Cat Clinic News
Simon has announced his retirement.
Vet, Simon Pope, has announced that he will be retiring from The Cat Clinic at the end of this month (January 2018). All of the staff, and I’m sure many of the clients, will be sad to see him go. His excellent clinical and surgical skills and calm, assured manner have always been a steadying influence.
When Aileen Brown, Simon’s partner, took over The Cat Clinic in 1995 she worked hard, nurturing the fledgling business from its original shop front location in Morningside Drive and growing it steadily. By 1996, the clinic was in need of more space and the move was made to our current premises on Blackford Avenue. In 2002, Simon joined The Cat Clinic as a veterinary surgeon and soon became co-director alongside Aileen. Together they have continued to both invest in, and expand, the business ensuring that the clinic has kept abreast of modern veterinary medicine, all the while maintaining the caring, welcoming, ‘one big family’ feeling we all enjoy. Although she has continued her directorship and behind the scenes involvement in The Cat Clinic, in 2007 Aileen left to work at The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
As some of you will be aware, in February 2017, Jenny took over the business and became the sole director of The Cat Clinic. Under Simon’s watchful eye she has spent the last year learning the business side of things, and with the knowledge that the clinic is in safe hands, Simon has decided it’s time to say a fond farewell.
With a loose plan for the future which definitely involves some local animal rescue charitable work and brushing up on their scuba diving skills, I’m sure both Simon and Aileen will enjoy a more leisurely pace of life.
We wish them both well with everything in the future. Who knows, maybe we will be able to persuade them to come back to locum for us sometimes?
What next for The Cat Clinic?
The last year has been a period of transition for The Cat Clinic with the change of management, but hopefully, one that has gone almost unnoticed by you, our clients.
The faces may be changing but The Cat Clinic has always had a very stable staff structure and we are confident that the ethos of the practice, one of clinical excellence, caring and compassion, will continue as before. It will be business as usual!
Jenny is delighted to welcome Miriam Main as our new veterinary surgeon, joining us in February. Miriam has a keen interest in cats and jumped at the chance to work in a feline only environment - even to the point of uprooting her family from their current lives in Cornwall! We are sure she will be great addition to the clinic.
Vet, Simon Pope, has announced that he will be retiring from The Cat Clinic at the end of this month (January 2018). All of the staff, and I’m sure many of the clients, will be sad to see him go. His excellent clinical and surgical skills and calm, assured manner have always been a steadying influence.
When Aileen Brown, Simon’s partner, took over The Cat Clinic in 1995 she worked hard, nurturing the fledgling business from its original shop front location in Morningside Drive and growing it steadily. By 1996, the clinic was in need of more space and the move was made to our current premises on Blackford Avenue. In 2002, Simon joined The Cat Clinic as a veterinary surgeon and soon became co-director alongside Aileen. Together they have continued to both invest in, and expand, the business ensuring that the clinic has kept abreast of modern veterinary medicine, all the while maintaining the caring, welcoming, ‘one big family’ feeling we all enjoy. Although she has continued her directorship and behind the scenes involvement in The Cat Clinic, in 2007 Aileen left to work at The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.
As some of you will be aware, in February 2017, Jenny took over the business and became the sole director of The Cat Clinic. Under Simon’s watchful eye she has spent the last year learning the business side of things, and with the knowledge that the clinic is in safe hands, Simon has decided it’s time to say a fond farewell.
With a loose plan for the future which definitely involves some local animal rescue charitable work and brushing up on their scuba diving skills, I’m sure both Simon and Aileen will enjoy a more leisurely pace of life.
We wish them both well with everything in the future. Who knows, maybe we will be able to persuade them to come back to locum for us sometimes?
What next for The Cat Clinic?
The last year has been a period of transition for The Cat Clinic with the change of management, but hopefully, one that has gone almost unnoticed by you, our clients.
The faces may be changing but The Cat Clinic has always had a very stable staff structure and we are confident that the ethos of the practice, one of clinical excellence, caring and compassion, will continue as before. It will be business as usual!
Jenny is delighted to welcome Miriam Main as our new veterinary surgeon, joining us in February. Miriam has a keen interest in cats and jumped at the chance to work in a feline only environment - even to the point of uprooting her family from their current lives in Cornwall! We are sure she will be great addition to the clinic.
A goodbye message from Simon and Aileen
We can’t quite believe that the time has come to step back from The Cat Clinic but when we realised that between us, we have over 60 (!!) years’ experience as vets, we felt the time was right. We're planning a bit of a break initially but we both know we'll find it difficult not to have some involvement with cats, hence our intention to see what we can do in the field of cat welfare.
We couldn't have made the business the success it is without the help and support of everyone who has worked in the clinic over the years so we would like to thank all of them, past and present. We would also like to thank all of our wonderful clients - new staff and visiting trainees frequently comment on how lovely you are! It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to have looked after your cats over the years and we’ll miss you.
It’s no surprise that we could only consider this change if we knew that the clinic was going to be in the right hands so we were delighted when Jenny took over ownership last year. We’re more than confident that Jenny and the team will take the clinic forward whilst retaining its very simple ethos – to treat the clients as you would like to be treated yourself and to treat the cats as if they were your own.
Rocky, our infamous but ageing thug of a cat, will continue to be under the care of the clinic so we may bump into old faces when we're there as clients. Far better that Rocky’s looked after by a team dedicated to up-to-date cat care than by two rusty/rusting vets!
Take care everyone and give your cats an extra special hug from us.
Simon and Aileen
We couldn't have made the business the success it is without the help and support of everyone who has worked in the clinic over the years so we would like to thank all of them, past and present. We would also like to thank all of our wonderful clients - new staff and visiting trainees frequently comment on how lovely you are! It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to have looked after your cats over the years and we’ll miss you.
It’s no surprise that we could only consider this change if we knew that the clinic was going to be in the right hands so we were delighted when Jenny took over ownership last year. We’re more than confident that Jenny and the team will take the clinic forward whilst retaining its very simple ethos – to treat the clients as you would like to be treated yourself and to treat the cats as if they were your own.
Rocky, our infamous but ageing thug of a cat, will continue to be under the care of the clinic so we may bump into old faces when we're there as clients. Far better that Rocky’s looked after by a team dedicated to up-to-date cat care than by two rusty/rusting vets!
Take care everyone and give your cats an extra special hug from us.
Simon and Aileen