By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
In celebration of the Wright City Chamber of Commerce’s 80th year, The Record is publishing a series of stories to highlight the local businesses that call Wright City home.
When veterinarians Bill Tappmeyer and Jim Schmittel first began practicing in St. Charles in the 1970s, they sometimes traveled to see patients in St. Louis County. When they did, one of the older vets they worked with would wave his arm across the horizon and say “When I started here, this was all farm ground.”Since then, the two venerable vets have worked with partners at the Wright City and Warrenton veterinary clinics for about 40 years. They now tell students and young colleagues the same thing about the changing landscape of St. Charles County, and expect that one day they’ll be sweeping their arms across the Warren County horizon with a similar message.“We started out being a mixed practice, but primarily large animals,” commented Tappmeyer. That meant going out to meet with farm families and checking on their animals.But the gradual development of suburbia and decline in local farming mean the vets see a lot fewer farm animals and a lot more house pets than 40 years ago. For older vets with a good sense of humor, that progression isn’t all bad.“It’s been fine, because as we’ve gotten older, we didn’t want to do so much farm work,” Tappmeyer joked. “There wasn’t as much farm work to do, and because farms sold and houses went up, we got more small animals.”“We do miss the farm practice,” said Schmittel, but even without it their work is enough to keep them busy all day.Staff said the clinic in Wright City sees an average of about 30 animals a day.The Wright City Veterinary Clinic got its start in 1978, when Tappmeyer decided to open his own practice after four years in St. Charles. He opened in a building that had been a drug store, then a plumbing shop.“I started out with a porcelain table to set dogs on, a refrigerator and an old desk. Everything was in one room,” Tappmeyer recalled. Over time, more exam rooms, offices and working areas were framed into the clinic, which has remained near the corner of Elm and North Second streets.Schmittel joined the practice in 1979, followed by Dr. Michael Thompson in 1981 and Dr. Frank Lenzenhuber in 1983. They added their Warrenton Veterinary Clinic in 1981, and the four vets have been continuous partners for the last four decades.With the growth of their practice and the surrounding communities, they continued to add other employees. Today, the two clinics have a total of eight vets and about 30 staff members.“It’s like family,” Schmittel said. “We’ve got a wonderful staff. It’s a very pleasant place to work.”Whenever they bring a new veterinarian into the practice, Tappmeyer said it becomes a mutual learning opportunity. Younger doctors with more recent education bring the knowledge of new treatment methods, while the longtime vets offer their practical experience.Whenever there’s a question about a patient, the vets work together to discover an answer, Tappmeyer said.The clinics offer routine examinations and treatment, as well as routine surgery and dentistry. More complex cases get referred to specialists, but staff at the Wright City clinic said even “routine” cases can get interesting.Office manager Trisha Pecaut and vet assistant Stephanie Balven have worked at the clinic for 10 and 11 years, respectively. They said some of their most interesting cases are exploratory exams to find out what an animal ate that might need to be surgically removed.“There was a circular razor (the owner) dropped on the floor and the blade popped out, then the dog ate it,” Pecaut said. “But the vets did get it out and the dog was fine. We’ve removed half a tennis ball, rocks quite a few times.”“Coins that you could actually count to see how much the dog swallowed,” Balven added.“Socks and underwear are also pretty common,” Pecaut replied.Every day is different at the clinic. Some are calm, others are crazy, they said. Even after years, they still encounter things they haven’t seen before. Through it all, they get to enjoy interacting with animals and their owners.“I like the people, seeing the same clients over again and developing a relationship with them,” Balven said. “Seeing people bring in a puppy, and then they bring it back as an older dog and you’ve been able to see them over time, how they change.”Building relationships with people in the community is what Tappmeyer said is one of the great joys of their work. He said one of his most memorable cases was a 1 a.m. call to deliver a calf by C-section 25 miles away.“Why do I have this job? Everybody else is home sleeping,” the vet recalled thinking. Then after the delivery, the lady of the house made him a fresh breakfast of bacon, eggs and biscuits, and he got to see the sunrise as he drove home with a couple dozen eggs and a jar of blackberry jam.“You meet wonderful people,” he remarked.
Staff at the Wright City Veterinary Clinic said they enjoy getting to build relationships with people in the community and their animals. Pictured here are clinic staff with longtime veterinarians Jim Schmittel, far left, and Bill Tappmeyer, far right.
Record photo/Adam Rollins
