About
This is the official blog of Kimberly Everson, the Practical PetVet®. Dr. Kim Everson is a companion animal veterinarian and mom in Wisconsin. She shares funny, sad and educational stories about her day-to-day adventures with pets and the people who love them.
When she’s not practicing veterinary medicine, she enjoys spending time with her husband and children, reading historical fiction, renovating old buildings, cross country skiing, bicycling and hiking. Her love of history has led her to serve on the Board of Directors of the Fond du Lac County Historical Society.
Born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to a teacher and farmer, Kim grew up outside the quiet Fox River town of Berlin on a five-acre farmette. Home to horses, pigs, steers, chickens, rabbits, dogs and cats, the cozy little farmstead influenced Kim in many ways.
Her parents were forever remodeling their old farmhouse–just as they finished renovating the last room 15 years had gone by and they started all over again! Kim and her husband have renovated every home they ever lived in including a mobile home, a tiny 1940s GI tract house in Madison, and now their turn-of-the-century farm house on Ridge Road.
Kim adored all the animals on her parents’ farm. She filled notebooks with elaborate stories of herself as a veterinarian and farmer (and sometimes as a heroine in fantastic tales filled with magical animal creatures). As an English major at UW Oshkosh, Kim continued to enjoy invention as a poet and editor at The Wisconsin Review. She went on to UW Eau Claire to earn her master’s degree in English and completed a thesis on Margaret Cavendish, Dutchess of Newcastle.
In 2001, Kim and Kirk moved back to Fond du Lac to begin married life. Kim found work as a secretary at Giddings and Lewis. Fortuitously, she was asked to take part in First Responder training. As the emergency training progressed Kim’s earliest yearnings to practice veterinary medicine re-emerged. After studying at UW Fond du Lac and UW Oshkosh (this time in the science department), Kim was one of the 84 students selected to join the School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison, Wisconsin.
Studying veterinary medicine did not prevent Kim from raising a family. By graduation, the Everson family included a 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl. While practicing as a small animal veterinarian in Eden, the family welcomed another little boy.
Desiring to recreate the idyllic rural childhoods of their youth, Kim and Kirk undertook major renovation projects on Ridge Road in Van Dyne. On the neighboring farm, they started Compost Joe’s Premium Soils and Organics. The entire family enjoys creating and promoting the organic soil amendments with manager Aunt Sarah. The latest (and greatest!?!) project is the development of Kim’s on-site veterinary practice, St. Bernard’s Animal Medical Center, open for business since fall 2011!
