Dr. Michael Forney is a recent graduate – class of 2018 – from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. While earning his veterinary degree, he focused on small animal medicine with particular interest in wellness, preventative medicine, behavior & animal welfare, and pathology. He was co-President for the Behavior Medicine & Animal Welfare student club, helping to organize talks and presentations from experts in the field, assemble teams to attend intercollegiate animal welfare judging competitions, and create new community outreach programs including a group that brought Canine-Good-Citizen tested dogs to a local senior citizen home as a form of “furry therapy”.

Prior to veterinary school, Dr. Forney obtained bachelors degrees in biology & Spanish at the University of Nevada, Reno from which he graduated in 2012. During his undergraduate career, he worked in a research lab with black-capped chickadees and side-blotched lizards helping on projects investigating behavior and spatial memory in these species. Immediately post-undergraduate, he completed at 12 week summer fellowship at the San Diego Zoo with their Institute for Conservation and research on a project evaluating behavior in Andean bears. 

Dr. Forney has greatly enjoyed joining VCA Rancho Mirage this past year and practicing in the Coachella Valley. He looks forward to continuing to work with the community to provide excellent care to his patients. When not working, Dr. Forney enjoys reading science fiction novels, watching films, cooking, jogging and laying by the pool. He loves to spend time with his German shepherd dog, Gertrude, and his grey cat, Gilbert.