Nick's joined the SAS!! Well actually he hasn't, he's passed his Certificate in Small Animal Surgery, which means the letters after his name are now B.Vet.Med CertSAS! Andy's also been successful in passing his Certificate in Exotic Animal Practice, again reflecting many hours of hard work on top of his day-to-day duties, so many congratulations to them both.

The practice is now very fortunate to have four vets who are certificate holders, as Matt has his Certificate in Zoo Medicine and Mike has his Certificate in Equine Practice. We see this as a commitment from ourselves continually to improve our knowledge and expertise in order to be able to better serve you and your pets.

More exam success came our way in October when Steph Lane passed her Certificate in Nursing Exotics, so she is now able to help Andy even more with any exotic animals which come into the Strensall surgery.

There was more good news in September when Lynne, our acting Head Nurse, gave birth to baby Alice May. Both are doing very well, and Lynne's cat are getting used to the new small person in their house! Sarah Smith, one of our Stamford Bridge receptionists, became a granny again with the arrival of Lewis, a second child for her son and daughter-in-law. Congratulations to them all.

While Lynne and Dawn are on maternity leave we have been joined by locum nurse Sarah Day, a qualified veterinary nurse who will be with us until the new year.

Katie Young, who first came to Battle Flatts as a sixteen year old doing work experience and went on to train with us to be a veterinary nurse, left this summer to move onto another veterinary practice. We wish her every success in the future.

Matt has been busy this autumn presenting several 'Audiences with Matt Brash' to talk about his work and read extracts of his book, 'Zoo Vet', which is selling very well. He's had to take a fair amount of teasing about being a published author, but we are very proud of him!

We were happy to support the Stamford Bridge Village in Bloom campaign this summer by sponsoring one of the many hanging baskets displayed around the village.

The first Equine Newsletter was produced this summer, which received many favourable reviews from clients. Mike is also busy promoting his horse worming programme, so if you are not already registered for this, or would like more information, feel free to give him a ring to discuss it.

David Fielding, Dog Groomer

As some of you may know, David has been off work for a few months now after breaking his leg very badly when he was kicked by one of his horses. At the time of writing we don't know exactly when he will be returning to work, but we hope it will not be too long before he's back to full strength.