Telehealth

If you don’t live locally and you’re looking for complementary healthcare options and recommendations tailored to your pet's specific health condition(s), Dr Liza and Dr Deanna, our Telehealth Vet Team at Holistic Vets offer a telephone consultation service and can work alongside your existing local vet to help optimize the care of your pet.

Liza is known internationally as one of New Zealand's leading authorities in holistic animal healthcare. Growing up in South Africa, with majestic landscapes and rich diversity of wildlife, Liza's childhood was full of incredible animal encounters. From a young age, Liza knew she would be a vet when she grew up.

In 2003 Liza established award-winning Holistic Vets in Tauranga, a fully integrated veterinary practice combining conventional veterinary medicine and surgery with complementary therapies, which is the first of its kind in New Zealand.

Liza is also the founding trustee of ARRC Wildlife Trust, a charitable trust which provides veterinary care and services to rehabilitate wildlife and has been the recipient of community awards. Education is a key focus of ARRC, especially of children. To help achieve this ARRC has produced a series of children's books illustrating the human impact on wildlife and what children can do to help.

Throughout her veterinary career, Liza has sought and applied complementary and natural therapies which are easy to learn, practical to apply and highly effective at assisting her patients to heal. She has always believed that as a vet, it is not simply her job to practice veterinary science, but it is her responsibility to make sure that she always gives her patients the best possible care; knowing that she's explored every option to enhance their health and well-being.

Over the years Liza has been recognised for her work in the community, her entrepreneurship and business acumen with several awards. In 2020 She was the recipient of the New Zealand Veterinary Association's Veterinary Impact Award which is bestowed on an individual who has made a considerable positive impact on the veterinary profession.

Liza delights in educating, inspiring and entertaining people about sustainable healthcare and the importance of preserving our natural heritage.

Deanna's passion for helping animals has been a lifelong endeavor. She grew up in the USA with many animals, often taking wildlife to the local rehabilitation centre, and volunteered at the local cat shelter. While studying for her Bachelor of Pre-Veterinary science she worked with rhesus macaques in a behavioural laboratory at the university and worked with a veterinarian who was also trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, and chiropractic medicine. This is where Deanna learned the importance of nutrition and the power of complementary therapies to support metabolism and the immune system.

After graduation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2014 she worked professionally with Alaskan sled dogs, contributed to a research project for the conservation of wooly monkeys in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and then worked for two years in a behavioural research lab with cuttlefish and camouflage. She then moved to New Zealand where she completed her Bachelor of Veterinary Science from Massey University in 2021. After graduating Deanna worked at Holistic Vets where she practiced with integrative therapies and rehabilitated many birds assisting ARRC Wildlife Trust. She then moved to Wellington, working in a high volume, conventional veterinary practice.

She is passionate about integrating practical and innovative complementary care options to optimize the health and wellbeing of animals and works with Dr Liza to provide our Telehealth services across NZ. Deanna's professional goals include expanding her knowledge in plant medicine, acupuncture, nutrition, and behaviour. In her free time, she can be found with her rescue dog from Ecuador and her kitties. She enjoys yoga, dancing, gardening, and surfing. She is an advocate for living harmoniously with nature and does everything she can to reduce her carbon footprint.