Katherine Goldberg, DVM, LMSW

Dr. Goldberg has dedicated her professional life to human-animal relationships in veterinary environments, and other areas of connection and conflict. She earned her BA in the Science in Society Program at Wesleyan University in 1999, and her DVM from Cornell in 2004. She then completed a rotating small animal internship and continued along the emergency/critical care path in both private referral practice and academia. While in the ICU Dr. Goldberg developed an interest in the ethics of intensive care for animals, the impact of critical veterinary illness on family dynamics, and palliative medicine in veterinary settings. She then spent 3 years in general practice, providing client consultation on palliative medicine options, death & dying, as well as in-home euthanasia services, before exclusively dedicating herself to family-centered end of life care.

She became a trained volunteer for Hospicare & Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County in Fall 2009 and founded her practice, Whole Animal Veterinary Geriatrics & Hospice Services, in 2010. The practice name changed from “Hospice” to “Palliative Care” services to more accurately reflect its scope of practice and support Dr. Goldberg’s commitment to ethically defensible end of life care for animals. She was a member of Hospicare’s Ethics Committee from 2010-2017 & is dedicated to exploring the connections and disparities between hospice services for people and animals. Whole Animal remains one of the only veterinary practices in the country exclusively dedicated to this area of care that is not focused on mobile euthanasia services.

Dr. Goldberg was appointed courtesy lecturer at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 2015 and significantly increased student exposure to end of life topics between 2012 and 2018 in both core curriculum and elective offerings. Her course, “Current Topics in Serious Illness Care & Palliative Medicine” is unique among veterinary college curricula. She is trained in the Serious Illness Conversation Guide developed by a collaboration between Ariadne Labs, and palliative medicine teams at Harvard Medical School & the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and has modified and published the guide for veterinary use.

She completed her Master of Social Work at Syracuse University in May 2018 in the Advanced Integrated Practice track, linking micro, mezzo and macro practice, and was part of a team dedicated to building coursework in human-animal interactions for Syracuse’s School of Social Work. Her MSW field placements were in hospital-based medical social work (Cortland Regional Medical Center) and university counseling (Cornell University). Dr. Goldberg is a licensed master social worker (LMSW) in the state of New York.

A published author of magazine articles, book chapters and peer-reviewed academic papers, Katherine is most proud of her curation and editing of the May 2019 volume of Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice“Advances in Palliative Medicine”. This volume is the only published collection of work by all leaders of academic and private specialty veterinary palliative medicine programs and courses to date. It also features interviews with pioneers in the human palliative medicine field, addressing commonalities and challenges of this work within human and veterinary medicine.

In 2019, after almost a decade of clinical palliative care service delivery, Katherine redirected Whole Animal’s focus to consultation, education, and mental health support while transitioning her direct practice efforts to clinical social work. She currently supports students, faculty and staff as a Community Consultation and Intervention Specialist with Counseling and Psychological Services at Cornell Health, Cornell University.


232323232-fp35--nu=3255-96;-332-WSNRCG=32359;99-;4;8nu0mrjAllison Miller, DVM, CVA, CTPEP

Dr. Allison Miller has been an integral part of Whole Animal’s clinical veterinary service delivery, offering in-home acupuncture and herbal therapy to the patients of Whole Animal through her practice, Miller Integrative Veterinary Services.  An upstate New York native, Dr. Miller attended Cornell University for her undergraduate and veterinary studies.  After spending time in conventional practice in upstate Vermont and eastern Massachusetts, she moved back to Ithaca and pursued additional training at the Chi Institute in Reddick, FL to become certified in veterinary acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). She now solely practices this integrative modality. TCVM assessment, acupuncture and herbal therapy can be utilized for a number of different conditions to help with an animal’s comfort and wellbeing. She is the only certified TCVM Palliative and End of Life Practitioner (CTPEP) in our region.

You may read more about acupuncture and Dr. Miller’s practice at her website: www.millerintegrativevetservices.com


Ellen Abrams, LMFT

Ellen Abrams has more than 13 years of clinical experience as a Marriage and Family Therapist in community mental health clinics, hospices, and in private practice. Previously, she provided grief counseling at Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County and from 2010-2012 directed the After Trauma Services Program at Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service. Currently, Ellen maintains a private practice in Ithaca.

“My work is grounded in a deep faith that loss, unexpected change, or difficult transitions can offer opportunities for growth and change. They help us discover our strength and resiliency and offer direction in living with richness and satisfaction.”

Ellen may be reached directly at 607-387-8205.