Dr. Marcia Linett
DVM – Owner
Dr. Marci Linett has had a love of animals and veterinary medicine her entire life. Growing up in her father’s veterinary hospital, she knew someday she would also become a veterinarian. Dr. Linett attended UC Davis for both undergraduate and graduate school. She first received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a focus on Ethology, the study of animal behavior. She then graduated with a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine studying all animals – small, large, and wildlife. Her love of all animals has led her to work with not only dogs and cats but also zoo animals and free-ranging wildlife. After graduating, Dr. Linett moved up to Washington to join her father and his two partners in opening and managing two small animal clinics.
In 2010, Dr. Linett sold her portion of her two practices in Washington in order to move back down to the Sacramento area and be closer to family and good friends.
Dr. Linett opened Mercy Pet Hospital of Citrus Heights in July 2011. Mercy Pet Hospital of Fair Oaks was opened in February 2015. She is excited to provide quality medicine for the pets of Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, and surrounding communities. Dr. Linett particularly enjoys small animal internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, orthopedic surgery, and establishing long-term relationships with her clients and their pets.
Dr. Linett’s outside interests include spending time with her family and pets, skiing, hiking, kayaking, and playing in the water. Dr. Linett is an active member of the Sacramento Valley Veterinary Medical Association (SVVMA), California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA), and the Citrus Heights Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Caitlyn Lennon
DVM – Medical Director
Dr. Lennon knew she wanted to be a veterinarian since she could properly pronounce the word at 5 years old. She grew up in Palm Springs, California, riding horses and bringing many stray animals into the home including dogs, kittens, and even snakes! Dr. Lennon completed her undergraduate degree at UC Davis with a B.S. in Animal Science. At UC Davis she was on the Equestrian Team and was active in the Vet Aide Club. She then sought to gain more experience in a veterinary hospital, and was fortunate enough to begin her career at none other than Mercy Pet Hospital! She began working at the front desk the very first day Mercy opened, and eventually became a veterinary technician.
Dr. Lennon was then accepted into the College of Veterinary Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California. Throughout veterinary school, Dr. Lennon developed a passion for shelter and community medicine and she became president of the student chapter of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. She even traveled to Nicaragua with World Vets and Mexico to participate in wellness and preventative clinics. She graduated from veterinary school with honors and is incredibly happy to be working at the same wonderful hospital where it all started. Dr. Lennon is also our Medical Director and enjoys developing new and updated protocols and procedures for the clinic.
Her special interests include Dentistry and Internal Medicine. She has five dogs and 3 cats and enjoys spending time with her husband and children on their small farm with horses, goats, chickens, and ducks.
Dr. Emily Kian
DVM
Like many children, Dr. Emily Kian grew up with a love for all animals. Though she was born in Northern California, Emily moved numerous times throughout the US with her parents. However, she eventually found herself back in Sacramento towards the end of her high school years. Emily graduated from Chico State, her parent’s Alma Mater, with a bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology. Emily had considered a career in wildlife medicine but after attending veterinary school at Western University in Southern California, she found that small animal general practice is where her interests truly lie.
Emily is excited to be part of the Mercy Pet Hospital team which allows her to work close to her and her husband, Chris’s family. During her free time, she likes to visit local breweries, and craft and spend time with family. Dr. Emily and her husband have 2 (human) daughters, Lila and Claire. Her fur babies include Cory (Akita mix), Hazel (doodle mix), and Addy (their “first baby” a black cat).
Dr. Nicholas Young
DVM
Dr. Young grew up in Ohio and knew from an early age he wanted to work with animals. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Oberlin College, he attended The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and completed a surgical externship at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. Following graduation, he moved to California to pursue a one-year rotating internship with the Sacramento Animal Medical Group. Near the end of that experience, he met his future wife and decided to stay in California. His professional interests include general practice and soft tissue surgery. Outside the hospital, he enjoys sailing, hiking, camping, and traveling with his wife, young son, and their boxer-mix, Bruce.
Dr. Melodie Degen
DVM
Dr. Degen grew up in a small town in the Eastern Sierras, where she first began her career in the veterinary field in high school as a kennel technician for her local veterinary clinic. Dr. Degen then completed her undergraduate degree at UC Davis, receiving a B.S. in Animal Science, with a special focus on animal behavior and a minor in Psychology. Following this, she remained at UC Davis and completed her DVM at the School of Veterinary Medicine. While in school, Dr. Degen invested her free time in providing increased access to veterinary care by volunteering and coordinating for multiple outreach clinics for underserved populations, participating in disaster response teams, and fostering and coordinating for countless orphan kittens. During the course of her education, she developed and built upon special interests in behavior, preventative medicine, dentistry, and radiology. She also has a love for small ruminant (sheep and goat) medicine and hopes to continue her work with them. Outside of veterinary medicine, she enjoys swimming, board games, and spending time with her and her partner’s tripod dog, Juniper, and 3 kitties, Gretchen, Dante, and Sampson (also a tripod).
Gary Delfino
Practice Manager
As a native Californian, Gary grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He had a love of animals since he was a child. From a young age, he always had dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, and other creatures around his house. His goal from the age of 5 was to work in a veterinary hospital helping all the animals. He has also enjoyed working and residing in Colorado for 5 years.
His veterinary career started at the age of 15. As an R.O.P. student in San Mateo, Gary received his first true opportunity to work in a veterinary hospital. He was hired by Crystal Springs Veterinary Hospital as a kennel/assistant technician. He spent 8 years working for Dr. Rose working his way up from the kennels to being the office manager. Later on in Gary’s veterinary career, he worked at different hospitals as a technician and eventually progressed to the role of practice manager. Gary has a vast knowledge of all AAHA guidelines and protocols. He is also one of the founding members of the Sacramento Valley Practice Managers Association, a member of the Veterinary Hospital Managers Association, and moderates yearly at Western Veterinary Conference. In his spare time, he enjoys spending it with his wife Jackie, daughters Ashley and Hailey, son Elijah and his plethora of pets around the house. He also enjoys cooking, gardening, sports, computers, trips to the mountains as well as the coast, and relaxing with the family.
Danielle T.
Office Manager
Danielle has worked in veterinary health care all her adult life and can’t imagine doing anything else. This has been her absolute calling for 20 years now. She was a Veterinary technician for 15 years and she loved the medical side of veterinary health care. She is passionate about educating clients on health care and helping them help their pets. She took the knowledge from being a veterinary technician and transitioned into Human Resources and Hospital Management.
Danielle majored in psychology in college before pursuing veterinary medicine. She continues to do additional courses to stay up to date on the latest advancements so she may better serve this hospital, community and your pets. She believes that animals deserve good medicine and quality care and that clients should always be offered the very best for their pets. She also believes that we should treat each pet that comes into this hospital as if they were our own pet.
Outside of work, Danielle enjoys spending time with her awesome kids and their small zoo of pets. She has two dogs, a 6-year-old 40-pound Shepherd “Charlie Girl”, who is a sweetheart, and they are not sure who rescued who. Another member of their family is 4-year-old 110-pound Rottweiler “Big Mack”, who enjoys playing with his tennis balls and swimming in their pool. They also have a 16-year-old cranky pants cat “Kitty Witty Westin”, that makes his own rules and they all follow his demands. Then there is a 13-year-old 60-pound Sulcata Tortoise “Sal”, who is her favorite dinosaur. He enjoys breaking into her garden and clearing out all their strawberries. Lastly, their newest addition is a 1-year-old Box Turtle “Tiny Tim”. He has quickly taken up home in their hearts as the baby of the family.
Wendy M.
Inventory Manager
As Inventory Manager, I love working behind the scenes to make sure our hospitals are organized and well-stocked. I also enjoy helping out in reception and meeting all of the different pet personalities! In my free time, I love to go on road trips with my family and create art. My studio cat, Rosie, is always by my side “supervising” every project!
Cory W., RVT
Veterinary Technician
Cory Williams has been working as a veterinary technician for the past 8 years. Her favorite aspect of working as a technician is getting to assist in surgery and performing dental procedures. She currently lives in Rocklin with her husband Jared and her beautiful daughter Sophia. They have four cats (Paul, Morty, Lucy, and Penny) and a chihuahua named Dewey.
During her off time, she and her family enjoy the outdoors by off-roading on trails and exploring many parts of the forest, dispersed Camping, fishing, and hiking. She’s just enjoying her family and her life and she’s grateful for everything that has come with it.
DeAnna P.
Lead Veterinary Assistant
DeAnna was born and raised in Washington state. She completed her Veterinary Assisting course at PIMA Medical Institute in 2006. DeAnna has been in the Veterinary field ever since. DeAnna has a great love for all animals and has rescued many over the years. Her wonderful Yorkie that she rescued at 8 weeks old stayed by her side for an amazing 11 years. She has also rescued other dogs and cats and was able to foster them until they were ready to be rehomed with their forever families. Throughout the years in this field, DeAnna also became a mom of a wonderful son in 2012.
Upon the pandemic, in March of 2020, DeAnna decided to move down to beautiful sunny California with her family. Here she was able to meet back up with her previous mentor here at Mercy Pet Hospital. Just before she moved to CA, she rescued a 6-week-old DLH tuxedo kitty with a severely broken rear leg. With strict cage rest, this kitty made a full recovery and is now a healthy 2.5 yrs old farm kitty who loves to walk the farm with the family, chase birds/mice/moles etc., and play with his brother (dog named Ikaika) and just enjoy the wonderful sunshine. Ikaika is a 7-year-old chihuahua/Jack Russell/Pit Bull mix from Hawaii. As a puppy, he was injured badly by his dog father (godfather…). There he was rescued and loved by his human dad and has too moved to CA. He will chase the frisbee all day any day. Unfortunately, too much of the frisbee, he is out of commission all the next day to recover from soreness.
On DeAnn’s off time, she and her family love to go camping, go on road trips, ride dirt bikes and just spend time together.
Ashlie L.
Veterinary Assistant
Ashlie has worked with Mercy Pet Hospital since 2020 and has made such great relationships with both her clients/patients and the lovely staff here at Mercy. She initially got started in the veterinary field because since she was young her plan was to help animals. She’s currently attending Sacramento State to earn her bachelor’s degree, to which her plan is to then transfer to UC Davis Veterinary School and major in veterinary medicine. She has a crazy household filled with two Rottweilers, a crazy little Lab mix, and a spunky crested gecko. In her spare time, she loves hiking with her pups down to the river and playing around with different art techniques.
Lina S.
Veterinary Assistant
Lina has been with Mercy Pet Hospital for 2 years as a veterinary assistant. She has an associate’s degree in veterinary technology. She is currently 2 years into her Animal Science program at UC Davis, where she will receive her bachelor’s. Lina intends to become a Registered Veterinary Technician and work as a technician while going to school to become a veterinarian. She has prior experience with large animals through internships, but since being at Mercy, she has been enjoying working with cats and dogs in a General Practice. In her free time, she is either studying hard or hopefully at the beach with her partner and their golden retriever, Lemon. She also enjoys cooking, makeup, and photography. She’d like to thank you for allowing her to care for your pets! 🙂
Brittany W.
Veterinary Assistant
Brittany has been in the veterinary field for 3 years but has had a passion for animals from a young age. As a kid, she walked dogs and did pet sitting for her neighbors and friends and decided that she wanted to continue working with animals as an adult. She has 6 dogs as well as several cats, goats, and chickens. She also enjoys traveling.
Nicole
Veterinary Assistant
Nicole started working with animals at the age of 17 when she began volunteering at her local animal shelter and she quickly became passionate about helping animals. At the age of 18 she became a veterinary assistant and spent 3 years working in emergency medicine.
Nicole took a break from veterinary medicine to become a Medical Laboratory Technician in the United States Air Force. After completing her enlistment in the military she returned to veterinary medicine.
In her free time, she enjoys riding motorcycles and spending time with her son, husband, 3 dogs, and 2 cats.
Her favorite part of the job is witnessing our team of amazing doctors diagnose and treat each pet.
Maria P.
Veterinary Assistant
Maria has been working as a veterinary assistant with Mercy Pet Hospital for four years. She is currently in her last year at UC Davis where she will receive her bachelors degree in Animal Biology. Maria plans on becoming a veterinarian and is applying for vet school this year. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, pack backing and being outdoors. She loves endurance sports and is currently training for her first ultramarathon! She looks forward to caring for your pets while at Mercy.
Claudia H.
Receptionist
Claudia has been at Mercy for almost 7 years. She was born in the bay area, Daly City to be exact but grew up on the coast in a small town named Half Moon Bay. Ever since she can remember she’s had a love for animals and grew up with cats, dogs & chickens. She first started working at a veterinary facility in her hometown of Half Moon Bay. She worked there for about 6 months but unfortunately had to make an unexpected move to Sacramento due to family reasons. When she came out here she knew she wanted to continue to learn more about the veterinary field and her love for it just grew.
She’s currently been at Mercy for close to 7 Years and has 3 cats named Layla, Leo, and Luna, and has one dog name Gambie. I guess you can say cats rule in her house. She became a certified cat lady almost 13 plus years ago when she found her cat, Snuggles, who has now passed away and she misses dearly, as a kitten. Her goal at Mercy is to continue helping clients and their furbabies with their everyday needs and to provide the best care for them. She loves this field and couldn’t imagine herself anywhere else.
Emily B.
Receptionist
Emily is excited and happy to serve you and your furry family members at Mercy Pet Hospital. She has a huge passion for helping all wild and domestic animals from an early age in life. She found veterinary science extremely fascinating and believed that the veterinary field is a fulfilling career for some of her life purposes. Emily is deeply passionate about helping clients provide the best possible care for their animal family members. Her Dalmatian, Orca, is her best friend, whom she would do anything for and is a huge part of her life.
Emily’s inspiration for entering the veterinary field started when she began working with wildlife animals for California State Parks Half Moon Bay. Marine Biology has been a huge part of her entire life. However, growing up around hunting dogs and family animals she realized a private animal practice may be a better fit for her. After finding her dog, Orca, she knew it was time to transition into a career path that works with family critters.
In her free time, Emily is always hanging out with her two cats, a Siberian husky, Pomeranian, and of course my best bud, Orca. Also known as, Orca the “dorca” a.k.a Muscle Butt (who never leaves her side!). She is grateful and humbled to serve the wonderful clients of Mercy Pet Hospital and looks forward to helping all clients and their fuzzy loved ones. If Emily could have any wish, it would be that our soulmates, as animals too, could be with us forever, and if she can help connect medical veterinary science with keeping your family members connected for a longer period of time, then she did her purpose! Being able to help humans connect with their pets in the medical field has been a dream come true for her!
Natasha R.
Receptionist
Natasha started working for Mercy Pet Hospital in 2020. She loves working in veterinary health care, helping clients and their pets.
When she is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family, kids, Husband, and their pets.
She enjoys fine dining and traveling with her Husband. One of her favorite places to go visit is Jamaica.
