Warrington Riverside Vets4Pets

Alex attended Liverpool University where she gained a degree in Pharmacology in 1992. After 1 year of research at the University into tropical diseases and medicines, she attended the veterinary school and qualified in 1998. In 1999 she moved to the Warrington area and has worked at a variety of 1 st opinion and referral practices throughout the North-West. Before joining Vets4Pets she worked the night shift at one of the busiest emergency clinics in the country. A hugely challenging but rewarding role. Alex brought her vast wealth of experience to the practice when she joined in Sept 2014. She is keen on all aspects of preventative healthcare and especially the importance of good weight management. She has an interest in long term conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, ear and skin diseases, where seeing the same vet on each visit is preferable. She also enjoys looking after the smaller furrier patients and has taken extra courses on treating rabbits, guinea pigs, hamster chinchillas etc. Which is fantastic as the practice has a lot of these guys registered as patients! Alex also now works closely with Davina Connor our resident veterinary behaviourist, providing support for pets with behavioural and emotional issues;especially VET PHOBIA's where pets are extremely difficult to handle. When not at the practice, she has a busy family life with 3 children, a rescued Wirehaired Hungarian Vizsla named Flicker, rabbits Munch (Dutch) and Penny (Lop), and 2 rescue guinea pigs called Biscuit and Bread. Her hobbies include walking Flicker, dance classes, Scottish Country Dancing and Salsa and playing squash.

Clare graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2004 with a degree in Veterinary Science. After leaving vet school Clare took a temporary position working for the U.K's biggest veterinary charity in one of their busiest hospitals and was subsequently offered a full time position. Clare worked there for 12 years in total which has given her a multitude of experience in all aspects of veterinary work including surgery, emergency and critical care. Clare joined the Vets4pets family in February 2017 keen for a new challenge. She has a particular interest in soft tissue surgery and also enjoys the daily challenge of medicine cases. Clare is extremely focused on rabbit welfare, correct husbandry and nutrition and has attended the Rabbit Welfare Association Fund annual conference alongside their training courses. Clare is married and has her hands full looking after her young twins! They all enjoy visiting the zoo and holidaying in the Lakes. Clare has a cat called Bilbo who came into the practice as a stray and claimed her as his owner! He’s a cheeky chappy who won Clare over by generally pestering her and getting in the way until she gave in and took him home! He loves playing and cuddles.

Sam gained her veterinary nursing degree from the University of Central Lancashire in 2007. After qualifying she worked in a busy charity hospital, where she gained a massive amount of experience looking after pets suffering common illness and those undergoing emergency surgical procedures. She then moved on to work as a theatre nurse in a busy referral centre, working alongside vets performing more complicated surgical procedures. Sam joined the practice as Head Nurse when it first opened in June 2013 and became a Partner in Feb 2015. While Sam enjoys all aspects of veterinary nursing, she has a particular love for surgical nursing, which comes in handy as we perform operations at the practice most days. She also really enjoys all the less clean procedures: scaling grotty teeth, flushing filthy ears and cleaning up contaminated wounds, which Alex is equally happy about! Sam has a cat called Tim (nice but dim), a name affectionately bestowed on him when he was handed in as stray suffering from brain injuries after a car accident.

Davina joined Vets4Pets in October 2016. She qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2003, went on to study animal psychology at Southampton university in 2005 and gained a certificate in applied animal behaviour. She has a French bulldog called Doug. Davina has worked in veterinary practices for over 15 years and thoroughly enjoys it. She has a passion for animal behaviour problems in particular anxiety disorders and puppy training/socialisation. She also works closely with the head Vet Alex in treating and advising for Vet phobic pets.

Amy joined Vets4Pets in May 2017. She completed her nursing degree at Myerscough College in July 2017. During her degree course, placements took her to practices in Warrington and Aberystwyth. Amy is our Cat Advocate, an ISDM "Cat Friendly Vet Professional" and is also currently studying her SQP course. Amy owns a cat called Bailey, a Netherland dwarf rabbit called Sooty and her most recent edition is Gizmo the Chihuahua who is a regular visitor to the practice!

Louise qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2006. She has worked in a variety of first opinion and referral practices in the local area. Louise joined Vets4Pets in April 2015 Louise particularly loves small furry pets and really enjoys the large amount of rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters we look after here. Louise has 3 pets all from rescue centres or support adoption. Two rabbits called Jade Jumping Bean and Jasper Jumping Bean and a gerbil called Godric Gryffindor.

Elspeth graduated from Myerscough college as a registered Veterinary Veterinary Nurse in July 2017. She then volunteered in South Africa for 5 weeks looking after elephants before joining Vets4Pets in Sept 2017. She has 2 rabbits Penny and Lenny and plans to gain further qualifications in care of exotic pets.

Anna joined Vet4Pets in Feb 17. She is studying her nursing course at Myerscough College and hopes to qualify in 2020. She is a fully trained volunteer for The Bat Conservation Trust, which involves rehabilitating injured bats and wondering around at dusk with her bat detector. She has an elderly cat called Smudge, ferrets Smokey and Bandit, guinea pigs Joseph and Mary, micro squirrels Richie and Eddie and a hamster called Dennis. In her spare time Anna plays bass guitar for her classic rock band.

Alice is a student veterinary nurse who joined us in Sept 2018. She is studying at Myerscough college on a veterinary nurse degree course which she will complete in 2020. Alice has a domestic shorthair cat called Pepper whom she rescued from Warrington Animal Welfare. Her spare time is filled with studying at present but she treats herself with a break from study by going to the cinema. Alice is interested in becoming a cat advocate in the future, focusing on behaviour and minimising stress.

Vicky joined the team on reception in June 2017. The majority of her previous work experiences have been as an animal care technician or instructor in a variety of colleges. As such she is confident handling a variety of pets and loves to talk about their care and welfare needs. She has rescued a variety of animals and is keen on rehabilitating troubled animals and finding them loving forever homes. Vicky has a wide variety of pets including a Jack Russell cross Pomeranian (Dobby who never sits still and loves to play fetch), four rescue cats (Tiger, Sheba, Shadow and Rosie), an Orange-Winged Amazon parrot (called Charlie who loves to fly free in the safety of his room and loves to yell at the cats from his cage), a lop eared rabbit (Gizmo) and two Netherland dwarf rabbits (Yarrow and Snow).

Debbie is a mum of three who joined our reception team in July 2018 having previously worked as a doctor’s receptionist. She has two corn snakes who are approximately 6ft long at home (Crowley or Mr Brown and Aziraphale or Mrs Orange) and a 20 year old goldfish that one of her sons won at a school fayre! In her spare time Debbie enjoys walking and holidaying in Majorca and used to be involved in 16th Century re-enactment. She also cares for her young grandson.

Christina joined the team on reception in May 2016 having previously worked in a couple of veterinary practices over the last few years. She is a keen dog lover and has also trained as a dog groomer in between her veterinary reception roles. Christina has two American Cocker Spaniels called Malley and Ella who are both now 10 years old but still young at heart and love visiting the Lakes and Abersoch in North Wales. In her spare time she enjoys drawing and walking in the Lake District.

Richard joined Vets4Pets in July 2017 after 15 years working in the animal industry. He is very much a people person and loves greeting clients and their pets when they arrive at the practice. Richard has a family of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels called Lulu, William, Arthur and Grace.