Claire Hobson RVN Cert Ed Canine Hydrotherapist
The College of Animal Welfare
Claire is the new Head of Vet Studies at our Leeds campus, and previously was the diploma lead. Claire teaches on the Veterinary Nursing degree practical elements for all years, and on the diploma in all areas. She is also involved with the student recruitment and assists with the interviews for potential BSc and diploma students.
Claire qualified as an RVN in 2004 and started working at CAW in 2014. She has a background in charity and referral practice. Claire particularly loves surgical nursing and rehabilitation.
Claire was one of the first small handful of nurses to gain an accredited qualification in canine hydrotherapy! She worked in an orthopaedic referral practice for eight years and was heavily involved in the rehabilitation and surgical teams.
Outside of CAW, she is also an online mentor for the RCVS Leadership and Management course.
Diane Messum MCSP HCPC BSc(Hons) MSc VetPhysio ACPAT Cat A RAMP
Davies Veterinary Specialists
Diane has been a Chartered Physiotherapist for over 19 years, qualifying from the University of Birmingham in 2002. She went on to specialise in musculoskeletal outpatients and hand therapy developing knowledge and skills that were key to her current practice within the small animal field. Diane completed her Masters Degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy in 2007, awarded by the Royal Veterinary College, London.
Diane joined Davies Veterinary Specialists in 2011 to develop the therapy service. The growth of this led to the launch of the Davies Therapy and Fitness Centre in January 2017 where services now include Physiotherapy, Hydrotherapy, Splinting and Orthotics and Pain Management.
Diane continues to share her own passion for the work she does by lecturing nationally and internationally and being an active clinical educator for the Masters/Post Graduate Veterinary Physiotherapy Programmes in the UK.
Emily Ashdown RVN, A DIP PHYS, CSMC. RAMP. MIAAT
Companion Animal Health
Emily Ashdown is the Product manager for Companion Regenerative therapies and the Stance Analyzer for Companion Animal Health. She graduated from Halesowen in 2013 with a Diploma in veterinary nursing and is a registered Veterinary nurse with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. She also graduated from the college of animal physiotherapy in 2017 as a Veterinary Physiotherapist and again in 2018 in Canine Sports massage. Emily is a member of the Register for Musculoskeletal practitioners; Animal Health professions register and the international association of animal therapists. Emily has worked in many different types of practices ranging from small independent practices through to large Charity hospitals and successfully assisted managing a team of 14 nurses. She moved into rehabilitation practice in 2017 both setting up as an independent business and working for a rehabilitation facility seeing a whole range of patients. Emily has worked for Companion Animal health since 2017 in product support and clinical support roles across the UK. She has also lectured to many universities and CPD programme. She now combines her love of the Stance and regenerative medicine in helping to develop and progress the two products.
Fiona Doubleday BSc(Hons) Physiotherapy, MCSP, ACPAT Chartered Physiotherapist
Fitzpatrick Referrals Ltd
Fiona qualified as a human physiotherapist from Brighton University in 1995. She then went on to work in the human sector at her local hospital in Guildford, Surrey completing her junior rotations in areas such as orthopaedics, neurology, ICU, respiratory and elderly care. Fiona had always had a life-long wish to work with animals and researched a relatively new area of physiotherapy – Veterinary.
Fiona undertook post graduate training in Veterinary Physiotherapy and qualified as a Category A member of ACPAT (The Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy) at the beginning of 1998. She set up her own business treating equine and small animal patients locally to where she lived. During this time, she met Professor Fitzpatrick who started to refer her some patients. In 2007, Fitzpatrick Referrals opened it’s new hospital and Fiona sold her private practice so she could work back in the hospital setting. In 2012, Fiona became Rehabiltation team Leader and currently manages a team of 18 staff – a mixture of physiotherapists and hydrotherapists. Fiona currently divides her time between treating the hospital patients whilst overseeing her team.
Hannah Capon MA Vet MB MRCVS
Canine Arthritis Management (CAM)
Hannah Capon MA Vet MB MRCVS, winner of the 2020 Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Impact Award, the 2019 Ceva Vet of the Year and finalist in the 2019 Petplan Vet of the Year, is a first opinion veterinary surgeon in the UK. Recognised for her tireless work on Canine Arthritis Management (CAM) an online education and support service for owners of arthritic dogs and professionals that care for them.
CAM began as a simple Facebook page in 2015 where Hannah would promote earlier identification and thorough multimodal management plans. Now it boasts a flourishing service run by a team of veterinary professionals who volunteer their time and expertise to help owners. CAM has become an unstoppable force. A respected website full of downloads, like the unique Home Safe tool (#itsmyhometoo), a large social media presence through Facebook, Instagram, twitter and YouTube. An online shop stocking awareness merchandise, owner education and other canine essentials. An education provider for first opinion practices, as well as dog groups, paraprofessionals and owners. An inspirational campaign group to raise awareness of the serious nature of this disease (#yourdogmoreyears). CAM has worked with numerous industry partners but are especially proud of recent work with Hills Pet Foods creating a 12 part webinar series that had 1300 sign ups within the first 3 weeks of release.
Katie Lawrence V Phys, PGCert Vet Ed (RVC), FHEA, PGCert Eq Rehab & Performance, AHPR Registered
Animal Rehabilitation and Health Academy
Katie is managing director at the Animal Rehabilitation and Health Academy, a training company which specialises in veterinary physiotherapy and rehabilitation CPD. She has been a veterinary physiotherapist for over 20 years and has been involved in training since 2003. Katie holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Veterinary Education from the RVC and has been awarded a lifetime fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.
Katie has developed many programmes including a BSc (Hons) in Veterinary Physiotherapy as well as numerous short courses and CPD. Co-author of the Electrophysical Agents chapter in a core Animal Physiotherapy textbook Katie has a specialist interest in the use of electrotherapies in veterinary rehabilitation.