Meet Our Team

I was born in a small farming community in Northern Iowa, close to the Minnesota border, of Burt. Milking cows, feeding the pigs, walking beans and hay baling were all part of life growing up on our small farm and the farms of my Grandparents and Uncles. The family moved to Iowa City in my early teens, where I graduated from West High School in 1973. Sports, especially basketball, became a new focus. Always wanting to return to the rural life, I chose Veterinary Medicine as the path to bring me to my dream occupation of being a veterinarian, in particular a dairy vet.

After graduating from Iowa State in 1981, I married Sandy and we had three great kids, Blake, Kirstin and Megan. We lived in Mondovi, Wisconsin and Grinnell, Iowa before moving to Virginia, Illinois in 1997. We live on a hobby cattle farm in Cass County, with three dogs, Macy, Jave and DeeDee. Kiki, our cat, patrols the house.

I enjoy mixed animal practice. But, over the years, I have refocused on small animal medicine, most enjoying challenging orthopedic cases. I have a deep rooted practice philosophy about providing a practical, ethical, economical and compassionate care to my patients for their owners.

Dr. Zeller grew up on a farm near Alexander and always found the various animals fascinating, so becoming a veterinarian was a natural progression for him. He graduated from the University of Illinois School of Veterinary Medicine in 1974 and began working for Drs. McKinney and Roegge in what was then a mixed animal practice.

He continued working with them until Dr. McKinney retired from practice, at which time Dr. Zeller bought the business which became exclusively small animal. Health concerns led him to sell the practice in the Spring 2017 to Cass Veterinary Services. He is enjoying his additional free time to do a little traveling and to “cheer” or “bemoan” U of I sports. “I am proud to be a member of the Cass Vet team and am still working a couple of hours a day.” – Dr. Zeller

After his graduation from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2014, Dr. Josh joined Cass Veterinary Services. He is a member of American Veterinary Medicine Association, Illinois Veterinary Medicine Association, as well as an Alumni member of Omega Tau Sigma (OTS) veterinary fraternity. Dr. Castaneda still hosts students from OTS to help during rescue days and help them practice their surgical skills. Having lived in Mexico for 18 years, Dr. Castaneda is ready to help our clients in either English or Spanish.

During his free time, you can find him relaxing with his dogs “Q”, Mando, and Reggie, and his cat Birdie. He also enjoys the occasional recreational soccer game.

Born and raised in rural Illinois, Anna knew at a young age she wanted to work in the animal care field. She joined Cass Veterinary Services in 2004, but has worked in the profession since 1988 with experience in general, emergency and specialty medicine. Her favorite areas of treatment include radiology, lab work, and petting the patients.

Anna and her family share their home with four chihuahuas, one chihuahua mix, two birds, and usually a stray foster.

Tammy is a lifelong area native, living in the Meredosia and Arenzille areas. With more than 23 years in office administration work, including 15 years with Dot Foods, makes her a great fit for our team.

Helping our clients and their pets are Tammy's favorite part of her position in our clinic since she joined us in August of 2022.

Family is a big part of Tammy's life. She and her husband, Gary, enjoy time with their three sons, one daughter, three grandchildren, and their Dachshund’s, Ollie and Gabby.

Kris joined our team in May 2017 as a receptionist in our Virginia Clinic. Her more than 30 years of business administration experience, including bookkeeping, payroll, human resources and marketing, made her a natural to move into her current role as Inventory/Purchasing and Media/Marketing coordinator. In addition to working in the veterinary field, Kris has been a longtime animal owner, ally and advocate. Kris also lends time and financial support to several local, regional, national and international animal welfare and rights agencies and causes.

Kris grew up in Macomb, and returned to this area after 17 years living in Nashville, TN. She and her husband, Scott, have an adult child who lives in St. Louis with their spouse and two amazing dogs, Petra and Finch, both agility champs. Kris and Scott have been parents to many pets who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. They currently are enjoying their sweet little goofy girl Beagle/Lab mix, BusyBee.

Madison is a Beardstown High School graduate and recently received her associates degree in Veterinary Technology at The Vet Tech Institute at Hickey College.

Madison started as a Kennel Assistant with Cass Veterinary Services in 2014 and has assisted in the clinic during college. Her favorite areas of treatment are dental services, surgery and appointment assists.

Her fur family includes Inari, a Shiba Inu, Beans, a Corgi, and a cat named Thomas.

Jacksonville native, Ariel, and her four-legged babies, Ellie, a Rottweiler, Remy, a German Shepherd, and two domestic shorthair kitty’s, Garfield and Minnie are a busy family. Along with fiancé, Tyler, they enjoy spending time with family.

Ariel has been with Cass since 2021 and loves being able to play and interact with our patients. She keeps busy working at the clinics and attending Lincoln Land Community College where she plans to pursue a veterinary technician degree.
Her hobbies include reading and diamond painting.

Sarah spent six years as a veterinary assistant in an area clinic before joining our team in July of 2021. She is an area native and currently lives in Jacksonville with her husband, Brandon, and daughters, Hannah and Claire.

Sarah's love of animals is obvious at work and at home. Her family includes pets Razor, Matilda, Charlotte, Wonky, and Tubber.

Taking care of others is a big part of who Taylor is. Prior to joining our team in 2022, she worked at an area nursing care facility as a CNA.

The born and raised Philadelphia, IL resident, loves working with all our patients, and especially likes assisting in surgery.

Taylor's family includes Corgi/Mini Aussie mix, Wrigley, and yellow Lab, Ella.

A self-described lifelong animal lover, Terrie has worked with veterinarians for many years. Cass Veterinary Services gained Terrie’s vast experience when they acquired Dr. Zeller’s practice in May 2017. Terrie worked with Dr. Zeller for more than 37 years, combining her pleasure of working around animals with the necessity of feeding her own.

Terrie is a lover of all animals but has a special interest in Morgan horses, Australian Cattle Dogs, geese, ducks, and chickens.

A Virginia native, Faith still lives in Cass County. She originally joined our staff as a Kennel Assistant in our Virginia Clinic, and returned to our Jacksonville clinic after completing her CNA and working in skilled living.

Faith enjoys assisting with surgeries and learning more about medications. She wants to, 'Learn everything I can!' She is currently studying at Lincoln Land Community College.

Faith's fur family consists of: Koda, a black Lab/German Shorthaired Pointer mix; Suki, a rescued Blue Tick; and Poppy, a Puggle.

Carli has lived in many different places around the beautiful state of Illinois.
After working for a clinic in Taylorville, Carli joined our staff in February 2023. She is currently studying to be a veterinary technician and plans to finish her degree in the next couple of years. Her favorite part of working with our clinics is how everyone is helpful as she learns new things.

Carli comes from a large family of six kids. In her free time she enjoys spending time with friends, family and her Crested Gecko, Mango.

Kayla joined our team in 2022 bringing previous veterinary clinic experience, a WIU bachelor’s degree in animal science/agronomy, and tons of personal knowledge learned from caring for her own multi-species of animals.

When not working part-time at the clinic, Kayla works a full-time job in the agriculture industry and in addition, can be found farming along side her husband, Jordan. Together they crop farm and own and operate a commercial cow/calf beef herd, have many chickens and ducks, 2 APHA horses, Rocky and Holly, 2 Australian Shepard’s, Tucker and Penny, 3 indoor and 3 outdoor cats, Diesel, Leo, Milo, Binx, Emily, and Mia, and an indoor bunny, Elvie.

Kayla has a passion for learning and caring for all animals and is always looking forward to assisting our clients.

Lisa has worked with our clinic for ten years. She started as a weekend Kennel Assistant in our Ashland clinic. In 2010, she moved to our Virginia clinic as a Kennel Assistant.

Lainey is new to our clinic. She works in our Virginia clinic as a Kennel Assistant.

Keri was born and raised In Virginia, Illinois. With almost 20 years in customer service, she has been a great addition to the Cass Veterinary Services team since she joined in August of 2017.

A lifelong lover of all animals, Keri’s compassion for our patients and family member clients is a great addition to our staff. When not at the clinic, Keri can often be found spending time with fur baby loves, dogs Zoey and Molly, and cat Benny.

Another of our front desk employees is Jacksonville native, Kathy. Kathy has a long history in customer service positions including, working for Dr. Zeller before his partial retirement, home daycare, County Market and Maxamillions. She joined our clinic when it was purchased in 2017.

Kathy enjoys her co-workers and the Jacksonville clinic kitties, Franklin and Cheese. She loves seeing happy, healthy pets and their owners who love them.

Marshall, a Golden Retriever and Binx, a house cat share Kathy’s home. Kathy has two children, Maggee and Tanner.

A Rushville native, Jaime moved to the Jacksonville area as a teenager. She has substantial experience in grooming as she owns her own salon and works in our Jacksonville clinic one day a week.

Jaime enjoys her coworkers and learning new things to include in her work.

She and her son, Jacob, enjoy fishing, bike riding, and walking their dog family of Bella, a Yorkipoo, Arrius, a Husky, and Tovi, a Pit mix. They also share their home with cats Annie, Mattix, and Moon.

Another Jacksonville native staff member is Arika. Arika joined our clinic in 2023, but she is not new to grooming. Prior to coming to Cass, she was a groomer at The Dog Wash.

Arika, her husband Charlie, share their home with a Siberian Huskey named Akira and two grey and white kittens, Koa and Sadie. They have two daughters, Crysta and Piper, and a son, Mason. She also has two grandchildren Braighlynn and Eli.

She and her family enjoy hiking while visiting Giant City Park, Starved Rock and Garden of the Gods.

The time she spends with the animals is her favorite part of her work. She also says “the staff is great”!

Ehno is my name, greeting is my game. I joined the Cass Veterinary team in 2016. Although my background may seem shady, I actually graduated from CATS ARE COOL DOGS DROOL UNIVERSITY in 2015. There I majored in controlling humans, with multiple minors, which include but not limited to, removing ponytails, buns, and hair ties, automobile inspector (which does get me in some trouble), how to fit in all size boxes, nap in awkward places in really cute positions, making subtle demands not so subtle, and unintentional aggravation to dogs.

My favorite jobs are getting humans to let me in and out, and greeting all clients and pets when I’m not napping.
In all seriousness, everyone that meets me loves me.

Hi! I’m the resident greeter and CCI (Chief Carrier Inspector). I enjoy laying on my cat tree, talking, eating treats, talking, greeting every cat patient, talking, walking on keyboards, talking, and giving lots of hugs. One of my people found me wandering her neighborhood and brought me here. They fell in love with my handsome face and outgoing personality, so I stuck around.

Do you see my face? I don’t have time for this. But, I love my people and they give me the nip so I stick around.

Hi! I came to Cass Vet around January of 2023 and used to be Dr. Dan’s barn cat. It was a very big change for me and I’m not sure I really liked the change. But here I am now being tormented by Ehno. On a normal day you can find me hiding behind Anna’s computer or just hiding in general. The girls here like to take really good care of me, which I appreciate. Being brushed is my new favorite thing since coming to the Vet.