Get to Know Our Team!
Our Veterinarians
Dr. Karen Miller-Becnel
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Miller is the founder of the Cat Hospital of Metairie serving the cats and their owners in the greater New Orleans area. Her special interests are in nutritional wellness care, internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, and senior feline medical and rehabilitation services featuring laser therapy which she has found to be very instrumental in aiding injured or arthritic cats.
Dr. Stephanie Thibeau
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Stephanie Thibeau is a New Orleans native, local Ursuline Academy graduate, and LSU tiger! She grew up in Harahan and developed a love of all animals early on in life. In her veterinary career, she has gravitated towards the special care of our feline friends.
Dr Jennifer Murphy
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Jennifer Murphy is a native of Slidell, Louisiana. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in poultry science and minors in biology and dance. She then attended LSU for graduate school studying parasitology with a focus in sheep and goats.
Dr. Alexis (Lexi) Allen
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Diplomate of American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine
As a New Orleans native, Dr. Lexi Allen grew up in Kenner, LA. Her fascination with felines began in childhood when she started befriending feral cats that wandered into her family’s neighborhood. After graduating from St. Mary’s Dominican High School, Dr. Allen completed the 3+1 pre-veterinary undergraduate program at LSU, majoring in Natural Resource Ecology and Management. She graduated from LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 2019.
Dr. Karen Miller-Becnel
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Miller is the founder of the Cat Hospital of Metairie serving the cats and their owners in the greater New Orleans area. Her special interests are in nutritional wellness care, internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, and senior feline medical and rehabilitation services featuring laser therapy which she has found to be very instrumental in aiding injured or arthritic cats.
A Little Bit of History:
Dr. Miller, as she is known to most of her clients, has been married to Mr. Timothy Becnel for 25 years. She graduated from Texas A& M University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1971 and in 1973, became the first woman in New Orleans to open her own veterinary hospital. Times have definitely changed since then and she is pleased to see so many more women in the profession now. She built a second new free-standing hospital in New Orleans in 1980 and saw whatever type of animal her clients kept as pets. After 19 years, she sold that hospital at the end of 1999, having previously founded the Cat Hospital of Metairie in 1990. While she truly loves all animals, the new hospital was devoted exclusively to the care of her favorite animal—cats!!! She sold the Cat Hospital to her associate in 2015 after owning and running it for 25 years.
In October of 2016 Dr Miller opened a mobile clinic on the North Shore and during her “retirement” offered that service until re-acquiring the Cat Hospital in 2019. She also runs her non-profit Art for Cats Sake to raise money for feline research to help find cures for feline diseases. (www.ArtforCatsSake.com)
A lifelong cat lover, Dr. Miller has a knack for putting cats at ease.
In addition, she has contributed to supporting veterinary medicine itself by serving on the National Board of the American Association of Feline Practitioners for six years (currently the Feline Veterinary Medical Association) and four years on the LVMA Board (Louisiana VMA). She is a past President of the New Orleans Veterinary Medical Association and received a New Orleans Hero recognition for her work in the city following Hurricane Katrina. In 2019, she was awarded the Louisiana Veterinarian of the Year for 2018. While her advancing years have forced her to cut back on time spent in surgery, she remains dedicated to caring for cats and treating their health concerns along with her associates, so your cat will receive the best in feline veterinary care.
Her hobbies include gardening, collecting cat books, and along with her husband Tim and their 14 cats, planning the next Cat Art and Film Festival for 2026.
Dr. Stephanie Thibeau
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Stephanie Thibeau is a New Orleans native, local Ursuline Academy graduate, and LSU tiger! She grew up in Harahan and developed a love of all animals early on in life. In her veterinary career, she has gravitated towards the special care of our feline friends.
She graduated from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. She has practiced in the New Orleans area for nine years, doing small animal general medicine for the first five years, and she has only been a feline at the Cat Hospital of Metairie since 2020. Her special interests include acupuncture/integrative medicine, ultrasound, surgery, and dentistry.
She is the proud pet parent of one big grey beautiful tabby (Prince), one mischievous little calico (Nemo), and a spoiled dachshund (Josie) who thinks she is a cat among her cat siblings.
Dr. Jennifer Murphy
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Jennifer Murphy is a native of Slidell, Louisiana. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in poultry science and minors in biology and dance. She then attended LSU for graduate school studying parasitology with a focus in sheep and goats.
After graduate school, Dr. Murphy obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Iowa State University in 2015. Dr. Murphy then moved back home to Louisiana where she has been working on the Northshore as a small animal veterinarian since 2015. Although she has enjoyed working with cats, dogs, and pocket pets over the last 10 years, she is very happy to now be at Cat Hospital of Metairie. Dr. Murphy has a strong interest in parasitology, pain management, and feline medicine.
Dr. Murphy currently lives in Mandeville with her husband and their 4 children. They also have a dog (Roux) and two cats (Pesto and Biscuit). Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, crafting, and gardening.
Dr. Alexis (Lexi) Allen
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Diplomate of American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine
As a New Orleans native, Dr. Lexi Allen grew up in Kenner, LA. Her fascination with felines began in childhood when she started befriending feral cats that wandered into her family’s neighborhood. After graduating from St. Mary’s Dominican High School, Dr. Allen completed the 3+1 pre-veterinary undergraduate program at LSU, majoring in Natural Resource Ecology and Management. She graduated from LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 2019.
During veterinary school, Dr. Allen specialized in laboratory animal medicine, providing clinical care and regulatory oversight to animals utilized in biomedical research. She completed a post-doctoral residency program (Tulane University) and achieved ACLAM board certification in 2023.
After advocating for the welfare of many laboratory mice, rats, rabbits, pigs, and non-human primates, Dr. Allen pivoted to companion animal practice at a local emergency and specialty hospital so she could learn evidence-based medicine under the mentorship of clinical veterinary specialists. She was thrilled when, in late 2023, the opportunity arose to practice feline-exclusive medicine at CHOM—a clinic serving her own community for so many years. Dr. Allen’s clinical interests include trauma/emergency medicine, nephrology, anatomic pathology, diagnostic radiology, and dermatology/immunology.
Outside of the clinic, Dr. Allen finds fulfillment in spending time with family and friends, especially her husband, Tony, and her menagerie, which includes two rambunctious pups, Moose and Asha; three mischievous kitties, Maeby, Surely, and Lucille 2; and a diva guinea pig, Liz Lemon.
Our Staff
Ashley Colburn
Nurse
Bio Coming Soon
Jamie DiFatta
Nurse
Jamie is a lifelong resident lifelong resident of St. Bernard Parish. She is a graduate of Mount Carmel Academy + Tulane University. After a brief stint at Audubon Zoo, she joined Cat Hospital in 2005. Her favorite part of being a vet tech is taking care of her elderly patients who need a little extra TLC. If she’s not at Cat Hospital, you can probably find her in Disney World or at home cultivating yet another hobby under the watchful eyes of her two brown tabby cats, Castiel and Gabrule.
Rebecca Kaupp
Nurse
Bio Coming Soon
Ashley Menchaca
Nurse
Bio Coming Soon
Stefanie Roux
Bio Coming Soon
Kat Godfrey
Bio Coming Soon
Nicole M. DeBlanc-Barbee
Bio Coming Soon
Claudia Carley
Bio Coming Soon
Dr. Alexis (Lexi) Allen
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Diplomate of American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine
As a New Orleans native, Dr. Lexi Allen grew up in Kenner, LA. Her fascination with felines began in childhood when she started befriending feral cats that wandered into her family’s neighborhood. After graduating from St. Mary’s Dominican High School, Dr. Allen completed the 3+1 pre-veterinary undergraduate program at LSU, majoring in Natural Resource Ecology and Management. She graduated from LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 2019.
During veterinary school, Dr. Allen specialized in laboratory animal medicine, providing clinical care and regulatory oversight to animals utilized in biomedical research. She completed a post-doctoral residency program (Tulane University) and achieved ACLAM board certification in 2023.
After advocating for the welfare of many laboratory mice, rats, rabbits, pigs, and non-human primates, Dr. Allen pivoted to companion animal practice at a local emergency and specialty hospital so she could learn evidence-based medicine under the mentorship of clinical veterinary specialists. She was thrilled when, in late 2023, the opportunity arose to practice feline-exclusive medicine at CHOM—a clinic serving her own community for so many years. Dr. Allen’s clinical interests include trauma/emergency medicine, nephrology, anatomic pathology, diagnostic radiology, and dermatology/immunology.
Outside of the clinic, Dr. Allen finds fulfillment in spending time with family and friends, especially her husband, Tony, and her menagerie, which includes two rambunctious pups, Moose and Asha; three mischievous kitties, Maeby, Surely, and Lucille 2; and a diva guinea pig, Liz Lemon.
Dr. Stephanie Thibeau
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Stephanie Thibeau is a New Orleans native, local Ursuline Academy graduate, and LSU tiger! She grew up in Harahan and developed a love of all animals early on in life. In her veterinary career, she has gravitated towards the special care of our feline friends.
She graduated from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. She has practiced in the New Orleans area for nine years, doing small animal general medicine for the first five years, and she has only been a feline at the Cat Hospital of Metairie since 2020. Her special interests include acupuncture/integrative medicine, ultrasound, surgery, and dentistry.
She is the proud pet parent of one big grey beautiful tabby (Prince), one mischievous little calico (Nemo), and a spoiled dachshund (Josie) who thinks she is a cat among her cat siblings.
Dr. Karen Miller-Becnel
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Miller is the founder of the Cat Hospital of Metairie serving the cats and their owners in the greater New Orleans area. Her special interests are in nutritional wellness care, internal medicine, soft tissue surgery, and senior feline medical and rehabilitation services featuring laser therapy which she has found to be very instrumental in aiding injured or arthritic cats.
A Little Bit of History:
Dr. Miller, as she is known to most of her clients, has been married to Mr. Timothy Becnel for 25 years. She graduated from Texas A& M University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1971 and in 1973, became the first woman in New Orleans to open her own veterinary hospital. Times have definitely changed since then and she is pleased to see so many more women in the profession now. She built a second new free-standing hospital in New Orleans in 1980 and saw whatever type of animal her clients kept as pets. After 19 years, she sold that hospital at the end of 1999, having previously founded the Cat Hospital of Metairie in 1990. While she truly loves all animals, the new hospital was devoted exclusively to the care of her favorite animal—cats!!! She sold the Cat Hospital to her associate in 2015 after owning and running it for 25 years.
In October of 2016 Dr Miller opened a mobile clinic on the North Shore and during her “retirement” offered that service until re-acquiring the Cat Hospital in 2019. She also runs her non-profit Art for Cats Sake to raise money for feline research to help find cures for feline diseases. (www.ArtforCatsSake.com)
A lifelong cat lover, Dr. Miller has a knack for putting cats at ease.
In addition, she has contributed to supporting veterinary medicine itself by serving on the National Board of the American Association of Feline Practitioners for six years (currently the Feline Veterinary Medical Association) and four years on the LVMA Board (Louisiana VMA). She is a past President of the New Orleans Veterinary Medical Association and received a New Orleans Hero recognition for her work in the city following Hurricane Katrina. In 2019, she was awarded the Louisiana Veterinarian of the Year for 2018. While her advancing years have forced her to cut back on time spent in surgery, she remains dedicated to caring for cats and treating their health concerns along with her associates, so your cat will receive the best in feline veterinary care.
Her hobbies include gardening, collecting cat books, and along with her husband Tim and their 14 cats, planning the next Cat Art and Film Festival for 2026.
Dr. Jennifer Murphy
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Dr. Jennifer Murphy is a native of Slidell, Louisiana. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in poultry science and minors in biology and dance. She then attended LSU for graduate school studying parasitology with a focus in sheep and goats.
After graduate school, Dr. Murphy obtained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Iowa State University in 2015. Dr. Murphy then moved back home to Louisiana where she has been working on the Northshore as a small animal veterinarian since 2015. Although she has enjoyed working with cats, dogs, and pocket pets over the last 10 years, she is very happy to now be at Cat Hospital of Metairie. Dr. Murphy has a strong interest in parasitology, pain management, and feline medicine.
Dr. Murphy currently lives in Mandeville with her husband and their 4 children. They also have a dog (Roux) and two cats (Pesto and Biscuit). Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, crafting, and gardening.