The Cat Doctors

Dr. Lassett is a native of Tampa. He attended the University of Florida receiving a bachelors degree in microbiology in 1978 and a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1982.

After completing a rotating internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Oradell Animal Hospital in New Jersey, Dr. Lassett returned to the Tampa Bay area. Dr. Lassett is Board Certified in Canine and Feline Practice and his areas of special interest include soft tissue and orthopedic surgery, oncology, diagnostic ultrasound, endoscopy, dermatology and cardiology.

Dr. Lassett has held board positions with the Humane Society of Tampa Bay and the Hillsborough County Veterinary Medical Society. He enjoys fishing, boating, and spending time with his dog, Cheyenne, and cat, Dakota.

Dr. Welborn was the valedictorian of his 1976 graduating class from King High School here in Tampa and as a President’s Scholar, he earned an undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida. Dr. Welborn graduated with honors from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in 1982. He is Board Certified in Canine and Feline Practice and is a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist and Certified PennHIP Veterinarian.

He is past president of the prestigious American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and served as Chairman of the AAHA Standards Enhancement Task Force that developed the most recent revisions and enhancements to the AAHA Standards of Accreditation for primary care small animal practices. He also served as Chairman of the Accredited Referral Practice Task Force that developed AAHA Standards of Accreditation for small animal specialty practices. He currently serves in several national veterinary leadership roles including being the Chairman of the AAHA Canine Vaccination Guidelines Task Force and serving as a member of the AAHA-AVMA Preventative Healthcare Guidelines Task Force.

Dr. Welborn has received the following honors:

• • 2022 AVMA Award
• • Prestigious AVMA President’s Award
• • American Animal Hospital Association Practitioner of the Year Award
• • University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Achievement Award
• • Florida Veterinary Medical Association Veterinarian of the Year Award
• • Hillsborough County Veterinary Medical Society Outstanding Service Award

Underwater photography and attending Tampa Bay Buccaneer and Florida Gator football games are among his favorite activities. Dr. Welborn’s family includes: wife, Laura, daughter, Kaitlin, son, Christopher, furry friends, Jenner and Emma Rose, two birds, Harper and Connie, and a marine aquarium full of aquatic companions.

Dr. Simon is our Medical Director who joined our team in 1997. Dr. Simon is originally from the south Florida area and graduated with high honors from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Simon went on to complete an internship with Hollywood Animal and Emergency Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. She spends her free time with her husband fishing and boating. She also happens to make the most amazing chocolate chip cookies! They share their home with their 2 poodles Dallas and Teddy and 2 cats Romeo and Figaro.

Dr. Haworth is originally from the Orlando area. He enjoys working with The Tampa Bay Vets family because of the awesome Doctors and staff. He attended Florida State University and University of Florida. He minored in Math and Chemistry. He received his B.S. in Biology and a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Haworth spends his time fishing, sailing, and enjoying most things aquatic. He loves spending time with his wife and son and their friends and family. He has 2 very cute dogs and an adorable cat. His goals are to spend quality time with his family (especially his wife and son). He also strives (and succeeds in our opinion) to provide high quality Veterinary care with a personal touch. He also happens to have the very best “Dad jokes”.

Dr. Connolly is one of wonderful Veterinarians here at The Cat Doctors. She is originally from Orlando, Florida. Dr. Connolly received her BS in Biochemistry from the University of South Florida in 2015. She graduated from Ross University of Veterinary Medicine in 2020. She really enjoys animal behavior, animal nutrition, Dentistry, ophthalmology, and Parasitology.

Dr. Connolly joined our family because she wanted to be part of a team that supports each other and cares for their patients like family. It is very important to her to create a stress-free environment for her clients and their pets, while providing quality medicine.

When Dr. Connolly isn’t caring for her patients, you can find her gardening, painting, and spoiling her three cats (Hiccup, Nova [pictured], and Ike [her bottle-fed baby].) Hiccup and Nova were two very lucky kitties who Dr. Connolly rescued from St. Kitts, where she ran the TNR program. Dr. Connolly also spends her time with Mabel the hamster, and her fish. She is the youngest of three siblings. Her family lives in Orlando and Maryland.

Dr. Connolly would like to continue her work with a TNR program, where she plans to spend her free time volunteering at a local rescue as a Veterinarian.

Dr. Norden is one of our Associate Veterinarians here at The Cat Doctors. She is originally from Hilliard, Florida. She joined our team because she loved our client focused care, the quality of medicine practiced, because she loves cats, and enjoys being around other cat lovers.

Dr. Norden received a Biology degree at Berry College in Rome, Georgia and graduated from Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine. She is also Fear-Free certified.

In her free-time she enjoys cooking for her friends and family, gardening, trying our new restaurants, golfing, and watching the Bucs or Lightning play. She loves fitness and worked throughout college at her campus fitness center and used to be a Zumba instructor.

Dr. Norden is interested in Primary Care, Ultrasonography, and Internal medicine.

She and her husband Mitchell married in October 2019. They share their home with her four cats. Mako is a 5-year-old red tabby who loves modeling for photos. Remora is a 6-year-old long haired brown tabby who is obsessed with feather wand toys. Marlin is a 3-year-old red tabby, and Marcel a 1-year-old domestic short hair are her foster fails who love getting into trouble together.

She looks forward to working with this amazing company, joining the Tampa community, and building client relationships. In her next few years, she hopes to advance her knowledge in dentistry, ultrasound, and endoscopy.

Dr. Farrow is one of our Associate Veterinarians here at The Cat Doctors. She is originally from Auburn, Alabama. She has always loved cats and realized her passion for feline medicine during her clinical year. Dr. Farrow completed her undergrad at Florida Southern College. She then moved on to Veterinary school at Auburn University. She is currently working towards her MPH from the University of Minnesota.

When Dr. Farrow is not caring for her patients, you can find her running. She has completed a marathon in 12 states. She wants to run a marathon in every state by the time she is 50.

She shares her home with her cat Luxo, a 9-year-old black domestic short hair, and Figment, a 3-month-old Italian Greyhound. And she is the oldest of 4 siblings!

Dr. Farrow’s goal is to provide the highest quality medicine and care to her patients.

Dr. Colby Burns, a board-certified surgeon at North Tampa Veterinary Specialists, provides specialized orthopedic, soft tissue, neurologic and emergency surgical services to small animal veterinary practitioners. This service allows our veterinarians the ability to offer advanced surgical services in the comfort of our own hospital while maintaining direct contact with our clients and primary care for patients. Mobile surgical services are available six days a week (Monday through Saturday). Emergency surgical services are available seven days a week, including evenings and weekends.