My story-in brief! 

I first became interested in vet work while doing Duke of Edinburgh award at school, aged 14, and doing animal care while visiting a vet practice every week. I continued to visit the vets every chance I could and started going to farms and stables with the vet in all the school holidays – It was a bit like James Herriot! I also had Guinea Pigs while growing up, and so continually managed to surround myself with animals. 

 
In 1984, I qualified as a vet from Bristol University, and you can see my RCVS accreditation here. I acquired my first cat while in Bristol and I’ve not been without one ever since. My current cat is called Colin – I brought him home over 10 years ago when he showed up homeless at my work. 

 
 
Working in small practice for 37 years, I’ve found a particular interest in cats, and I worked with one of the founders of ISFM during my first job. Over this time, I’ve worked in a range of cities such as Bristol, Bath and London. This included 10 years at Goddard's, a family-run vet business that now has multiple clinics across London. I worked in their hospital practice in Wanstead East London for six years and ran a branch surgery in Enfield, North London, where I lived. While there, I took a month off to work in Fiji working for the SPCA. Most recently I’ve been working at The Cat Clinic in Southsea for ten years as their Clinical Director, managing staff and everything to do with running a clinic including budgeting. 

 
After the Covid pandemic and the exhaustion and madness of working with 1/3 remaining staff due to furlough, I felt I needed to do something different. Now I also work in online triage and consulting.  

At Vets4u, my role is Principal Veterinary Surgeon, so I oversee clinical veterinary practice, in particular, the dispensing of prescription requests, and review veterinary policies and standards. I operate a triage service and help Vets4u by signing off prescriptions, writing some content for social media, and advising where needed. 

What do you think is the most important animal issue to address right now?  

The most important animal issue to address now as far as the UK veterinary service is the huge increase in pet numbers in the UK since Covid, with a shortage of vets in practice to help these pets. 

What is your favourite animal fact?  

Giraffes have the same number of neck bones as us!