Veterinary Nurses

Yvonne Woodland HEAD NURSE LVN
Yvonne joined our practice in 1996 straight from school. She qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 2001 again from Telford College. Yvonne left for a while to have her daughter and has returned as senior theatre nurse. Her particular interests include dog training and behaviour. She has 2 German Short Haired pointers – Legend and Angus and Labrador Forest.

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Trudy Gatt RVN Cert. Small Animal Nutrition,

Trudy, joined the practice in 1986 and qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 1992 from Edinburgh’s Telford College. She has attained her City and Guilds Certificate in Small Animal Nutrition. She has a special interest in puppy behaviour and aquatics and is the person we turn to for advice on fish. She is also a Pet Insurance Advisor and processes insurance forms for clients. Trudy also co-ordinates work placements – this includes Vet students, student nurses and school placements. She has a whippet called Khan and a Boxer dog call Stewie and guinea pigs – Bonbon and Betsy.

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Patricia Walker RVN D32 D33 Cert. Nursing Exotic Sp.

Patricia joined the practice in 1985 straight from school. Joe and Aileen sent her to Telford College and she qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1991. A short break from Ryan and Calder saw Patricia work for the Dog’s Trust, a small animal practice in London and the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School in Edinburgh. When she came back in 1998 she qualified as a student Veterinary Nurse assessor and gained her City and Guilds Certificate in Nursing Exotic Species. In practice she runs obesity clinics – helping owners with pets that need to diet. She also helps to processes insurance forms for clients. She has 2 moggies – Jarvis and Euan.

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Angela Swankie RVN
Angela attended Elmwood Agricultural College to study animal care and then worked at The Reptile House in Kirkcaldy before joining the practice in 1996. She qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 2007 after studying at Edinburgh’s Telford College. She successfully achieved a ‘Credit’ on the Level One accreditation in Animal Behaviour in August 2008. Her main interests in our practice are avian medicine and dentistry. Angela runs behaviour consultations in the Dunfermline and Dalgety Bay surgeries. She has a Boston terrier named Bella, a Jug (jack Russell terrier x pug) called Wallace and an African Grey parrot called Sammy.

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Kerry Thackeray RVN
Kerry first came to the practice via Telford College when she was on the Vet Nurse preparatory course in 2001. She then started training on the full time Veterinary Nurse course and did her practical training with us. We were able to offer her a full time job and let her continue her studies at Telford. She passed her 1st year nursing exams and took a break to have two children. She qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2010 and then came back to work full time. Kerry especially likes to work in our laboratory. She has one cat called Kat.

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Stephanie Ferguson RVN
Stephanie worked in our cattery on Saturdays when she was still at school. We were then able to offer her a job as a student veterinary nurse while she worked towards her Veterinary Nursing qualifications. She qualified in August 2011 and we are delighted to say that she is still working with our team. She has two labrador dogs – Buster and Rex and also two ferrets – Dizzie and Rascal.

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Claire Slipper ANA
Claire studied animal care at Elmwood College and joined the practice in 1991. She became qualified as an Animal Nursing Assistant in 2005. She works in both the Dalgety Bay and Dunfermline surgeries. Her time at the moment is spent planning her wedding in 2011.

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Debbie Horne RVN
Debbie is one of our dedicated “Night Nurses” looking after the intensive care and emergency patients. She started working for Ryan and Calder in 2009 and has had an exciting and varied career.
Debbie has worked as a Veterinary Nurse in small animal, mixed and equine practices. She has lectured veterinary nursing and animal care students and was the technician looking after the animals at an agricultural college. She says the animals there ranged from spiders to reptiles to pot bellied pigs! She has also worked as a Veterinary Nurse in emergency clinics in the UK and New Zealand.
In New Zealand she worked for the New Zealand Guide Dogs and was a specialist nurse in a dental referral clinic and a medical specialist clinic.
Her interests in practice clinic include laboratory work, oncology and cats!
In her “spare time” Debbie is a puppy walker for Guide Dogs for the Blind in the UK and is walking “Yoko” her 5th puppy. Her 2 daughters have left the nest and now she lives with Yoko and a rescue cat called “Misfit” – a cat with cattitude!