Carson City native returns home to join Lone Mountain Veterinary Hospital

Nikolai Kolupaev, a third generation Nevadan and Carsonite, knew from the time he was 8 years old he wanted to work with animals. When he was 16, he applied to work at Lone Mountain Veterinary Hospital in Carson City. With no open positions available for two more years, he was finally hired at 18 in the boarding facility and quickly moved over to the hospital where he worked during his four years of pre-veterinary education, while also studying to become a veterinary technician in training prior to leaving for veterinary school. This month, he returned to Lone Mountain Veterinary Hospital as Dr. Kolupaev, becoming the fourth veterinarian at the practice.

“Nikolai was extremely persistent when it came to working at Lone Mountain,” said Margie Quirk, owner of Lone Mountain Veterinary Hospital. “I admired his follow up year after year and was able to open something up for him in our boarding facility. After six months, he was helping us on the hospital side and working toward his bachelor’s degree in veterinary science at the University of Nevada, Reno. We were of course sad to see him leave Lone Mountain, but were so proud of him when he was accepted into vet school on his first try.”

Lone Mountain has seen steady growth over the past 24 years, said Quirk. The hospital was booked out for three weeks for healthy patients, while fitting in as many medical emergencies as possible, and continuing with outreach in the community by assisting organizations such as Carson Tahoe SPCA.

“The wait time to see healthy pets was getting too far out and I started looking at options to better serve our patients,” said Quirk. “Adding a fourth veterinarian allows us to continue providing exceptional service and quality care with reasonable appointment bookings. Because of Dr. Kolupaev’s long working history with Lone Mountain, we knew he would be the perfect addition. He already knows the culture, the majority of our team, and many of the patients, which allowed him to be up and running quickly.”

After graduating from University of Nevada, Reno in 2014, Kolupaev attended Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and worked at Banfield Pet Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama after graduating in May 2018. Returning home to Carson City was always part of the plan.

“I always knew I wanted to return home to Carson City,” said Kolupaev. “There’s something special about coming back to the hospital that took a chance on me and lit the spark and desire to keep learning and growing to make the career happen. It feels like coming home.”