Our Team

Integrative medicine requires an integrative team!

pet doctor Purcellvile
Owner, Veterinariae Medicinae Doctoris


Tania D. Woerner, VMD:

Yes, a VMD is the same as a DVM! The only difference is that Tania graduated from University of Pennsylvania, and the degree is written in Latin. She had the storybook childhood, wonderful parents and a great brother, grew up on a small farm in Fleetwood, PA, had dogs, cats, horses, goats, sheep, chickens and even a couple cows. She knew she was going to be a veterinarian before she made it to elementary school and had plenty of animals to play doctor with. Her passion for learning and her natural ability to interact with people and animals made her career choice very logical.

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At first, her love of horses steered her in the direction of working on the racetrack in Florida, then in an all equine practice in Maryland and eventually starting her own equine practice in Virginia. However, she found that many of her equine clients wanted her to work on their dogs and cats too. Gradually, she found that broadening her interests to include small animal medicine and surgery fit nicely into her long-term plans of making her farm into a small animal clinic and wellness center.

The transition into applying a more holistic approach to veterinary medicine came naturally, as she often found that conventional approaches to injuries, illnesses and especially preventative care, fell short of her expectations. A perpetual interest in learning new therapies and novel approaches allows her to think out of the box and dig deeper into your pet’s health care and issues. She has expertise in complementary therapies such as acupuncture, essential oils, laser therapy, and osteopathy. She believes in the importance of proper nutrition and provides counseling on choosing the best pet foods and supplements. Her conventional medicine and surgery skills have been developed over the years to provide rational, evidence-based results. She has recently purchased a new ultrasound and completed advanced ultrasound training.

When she is not studying, you can almost guarantee you will find her on a horse! She owns three, two of which she delivered on her farm and trained herself. Her major obsession is jumping – anything! Her horses all love to jump and she foxhunts and competes locally and occasionally wins some ribbons.

Her main sidekick is her Pomeranian, Little Joe, one of the most charismatic dogs alive! He loves the water and has his own raft for the pool and regularly goes kayaking with Tania on the Potomac River.

In her words….” I have one of the best jobs in the world… I absolutely love what I do, my commute takes about 2 minutes on a Kubota and I get to work on animals and interact with people who love their animals all day long – hard to beat that!”

Heather Photo
Social Media Coordinator & Volunteer


Heather Hutchinson, BA:

Heather is currently a video game designer and artist that has worked in a variety of art related fields for the past 10 years including games, toys, & marketing. While she loves her work she found she was missing something and went looking towards her other big passion in life, working with animals. For the past 5 years she has volunteered at a few animal shelters, working closely with their vet tech staff. She also did a 3 month internship at a private zoo where she worked with a variety of animals including penguins, tamandua, kookaburra, squirrel monkeys, toucans, aardvarks, kangaroos, cheetahs, and more. Now she finds herself at Tally Oaks where she’s had the opportunity to combine her fascination with animal medicine with her art background. I mean who doesn’t enjoy taking pictures of pets?! She looks forward to seeing everyone on Fridays.

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She is absolutely obsessed with her own furry hoard including her dog Rigby and her 3 cats Todd, Pepper, & Sasha. She also made an original game about cats that will be out this spring!

vetinary doctor
Board-Certified Veterinary Surgeon


Matthew Nicholson, DVM, DAVCS, CCRP

Dr. Nicholson graduated from Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) in 1999 and completed his internship and residency at The University of Pennsylvania. He received Board Certification from the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2004.

Since 2003, he has been in private practice as an Associate Surgeon and spent 2 years (2009-2011) as a Clinical Associate Professor in Surgery at VMRCVM. He became Certified Rehabilitation Practioner in 2014.

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Dr. Nicholson helped develop the small animal surgical practice and rehabilitation service at CARE Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia prior to opening Salutaris Veterinary Specialists, PLC with his wife in the Fall of 2017.
dog owner
Our Veterinary Ultrasound Specialist


Cathy Jarrett, DVM

A lifelong native of the DC-area, Dr. Cathy Jarrett attended veterinary school at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Jarrett firmly believes using ultrasound can bring a wealth of incredibly useful information about pets in a non-invasive way, which helps determine how best to help the patient. By bringing this service to area veterinary offices, she’s helping pets get the best possible care while alleviating the pressure of having clients schedule even more appointments in other locations.

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Dr. Jarrett has practiced small animal medicine in northern Virginia for over 20 years. She has been doing ultrasound examinations for over 18 years, using ultrasound consistently in small animal practice to work up many of her cases. In addition to extensive and specialized ultrasound course work, Dr. Jarrett has done independent training with Dr. Eric Lindquist, who is a well-known expert in the field of ultrasonography.

Dr. Cathy Jarrett grew up locally in Poolesville, Maryland. She, her husband, and their two daughters live in Ashburn, VA. They have two cats and a very extroverted Golden Retriever named Buckley.

If you are serious about giving your pet more than the traditional veterinary exam, shots, heartworm and flea/tick and want a more holistic, results-driven, personal, stress and fear-free approach, call us NOW to set up your pet’s first wellness exam with Dr. Woerner.

Call Now (540) 338-7081