Allison Mhoon

Dr. Allison Mhoon attended undergraduate school at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and Veterinary school at the University of Florida, Gainesville. As one devoted to compassionate service, it is not surprising her veterinary medicine passions include: Geriatric Medicine, Small Animal Acupuncture, Dermatology and Christian Veterinary Mission.

We networked all the way to Florida in our search for veterinary acupuncturist, Dr. Allison Mhoon. She happened to be standing next to the Florida vet school person we contacted.

Dr. Mhoon’s fur family includes two dogs – Callie (Golden Retriever) and Savannah (Heinz 57), one cat, Giusseppe, as well as tropical fish. Dr. Mhoon enjoys volunteering at local schools, quilting/sewing, trying new recipes and serving her church.

When asked about when she decided to become a veterinarian, Dr. Mhoon says that from a young age, she always wanted to be a veterinarian, but her defining moment came one summer. Each day provided a new challenge. Her favorite moments were making a difference in the lives of the patients and families who loved them. She recalls one specific patient – a cat with hepatic lipidosis. She stopped eating after her owner passed away and was rescued by some loving neighbors. Dr. Mhoon worked diligently along with the neighbors to get her eating again until she made a full recovery in her new home! Dr. Mhoon says it was wonderful to witness!

One of her favorite veterinary stories includes Grendel, a special kitty she met several years ago. She came to Care First Animal Hospital at Oberlin after her owners found her stuck in the fork of a tree and she couldn’t move her back legs. She was hospitalized and improved, but continued to have weakness and knuckling of her left rear leg for almost two weeks after. Dr. Mhoon saw her for acupuncture, and she was such an amazing patient. So spunky! Grendel’s progress was captured on video and amazed our entire Care First Animal Hospital family. After three sessions, you could hardly tell she was ever injured! Grendel made a lasting impression on Dr. Mhoon.

Throughout the years, we have witnessed many acupuncture successes. Dr. Joe Gordon’s geriatric Great Dane, Graham, was one of them. Graham never missed an opportunity to “go take care of the horses.” One day, he plopped down on the driveway and didn’t have it in him to get up to get back down to the house. Earlier that week, he fell sideways several times trying to make it up the one step to the front porch. Dr. Mhoon lovingly placed needles in Graham as he lay in the driveway unable to even get up. She asked to see him one more time that week for a second round of acupuncture. Afterwards, Graham was able to completely skip over the front porch step and jump directly onto the porch effortlessly. Amazing! Always a gentle spirit, we love dear Dr. Mhoon!

When asked about a veterinary medicine memory, Dr. Mhoon recalls a dear elderly client that unexpectedly scheduled an appointment to euthanize her Yorkshire Terrier. Unable to identify a medical justification for such a decision, Dr. Mhoon discussed how important it was for the client to have a little friend to wake up to each morning and to have someone to care for and someone to care for her. The client did agree to take her Yorkshire Terrier home and reconsider her choice. Two years later, the client returned with the same Yorkie and explained how just before the aforementioned visit, she had been diagnosed with cancer. She had just finished treatment and said that had she not had her friend to rely on each day, she would not have been willing to get out of bed each day and complete her treatment.