Dr. Byam and her team are proud to provide high-quality care to pets and pet owners in the Elk Grove community.
Abel Pet Clinic is also associated with many veterinary specialists in the Elk Grove area. This allows us to offer additional diagnostic and surgical services to our clients. These specialists include Radiologists, Ultrasonographers, Orthopedic & Soft-Tissue Surgeons, and Cardiologists, all of whom are board-certified. These specialists are travelling veterinarians who come into our Pet Clinic and work as a part of our team to serve your pet.
Take a moment to get to know the team that is waiting to meet you and your pet, and learn a little about them below!
Dr. Kelly Byam, DVM (She/Her/Hers)

Dr. Samantha Ekman, DVM (She/Her/Hers)
Dr. Ekman is a Midwesterner, born and raised in northeastern Minnesota. She graduated at the University of Minnesota – Duluth in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She then attended Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine to pursue her veterinary degree. She concurrently completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Iowa State University and Master of Public Health degree from the University of Iowa in 2020. Upon graduation, she moved to Elk Grove, California with her fiancé and their sweet orange tabby cat, Nelly. They recently adopted an Australian Cattle Dog mix puppy, Josie.
Dr. Ekman has interests in surgery, dentistry, and particularly exotic and wildlife medicine, as she has had experience in wildlife conservation and medicine in South Africa and at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. She is also Fear-Free Certified. In her spare time, she likes to spend time with her family and friends, hiking, reading, running, yoga, traveling, and skiing. She looks forward to serving the Elk Grove community!
Jennifer, Hospital Manager(She/Her/Hers)

Technician (AHT). After bouncing around to a few different veterinary hospitals over the years, she
found her forever home with Abel in 2016 and was promoted to Hospital Manager in 2020. Jennifer, her
husband Jon and son Robert, live here in Elk Grove with their dog (Aulani) cats (P.D., Luke, Leia, Wicket
and Kylo) and their gecko family (Stitch, Toothless and Lil’ Lilo). When not at work, you can usually find Jennifer at one of the local soccer fields, cheering on Robert while he plays soccer for Elk Grove FC and planning her next family get away to Disneyland.
Cynthia, Front Office/Technician (She/Her/Hers)
Cynthia, our wonderful receptionist who also has technician skills. She always answers the phone with a smile and loves to help people with their pets.
She is an inspiration to the team with her over 20 years of experience in veterinary medicine. She can do it all , from reception to technician skills and she also has a ready laugh, and lets our clients know how much she cares about them. Because no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care!
Shelly, Registered Veterinary Technician(She/Her/Hers)
Shelly graduated from tech school in 2012 with an AS degree and shortly after had gotten her RVT license. She had the privilege to spend almost 8 years at a feline-only practice learning that special, kitty whispering magic that takes the right kind of people to truly master with many low stress handling techniques. Shelly takes pride in being Fear Free Certified so that she may help lower stress for owners and their pets. She has had the honor to find her new home and family at Abel Pet Clinic in Sept 2020. She has had quite the zoo at home sharing it with my wife Shonna and 3 spoiled rotten pittie mixes (Ehko, Sugar & Buddy), 5 wonderful cats (Baby Girl, Bug, Klied, Skye, & Gizmo) and her childhood 20+ year old ball python, Nos.
Shelly enjoys reading, horror movies, TV, music and being around trees and water. She strives to take care of animals and be the voice they do not have. She loves building lasting bonds with clients and their fur (or scale/feather/etc.) babies. She is so happy and grateful to be a part of Abel and look forward to caring for your pets as if they were her own.
Charlie, Veterinary Assistant(They/Them/Theirs)
Charlie, a graduate of a registered veterinary technician program who first came to us for a clinical rotation. We liked them so much; we offered them a job. They will be taking their RVT exam soon, and we wish them the best of luck!
Two fun facts about Charlie; they have a background in the performing arts and has also become quite the coloring artist. One by one, they have given almost all of our employees technicolor hair! The second fun fact is that they are three inches shorter than Danny Devito! At 4 feet nine inches; they’re not short; they’re fun size!
Amanda Lyons, Veterinary Assistant (She/Her/Hers)
Amanda was born in Georgia and has been working with animals for about 8 years. She started with fostering dogs from the Humane Society. She decided to get her Assistant Certification at Animal Behavior College in 2015. She plans on going to school to get her Technician License. In her off time, she spends most of it with her husband, 2 beautiful girls and orange tabby, Ducky. After moving to California she found her forever home at Abel Pet Clinic.
Tanner, Veterinary Assistant(He/Him/His)
Tanner, a second year veterinary student at UC Davis. Tanner is a determined young man. He first came to our practice when he was a student at Chico State. He walked into our reception area several years ago, with a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase; asking us to volunteer with us. How could we say no?
After his summer of volunteering, he asked if we could give him a paying job. He was the hardest working volunteer we’ve ever seen, so how could we say no? Then, after working for us for a year, he applied to the world’s greatest veterinary school, UC Davis, and how could they say no? So off he went, but he continued to work for us on weekends. In his second year; his studies made it too hard for him to work Saturdays.
Then the Pandemic hit, and many of Tanner’s classes went remote. He is taking this year to finish his Masters in Preventive Veterinary Medicine (MPVM.) He remained a client here. bringing his three-legged cat, Peggy in for regular check-ups. The last time he was in, we asked if he wouldn’t mind filling in at Abel during any time off this year, and how could he say no? Welcome back, Tanner!
Abigail Dimock, DVM

Bethany Jackson, DVM

Brian MacKie, DVM

Britany Lindl Bylicki, DVM

Craig Long, DVM

Eric Herrgesell, DVM

Linda Mellema, DVM

Michele Laurenson, DVM
