Dr. Emma Whitmore

Dr. Emma Whitmore was born in Illinois, grew up in upstate New York, then returned to Chicago after graduating high school. She earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from DePaul University and her DVM from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

Her journey to veterinary medicine started with an interest in working with wildlife. She spent two summers training at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, one of the busiest wildlife hospitals in the world, where she developed a passion for the diversity and challenges associated with treating animals varying from baby hummingbirds to snapping turtles to coyotes.

While in veterinary school, Dr. Whitmore was an active volunteer and team leader for the Wildlife Medical Clinic and served as the Avian Chair of the Non-Traditional Species Club. Her fourth-year externships included the Brookfield Zoo, busy emergency clinics in Chicago, and multiple exotic animal practices.

After graduating from veterinary school, Dr. Whitmore completed an internship in Avian and Exotic Animal Medicine and Surgery at the Center for Bird and Exotic Animal Medicine in Bothell, Washington. She grew to love helping owners learn how to best care for their furry, scaly, or feathered family members both in the clinic and at home. She has a strong passion for providing urgent care and emergency medicine for exotic pets, hospitalized inpatient care, and treating every patient as someone’s best friend.

While she still dreams of good deep-dish pizza, Dr. Whitmore is finding it hard to miss the freezing Chicago winters from the hammock in her backyard in Los Angeles. In her spare time, she can be found putting her National Parks pass to good use and working on training her sweet but anxious rescue pup, Fox.