Meet our Team

Dr. Paul Stewart opened the Avian and Exotic Pet Clinic of Roanoke in 2010 to provide emergency/after-hours veterinary care as well as daytime therapeutic and preventative care to all birds and exotic pets in an environment suitable for their healing.

Dr. Stewart obtained his DVM at Kansas State University in 1996 and a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science at Virginia Tech in 1990. For 27 years, Dr. Stewart’s special interests include avian and exotic pet medicine, surgery, ultrasound, endoscopy, radiosurgery, dentistry, and geriatric medicine. He had been the primary care provider for birds and exotic pets in two veterinary practices for 14 years prior to opening this clinic.

Dr. Stewart has been a guest lecturer at the Virginia/Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, The Southwest Virginia Bird Club meetings and Annual Bird Fair, as well as the Roanoke Valley Bird Club. He completed externships at the Topeka Zoo, the National Wildlife Health Lab and has appeared on Animal Planet’s “Wildlife Emergency”. He is also Veterinarian-in-Charge at Mill Mountain Zoo.

In Dr. Stewart’s spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, antique car restoration, camping, canoeing, fly fishing, mountain biking, playing drums and guitar, and drawing wildlife. His family pets include tiny dog Tetley (a Chiweenie), Carris the cat.

Chrystie was raised in a small town called Indian Head, MD. She attended college with a focus on Biology/Nursing in Maryland and later moved to New Jersey where she attended a Business School.

She has worked in the veterinary administrative field off and on since 1996. She began working in medical administrative and accounting offices, but her true calling was more on the “Wild side”. In 1999, she and her husband moved from Maryland to the “Star City” where she stayed home to raise her two wonderful children. In 2010, she and Dr. Stewart opened the Avian and Exotic Pet Clinic of Roanoke.

 “We felt Southwest Virginia needed a place that, almost exclusively, served and cared for the veterinary needs of birds, reptiles, and small mammals”.

Her favorite part of the job is working alongside a spectacular team and witnessing the confidence and devotion of each of them while caring for and working with the amazing critters that come through the clinic’s doors.

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her sidekick, Tetley, a 6 lb Chiweenie. She is a proud mama of two amazing people, Jacob and Sara. Keeping up with these two and running a business keeps her especially busy. She has a great family and friends whom she loves to spend time with. Her hobbies include reading, painting, cooking, travel and outdoor recreation. Her family has owned many pets throughout the years. Currently, along with their dog, Tetley, they have a cat named Carris and an albino red boa snake named Casper.

Donna is one of our amazing veterinary assistants who started working here in August 2010. She was born and raised in Clifton Forge, Virginia and has been in Roanoke since 1973. She first met Dr. Stewart 15 years ago with her first bird. Donna has plenty of emergency experience both in human medicine and veterinary medicine.

She graduated in 1974 from Dabney S. Lancaster CC with an Associate Degree in Applied Science Nursing, becoming a certified medical assistant. As a certified medical assistant in the human world, she is able to apply her skills in the veterinary world during hours of emergency and during the weekend for our clinic.

Her favorite part of working with animals is spoiling them when they are under our care whether it be with toys, treats, or extra love. In Donna’s spare time, she enjoys photography, especially of animals. She’s always had animals growing up, such as birds, cats, dogs, fish, salamanders, a turtle, and tadpoles. Showing horses was also a hobby of hers for a couple of years. Currently, she has a “herd” of guinea pigs, 2 hamsters, and 1 rabbit. Her favorite quote is, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened”. – Anatole France