Dr. Helen Tuzio is a board-certified cat medicine and surgery specialist, having undergone an intensive process of credential approval, continuing education, publishing requirements, and testing. There are still fewer than 100 veterinarians certified in Feline Practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners worldwide. She is also a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist and a Fear Free Certified Veterinary Professional.
Dr. Tuzio has been an Associate at the Forest Hills Cat Hospital since 1991. She graduated with Honors from Ross University. She studied for six months at the University of Liverpool (UK), then completed a post-doctoral clinical year at Purdue University before entering private practice. She was appointed as Associate Dean and Clinical Program Director of the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine – a position she held for 12 years. In 2016 she was appointed as an Associate Professor at Long Island University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Tuzio is an active member of the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), serving on their Guidelines Committee until 2022 and having chaired the Committee for four years. She has co-authored the Senior Care Guidelines of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the AAFP, as well as the Guidelines for the Judicious Use of Antimicrobials published by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). She is a contributing author of several feline medicine textbooks and has contributed to developing licensing examinations for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and Feline Practice specialists. In the fall of 2007, Dr. Tuzio was appointed to (and later chaired) the Examination Development Advisory Board of the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (NBVME) to oversee the development of the Feline section of the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE). This position is only open to only two people in North America. In 2017 she was elected by her colleagues throughout the United States and Canada to serve as their Representative on the Board of Directors of the International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA) International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA). She was nominated and elected to a second term in 2021.
She credits her first cat `K.C.’ who lived to the tender age of 23, with teaching her the intricacies of feline medicine.