Colchester Vets4Pets Advanced Veterinary Practice | Vet Hospital

Lex graduated from Glasgow in 1993. After an initial few year in mixed practice, she has become more specialised in surgery and spent 7 years running a Small Animal referral hospital in Malta. She has a certificate in Canine sports medicine and surgery and an advanced certificate in orthopaedics. Lex is happiest when in the operating theatre but she also enjoys teaching and mentoring the veterinary team.

When not at work she likes to be outdoors on her organic farm with her family.

Aileen grew up in the West Coast of Ireland. She graduated from the university of Budapest in 2013. Since then Aileen has worked in the UK and completed an internship in the Animal Health Trust.

She enjoys all aspects of small animal medicine and finished her certificate in medicine in 2020 and became an advanced practitioner on medicine in 2023. She has a passion for ultrasound and also has a certificate in CT.

Outside of work Aileen unwinds by practicing yoga and enjoying nature. She also dabbles with the acoustic guitar. Aileen's favourite breed of dog is the Staffordshire terrier.

Johan is from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He graduated from the University of Pretoria at the end of 2019 and in 2021 joined the Vets4Pets Colchester team.

Johan has a real soft spot for labradors. However, he has a passion for the small and furry animals and is excited to complete his exotic certificate at the end of 2022. This will add a new dimension to the practice.

Johan enjoys a multitude of sports and spending time in the ocean doing scuba, snorkeling or riding the waves on a body board. When he isn't busy at work or on the sport fields, Johan enjoys bird watching and gardening. 

Caitlin grew up in East London, a small coastal town on the Southeastern border of South Africa. From a young girl, she always dreamed of pursuing a career in which she could work with and help animals on a daily basis. This dream became a reality when she was accepted into vet school in Onderstepoort, South Africa. She qualified in 2019, whereafter she practiced in a rural community in the Eastern Cape.

When the opportunity arose to broaden her horizons and move to England, she snatched at that chance and moved to Colchester at the beginning of 2021 with her partner, Dr. Damon Knoop (also a veterinary surgeon at Vets4Pets). She has a soft spot for welfare work and has 3 rescue animals (Rey, Kylo and Nixi). She is currently completing a certificate in emergency medicine, surgery and critical care. She is passionate about the adventure that awaits each day at Vets4Pets Colchester clinic, and looks forward to meeting the community and their precious furry friends.

Damon grew up in a small town in South Africa called Benoni. Damon has had a love for animals all his life and pursued a career in veterinary science after job shadowing at his local vet practice for a number of months.

He qualified from the University of Pretoria in 2019, completed a year of work in a small rural town in 2020 and joined the Vets4Pets Colchester team in 2021. Damon enjoys working up cases and diagnostic imaging and is currently completing a post graduate certificate in small animal medicine.

In his spare time, Damon enjoys watching rugby or football. He is also trying (with great difficulty) to improve his golf game. His favorite dog breed is a British bulldog.

Fladia is from Johannesburg, South Africa, and qualified as a veterinarian at the beginning of 2021. She completed her community service year in Nelspruit and was fortunate enough to work with a multitude of wildlife and small animal species.

She has a passion for primates, their rehabilitation and care, as well as a keen interest in all exotic species. She thoroughly enjoys working with small animals and performing surgeries. Fladia looks forward to furthering her studies later this year.

Fladia’s interests include music, as well as playing the violin and saxophone, outdoor activities, and exploring the world.

Craig grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. In 2021, he qualified from the University of Pretoria (Onderstepoort), South Africa. He then performed a year of welfare work in Cape Town and decided to move to the UK in 2023.

Craig's passion to become a vet started at a young age, as his father has been a vet in his home town for many years. His current interests include surgery and diagnostic imaging. 

He loves the outdoors, fishing, photography and bird watching. When he's indoors, you can find him watching a variety of sports - his favourites being rugby, cricket, tennis, formula 1 and football.

Elli enjoys all fields of veterinary medicine but her passion lies in Internal Medicine and Diagnostic Imaging. She has a certificate of competence in Emergency Medicine and is currently pursuing a certificate in Diagnostic Imaging.

JF qualified in December 2001 from the University of Pretoria, Onderstepoot, South Africa. He moved to the UK in 2003.

In June 2006 he was thrilled by the opportunity to become the founding partner of Companion Care Vets in Colchester. Since then the surgery has gone from strength to strength, employing a great team of experienced professionals who have all contributed to its success. At work, apart from management he very much enjoys orthopaedic surgery and investing in the careers and development of his colleagues.

At home he has black and white, brother and sister rescue cats 'Batman' and 'Chloe', who make sure his sofas and carpets are scratched when he is not looking, as well as two hilarious African Grey parrots, ‘Twiet’ and ‘Jasper’ who can mimic all sorts of sounds including R2D2 at 6am! He enjoys music, cycling to work, indoor climbing and plays cricket and golf. When he is not working you can find him admiring and sampling coffee from antique espresso machines or planting all sorts on his allotment.

Victoria is from a small town in Norway and recently graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest.

With a lifelong passion for animal care, Victoria always knew she wanted to be a veterinarian. She moved to England to gain diverse clinical experience and to further her professional development in a dynamic environment.

In her free time, Victoria enjoys being active, traveling and exploring new places, and socialising with friends.

Anna is originally from Ireland, and completed her Veterinary studies in Budapest before joining the Vets4Pets team.

She thoroughly enjoys living in different countries to experience different cultures. Anna’s love for travel and the Vets4Pets GDP programme enticed her to move to England for the best opportunity to offer utmost care for animals in need.

In her free time she will be travelling to a new place, reading a good book and being outdoors.

Angus graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 2020. Since then, he has worked consistently in hospital settings and completed an internship at a referral hospital in Glasgow.

He has recently moved back South and started training towards his certificate in Diagnostic Imaging. He particularly enjoys ultrasonography and medicine, and would like to pursue further qualifications in pain management in the future. 

In his spare time, you can find him out with his Cocker Spaniel, at the climbing wall, or hiking in the Scottish Highlands!

Aquiles grew up in the north of Portugal and graduated from the University of Porto in 2024. His passion led him to complete several externships throughout his studies, including one at the Vetsuisse University Hospital in Bern.

He enjoys several areas of veterinary medicine, namely Clinical Pathology and
Diagnostic Imaging, but his passion lies in Internal Medicine. He moved to England for the wide range of opportunities available to pursue his long-term goal of becoming a recognized specialist in this field and to provide his patients with the highest possible quality of care.

In his spare time, you may find him with a camera in hand capturing details of busy
city life, reading, hiking or playing chess with the locals.

It was apparent ever since she was a young girl that working with animals would end up being her passion. Jodie graduated from Writtle College with a National Certificate in Animal Care and a BTEC in Animal Management. Jodie joined our team in March 2013 and has since become a Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) as well as a Practice Manager. 

Jodie has a Cockapoo at home named Cassie and has a very soft spot for this particular breed. She has a strong interest in surgery and emergency critical care. 

When not at work, Jodie enjoys spending time exploring, travelling, and rain or shine you could always find her out and about on a paddle board. 

Iris joined our team in May 2016 after graduating as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in the Netherlands.

In 2020 she fulfilled her dream of achieving a certificate in emergency and critical care.

In her free time she loves to travel, swim and dance. She has a passion for wildlife rescue. Iris and her husband enjoy their busy animal household, with Davina the hairless terrier, Lilah the beagle, Hobbes the cat and Bacuna and Lukaku, the rabbits.

Brad wanted to work with animals ever since he started school. He achieved a Level 3 Diploma in Animal Management at Eastern Otley College in 2014. He started as an apprentice Veterinary Care Assistant at Companion Care Vets in 2015 whilst studying at Writtle College. He studied a worked based animal management course through which he could learn more about veterinary life.

Brad was delighted to commence his Veterinary Nursing Diploma in February 2017. He is excited and passionate about his work, and is eager to learn as much as possible about patient and client care while at Companion Care Vets.

Brad plays all kinds of sports ranging from cricket, football, bowls and table tennis. He also enjoys music, plays the saxophone and would love to go travelling in the near future.

Brad registered as a qualified veterinary nurse in February 2020.

Growing up with a range of different animals from cats, to rats, to chameleons, Louise has always been interested in animals and animal welfare.

Originally completing a degree in classical music and becoming a peripatetic music teacher, teaching for three years, Louise decided that teaching wasn't her calling and decided to retrain. Helping animals was an obvious step for her and everyone close to her agreed. This led Louise to join the Vets4Pets team as a client care advisor in September 2020. 

Keisha has always had an interest in animals since a young age. She particularly has a passion for wild animals and loves dogs, especially our senior patients. Keisha has a BA (HONS) in fashion and textiles but decided to pursue her passion for animals when she joined Vets4Pets in March 2020.

Keisha is a Veterinary Care Assistant and hopes to complete her training as a Veterinary Nurse in the future. Keisha enjoys visiting wildlife parks, travelling and spending time with her Miniature Daschund, Oliver.

Shannon is from Johannesburg, South Africa. She graduated as a Veterinary Nurse in South Africa at the end of 2018 and worked at a Specialist Referral Hospital in Johannesburg before moving to the UK.

Shannon joined Vets4Pets Colchester in the middle of 2021. Her main interests are surgery and is currently studying to become a Certified Rehabilitation Practitioner.

Kati had a career change in 2022 to pursue her dream career of working with animals.

When she’s not working, Kati spends her time with her two dogs Ruby and Winnie. Kati has a particular soft spot for cavapoos and whippets because of them!

Laura qualified as vet nurse in 2008 and you won't see her during the day light hours as she has only been working nights for the last 8 years.

Outside of work she enjoys days out with her greyhound, Thunder, yearly trips to Scotland (also with Thunder), films, cheese and spending time with family and friends

Alexis grew up in Cape Town, South Africa and has always had a passion for animals. She started her journey in the veterinary industry in 2018 doing hydrotherapy for small animals. She then proceeded to study a degree in Veterinary Nursing at Onderstepoort in Pretoria and qualified in 2021.

Alexis worked in an emergency 24 hour clinic in Cape Town for a year before moving to the UK in 2023. Alexis enjoys all aspects of nursing, however she has a keen interest in critical care and emergencies.

Alexis has a springer spaniel and two cats back home. In her off time she loves being out in nature exploring, birding and baking.

Outside of work, Mel is kept busy by her young son and also has several furry members of the family, including some guinea pigs and Wotsit the cat, who was a stray rehomed from the Cowdray Avenue practice.

Talia has always wanted to work with animals and has been in the veterinary profession since 2019. She is currently pursuing her dream to become a Registered Veterinary Nurse.

In Talia’s spare time she loves being outside enjoying beach walks with her two dogs and riding her horse.

Jess has always had a passion for caring for animals after always being surrounded by a variety of them growing up. Jess is currently striving to complete her veterinary nursing qualification one day. Within work Jess has a particular interest in learning about medical nursing as well as caring for hospitalised patients.

Outside of work she enjoys swimming,dog walking and going on city breaks.At home she has 3 dogs: Tess, Barney and Otis and her favourite breed of dog is cocker spaniels!

Tayla-May joined us from Johannesburg, South Africa in January 2022. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 2021. Tayla-May studied psychology, communications and entrepreneurship whilst competing as an athlete for her University on the rowing team. She has competed on the international stage as a rower for a number of years. Her commitment to hard work and challenge grounded in the teamwork of a successful programme. 

Tayla-May has a vested interest and passion for helping others and working with people. She is excited to be working for Vets4Pets as a Practice Manager, whilst having the opportunity to work with colleagues and clients who love their pets as much as she loves her own border-doodle named Ollie. 

When Tayla-May is not working she’ll be out exploring new sporting activities and adventure opportunities. 

Charlotte joined the Vets4Pets team in July 2018. In her previous employment she was a spa therapist and also worked as a reception spa manager.

Charlotte has always loved animals and grown up around family pets. At home Charlotte has a Chihuahua cross Dachshund called Bailey, who loves going on long walks with his best friend Harvey.

Charlotte loves to travel and to see new places. She also loves going on long walks, keeping fit as well as trying new things to tick off of her bucket list. 

Sue worked in the Civil Service for 23 years, before making the move to work with animals. At home Sue has a cat, a rabbit and some gold fish.

Sarah studied at Otley College and achieved her first year in Animal Care. She is one of our out of hours VCA and has previously worked in two other practices an thrives whenever there is an available chance to help in surgery. 

Sarah loves all animals but particularly cats and her special boy Bobby. Aka "Crazy cat lady," Sarah, is a massive football fan and loves travelling up and down the country to watch her team, Newcastle United. Sarah is also a car fanatic and a big fan of F1.  

Emily has always loved animals so starting a job at Vets4Pets Colchester is a dream come true. She hopes to one day complete her nursing qualification through the company and maybe one day work with wildlife in South America.  

Emily spent the first half of 2023 volunteering in a vet and rescue centre in Thailand and this confirmed the job path she wanted to take. Looking after the dogs and seeing them go off to their forever home was her favourite part. 

At home, Emily has an 8 year old Hungarian Vizla and 2 cats called Nova and Luna. She loves walking, especially in the Lake District, travel and photography.