My Best Friend Veterinary Center should be in its brand new location at 9350 Olive Blvd. before the end of January. That is the old space previously occupied by the Kaufman Flooring Company. Finishing touches are being done on the building.

By moving, the center will be be almost able to triple its work area from 1,800 square feet to 3,400 square feet. The number of examining rooms doubles from two to four.

“We looked all around the community for new space,” Said Dr. William Stehnach, Jr., DVM, owner of the practice that has been in business at 9390 Olive Blvd. for 21 years.

"We looked in University City and Clayton and just decided to stay in Olivette. Because we had to get a special use permit, I had to attend five meetings. I made presentations at three Planning & Zoning meetings and two Council meetings. They (city officials) told me if we were accountants, we’d be in right away. They were always very cordial to us,” he said.

Dr. Stehnach is gladly awaiting more ample elbow room. The staff presently works in very cramped quarters. Three physicians have to share the two exam rooms.

The new facility will have a much larger pet grooming area, and he may add a second groomer to the practice. “Our groomer is just maxed out all the time now,” he said.

Major donation helps out

Thanks to the generosity of a long-time client (who chooses to remain anonymous) at the moment, the new facility will have a $50,000 state-of-the-art digital Xray machine. There will be no more waiting for film work to be done with this sophisticated piece of equipment.

In the practice with Dr. Stehnach are Dr. Sandy Angus and Dr. Sharz Heidari. Altogether, there are eight employees who work for the center.

Dr. Stehnach got his medical degree from the University of Missouri Veterinary School of Medicine. He attended on a U.S. Air Force ROTC scholarship. He is a donor to the prestigious Jefferson Club at Mizzou, one of the most significant donor groups associated with the university. “That’s just my way of giving back,” he says.

The new facility will be much brighter and airier and patient friendly. He has a designer picking out fresh new colors to splash the walls. 

Someone once said “we are so 90s, whatever that means?” 

However, the dogs won’t notice. “We found out that all dogs are color blind,” he said with a good laugh.

This is the center's listing in the Olivette business directory.