Dr. Nipuni Ratnayaka is the Maddie's Lifesaving Academy veterinarian at Austin Pets Alive!. She attended the University of Texas at Austin for undergrad and got her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Her involvement with APA! began in 2010 as a volunteer at the start of the Parvo ICU Program, and she soon became the program’s manager. While in this role, her passion for shelter medicine grew and inspired her to pursue a career in shelter medicine as a veterinarian. She returned to APA! in 2018 as a veterinarian, working in the medical clinic as well as advising veterinarians from around the world on efficient and cost-effective methods in practicing shelter medicine successfully. Her fur babies include her cat Sashimi, parvo-survivors Timber and Luna, and paralyzed cat Sunny.