A NORTHWICH vet has partnered with Willows Veterinary Group.

Jamie Finney, head vet at Abbeycroft Veterinary Surgery in Station Road, has been appointed as a new small animal branch partner for the independently-owned veterinary group, which owns the surgery.

Jamie, 43, who is from Delaware in America, came to study in Dublin 15 years ago, and now lives with her husband in Kingsmead.

She said: “I am thrilled and excited to be awarded branch partner status with Willows Veterinary Group.

“Abbeycroft is going from strength to strength and that’s something I am very proud of. Nothing will change there because we will continue to offer the best possible care for our clients and their pets.

“We have such a great team here at Abbeycroft and because we are a small branch, we know our clients and their pets really well.

“We feel a strong part of the community and so it is really important to me that we do a good job and look after our clients’ pets well.”

Jamie has worked within Willows Veterinary Group for 15 years. During her time she has developed special bonds with her patients, including one particular canine called Smudge.

Jamie said: “Smudge is very special to us at Abbeycroft because he just continues to triumph over adversity and we have had to care for him a lot over the time he has been treated by us.

“He’s a cocker spaniel who has had a lot of health problems. He had to have both eyes taken out due to cataracts, he’s been referred on to our specialist animal hospital for spinal surgery and his most recent procedure with me was lipfold surgery on both sides of his mouth.

“This breed can get excess of skin around the lip which means bacteria and dirt gets trapped and the area gets infected and painful. So I removed a bit of the skin and tucked it up around the mouth to prevent this happening.

“Smudge knows my voice and every time he comes to the surgery to see me, he will come into the consulting room, his owner will let go of his lead and he come straight to me for a bit of a fuss.

“He’s the perfect example of the type of bond which is created between us, the animals we look after and their owners.

“You are there for them both through the good times and the bad times and it’s a very important responsibility and a role I really value because these pets are part of the family. “

Willows Veterinary Group has a network of 25 small animal surgeries, a referral veterinary hospital, two equine centres and a seven-office farm practice located across Cheshire and into the Wirral, North Wales and Staffordshire.

It is accredited by The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and has also set up Cheshire’s first Royal Canin accredited Pet Weight Management Centre.