About Northwest Veterinary Surgical Services LLC
Dr. Belknap is a board-certified veterinary surgeon; he and his team are committed to excellence in veterinary care.
Northwest Veterinary Surgical Services
Serving the pets of Washington and Oregon, we go above and beyond for our patients to ensure the best possible experience.
Meet Dr. Jim Belknap
Dr. Belknap received his DVM from Colorado State University, performed an internship at University of Georgia, and a surgical residency at Michigan State University. He practiced as a referral surgeon and trained veterinary students and surgery residents at the veterinary teaching hospitals at Auburn University and Ohio State University; he started as an equine surgeon before transitioning to a small animal surgeon. Dr. Belknap feels very lucky to be in a profession where he has fun every day both performing surgeries on dogs and cats and working with the owners and their veterinarians.
Due to enjoying working at a practice in Redmond, Washington early in his career, he talked his wife, a physician, into moving to Washington. He gets to be a Professor Emeritus of Veterinary Surgery at Ohio State University while enjoying a career as a veterinary surgeon in western Washington. Prior to his recent move to the Bellingham area of Washington, he worked as a small animal surgeon for several years in a practice southwest of Seattle, serving clients in the greater Seattle and Portland areas. He also periodically serves as a locum surgeon at a specialty hospital in Seattle.
During his spare time, Dr. Belknap enjoys fishing, kayaking, and most things outdoors that the Northwest has to offer. His favorite pastime is fly tying and fly fishing. He also loves to retrieve with his 3 year old Labrador Retriever Annie on the Nooksack River on the back of his property most evenings.
He enjoys working with both referring veterinarians and pet owners; he emphasizes to the owners that his practice will only treat the pet for items related to the surgical procedure and will send the pet back to the original practice for all further care. Jim performs all preoperative consults with the owners-laying out the different surgical and non-surgical alternatives-applying no pressure to the owners in making their decision. In patients which go to surgery, Jim puts a great emphasis on continued personal follow-up communication with the owner until the animals have fully recovered.
Dr. Belknap’s buddy, Chloe, a lab mix at the age of 12 in the video. He was able to maintain a good quality of life for her in her later years with a combination of anti-inflammatory medication and periodic joint injections.