Fareham Collingwood Companion Care

I graduated in Kosice, Slovakia, in 1989. I worked in first opinion and later referral practice at the Small Animal Clinic of the Veterinary School at Kosice University. I achieved my PhD investigating diagnostic approach and therapy of feline liver diseases in 2002. The same year I started to work in small animal practice in UK, first sole charge in in Somerset and then from 2004 to 2007 for our sister practice Companion Care Vets Portsmouth. In 2007 I accepted the position of Senior Lecturer in Internal Medicine at the Small Animal Clinic of the Veterinary School in Kosice. As a part of my special training I have spent 5 months as a Senior Clinical Training Scholar in Cardiopulmonary medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Despite the fact that my special interest lies in Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Ultrasonography, I enjoy down to the ground “real life” of a first opinion practice and daily contact with the clients and their pets. That was the main drive for me to decide to return back to England and to become a Joint Venture Partner with my longtime friends and colleagues Antony, Pablo and more recently Alex. I have also continued my studies and in May 2017 I achieved the ESVPS General Practitioner Certificate in Diagnostic Imaging. I will still keep in touch with Academia as a visiting lecturer in cardiology / internal medicine for the Vet School in Kosice, as well as a lecturer / invited speaker for the Slovak Veterinary Chamber training courses. I love outdoor activities and water sports.

Antony, after working as an engineer, graduated as a vet in South Africa in 1998, and moved to Portmouth. Antony became a Joint Venture Partner in the Portsmouth surgery in 2001. Together with the other partners, there is now a group of associated practices within the Solent area: Companion Care Vets in Portsmouth, Fareham Park Gate and Fareham Collingwood, and Vets4Pets in Waterlooville and Havant. Antony has a keen interest in exotic patient care, medicine and surgery.

Antony often uses his engineering background and can be found tinkering, building and making things, at home along with his son.

Alex qualified in Romania in 2011 and worked as vet in Bucharest. He starting working in the United Kingdom in 2013 for the Food Standard Agency. Alex joined the team in Fareham Collingwood in February 2016. He has always had an interest in all areas of small animal medicine, but particularly in ultrasound scanning and X-rays.

His favorite pet is the cat. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and family, being outdoors, travelling, photography and extreme sports.

Giorgia qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon in March 2019 from Alma Mater Studiorum Universta di Bologna in Italy. She is enjoying the challenges that life in a veterinary practice brings and is always striving to improve the care she provides to our patients. She enjoys spending her free time in the outdoors, taking walks on the beach and in the woods.

Richard graduated in 2008 from Bristol, and has a degree in pharmacology from Kings College in London. In 2016 Richard obtained a distinction in certificate of small animal surgery. Richard joined the team in 2019 and is a great general practitioner, with keen interest in surgery and the more challenging cases. He is based at our sister surgery, Companion Care Vets Portsmouth, but spends one day a week with us. At home he enjoys spending time with his family, the joy of Italian cars, cooking and is a keen football fan.

Katherine qualified in 2006 and has a particular interest in pet nutrition and rabbit health. She has recently become a clinical coach and is therefore helping to guide and tutor our student veterinary nurses. She is also the head nurse of our practice and has been since we opened in 2011 with a short break in this time period due to maternity leave. She enjoys the weird and wonderful that this job so often brings and loves the team she works within

Tim is a graduate with a degree in Veterinary Nursing Science. At home Tim has an Alaskan Malamute called Takanna who rules the house and is also an ex-sledging dog who had to stop due to arthritis. Tim also has two rabbits called Thumper and Honey.

Sian joined our reception team in July 2012. After spending time as a Student Veterinary Nurse she returned to her roots on reception and became Reception Manager in April 2018. In September 2019 Sian decided to continue her Veterinary Nurse training and is now in her second year of studies. At home Sian has 2 cats and enjoys spending her free time dancing in a local dance troop.

Kate joined our nursing team in May 2019. She is currently training as a Veterinary Nurse and hopes to qualify at the end of 2020. She enjoys nursing our hospitalised patients and feels it’s very important to make their stay with us as relaxed as possible.
When she is not at work she enjoys spending time with her family, eating curry and cuddling her cat Squid!

Holly joined us as a weekend receptionist at the beginning of 2019. She comes from an administrative background but has also been working as a volunteer transport coordinator for a local rabbit rescue. In April 2019 she began supporting our nursing team as a Veterinary Care Assistant and is enjoying the challenges this brings.
Outside of work she enjoys writing, reading, gaming and caring for her cats and rabbits.

Having grown up with dogs and cats she knew she wanted to work with animals when she left school, after a short spell of work experience it became clear that Veterinary nursing was her calling. After qualifying as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 1993 she worked in several small animal practices before settling in our sister surgery Companion Care Vets Fareham Park Gate. Her passion for providing preventative health care and support to clients and their pets was nurtured and she grew a keen interested in the more medical side of veterinary care.
After having a family her focus become more administrative, she joined our team in Fareham Collingwood in 2016. She now supports the team and Joint Venture Partners with the management and marketing of the practice.

Having qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2006 Faith has a wealth of experience in the veterinary industry. She worked in practice until 2014 when she took a step out of the clinical side of the role and developed her skills as a claims assessor for several pet insurance companies. After 4 years working in this area she missed practice life and when an opportunity arose to join our reception team she jumped at the chance.
Faith manages our insurance claims and enjoys the customer service and client support aspects of her role. Away from work Faith enjoys spending time singing in a choir, swimming, doing crafts and building Lego. She also has a whole host of pets to keep her busy these include, three cats, three dogs, budgies, finches and a tortoise!

Debbie joined our reception team in February 2018 from an HR and banking background. She has a passion for animals and always wanted to work in a veterinary environment.

She loves meeting and greeting our patients and is our resident Health Care Plan expert, she enjoys the challenge this brings to her role.

Debbie is a lover of cats and has five at home that keep her very busy. In her free time she loves nothing more than a bit of retail therapy, she also enjoys gardening and home design.

Helen started working at Companion Care Fareham Collingwood in June 2014. Before this she was a client here and working in Southampton Museums and Art gallery. At home Helen has 4 rabbits: two lop eared, one albino Netherland dwarf and one domestic rabbit.

Catherine joined our team in December 2019. She trained in Animal Care and qualified in 2004. She previously worked as a manager at a riding school and more recently as part of the management team at Pets at Home. She has a special interest in nutrition and looks forward to offering advice and support to your pets.
She enjoys horse riding and spending time doing agility with her Labrador, Jessie. She also has a mini Shetland pony called Munchie and an Arab called Scrat.