About Our Practice

Dr. Ruminski is a PNW native (born in Portland) but spent most of her life in CA, having moved there as a small child. After graduating from veterinary school at UC Davis in 2010 and completing a veterinary internship, she returned to the Northwest for a job in Centralia, and 8 years later moved to Rochester when she married Todd. She purchased Scatter Creek Animal Clinic in 2020. She has been blown away by the amazing team at Scatter Creek and on her time off she enjoys cooking, anything in/near/on water, and spending time with Todd and their two dogs, one cat, and many thousand honeybees.

Dr. Rivers is a native Washingtonian. He grew up in Tacoma and has lived in Thurston County for the last 15 years. He graduated from Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He and his wife live on a small hobby farm with their dogs, cats and chickens. Dr. Rivers has a special interest in geriatric medicine, pain management, dentistry and internal medicine for dogs and cats. He enjoys photography, gardening, fly fishing and various dog training activities, including field trials, hunt tests and scent work. He is very excited to be part of the team at Scatter Creek Animal Clinic and looks forward to meeting you and your pets.

Joni was raised right here in Rochester, and has lived here for most of her life. She enjoys gardening, clamming, going to auto races at some of our local tracks. She is also a Mariners fan and you might bump into her at a game sometime. She spends her time at home with Rucker the Rottweiler and Junior the cat. Joni has worked at Scatter Creek Animal Clinic since 2015, and she enjoys being able to help people with their pets.

Hi folks! My name is Michelle Ritchie, LVT but you would know me as Mick the tech. I am a transplant to the Pacific Northwest. I moved here from Indiana in 2014 with my family both two legged and four. I started at Scatter Creek Animal Clinic shortly after arriving. I really like the Rochester community and am happy to make this my new home. My hobbies include reading, gardening, spending time with the family and soaking up any and all sunshine! Even at a young age, I felt the responsibility of care for our furry companions. Feathered and scaly too I guess! I studied Animal Health Technology at Murray State University in southwest Kentucky so if you'll excuse me when my country accent slips through! I spent a brief time working in a veterinary diagnostic lab and then in 1996 I moved to small animal medicine as a veterinary technician. And oh wow! I found my true calling! I still love what I do and can't imagine anything else. I feel my highest professional priority is being a patient advocate through compassion, quality medicine and client education. I look forward to helping you and your furbaby at your next visit.

Jenna was born in Alaska and lived all over the world as an Army family until age eight when her family settled in the Spanaway/Roy/Yelm area. She and her husband and son moved to Rochester in 2014. Jenna received her veterinary technician degree from Pierce Collage here in WA, and has been working in veterinary medicine since 2003. Most of her free time is spent with her herd of whippets (and one Rottweiler) competing in racing, barn hunt, trick training and dock diving, among other things. When she is not training or working her dogs or at Scouts events with her family, she enjoys watching football, hiking, reading and sewing.

Katie landed in Rochester after having lived along much of the West Coast, and has been working at Scatter Creek Animal Clinic since 2016. She graduated from the licensed veterinary technician program at San Joaquin Valley College in Fresno, CA before relocating to Washington. In her free time she can be found in the barn, training or showing dogs, or working on her photography and crafting (You can find her on Facebook at KT2 Horses Creations & Photography). Her special interests in vet medicine are behavior and holistic health. She spent some time in California helping to train animals for movies and television and is currently a servant to Joani and Sis, her Morgan mares, and Pickles the mini pig, who retired from acting to live the cush life in Rochester.

Hi my name is Emilie. I was born in Tenino, WA. I graduated in 2018 and wanted to get right to work so I started volunteering at Scatter Creek Animal clinic, and was hired on in the summer of 2019. My animal family includes two cats, Sarek and Tom, my one-eyed cattle dog mix Cookie, and my horse Beau. I enjoy horseback riding, cow sorting and breakaway roping, hiking, reading, board games, card games, traveling and spending time with friends and family. I grew up on a farm and have always enjoyed working with animals.

Jennifer is a native of Texas, but moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2013 and she now makes her home in a historic farmhouse in Bucoda, WA. She loves working with animals and has been with Scatter Creek Animal clinic since 2016. In addition to her work here, she raises German Shepherds, and also does dog bathing and boarding out of her home. You may have had Jennifer house or farm sit for you, or help you with your barn chores—her animal husbandry skills are in high demand and she stays very busy especially in the summer months. Her own farm includes her human kids, her five German Shepherd dogs, Max, Sasha, Kira, Liberty and Basil, and her Jersey cow Clarabelle, four cats and a bunny named Mr. Nibbles. She enjoys biking, hiking, traveling, camping, scuba diving, reading, horseback riding and board games when she has a free moment between all of her animal care activities.

I've lived in the Rochester area since I was 11 months old, except for a short break to go to college in Idaho. I love reading, makeup, being out in nature, traveling, movies and hanging out with my family. I have 3 awesome dogs- a 14 yr old lab mix, a 5 year old french bulldog/Boston terrier mix and a 2 yr old french bulldog. I have been at Scatter Creek Animal Clinic since the fall of 2004.

My name is Natasha, I was born in Virgina but my dad was in the military so we have lived all over. We settled down in Lewis county where we finally brought our horses home. I've been working in veterinary medicine since 2018. When I'm not at work, I'm with my horses. I'm a professional barrel racer and compete in Women's Professional Rodeo Association with my main horse Shiloh. My other horses are Marzden, Twilight, Boss and Cash. If you can't find me at the barn, I'm most likely doing photography or other forms of mixed mediums of art.

Paula has been with Scatter Creek Animal Clinic for several years. She is the reason for the shiny new floors twice a year and that the place isn’t falling down around our ears! Paula likes boxers (the dog, not the underwear). She is a Rochester native, and played basketball for Rochester High and Centralia College. She lived in Florida’s in her 20’s and joined an asphalt paving crew (as their first female crew member!) where she outworked all the dudes and subsequently became an engineering technician for the Florida Department of Transportation. She eventually made her way back to Washington, and we are lucky to be able to steal some of her semi-retired time to keep our hospital ship-shape.