Dr. Magda Szyrmer, VMD

I was born in Warsaw, Poland (hence, the somewhat unusual spelling of my full name - Magdalena Szyrmer). My parents emigrated to the United States when I was 5 months old, and I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Animals were always the center of my world.

When I was little, my parents wouldn't allow me to get a pet. Because of this, I would collect and care for anything that allowed me to get closer to animals. My first pet was a waterbug named Kristin who I “rescued” at our summer campground. Kristin had her own bucket, river plant life in case she was hungry and endless walks in her bucket to get to explore her surroundings. There were heated negotiations between me and the local 6-year olds around who could take her for bucket walks. Sadly, Kristin only lived for 3 days, but let me assure you that she received the best care and attention that I and the local young campers could provide.

As I grew older, my parents finally acquiesced, and allowed me to have pets. We had everything from rabbits, fish, cats, dogs, birds, and squirrels. There was nothing that brought me more joy than caring for our personal pets as well as local injured wildlife.

I grew up, without knowing it, in the philosophy of integrative medicine. My parents’ European background, meant that we were often using alternative therapies as well as conventional treatments at home. My mother would give my siblings and I homeopathic treatments for calming when we were rowdy and wouldn’t sleep at night. We took Polish herbal treatments for upset stomachs. When I had pneumonia as a child, I took antibiotics. I never realized that there was a difference between these treatments. Medicine was medicine. If it worked, it worked, no matter what the philosophy behind it.

As I grew older, I developed many different interests, from music, international travel, learning new languages, and an insatiable curiosity about the world.

I attended Princeton University for my undergraduate education, and later University of Pennsylvania for veterinary school.

During vet school, I developed some health challenges that showed me the limitations of conventional medicine. While invaluable for acute illnesses and life-threatening situations, traditional medicine had few solutions for more chronic and less defined health challenges. However, my personal experiences with holistic treatments allowed me to understand and experience their benefits first hand. With a combination of diet changes and alternative medicine, my own health returned and I have never looked back.

Over the years, I have taken coursework in Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, Homeopathy, Chinese and Western Herbs, Nutrition, Essential Oils, Flower Essences and many more. I am constantly learning and improving what I have to offer my patients and it is unlikely that this learning process will ever stop. Animals have been some of my greatest teachers of what is possible. They are always surprising me and teaching me about the deeper mysteries that lie beneath the surface of things.

For 12+ years, I have worked as a veterinarian, mostly at holistic and integrative practices in New Jersey, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I opened Holistika Veterinary in the fall of 2020 with the intention of practicing medicine differently.

My intention for my practice is to not suppress the animal's symptoms with medications, but rather use food and natural supplements to support the body's own ability to heal. Sometimes, we have to use pharmaceuticals if the symptoms are severe, the treatment is temporary, or the animal is suffering. But for chronic illness, this is not my preference.

Thank you for reading my bio and I look forward to meeting you and your pets!