Abigail Edis RVN FdSc CertVNES
Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital, Royal Veterinary College (RVC)
Abi has been working as a dedicated exotics veterinary nurse for the RVC’s exotic service for over 9 years. She sees a range of species from small mammals to birds, reptiles and zoo species and has worked with species as small as 2g frogs to 100kg sea turtles. She loves all aspects of her job but particularly enjoys anaesthesia and critical care nursing.
Abi has a keen interest in guinea pig care and medicine and is often looking to research more into diseases in these species. She hopes to help advance their veterinary care and husbandry to improve ongoing welfare in the future.
Anna Mercer RVN APVN
Anna the Ferret Nurse
Anna is a registered veterinary nurse and has a passion to help promote excellence in ferret and small mammal care. Whether its veterinary professionals or ferret owners Anna has become a go-to source for hands on-guidance.
For the past decade, Anna has worked in both the voluntary and private sectors advising and caring for ferrets and other exotic animals, Anna has previously been involved in bat conservation and rehabilitation.
Anna has an advanced nursing programme in small mammals and enjoys helping to simplify the niche area of ferret care making it feel more accessible through her blog and Instagram account.
Claire Speight RVN, A1, C&G Cert VNES
Claire qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2007, gaining the C&G cert of Nursing Exotics in 2009. After this, Claire completed her A1 Assessors qualification, and then Clinical Coach qualification, and trains students within practice.
Claire works as a Head Nurse at a busy first opinion practice, and lectures to veterinary professionals and owners on rabbit health, welfare and care. She has lectured at BSAVA Congress, BVNA Congress and regional events, CAW, Aspire CPD, Excel CPD, Bottle Green Training, The Webinar Vet, and VetNurse Online.
Claire is also a regular contributor to several publications including VNJ and Vetstreams LAPIS and exotic services and editor of the Rabbit Welfare Associations magazine, Rabbiting On.
Jan De La Rey BVSc MRCVS
Medivet
Jan De La Ray graduated as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Pretoria in 2004. He has had the privilege to work in most clinical fields throughout his career.
Jan started his career working in referral exotics practice in South Africa, which involved treatment of birds, reptiles, rabbits, rodents and primates. From there, he moved to a mixed general rural practice where he treated everything from small animals and exotics; to horses, production animals and game capture and relocation, before settling into general small animal practice for the majority of his career. Wherever he has worked, Jan has always maintained some level of involvement with exotic animals.
Jan now works as a Graduate Support Mentor in Medivet’s Graduate Development Team. Within this role, he teaches and mentors new graduate vets as they start their careers.
Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children and they have a lovely pet corn snake!
Jo Hinde-Megarity RVN
LagoLearn
Jo has worked in the veterinary industry since 2007 and has always had a special interest in rabbits. She co-owns LagoLearn, which provides rabbit specific CPD to veterinary professionals in the UK and Internationally. She spends a significant amount of voluntary time highlighting animal welfare, is the Secretary of the AZEVN and is proud have been the President of the BVNA in 2019/2020. Jo has received several awards over the years including the Blue Cross Veterinary Nurse of the Year in 2014, an RCVS Innovation Award winner in 2017 and the IFAW Animal Advocate Award in 2017.
Matthew Rendle RVN
The Association of Zoo and Exotic Veterinary Nurses (AZEVN)
In 1994 he was made Senior Theatre Nurse. He left in 2003 to pursue his interest in zoo and wildlife nursing at the Zoological Society of London. Matthew left the Zoo in April 2017 to look for new challenges within exotic and wildlife nursing.
Matt has experience in the nursing care for many species from ants to elephants (and most things in-between) and has been fortunate to travel as part of his roles.
Matt has been recognised for his managerial skills and in 2020 was awarded The Bruce Vivash Jones Veterinary Nursing award by the BSAVA, as recognition for outstanding contribution to advancement of small animal veterinary nursing.
He lectures throughout Europe and America to veterinary nursing and veterinary surgeon undergraduates as part of their core modules on topics such as the husbandry and welfare of exotic species and some areas of zoo and wildlife diagnostic imaging and anaesthesia.
Matt has completed a three-year term on the British Veterinary Nursing Association Council, which allowed him to help promote and raise the profile of veterinary nursing in the UK and is currently an elected member of the RCVS Veterinary Nursing council, working on many aspects of progressing and elevating the veterinary nursing profession.
