our pets: PET HEALTHCARE
Changing of the Vet, but not the
philosophy at Grote Vet Clinic
BY MELISSA MOORMAN
PHOTO BY STEVE SCHILLIO
MARCH 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
D
r. Ryan Cate brings experience and compassion to
small animal medicine at two different locations in
Parker County. Now, with two clinics, one in Brock and
one in Weatherford, Dr. Cate is changing the face of small
animal care in our area, one family pet at a time. He is the
owner of Riverstone Veterinary Hospital in Brock as well
as Grote Vet Clinic in Weath erford.
Dr. Cate and his wife Stefanie, a Parker County native
who attended Weatherford High School, moved to Parker
County in May 2012. They have a young son named Cole
Weston, along with three dogs, a cat and three horses.
When they moved to the area, Dr. Cate was practicing
at an animal clinic in Argyle expecting a future where he
and his family would settle somewhere in between Parker
County and Denton County. But when the Riverstone Veterinary Hospital became available, he was happy to make
the investment in Parker County, keeping his business
close to home and family.
Dr. Cate is originally from Boyd, Texas, and attended
Weatherford College, obtaining an Associate’s Degree in
Agricultural Science. He continued his education at Texas
A&M University where he was a member of the Corps
of Cadets (Thunderbird 3) and graduated in 2005 with a
B.S. in Animal Science. He was awarded his Doctor of
Veterinary Medicine from Michigan State University in
May 2009. Dr. Cate was accepted to vet school at both
Mississippi State and Michigan. His mother’s family was
from Michigan and that helped him make the decision to
continue his studies at Michigan State because he would
have family near.
Dr. Cate completed an Equine Medicine and Surgery
internship at Lone Star Park Equine Hospital in Grand
Prairie, Texas, under the guidance of Dr. Wes Williams.
He then tried his hand at educating other young veterinarians-in-training on the island of Grenada where he was a
faculty member at St. George’s University. He was helping
the school gain its accreditation, working with the deans,
teaching a few classes and caring for the school’s horses
and cattle. The school was awarded its full AVMA Accreditation in September 2011.
When Dr. Gary Grote was injured in February of 2015
and retired from his full-time vet practice, Dr. Cate was
happy to purchase his clinic and continue the more than
40-year tradition of caring for family pets that Dr. Grote
established in the community. When Dr. Cate first moved
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to the area, he considered all of the different vet practices
that he would like to be involved with and admired the
Grote clinic because of its mission of treating pets like
family. “The Grote Clinic has a long history and one I
want to continue. It’s a change of a face, but the values,
the medicine and the personable relationship with your
vet won’t change. I want to keep it personal,” Dr. Cate
continued.
When asked why he chose small animals versus his
earlier experience with equine medicine, Dr. Cate said,
“That’s the greatest thing about veterinary medicine. You
can choose whatever you enjoy doing. I get to pick what
I get to do. You can see more patients in a small animal
clinic because you don’t have to drive 30 minutes to get
to your patient. I’ve come to figure out that I actually have
more variety in small animal than I did in equine medicine. We can do more surgeries and perform different procedures because they aren’t as expensive as they are in an
equine practice,” he said. Dr. Cate continues to see large
animals when needed in both clinics. “The biggest thing
that I truly enjoy is being able to stick to agriculture and
agricultural ways. There are some people who treat their
animals like children, but with food animals there are
limitations. I do whatever I can to try to fix the animal’s
problem. If you can’t afford what I want to do, I’ll try to fix
it another way. I’ll try to get the animal better. That’s the
beautiful thing about vet medicine and Parker County,”
Dr. Cate said.
“I think that we have the state-of-the-art equipment
that is essential to doing veterinary medicine. We have the
ability and willingness to be available 24-7,” he said.
Their equipment includes a digital x-ray system, dental
capabilities like non-anesthetic dental cleanings, extractions and oral surgeries, electrocardiography services,
a full surgery suite as well as a CO2 laser that is a less
invasive way to perform some surgeries and promotes
healing. There is a full laboratory on site, a pharmacy as
well as consultations for internal medicine, preventative
care, general health and even nutrition issues. Continuing
his love of community involvement, Dr. Cate helps with
the spay and neuter programs with the Weatherford/Parker
County Animal Shelter as well as local rescue groups, as
well as treating animals that are heart worm positive. “It
saves dogs from being euthanized,” he said.
Being invested in the community is important to Dr.