Marie Maher, DVM, CVA

Medical Director and Owner

Degrees and Certifications

Fun Facts

  • I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian since I was a child

  • My black cat Coco was born in the bathtub of the lead singer of Papa Roach

  • My favorite bird is the bushtit because they are impossibly small, devastatingly cute, and cuddle sleep together in groups for warmth

  • My favorite squirrel is all of them (especially the angriest of Douglas squirrels!)

  • I collect sticks and display sand from travel in tiny glass jars

  • I love acquiring new skills I’ll likely never be particularly good at, including knitting, juggling, painting my friends’ walls, and being mostly ambidextrous

  • I’ve visited the 48 states I could drive to in winter

  • I love bengal cats for their enthusiastic mischief, endless energy, and hearts of glittery gold

  • I grew up in a town that is Bay Area famous for a bad smell no one can properly explain

  • All of my cats are leash trained and have traveled to multiple states (Vito went to the top of the Space Needle!)

  • I live in a home zoo with the cats, our dog, 4 geckos, 1 snake, 2 frogs, many jumping spiders, and too many houseplants. And also my human partner! We have a house full of life and love.

  • He joined me every day to hang with students and faculty and to support me. He was the best shoulder cat and everyone knew and Ioved him. The importance of our bond was a huge reason I continued to pursue feline medicine following graduation, and why I founded Tranquil Tabby. He is the logo for our clinic!

    Moose Suit

    • In undergrad I volunteered with a local cat rescue and led their medication team

    • I’ve fostered more than 100 cats and kittens over the past 13 years, most of which were teeny tiny bottle babies!

    • I’ve encouraged folks to start fostering and have trained many on raising bottle fed kittens

    • I co-authored a paper in undergrad on infectious diseases in wild birds

    • I completed an internship in wildlife rehabilitation, working with birds and small mammals

    adder

    • From childhood through age 21 I was a competitive figure skater

    • From skating I learned strength, resiliency, vulnerability, dedication, love, and grace

    • After retiring from skating I enjoyed 10 years as an aerialist and circus performer

    • I co-founded an aerial school in Sacramento and helped spread the skill and joy of aerial arts

    • I trained and performed on multiple apparatuses including silks and hoop and was a member of a Bay Area circus troupe

    • I produced and performed in an annual aerial arts show benefiting a Northern California domestic violence shelter

    silksriver

The Road to Tranquil Tabby

Following graduation from vet school, I was fortunate to start my career in feline exclusive practice in Massachusetts doing the work I love. In 2020, I moved back to the West Coast to be closer to friends and family, and continued working in primarily feline medicine. I learned so much and felt so at home helping cats and their people.

Like so many other people in the profession, I eventually experienced burn out due to what I consider to be pervasive, unrealistic, and unsustainable expectations and culture within the profession, as well as feeling deeply unsettled by the lack of consistently gentle and respectful handling of patients around me. I knew that taking care of animals should not be so stressful, and I dreamed of doing things differently.

In 2022 I was forced to leave vet med after being diagnosed with a rare neurological condition. I took this time as an opportunity not only to heal and recover, but to reevaluate what being a veterinarian meant to me, what I wanted from my career, and how I wanted to be of service.

Looking for a change of pace, my partner, Matt, and I moved from Portland to Southwest Washington, where we fell in love with the local scenery and communities, and cultivated deep restorative rest. With time and support from so many wonderful people, my health improved and I began shifting my focus to how a return to veterinary medicine could look and feel like for me.

I founded Tranquil Tabby in 2023 to provide a new kind of veterinary experience, meaningfully focused on both the physical and emotional wellbeing of cats and people. I am so excited to share my vision of how quality feline veterinary medicine can be be delivered, calmly in the home with care and consideration, and built on a foundation of trust and respect.