DR. THOMAS CARLSON
Dr. Tom grew up on a farm in Chokio, Minnesota. In 1989 he graduated from the University of Minnesota with his doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. Since then he has worked at the Cold Spring/St. Joseph/Paynesville Veterinary Clinic. His professional duties have always included all species of animals: large and small.
He lives on a hobby farm with horses, sheep, cats, chickens, etc. In his spare time, he and his family produce pure maple syrup every spring. He gardens a lot during our short growing season and goes fishing way less than he ought to.
DR. TRACI DIGGS
Dr. Traci grew up in Virginia and Nebraska. She worked as a surgical technician for 10 years while taking classes at the University of Texas, Brownsville before applying to vet school. She graduated from Texas A&M University, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. Dr. Traci has worked with the Cold Spring/St. Joseph/Paynesville Veterinary Clinic since June of 2002. She works with small animals with a special interest in soft tissue surgery. Dr. Traci also volunteers at the Tri-County Humane Society weekly, performing spays and neuters.
Dr. Traci lives in the country with her three dogs (Nellie, Pearl, and Turtle) and a small herd of cats. In her spare time, she likes to travel, read, and cook.
DR. ERICA RAMTHUN
Dr. Erica grew up in Brainerd, MN. She obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. Her professional interests include small animal ophthalmology, neurology, and dentistry.
She currently lives in St. Cloud with her chihuahua, Taz. Outside of veterinary medicine she enjoys playing tennis, fishing, and reading.
DR. BECKY RIPPLE
Dr. Becky is an experienced, energetic veterinarian with a focused interest in progressive well care, dentistry, and geriatric medicine. She graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2007. She has practiced in an array of settings from a small 2 doctor private hospital, a multi-location mixed practice clinic, and a corporate-owned hospital. Along the way gaining a broad range of knowledge in different medical, surgical and management practices and learning from client-doctor interactions and experiences.
Dr. Becky strives to have a collaborative environment where she can maintain long-term patient and client relationships and continue to be excited about the practice of animal medicine. She enjoys spending time with family exploring state and national parks, maintaining bee hives, bird watching, reading and soap making.
DR. MARTA POWERS
Dr. Marta Powers grew up in Minneapolis, MN and graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary in 2011. She enjoys preventative care, internal medicine, and the topic people would rather not think about, evaluating a pet’s health and quality of life and discussing when it’s time to say goodbye.
In her spare time she enjoys cooking, reading, bird watching, and time with her husband, Chris, and their daughter.
DR. MEL BUETTNER
Dr. Mel grew up in the St. Cloud area. She graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2024 before returning home to central MN. Her professional interests include small animal preventative medicine, soft tissue surgery, and internal medicine.
Outside of veterinary medicine, Dr. Mel enjoys spending time with her dogs (Gracie and Tater) and family, traveling to and exploring National Parks, reading, and crafting.