching people how to take better care of their pets.
What is the hardest part of your job?
It’s tough to tell people their pet is terminally ill.
Dr. Mauricio Guayasamin, DVM
Veterinarian
Dr. Guayasamin has lived in Sunny San Diego for the last 17 years. Dr. Guayasamin speaks both English and Portuguese. He graduated from Western University Veterinary School in Pomona, California in May of 2008. Following graduation, “Dr. G” completed a small animal surgery and medicine internship in San Diego. There he gained valuable experience in emergency medicine, internal medicine, surgery and exotic animal medicine. Dr. Guayasamin has a special interest in internal medicine and exotics. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and San Diego Veterinary Medical Association. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, going to the beach and taking his puppy ‘Glo’ to dog beach.
Why did you become a veterinarian?
I’ve loved animals since I was a child. At one point, I had turtles, dogs, birds, and fish. When I was 12, I learned that veterinarians treated animals and decided that is the career I was going to pursue.
What are your special interests in veterinary medicine, and why?
I enjoy treating exotic animals because I find them very interesting. I also like internal medicine because those cases are challenging, and dermatology because I spent a lot of time learning about skin disease from a dermatology specialist. She made skin disease fun! 🙂
What is the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is making sick pets feel better while making clients happy that their pet is healthy.
What is the hardest part of your job?
The hardest part of my job is telling clients bad news regarding their pet’s health.
The Turquoise Team
Corina
Registered Veterinary Technician
Corina is a native San Diegan…well, not really. Born into a military family, she was raised in Germany and then moved to Washington to earn a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Puget Sound. After several years of working in the veterinary field as an RVT in Washington, she decided it was time to return to SD. She enjoys spending her time with her amazing family that includes two brilliant and hilarious daughters and her four fur babies. She has a soft spot for Aussies, Cattle Dogs, and Yorkies. Frenchies have snuck into her heart with her newest rescue, too! Corina also loves to explore grand canyons, hike tall places, get lost in the forest, splash in puddles, and other old soul hobbies like sewing and crochet. Rain and trees make her a happy camper!
Cassidy – Fear Free Certified
Registered Veterinary Technician
Cassidy was born and raised in San Diego. In early high school, she took an animal careers class and interned at a local small animal practice, where she was soon hired. Shortly after she knew this was her career. After finishing high school she decided to go back to school to get her License for R.V.T. Cassidy has worked with all different critters in this field for 10 years now and enjoys every minute of it. Outside of work activities: Camping with her family and archery!
Yanira
Veterinary Technician
Yanira is born in San Diego and has been part of our team for 8 years. She is a veterinary technician and plans to take her VTNE test this year to become a registered technician. She is married and shares a beautiful daughter, two pugs named Goku & Piggy, and a cat named Messi. Her favorite hobbies are working out (she loves a challenge!) and spending time with her family.
Sam
Registered Veterinary Technician
Sam was born and raised in San Diego. She has an English Bulldog named Gus Gus who is her entire world. She has worked at Turquoise since 2019 – starting off as a Veterinary Assistant after completing the VA program at Pima. When she knew she belonged in the field she decided to take her education further to become an R.V.T. so she graduated the Veterinary Technician program in 2022 and passed her VTNE that same year. She absolutely loves working at Turquoise and can see herself working here for the foreseeable future.
Danae
Office Manager – Client Care Coordinator
Danae moved to San Diego in the beginning of 2018 from Ventura. She loves snakes and black cats. She has been in the Veterinary field since 2017. On her days off she enjoys trying new places to eat and going hiking!
Lilli
Veterinary Assistant
Lilli is a San Diego native. She got hired at Turquoise Animal Hospital in November of 2020 after doing an externship through Pima. She is a registered veterinary assistant and hopes to become an RVT (registered veterinary technician) in the near future. She has 8 animals including dogs, cats, turtles, and a bearded dragon. In her free time, she watches Anime and reads Mangas.
Alexis
Veterinary Assistant
Alexis is a San Diego native. She has 6 pets including four dogs and two cats. She went to Pima Medical Institute to become a veterinary assistant. She will be going back to Pima to become a Registered Veterinary Technician in the future. She loves all aspects of the veterinary field and is excited to learn more in the years to come. She has worked here at Turquoise Animal Hospital since November 2021 and plans to stay here long-term.
Olivia
Veterinary Assistant
Olivia was born and raised in San Diego. She has 2 dogs of her own and does some dog walking on her days off! Olivia went to Pima Medical Institute to become a veterinary assistant. She loves animals and has a great respect for the veterinary field. She is extremely determined and excited to learn more in the years to come. Olivia has worked here at Turquoise Animal Hospital since September 2022 and plans to stay as long as she can to gain more knowledge and help as many animals as she can!
Rachel
Veterinary Assistant
Rachel was born and raised in San Diego. She recently graduated from Pima Medical Institute where she became a veterinary assistant and plans to go back to school to get her RVT license. She has always had an interest in everything surrounding veterinary medicine and is excited to grow and learn with the team here at turquoise! Rachel loves discovering new places to eat and enjoys going to concerts in her spare time.
Michael
Client Care Coordinator
Michael is a San Diego native. He was licensed in the cosmetology field before joining the veterinary field. He has 2 cats and 1 dog at home. In his free time he enjoys going to the gym, birdwatching, and baking.
Jazmin
Veterinary Assistant
I was born and raised in San diego. Graduated from Pima in 2017 as a vet assistant and has been in the field for 7 years. She has two cats Chicken Nugget and Tres Leches and one dog named Jinn N. Juice that she loves dearly. In her free time, she loves to go on hikes with her dog and sometimes her cat.
Victor
Veterinary Assistant
Victor is a passionate veterinary assistant who graduated from Pima. He was born and raised in Mexico. He loves animals, movies and sports.
Sienna
Veterinary Assistant
Sienna was born in Corcoran Ca and raised in Pismo Beach. She served in the military for 4 years then went to school where she became a veterinary assistant. Sienna is currently in school to become a RVT. She has 2 squishy-faced dogs and a cat, who she loves dearly.
Cari
Client Care Coordinator
Cari is a San Diego Native. She started working in Veterinary Hospitals while living in Denver, Colorado. She now lives back in San Diego with her cats Alphie and Phil, and her soul dog William. When she has the time, she likes to be near the water, watching movies, and playing guitar.