CALL US: 904-413-7878
YOUR PET'S SECOND FAMILY
Claws & Paws is a family-owned animal clinic in North East Florida, built on a simple idea: quality veterinary care your family can actually afford, delivered like you're one of ours.
Because around here, you kind of are.
Not for sale. Not a chain. Just your favorite neighborhood vet.
Across the country, veterinary clinics are quietly being swallowed by corporate chains and private equity with owners who've never met a patient and never intend to.
Claws & Paws isn't on that menu, and never will be. We're locally owned, owner-run, and accountable to exactly two priorities: you, and the animal currently shedding on our exam table.
We have built this place on one stubborn conviction: that excellent medicine and honest prices aren't mutually exclusive, whatever your last vet bill implied. Years later, it's still the same doctors, the same faces, and the same refusal to treat your pet like a line item.
Quality care you can actually afford because loving your pet shouldn't mean choosing between their health and your budget.
HOW WE ACTUALLY OPERATE
CORE VALUES WE DON'T JUST PRINT ON A WALL
PARTNERS
Your pet's care is a conversation, not a lecture. We decide together.
INTEGRITY
We do it right whether or not anyone's watching. Usually a cat is.
RESPECT
For every client, every patient, and each other (even on a Monday).
HUMILITY
We're human. When we make a mistake, we own it and make it right.
TEAMWORK
One team, one mission, and a collective refusal to drop the ball.
FUN
Serious medicine, unserious faces. Around here, joy is a clinical strategy.
FAMILY
We look out for our people, our clients, and their pets like our own.
MEET THE HUMANS WHO'LL CARE FOR YOUR PET
Founder & Veterinarian
Dr. James
Sleeper, DVM
Born and raised in Jacksonville, Dr. Sleeper has cared for this area's animals since earning his DVM from the University of Florida in 2001 — more than two decades of steady, gentle medicine.
Ask what matters most to him and he'll tell you plainly: his family, then animals, then people, with room left over for motorcycles, Scrabble, and travel. He also has a soft spot for Sphynx cats. He opened Claws & Paws to build the kind of clinic he'd want for his own pets and he shows up every day to be exactly that.
Associate Veterinarian
Dr. Motley, DVM
Dr. Motley is the newest face at Claws & Paws and a hometown one, having grown up right here in the Orange Park area. She headed to Florida State for undergrad (yes, a proud Nole among Gators — somehow the team makes it work), then earned her veterinary degree from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, completing her clinical year at The Ohio State University. Her house is wonderfully full: German Shepherds Drogo and Koda, plus cats Squid, Mackerel, Shrimp and Bucky.
On her days off, you'll find her with family, lost in a good book, or unwinding at the beach.
Relief Veterinarian
Dr. Heather Puckett, DVM
Dr. Puckett knew she wanted to be a veterinarian by the age of twelve, and she's been grateful for the work every day since. She calls it purposeful and challenging in the best way. She graduated from UF's College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001, the same class as Dr. Sleeper.
Away from the clinic, she loves mountain biking, hiking the Appalachian Trail, and the quieter things: writing letters, tending her yard, and the four cats who run her household.​ (Her whole household agrees that Buck is the coolest of them all.)
Co-Owner & Practice Manager
Shari
Sleeper
Shari is a big part of why Claws & Paws feels the way it does. She brought a background in business and accounting — and a whole lot of heart — to help her husband build this clinic from the ground up, and she keeps the day-to-day running now.
She loves this work and the people in it, both the two-legged and the four-legged.
There's a good chance she'll know your pet's name the moment you walk in. That's just who she is and we love her!
Every person on the team shares one thing: a real love for animals and the people who love them.
Melanie
Technician
Michelle
Technician
Kellie
Technician
Cassidy
Technician
Lesley
Receptionist
Lesley
Receptionist
Natalie
Receptionist
Kim
Receptionist
Missy
Receptionist
Kylie
Vet Technician Assistant
Chelsea
Veterinary Technician
Stacey
Veterinary Technician
And, of course, the real bosses!
Spock
Griz
Stubbs
WHY FAMILIES CHOOSE US
Actually Affordable
Quality care priced competitively.
Truly Family-Owned
Real owners who know your name, not a corporate agenda.
Advanced Care
Shockwave & laser therapy, right here in Middleburg.
