A Visit to Turtle River Veterinary 

On an October evening, Dr. Gib Mouser and his wife, Michelle, graciously welcomed me to their farm, which is home base for Dr. Mouser’s large animal mobile practice, Turtle River Veterinary.

Located about 15 miles north-northeast of Bemidji, Dr. Mouser—an equine and bovine vet—serves clients within a 150 mile radius, covering much of northern Minnesota. His work brings him north to locations along the Canadian border, as far south as the Brainerd area, west to the North Dakota border, and almost as far east as Duluth. 

While the doctor was wrapping up some business after returning home from a long day, Michelle gave me a tour of the farm, which is home to a herd of Herefords, two horses, and a small crew of farm dogs and cats. Dr. Mouser joined us once we arrived at the outbuilding that houses his office, large pickup truck that serves as his mobile workplace, and supply and equipment storage.

Despite having caught him during a very busy season, he was generous with his time, answering my questions and painting a picture for me of what it’s like to be a large animal veterinarian with a mobile practice in rural Minnesota. 

Dr. Gib Mouser graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001, and practiced near Madison, Wis., and then Alexandria, Minn., before moving to Bemidji and starting his own practice in 2005. Gib and his wife both grew up in the Bemidji area, and wanted to return in order to be close to family.

Establishing the practice was a significant investment at the outset and it took a couple of years to build up his client base, but Dr. Mouser’s practice has now been busy and thriving for two decades. He works six days a week, keeps long hours, and his services are in demand—he’s generally scheduled out about six weeks. Since 2014, he has employed an associate veterinarian, Dr. Kerri Nelson, who is also located near Bemidji and has her own truck and client base. 

There’s a seasonal flow to the work. Routine veterinary services for beef cattle are concentrated in the spring and fall, and during calving season in the spring, Dr. Mouser will often travel to 6–8 farms per day. He also does semen analysis on bulls at this time of year, seeing about 150 bulls per week. 

Just as springtime work with cattle is wrapping up, equine business is ramping up. Summer’s return of light and warmth along with kids being out of school means that people are riding their horses more as well as preparing to show them—and the need for veterinary care increases accordingly. 

In the fall, he returns to beef cattle farms to do pregnancy checks, but may only get to one or two farms per day. In recent years, this work has extended into early January, which is particularly challenging in northern Minnesota. Dr. Mouser said he’s done “preg checks”—work that requires the use of a palpation sleeve—when it’s minus 30 degrees and windy. Michelle then drew my attention to the shirt Gib was wearing: one long sleeve, one short. Deeper into late fall/winter, he wears a heavy coat with a zip-off sleeve to keep as warm as possible while working.

We talked about some of the challenges—beyond extreme cold—he faces as a large animal vet in a rural part of the state. I asked about a topic on many people’s minds these days—the rural veterinary shortage—and Dr. Mouser said that in the Bemidji area it’s more of an issue in small animal medicine. In his area of practice, he frames the issue as a shortage of small dairy farms rather than a shortage of veterinarians. At a well-run dairy, he told me, a veterinarian is typically on farm one to three times a month, whereas at a well-run beef operation, a vet is on farm for scheduled herd work twice a year. With the shift to larger dairy models and corresponding disappearance of small dairy farms over the past decade, the available work to support each large animal vet in the region is spread out over a larger area than before. The distances involved do make addressing emergencies challenging, which contributes to the perceived shortage, but Dr. Mouser has become adept at assessing situations when calls come in and doing what he can to support his clients. Sometimes, it does mean driving an hour each way to spend 20 minutes “sewing up an eyelid on a horse,” as he’d just done the previous weekend. 

Though he enjoys being on the road, the drive time required to serve the area is certainly a challenge. It’s also part of the reason it’s not viable for him to employ a technician or someone to do admin work, which he does himself. He’s compensated for the amount of time spent providing services on location. Some days, that may amount to only three billable hours.

Despite the challenges, Dr. Mouser is clearly incredibly dedicated to the work. He was drawn to the veterinary profession because of agriculture and has successfully built a career around that interest. When I asked what he finds most rewarding about the work, he pointed to the relationships he’s built with his clients over the years. In beef practice, he explained, he works right alongside the owners while providing care for their animals. He shares meals and conversation with them, and receives graduation announcements for their kids. As he put it, “There aren’t many of my clients that I haven’t had dinner with at their dining room table.” 

I had never before met a veterinarian who runs the type of practice Dr. Gib Mouser does, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to visit and for the fascinating window into his work and life.

By Jenn Stromberg, MVMA Marketing & Communications Manager

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2026 issue of the MVMA Messenger