About me
Experience
Ever since a very young age I have always had an interest and love of animals. This interest soon became a passion and at around the age of eleven years old I realised that I wanted to care for animals and become a veterinary nurse. I qualified in 1997 (with credit) and over the years I have worked in various roles both first opinion and referral clinics. Now, over 25 years later I have developed a real passion (and obsession!) for cats.
This desire to deliver the best nursing care to all my patients has driven me to gain additional qualifications and knowledge in all things feline whilst working in practice as a veterinary nurse. I have completed both the ISFM Nursing Certificate and Diploma (distinction) as well as the ISFM Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour. I am currently studying to gain my Animal Behaviour Technician’ qualification. I work part time for the charity International Cat Care and am a member of the International Cat Care Feline Wellbeing Panel.
Qualifications
- RCVS Veterinary Nursing Qualification (credit) – 1997
- D32/33 Assessor Award (updated later to Clinical Coach) – 2001
- City and Guilds Certificate in Small Animal Nutrition – 2008
- RCVS Examiners Certificate – 2009
- ISFM Feline Friendly Nursing Certificate (distinction) – 2010
- ISFM Feline Nursing Diploma (distinction) – 2013
- ISFM Advanced Certificate in Feline Behaviour (distinction) – 2018
- Advanced Diploma Applied Animal Behaviour (Feline) Level 5 (distinction) – 2023
In house CPD training
Being so passionate about feline nursing and behaviour I am pleased to offer my services to provide in-house CPD and training for your nurses on any feline related nursing topic. Please feel free to ask if you would like to me to organise and present some in house CPD for your team. This could be delivered as a lunchtime or evening/weekend session. I can cover many feline related subjects, but I have listed some below for your convenience. If you would like a bespoke session, please contact me and ask and I would be more than happy to put something together for you and your team. I get booked up quite far in advance, so if you are keen to get a session booked don’t delay! PDF CPD certificates are provided.
Some feline lecture topics for inspiration:
- Creating a cat friendly clinic
- Feline interactions and cat-friendly handling
- First aid and preventative behaviour advice for feline behaviour problems
- Providing optimum litter facilities
- Scratching – why is it important?
- Cat friendly nurse clinics
- Nurse care of senior cats
- Effective pain scoring and managent in cats
- Feline nutrition – what do cats need?
- Feline idiopathic cystitis – why does it occur and how can you prevent it?
- Gastrointestinal disease in cats
- Obesity in cats
- Nursing the blocked cat
- Nursing cats with flu
Locum work
I am available to work odd shifts in practices within a 20 mile radius of Milton Keynes. This covers many practices situated in Beds, Bucks and Northants. I can work Mondays or Thursdays and am sometime free for weekend shifts. I do not work OOH or do on-call duties. I am happy to fit in to whatever nursing role you may need covered at your practice; from covering reception to wards and theatre, so please just ask and I would be happy to help. My services are charged at an hourly rate and I do not use locum agencies, so please contact me directly for locum work.