Eric Cagle always wanted to be a veterinarian. Growing up in Mansfield, Texas, he watched Bill Nye the Science Guy and nature shows, and he loved animals.
“We always had dogs and cats, and we even had a pet raccoon once,” the 39-year-old recalls.
“The absolute best part of being a veterinarian is getting to see the amazing bond between my clients and their pets.”
After graduating from the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008, he relocated to Houston and fell in love with the city and its people. When the city was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, he watched the community come together and realized he wanted to stay.
“I moved to Houston after graduating veterinary school,” Cagle says. “I had an opportunity with a great veterinary hospital as my first job out of school. I’ve loved Houston ever since!”
After working at several clinics, including eight years as an emergency vet at Gulf Coast Animal Emergency Hospital, Cagle decided to open his own clinic—The Urban Vet—in 2019.
“After years of working in emergency medicine exclusively, I really missed building relationships with my clients and patients,” he explains. “In emergency medicine, we often never see our patient again. I was also very excited to create an open, welcoming practice for my clients and staff. I still work some emergency shifts on the weekends, as I really do love practicing emergency medicine. The pandemic has really limited our ability to do house calls, but I’m looking forward to being able to do this more in the future.”
At The Urban Vet, Cagle and his staff specialize in feline and canine medicine that includes surgery, diagnostics, preventive care, and oral health. Their modern Midtown clinic is warm and inviting, and very Houston-centric in the way it embraces the city’s diverse population. Clients are greeted by Astros logos and artwork on the walls—and also by Potatoes, the clinic cat. The feline was rescued by Cagle after suffering extensive injuries at a young age, including two broken legs.
“Besides our clinic cat, I have a pit-bull mix and two cats at home,” he says. They are all rescues.
It’s clear that this doctor loves pets, and his job. “The absolute best part of being a veterinarian is getting to see the amazing bond between my clients and their pets. The toughest part of my job is not having a way to make our pets live forever!”
Cagle is a huge Astros fan who lives within walking distance of Minute Maid Park. When not working (or at an Astros game), he can be spotted trying out new food joints. He loves the food scene in Houston and was a big fan of the now-shuttered Pass & Provisions. His new favorite spot is the ever-popular Barnaby’s Cafe, which he currently thinks he might have an addiction to.
This single gay man is also an avid fan of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and Buddy Holly.
“I love live music, traveling and visiting big cities, and going to as many Astros games as humanly possible,” he admits. He’s also a three-time Ironman finisher.
But mostly he’s just an animal lover at heart who loves his job helping to keep Houston’s fur babies in good health.
For more info, visit theurbanvet.com.
This article appears in the March 2022 edition of OutSmart magazine.
