Dunfermline and Dalgety Bay

Emma-Jane graduated from Glasgow Veterinary School in 2003. She has worked in small animal practice since joining the original Ryan and Calder practice as a new graduate. Emma-Jane has a particular interest in surgery, having passed her GP certificate in small animal surgery (GPCertSAS) in 2009. She mainly enjoys soft tissue surgery, often taking internal referrals from her colleagues for more complicated cases. She will also perform some orthopaedic procedures. At home, Emma-Jane is kept busy with the hectic daily life that comes with having a young family.

Mhairi originates from Glasgow and studied at Glasgow and Edinburgh universities. She has grown up with a pet tortoise Terry and enjoys spending time with her partner’s Lurcher-cross, Clyde. She has a particular interest in surgery and working with wildlife. In her spare time, Mhairi can usually be found on or near the rugby pitch, or playing music in a ceilidh band.

Rachel graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in 2011. She spent the next nine years in Kent, England in small animal practice and emergency medicine before returning home to Scotland and joining Albavet in 2019. She has a special interest in surgery, both soft tissue and orthopaedics, and holds a Certificate in Small Animal Surgery. At home, she has two naughty cats called Feivel and Willow and three native ponies. Rachel is a keen costume maker, and plays competitive Roller Derby.

Niamh, who joins us from across the water in Dublin. Niamh graduated from UCD and is particularly interested in diagnostic imaging as well as internal medicine including cardiology.

In her spare time she enjoys hill walking, reading and playing the violin. She also likes travelling and has spent some time in Thailand where she worked at a small animal rescue shelter. Niamh has family ties in Fife and hopes to settle in quickly.

Louise is a local having grown up in Cairneyhill, she then went on to Glasgow University where she graduated as a vet in 2015. Since then she has worked in small animal general practice. She recently returned to Albavet Dunfermline following 3 months travelling around New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia.

In her spare time she enjoys travelling to new places, hillwalking, and spending time with her cheeky rescue cat Rosie.

Originally from Aberdeen, Louise graduated from Glasgow Veterinary School in 2006 and, after a few years in mixed practice, decided to head off travelling to Asia. Louise settled in rural Thailand for two years at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre where she worked with elephants, primates, big cats and street dogs. She returned from the jungle and joined Albavet in 2014 where she has developed interests in medicine and dermatology. At home she has a wee ginger rescue tiger called Oliver.

Nicole started training as a student veterinary nurse with Telford college in 2009 and had her placement with Albavet throughout her three years of study. She qualified in 2012 where she was taken on as a full time Registered Veterinary Nurse at our Dunfermline practice. Nicole is Head Veterinary Nurse in Dunfermline and very much enjoys her role leading the excellent nursing staff we have.

Outside of work Nicole enjoys keeping fit by running and training at the gym. She has two children and a pug called Bertie.

Stephanie is a registered veterinary nurse and has been with Albavet Dunfermline since she was at school - starting with work placements, then worked in the cattery at weekends, and as a student nurse. She qualified as veterinary nurse in 2011 and began working here full time. Her main interests are oncology and dental nursing. At home she has two Labradors and a cat of her own, which she spoils and loves a lot. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with friends and family and walking her beloved Labradors.

Shannon joined us as our Saturday receptionist as well as a student veterinary nurse at Edinburgh Napier University. She is now a qualified RVN and has been with us since her first placement and has a keen interest in emergency and medical nursing. Shannon is also a bit of a crazy cat lady, sharing her home with three cats, Kitty, Kitkat and Dizzee. In her free time, Shannon plays football and trains at the gym.

Frankie has been employed by Albavet in Dunfermline as a student veterinary nurse since November 2017. She started the level three diploma at Oatridge College in the beginning of September 2018 and couldn't wait to get started. She qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in 2021. Frankie is a massive fan of football and played a lot when she was younger. She loves taking her dogs, Ruby and Poppy, for walks in her spare time.

Nikki joined Albavet Kirkcaldy as a weekend receptionist in January 2017. She returned to the veterinary profession in 2014 after a long break to have children and run her photography business. Prior to that, she was head nurse at a large practice in Fife after qualifying in 2000. In October 2017 Nikki became a RVN again, and in February 2018, she transferred to Dunfermline as a part-time veterinary nurse. Nikki is Dunfermline’s resident ‘Cat Advocate’ and crazy cat lady; over the past year she has helped Dunfermline become a ‘Cat Friendly Clinic’, and she passed her year long Certificate in Feline Nursing.

Now she is studying at Edinburgh Napier University to top up to BSc(Hons) in Veterinary Nursing level. When she has time to do something other than work or study, Nikki watches the Fife Flyers ice hockey team with her husband and two sons, the oldest of whom also plays for one of the junior hockey teams.

Angela is a registered veterinary nurse with over twenty years of experience in the industry. She enjoys nursing a patient back to health and seeing a happy owner. Angela has a certificate in dog behaviour, which she needs to use on her own dog, Wallace. Outside of work she is generally busy with her two toddlers and parrot.

Kerry first came to the practice during her pre veterinary nursing course at Edinburgh’s Telford College on a Thursday and Friday. She came to work for us full time in April 2004, going on to complete her veterinary nurse training and qualifying as a registered veterinary nurse. She has an interest in wound management and has gained further qualifications in this area. at home she has a cat named Kat.

Yvonne first came to Albavet Dunfermline as a school student aged 14, gaining work experience and helping out with our old cattery on Saturdays. Two days after she left school she came to work with us. Yvonne qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2000 and works in the theatre with the surgical patients. She also has a keen interest in animal behaviour.

At home Yvonne is kept busy by her young German Shorthaired Pointer called Rhum, her elderly old man Angus who is also a German Shorthaired Pointer and Thomas, the tabby cat.

Jade is a Student Veterinary Nurse and is studying at the University of the Highlands and Islands and has joined Albavet after gaining work experience at local practices. When she is not studying, Jade enjoys going up into the hills with her dog Maisie and she also loves paddle boarding, wild swimming and surfing.

Taylor is one of our student veterinary nurses at our Dunfermline practice. She has worked at Albavet since 2015 as a receptionist but was promoted to a student veterinary nurse in 2019. Alongside her receptionist job, Taylor studied animal care at Elmwood College and volunteered at a hedgehog hospital. Taylor has a rescued Jack Russell called Jess as well as three guinea pigs called Harris, Rum and Eigg. She has a great love and passion for animals and is very excited to be studying veterinary nursing at Oatridge College and is enjoying her practical placements at Albavet.

Claire has worked in our Dunfermline practice since 1991. She is a qualified animal nursing assistant and AMTRA SQP after completing her training at Elmwood college in Cupar. Being an SQP means that she is an animal medicines adviser and can dispense medicines for the veterinary surgeons and also administer flea and worming treatment. Claire lives with her husband and son in Dalgety Bay and loves walking in her spare time.

Rachel gained her Animal Care qualification from SRUC Oatridge in 2018 and then started working at a cattery before joining an animal hospital in Edinburgh as a nightshift ACA. In August 2021 she joined Albavet and made the move from Edinburgh to Dunfermline. Rachel hopes to one day go on to do veterinary nursing particularly being interested in cats and small furries. At home, she lives with her rescue cat, Milo and two degus, three mice and a hamster.

Trudy started working for Joe and Aileen Ryan (the previous owners of our practice in Dunfermline) in September of 1986, before qualifying as a veterinary nurse in 1992. She has enjoyed many years of working in the practice and have seen lots of interesting cases over the years. At home, Trudy is a dog mum to a young Whippet and even younger Boxer, a couple of Guinea pigs and some tropical fish. In her spare time Trudy enjoys horse riding and walking with her partner and her dogs.

Caitlin is an animal care assistant at Albavet in Dunfermline, and previously studied animal care at Elmwood college in Cupar in 2019 in additional to having had lots of work experience in kennels and catteries. She is hoping to further her knowledge and experience in a veterinary surgery and possibly continue her career here or carry on to work in the SSPCA.

When not at work Caitlin is usually taking my Chihuahua Pixie out for long walks and watching her play with my cat Buttons.

Melanie has worked at Albavet since 1993 in a variety of roles, but now mainly deals with processing the insurance claims and providing reception cover. At home she has a tortoise, Simon, who is in his 20's and a German Shepherd called Kev. Melanie is also the practice pet bereavement counsellor.

Leigh is new to veterinary world but enjoying every minute of her new role as receptionist. Having grown up with pets from iguanas to hamsters and cockatiels, she feels right at home. She lives with her two children and their new Patterdale puppy, Alba.

Julia is originally from Harrow, London where she worked as a receptionist in a vets for 17 years before making the decision to ‘escape to the country’ with her family and relocate to Fife. Julia lives with her husband and their youngest son in Crossford. They share their home with their Lurcher, Sherbert, and their two cats, Hamish and Bobby. Julia enjoys walking, going to the theatre and painting in her spare time.

In 2018, Ellie went to SRUC Oatridge College to do an NC animal care course. During this time, she also worked weekends at a horse riding stables. After completing her college course in 2019, she worked as a dog walker near Linlithgow. In early 2022, Ellie decided it was in her best interest to find a career in a veterinary environment, and has since joined Albavet as a receptionist.

At home Ellie has never gone without pets, currently owning guinea pigs and degus.

Amber has grown up caring for people and animals, and that's why she wanted to be a veterinary receptionist. She was raised by a nurse, and an avid animal lover which shaped her into who she is today. Working at Albavet and getting her fair share of lovely animals and humans every day is her dream come true.

In her free time she does colouring to help her relax, or reads some Stephen King to do the opposite!

Helaina has worked at Albavet since December 2008 after completing her HNC in animal care at Elmwood college. She has since gone on to qualify as an animal health adviser in 2013. Helaina lives in Dunfermline with her husband Ross, her two cats Salem and Shadow and her dog Dexter, who is rather well known in the Dalgety Bay community.

Rebekah has a background in customer care however, she decided to change her career path and attended Elmwood College where she gained her HNC in Animal Care. She is currently enjoying her role as receptionist at Albavet and loves meeting all the clients and their pets.

At home she has 2 cats, Lily and Daisy and also Turbo the Horsfield Tortoise, who is as speedy as his name implies!

Patricia started work at our Dunfermline practice in 1985 and qualified as a veterinary nurse in 1991. Since then she has moved around the country, working at a dog rehoming centre and at the University of Edinburgh Veterinary School as well as in other small animal practices. After returning to our Dunfermline practice, Patricia mentored student veterinary nurses and gained her certificate in nursing exotic species. She is now the practice administrator.

Amy Greenhill qualified as a veterinary surgeon from University of Glasgow in 2015. Starting her career as a small animal vet in North Lincolnshire, she then moved to West Yorkshire after two years where she began her veterinary acupuncture.

Amy isn’t a stranger at Albavet Dunfermline having completed her high school work experience and then the majority of her university clinical placements here too. She is delighted to be back and have the pleasure of taking over the acupuncture clinics from Jane Hunter. You may also see Amy with your pet at one of our clinics as she occasionally works for as a locum vet.