From the Dance Floor to Doylestown Veterinary Hospital
These days, all Dr. Erik Blumberg, DVM, wants to do is help people—by helping their animals.
Blumberg recently joined the team at Doylestown Veterinary Hospital, where he hopes to expand his work with holistic tools and modalities, including a focus on acupuncture and soft-tissue surgery.
But long before moving to Bucks County—all the good doctor wanted to do… was dance.
Dr. Blumberg, who danced semi-professionally in college, grew up loving the medium and even met his wife, Victoria, while launching a hip-hop group at the University of Pittsburgh.
Jazz, ballet, cha cha, waltz—you name it, he knows it. He even finds time today, in between housework and professional duties, to cut a rug with his dachshund, Herbie, and chatty tuxedo cat, Nala.
“They love it,” Dr. Blumberg laughs. “And by ‘love it,’ I mean they definitely hate it and want me to put them down immediately.”
Everyone’s a critic.
Still, Dr. Blumberg has high hopes that he can improve the quality of life for his patients at Doylestown.
And that’s a number everyone can get behind.
From the Top
Born in Manhattan, Dr. Blumberg spent his earliest years growing up in White Plains, New York. With a cardiologist father and an internist mother, he was surrounded by medicine from the very start, often by their sides and discovering a genuine love not just for the practice of medicine, but also for the caring lifestyle it represents.
His family also loved visiting the Bronx Zoo, where Erik fell head over heels in love with animals.
“I thought animals were so fascinating,” he says. “I was thinking, ‘Wow. Do these things really exist?’ All of them were so different and incredible.”
During one visit, he asked his mom the question that would shape his entire future.
“Wouldn’t it be crazy if they did medicine for animals?”
As it turned out? Not so crazy.
In fact, armed with this newfound knowledge, the future Dr. Blumberg embarked on a lifetime of learning—first with return visits to the zoo, where he observed animals and their caretakers, and then deeper studies.
Dr. Blumberg notes that he has always been drawn to service to others. That drive, paired with his passion for animals and an analytic mind (“I’ve always enjoyed problem solving,” he says), led him to a veterinary degree from Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and a subsequent veterinary acupuncture certification from Chi Institute during his final year of study.
While it wasn’t exactly the two-step, veterinary medicine was the right step, Dr. Blumberg says. “The work is very stimulating, and I also get to assist the animals that I love. They’re such genuine creatures. We receive constant love from our pets, and that pureness has always drawn me to working with cats and dogs.”
New Moves at Doylestown
Birds—yes, birds (not dogs, cats, or assorted zoo animals)—helped bring Blumberg to Bucks County. At least, indirectly.
“I love migratory birds,” he says. That particular passion followed him to New Hope, PA, where he and Victoria moved after college. A fellow enthusiast introduced him to Dr. Laura Weis, owner of Doylestown Veterinary Hospital. Friendship came first; eventually, the conversations turned to joining the team.
“We were just vets in the field, sharing our experiences. Laura met my wife. We met for a lot of lunches. And then, within the last year or so, she expressed interest in me coming on board.”
Dr. Weis’s persistence paid off. After finishing his contract with a prior employer, Dr. Blumberg accepted the role.
“What drew me in was that everyone practices so differently at this hospital. There is so much knowledge and experience,” he says. “Of course, there is a lot of common ground, but there are also doctors doing pain management and exploring different modalities like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy.”
Doctors, here, he says, embrace homeopathy and Traditional Chinese Medicine approaches, which were certainly in Dr. Blumberg’s wheelhouse.
“I’m certified in acupuncture, but now I finally have someone to talk to and discuss cases with,” he says. “This is my fourth year of practicing veterinary medicine, and I’ve never had that before. Prior to joining the team, it was really just me and the Internet. Sure, I could call people – but it’s not the same as having someone who can look at your case, look at the X-rays, and visually see everything that’s going on. That was something I was really looking for.”
For his part, Dr. Blumberg’s acupuncture care focuses on dogs and cats with slipped discs, disc disease, arthritis, and some GI issues like IBS and IBD. Pain management—particularly for pets in their senior years–is paramount for him.
“From the beginning, when I shadowed as a student, I saw a lot of senior pets, particularly those that were dealing with chronic illnesses like arthritis,” he says. “I was seeing cases where management was limited and animals were suffering, and things just got worse and worse. And the question is, ‘How do we improve those remaining years?’ These animals deserve a good quality of life.”
Acupuncture provides a non-invasive way to change those lives, Dr. Blumberg says. Clinical studies on the efficacy of acupuncture are on the rise in the West, he says, but the proof is in the pups, as it were.
“Whether by itself, or combined with other medicine, I’ve seen it make a difference with a patient’s vitality, their energy, their happiness… I’ve heard owners say, ‘My dog hasn’t jumped on the couch or gone up these steps in months’–and now they are, after just a few sessions. It’s like, ‘Wow, we’re really turning back the clock.’ It’s amazing. These dogs are happier. They have less pain. They’re more active… they come back the following week, and it’s like they’re a completely different animal. Clearly, something happened here.”
Step by Step
Dr. Blumberg is eager to continue learning while on the job at Doylestown.
“I want to improve my surgical confidence and efficiency and be more skillful in my surgery,” he says. “That’s so important to me. I want to perform surgeries myself, so I don’t have to refer them out. I want to help as many animals as I can and be comfortable doing it.”
He also hopes to hone his holistic skills to better relieve pain in his patients.
“If I can make a pain level go from a six out of ten to a zero, I want to figure out how to do that. How can I combine multiple modalities to be the best doctor I can be? How do I utilize these different methods to give patients the best life possible, while doing the smallest amount of harm? I just want to become the most well-rounded vet I can be to provide the best care and the best relationship with my clients.”
One thing his patients can count on: empathy and a listening ear.
“When you come to see me, I want to make sure you’re heard and that your concerns are addressed,” he says. “And when I’m looking at your pet, I’m looking at them as if they were one of my own. I’m trying to be ethical and fair and accommodating. That’s what I’ve figured out matters.”
