We're doing veterinary medicine differently. And sharing the story.
Too often, veterinary care is presented as one-size-fits-all: the ideal treatment plan, or very few options at all.
Dr. Mackenzie Gallegos believes there should be more room in between.
At East End Animal Surgery & Urgent Care in both Houston and Beaumont, she’s putting a different model into practice: spectrum of care. Instead of treating the most advanced option as the only acceptable one, Dr Mackenzie works to find safe, evidence-led alternatives based on the animal in front of her - and what their family can realistically afford.
The goal is more ways to say yes to care - and fewer animals losing their chance at treatment because one option was out of reach.
Now, Mackenzie is gathering outcome data from these cases to help build the evidence for a more flexible, accessible approach to veterinary medicine.
Meet Dr. Mackenzie Gallegos
Mackenzie is a Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine graduate, East Side resident, and founder and medical director of East End Animal Surgery & Urgent Care.
She built East End around the kind of veterinary medicine she wanted to practise: practical, accessible and willing to question the idea that there is only one “right” way to treat a patient.
That approach is personal, too. Mackenzie has a particular soft spot for senior pets and helping them stay comfortable and pain-free. More broadly, she believes good veterinary medicine starts with looking at the animal and family in front of you - not simply reaching for the most expensive or advanced option.
Her work today combines urgent care and surgery with a bigger question: how can veterinary medicine give more animals a realistic chance at treatment?
Dr Mackenzie calls her team the Punky Pirates. Punky because they are willing to challenge convention and refuse the idea that more medicine is always better. Pirates because they operate as a crew: capable, resourceful people who reject the status quo and think for themselves, carry their share and look after one another. Together, they find practical, humane ways to help pets and their people - even when the textbook answer is out of reach.
What Mackenzie Believes In
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More options, not lower standards. Good veterinary care doesn’t have to mean one treatment plan at one price point.
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Cost shouldn’t end the conversation. When the ideal option isn’t affordable, the next question should be: what can we safely do?
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Evidence can change the system. Mackenzie is gathering real-world outcomes to help spectrum-of-care medicine become a more accepted part of veterinary practice.
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Independent practices can do things differently. Being independent creates room to question conventions and try better ways of working for patients, families and veterinary teams.
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Veterinary medicine should welcome questions. “Because that’s how it’s always been done” isn’t a particularly useful clinical argument.
Topics for Media & Events
Mackenzie can contribute to conversations around or present on the following topics:
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Access to veterinary care and economic euthanasia
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Spectrum-of-care medicine
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The cost of veterinary treatment
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Independent veterinary practice
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Veterinary workplace culture - the ‘Punky Pirate’ spirit.
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Senior pet care and quality of life
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What needs to change in modern veterinary medicine
Let’s Talk
These are conversations Mackenzie believes veterinary medicine needs to have more openly.
If you’re a journalist, podcast host, producer or event organiser covering access to veterinary care, spectrum of care or the future of the profession, get in touch.