Dog owners name top vets

Three vets have been nominated ‘best vet’ by dog owners for extra special care and attention shown towards dogs with arthritis.

Mr Rip Kirby, a veterinary surgeon at Castle Veterinary Clinic in Broadway, Weymouth has won a new National Award for his work with arthritic dogs. ‘I’m absolutely delighted to win this award,’ said Mr Kirby. ‘It came completely out of the blue. To get such a vote of confidence from the owners of dogs I care for is a real boost, not just for me but for the practice and all my team members.’

Mr Graham Oliver, veterinary surgeon at Buckley House Surgery in Nottingham and Mr Ian Taylor, veterinary surgeon at Spire Vet Group in Newbold also won the new National Award for their work with arthritic dogs.

Owners of arthritic dogs owners from across the UK, who were enrolled onto the Metacam Continuous Care Programme (MCC) were invited to nominate a member of staff at their veterinary practice for the award and give their reasons for putting that person forward.

MCC is a 3 month educational support programme for owners of newly diagnosed arthritic dogs. The programme offers educational advice through a series of mailings to complement the care and advice provided by their veterinary practice. MCC is run by Boehringer Ingelheim – makers of Metacam. The programme has already been demonstrated to improve owner understanding of arthritis in pets.

In all, 247 vet practices took part in the Award with 1,970 owners enrolling on the programme during the nomination period giving their feedback on their vets follow up care as well as informing vets on their pet’s progress.

The prize for each of the vets was two £750 Virgin Experience tokens.