Veterinary Nurses

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Annette McFadgen (Antech) VN, BHSAI - Head Nurse

Annette is a Nelson local. She has had various careers including Loans Officer, Riding Instructor, Nanny, Veterinary Nurse and most recently was a tutor in Veterinary Nursing, Animal Care and Equine Studies at the NMIT. She joined the Town & Country team as Head Nurse in January 2008. She is the director and controller of all nursing operations and standards.

Annette has a passion for the care of all animals, she loves working with people and has empathy, compassion and patience (most of the time!).

She loves the constant challenges that come with the Head Nurse position and the fact that every day brings something new. She also loves being part of the team.

When Annette is not in the clinic, she enjoys horseriding, gardening, reading and socialising. She owns a menagerie of pets! Including horses, dogs, cats, sheep and numerous waifs and strays! She lives with her partner in Upper Moutere.

Click here to contact Annette.

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Jill Lott DipVN

Jill came to us in August 2007. She spent several years alternating between the French Alps, working as a chalet girl and London, working as a PA. Jill has been working as a Veterinary Nurse in the UK since 2002 and qualified at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in London in 2005.

In early 2005 she began her travels in NZ, she worked as a Vet Nurse in both Queenstown and Balclutha and finally decided to settle in Nelson. We are lucky to be able to utilise all of Jill's skills and she is a 'Jack of all trades' around the clinic!

Her main areas of interest are assisting Llyn with complicated orthopaedic surgeries, hands on patient care, client liaison and any chance she can get to help out with large animal work!

Outside of work Jill is a keen horserider, snowboarder and has taken up the Ukulele since moving to Nelson! At home she has a horse & three cats, one Essex boy, Milo, who moved out from the UK with her and two naughty burmese, William & The George, who is officially the sexiest cat in the South Island!

Click here to contact Jill.

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Natalie Street VN

Natalie is Nelson born and bred. She completed her certificate in animal care in 2006, and a certificate in Veterinary Nursing in 2007. She joined the Town & Country team straight away. She loves the variety and interesting nature of being a vet nurse and also enjoys running our Puppy Preschool with Janie. Natalie owns a variety of pets, including horses, dogs, cats, budgie, fish and a few sheep! Outside of work she enjoys horse riding and currently owns 2.5 horses (2 Thoroughbreds and a mini!) She competes her horses regularly and represented the Nelson Pony Club at various events around the South Island. She looks forward to meeting all your new additions at Puppy Pre-School!

Click here to contact Natalie.

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Janie Naylor VN

Janie was born and raised in the Moutere area. She grew up on an apple and pear orchard and really loves living in Nelson. She has had a few stints away to the UK and Europe but always returns to her hometown. Janie has mainly worked on the Orchard for the last 5 years and felt it was time for a change. She enrolled to train as a Veterinary Nurse at NMIT in 2007 and qualified in June 2008. Janie has worked with us on Saturday mornings for the last year and started almost full time in August 2008.

Janie’s major strength is her enthusiasm to the job and her love of animals. She loves the diversity of the job and the fact that no two days are ever the same! She also enjoys interacting with both the clients and her colleagues.

Outside of work Janie enjoys mountain biking, tramping and is a keen gardener. She has one  much loved cat & four gold fish.

Click here to contact Janie.

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Laurie Arnold VN

Laurie enrolled on the Vet Nursing course at the Nelson Polytech in 2002. During the 6 months gap in the course she headed off to Christchurch to work in a showjumping yard. Having completed the Vet Nursing course in 2003 Laurie took a job at the Halifax Vet Centre. She joined the Town & Country Vet team in 2006.

Laurie spends the majority of her time greeting the clients at our front counter, however as her passion lies with horses, she regularly assists Llyn with horse dentistry, reproduction and lameness workups and spends quite a bit of time out at the Beacon Hill Equine Clinic.

At home Laurie lives with her husband, 2 cats, 2 dogs and her chickens. She also has 5 horses of her own, she enjoys showjumping and breeding warmbloods as her hobbies.

Click here to contact Laurie.

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Caitlin Armstrong VN

Caitlin was born in the Christchurch area. She is new to Nelson, having moved up from Wanaka in November 2009. Before settling on a career as a Vet Nurse, Caitlin has had a variety of careers! Including being a horse groom in the UK, scuba diving instructor in Christchurch, a ski patroller in Wanaka and a breakfast chef in Turangi!

Caitlin completed her certificate in Veterinary Nursing at the Southern Institute of Technology in invercargill in 2006, she joined the T&C team in November to cover Krissy's maternity leave.

Outside of work Caitlin is a keen horse rider and is looking forward to having some pets of her own in the very near future!

Click here to contact Caitlin.

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Laura Kinghorn - Vet Nurse Assistant

Laura is born and bred in Richmond. She attended Waimea College and completed the NMIT certificate in animal care in 2006. Laura

 joined us in 2009 and is the Vet Nurse Assistant at Town & Country. She has also worked at the Richmond Vet Clinic since 2006.

Laura also volunteers for the Nelson Ark where she helps with the Apart Programme and Doggy Day Care.

Outside of work Laura enjoys spending time with her cats and her nana's dog and she can be found relaxing with a spot of gardening!

 

 

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Jo Gordon - Vet Nurse