Kristina was born and raised in Katy, Texas. She discovered her passion for veterinary medicine at the age of 16 with her first job working as a veterinary/kennel technician assistant. After high school she obtained her veterinarian paramedic certification. . During her fist year at Lone Star College – Tomball, she was awarded the Candice Howard Scholarship. She earned her associates of applied science and became a licensed Veterinary technician in 2011.
During her preceptorship at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists, she fell in love with the rehabilitation and fitness department. After accepting a permanent position with the department, she obtained her certified canine rehabilitation practitioner (CCRP) certification from University of Tennessee in 2014.
Kristina loves constantly expanding her rehab knowledge to better help her patients in every way. She is always researching and taking extra continuing education classes to further develop her skills as a practitioner. She is a member of American Association of Rehabilitation Veterinarians (AARV) and International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management (IVAPM).
Kristina is currently working towards her veterinary specialty in physical rehabilitation (APRVT). Her professional interests include alternative pain management for patients recovering from surgery and chronic osteoarthritis, in conjunction with developing a strong client patient bond to achieve all goals for each patient.
Outside of practicing rehabilitation and pain management, she enjoys spending time with her fur baby, Gus, a Terrier mix. Gus was adopted from school as he one of Kristina’s surgery patients. Outside of loving her fur family, she enjoys staying active and anything to do with the great outdoors.
Dr. Jessica Marziani has wanted to be a veterinarian since a very early age. Growing up on a small family farm in northeast Indiana, she knew the best career for her would be one surrounded by animals.
Dr. Marziani’s family farm had a little bit of everything. If it lives in a barn yard, Dr. Marziani has probably owned one or more! She was very active in 4-H growing up, completing ten years of 4-H showing livestock, horses and even doing crafts and baking. Her family history is deeply rooted in 4-H as she is a fifth generation member.
Dr.Marziani also actively competed in the Indiana Paint Horse Association show circuit and will tell you stories about the most influential animal of her life, Gretta, any time you want to hear them!
Dr. Marziani attended undergrad at Central Methodist University and vet school at the University of Missouri (Mizzou). After vet school, Dr. Marziani completed a grueling one-year rotating internship at Arizona Equine Medical and Surgical Centre. Dr. Marziani’s main interest going through school and her internship were lameness and getting horses back to competition. Having had injuries take her out of the show ring growing up, she wanted to be able to help keep horses moving at their best. After her internship, Dr. Marziani spent several years in equine medicine helping countless horses overcome injuries and making them comfortable. All the while, Dr. Marziani herself dealt with pain from years of horseback riding and strain on her neck. During this time, Dr. Marziani tried countless western therapies to try to reduce her neck pain without any success. All the while, she had witnessed several patients of hers improve dramatically through acupuncture therapies. This compelled Dr. Marziani to try acupuncture herself. After waking up for the first time in years without a headache, thanks to acupuncture therapy, Dr. Marziani was a believer! She knew this was a therapy method that she had to learn to help her patients even more.
Dr. Marziani attended the Chi Institute and became certified in mixed animal acupuncture. Once practicing acupuncture, Dr. Marziani started realizing that disease and injury prevention is a more effective service than simply reacting to ailments. She added chiropractic medicine to her tool belt by attending Parker University’s animal chiropractic course and becoming certified by the American Association of Veterinary Chiropractic. Practicing chiropractic exposed Dr. Marziani to cases that needed rehab, some due to surgery and some just due to lack of muscle mass from skeletal frame misuse. Wanting to know how to isolate a muscle and engage it to help build its mass lead to Dr. Marziani becoming certified in canine rehabilitation therapy by the Canine Rehabilitation Institute. Now Dr. Marziani believes her career has come full circle. From her childhood dream of getting her horse back into the ring after an injury, to being able to not only help patients recover from injuries, but help them prevent injuries in the first place!
Next time you’re at the Houston Zoo, keep your eyes out for Dr. Marziani. You just may see her rolling her bag around the zoo visiting some of the animals there and providing complimentary veterinarian therapies. Dr. Marziani has been volunteering her services at the zoo since September of 2014 and enjoys every second she gets to spend there.
Dr. Faulkner has been a veterinarian at Central Houston Animal Hospital since 2007 and has owned the practice since 2008. Her desire and path to become a veterinarian started when she was in the second and third grade and hasn’t wavered since. She grew up in East Tennessee riding horses and began working as a kennel assistant at a small animal hospital at the age of 15. Through her college years, she worked as a veterinary technician while obtaining a BS in Biology, Cum Laude, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her Doctor of veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Tennessee in her home town of Knoxville.
Dr Faulkner relocated to Texas in 2001 and worked as an associate veterinarian until purchasing CHAH. She has a passion for internal medicine, geriatric care, and soft tissue surgery. Finding the cause of an illness and treating that rather than putting a bandaid on the problem is very important to her. In 2022, Dr. Faulkner became a certified canine rehabilitation practitioner and has loved adding those treatment modalities to alleviate pain and help to restore and maintain function.
In addition to rehabbing injured cats and dogs, helping homeless pets in Houston and surrounding counties is an important mission of Dr. Faulkner’s. She works with various rescue organizations and finds joy in being part of a process to those pets finding a forever home. She lives in Houston with her husband, two children and five dogs and occasionally finds time to ride her horse in her free time.
Since an early age, Michelle has always been passionate about animals and their well-being. From her childhood dog, to her current patients at work, she has thrived in providing animals with intricate care and aiding them to live out the comfortable lives they deserve.
Throughout her high school and college career, her volunteer work has centered around her passion for animals. Michelle volunteered with Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center where she participated in dove banding and record keeping. At Waller Equine Hospital, she was able to observe a melanoma removal and reproductive processes including semen collection from a stallion to then study under a microscope. She was also a temporary foster and adoption assistant for the Pup Squad.
Michelle graduated from McNeese State University with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Animal Science, and then earned a Master’s degree in Environmental and Chemical Sciences. She became a credited author after writing and presenting her thesis: The Evaluation of Factors Associated with Pre-Race Behavior in Thoroughbred Race Horses. For her research, Michelle spent hours at Delta Downs Racetrack observing race horses and their behavior just prior to their races, identifying stress factors and dynamics. The goal of her research was to potentially allow trainers and handlers to alleviate the racehorse’s stress level and improve their overall welfare more quickly.
After graduation, Michelle continued to work in the animal industry and became an employee at Central Houston Animal Hospital as a kennel technician in 2018. Just a few months later, she was promoted to being a veterinary technician where she had the pleasure of witnessing Dr. Marziani treating her patients. This immediately sparked interest for Michelle and encouraged her to want to learn and develop her career in the field of rehabilitation and pain management. She joined Central Houston Animal Hospital Rehabilitation and Pain Management Department in January of 2022 and is currently in school to receive her CCRA (Certified Canine Rehabilitation Assistant) from the Canine Rehabilitation Institute. This is the same program and curriculum that Dr. Marziani did when she became certified in rehab. With further education in this field, she hopes to provide the best care to each patient that she encounters and help increase their overall welfare, while also maintaining a relationship with the client and making sure they feel comforted and educated throughout the entirety of the process.
