Saundra Hewitt, received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, with distinction, from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1997. Following this, she worked as an Emergency and Critical Care Veterinarian in Louisville, KY for one year and then as a Small Animal Veterinarian in Etobicoke for another. She completed a Small Animal Internship at the Western Veterinary College in Saskatoon, SK and a Small Animal Surgical Internship at a large referral clinic in Orlando, FL. Dr. Hewitt returned to the Ontario Veterinary Collage to complete a 3-year surgical residency and to obtain a Doctor of Veterinary Science Degree. Her thesis involved laparoscopic-assistant placement of jejunostomy feeding tubes in dogs, comparing the surgical technique and post-operative complications to traditional surgical approaches. In addition, her thesis assessed the use of alternative anesthetic protocols, including epidural anesthesia, to benefit critically ill patients. She was an assistant instructor for a Wet Lab teaching cruciate repair techniques for fellow veterinary practitioners at the Lifelearn Learning Center, Sponsored by Securos Veterinary Orthopedics. Dr. Hewitt became a Diplomate with the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2005. She is certified and trained by Slocum enterprises to perform TPLO and has completed ASIF fracture, laparoscopic, TTA and the BFX Cementless Hip courses. She has presented her research at the ACVS conference in San Diego in 2003.

Dr. Hewitt joined the surgical service of Oakland Veterinary Referral Services, a quite large multi-specialty facility in Michigan, USA in 2004 and remained there until 2015. She initiated the Infectious Control Committee at the facility. While working at the only certified Level 1 Trauma center in Michigan, Dr. Hewitt enjoyed the challenges of emergency soft tissue surgical procedures. As a cruciate ligament patient herself, she derives immense satisfaction in orthopedic surgery and returning her patients to normal activity. In 2015, she returned home and joined West Toronto Veterinary Surgery as a small private surgical service. In 2021, Dr. Hewitt merged with the ER clinic that she worked alongside for 6 years to become the Veterinary Emergency and Referral Hospital of West Toronto in a newly built 9700sf location. As the facility adds other specialties, it will expand patient care options and allow urgent cases transfers to proceed smoothly.

Her publications include:

Webb JA, Liptak JM, Hewitt SA. Multilobular ostetochondrosarcoma of the os penis in a dog. Accepted by CVJ pending editorial changes.

Hewitt SA, Brisson BA, Sinclair MI. Comparison of cardiopulmonary responses during general anesthesia and sedation with epidural anesthesia for laparoscopic-assisted and open surgical placement of jejunostomy feeding tubes in dogs. In review JAVMA

Hewitt, SA, Brisson BA, Holmberg D. Bile Peritonitis Secondary to Gastric Dilation-Volvulus in a Dog. Can Vet J 2005;46:260-262.

Hewitt SA, Brisson BA, Sinclair MI, et al. Evaluation of laparoscopic-assisted placement of jejunostomy in Dogs. J Am Med Assoc 2004;225:65-71.

Moens NM, Bersenas AM, Hewitt SA. What is your Diagnosis: A case of tracheal laceration. JSAP November 2003;44:345, 378-379.

Some of her Awards include:

Tippy Atkins Memorial Scholarship, Small Animal Graduate Research Scholarship, Harry and Lorna Robbins Memorial Scholarship, Schering Plough Scholarship, Synthes ASIF Graduate Award, Pfizer Award for proficiency and the Saunders Award for proficiency in Small Animal Surgery.