Jill and I are a surviving husband and wife team, with a frightening-long 70 years experience in the veterinary and healthcare world!
Jaffa’s is the culmination of my long and very varied veterinary life – and I would like to think it is the pinnacle of my career.
Cats are really challenging professionally – as a species they are prone to lots of rare and unusual conditions, many of which we are still learning about. There’s lots we don’t know about common conditions too. This is intellectually challenging and I get a huge buzz from sorting out a tricky case even if it’s something mundane like chronic diarrhoea. I might be getting long in the tooth but my enthusiasm has never been greater, and I hope this comes across from our patient and client care.
“The NHS isn’t what it used to be – bring back matron!”
Jill comes from the medical side having been a nurse, midwife and health visitor in her time. She now manages front-of-house and keeps me in check.
She loves Jaffa’s reception and the client contact, she has come to understand and enjoy the complexity of the cat world, but her main passion out of work (apart from me!) are her two jack-a-poos, Denis and Ronnie, who can be regularly seen trotting for long distances along the Dorset coastline.
Every day is a learning curve.
I qualified as a vet in 1997 and have worked in small animal practice ever since. Before joining Jaffa's I was working at the Vets Now emergency service in Salisbury where I completed specialised training and experience in emergency and critical care.
Out of all the varied clinics and roles in which I have worked I find the most rewarding to be working within a small team to deliver a high standard of care tailored to each individual pet and owner. This is exactly what we do at Jaffa's, with the added privilege of being able to focus solely on the eternally enigmatic feline.
I enjoy working with clients to ensure the best of health and quality of life for their cats. I hope clients find me approachable and friendly; I am sympathetic and down to earth and have always found honest and clear communication to be so important in achieving the best for everyone (most of all the cats!)
Our in-house cat whisperer.
Michele is our in-house cat whisperer who has an innate ability to calm the freakiest kitty. "I have been in Veterinary Practice since 1983 and completed my vet nurse training at the end of 1986. I have worked with many species over the years but have always had a passion cats.
Being able to work in a cat only practice had been a dream so I was excited to start work at Jaffa’s, right from the outset, in 2013. The best part of my job is spending time nursing our patients and getting to know them. It really enables us to keep them calm and settled. It is a joy to see our patients respond to our treatments and go home fit and well.
I have been awarded the International Society of Feline Medicine’s Diploma in Feline Nursing . In my spare time I am an avid archer which takes me around the country to various competitions. I am also a music lover (Queen crazy) and go to concerts when I can."
You can never learn too much about cats.
I started nursing in 2010 and qualified in 2014. I always felt I had a soul connection to cats from an early age, and in my first job I was excited to make the practice more ‘cat friendly’.I enjoyed teaching others about cats and their nonconformity in the veterinary world!
I came to Jaffa’s in 2017 and have never looked back. I have so much pleasure and happiness being surrounded by all things feline – you can never learn too much about cats and I feel so privileged to have found my dream job. What I like most about my job is creating a bond with the patients, supporting them through their array of hardships and seeing them grow, develop and overcome their battles.
I was awarded a distinction for the Diploma in Feline Nursing course and I am currently studying for the Diploma in Feline Behaviour.
We look forward to meeting you and your cat
Pick up the phone today and have a chat with us