Dr. Erik Barnes and his wife, Tina, started the Kenai Veterinary Clinic as a part-time practice in 1963. It was located in his A-frame home on the bluff 20 miles north of Kenai. Dr. Dan Lavach, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmology, purchased the practice from Dr. Barnes in 1977 and moved it to mile 16.4 on the north Kenai road. Dr. Richard McCartan purchased the practice from Dr. Lavach in August of 1978 and moved that building to the present location in October of 1981. A new building was built, renamed Kenai Veterinary Hospital, and occupied in October of 1983. The facility's interior was extensively remodeled in 2005, and an addition to the building with a new roof was completed in 2006.