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The team at First Vets.
What can a brand new small business achieve in a year? With huge community support and a hard working team, quite a lot!
In the 12 months we have been open, our core veterinary business has rapidly grown, we have purchased an established local dog grooming business, started puppy preschool classes, and participated in cat desexing initiatives (First Vets tomcat desexing day, and the recent SPCA NZ Snip'N'Chip campaign).
Nicola and Tanya are our veterinarians and owners of First Vets. The veterinary support team (Zoe, Tyler, Cheryl, and Brierly) have been with us from day one. You will also occasionally see Lauren in the clinic. In February, our groomer Bianca joined the team, offering clients a more complete experience. Due to increase in demand for grooming, Lynne joined Bianca on a casual basis.
We have welcomed community group tours including daycares, home schooling groups, scouts, veterinary nursing students, veterinary technology students, and international and domestic veterinary science students. It has been a pleasure sharing our business and what we do with the wider community.
First Vets was designed with your pet's comfort in mind. Stress reducing measures include separate cat and dog waiting areas, consult rooms, and hospital wards. We are the only clinic in Whanganui to feature walk-in dog kennels. Recently, we have introduced a new vaccination programme for pet rabbits covering a wider range of variants and strains of calicivirus. Nail clips for pets of our enrolled clients remain free of charge.
Our birthday month promotion of $10 credit to all existing clients and all new clients signing up in August continues. This can be redeemed on veterinary services or grooming until 1st November 2018. And remember, we have complimentary coffee or hot chocolate whenever you visit.
Puppy preschool (for pups 8-16 weeks of age) is run by our veterinary technician Tyler, covering puppy and dog behaviour, care, training, and socialisation. All participants receive a generous puppy pack containing all that's needed to get your pup off to the best start in training, nutrition, and preventative healthcare.
We are proud to have working relationships with organisations including the Whanganui SPCA, Cremate-A-Mate, and The Felted Room. Veterinary imaging specialist Mark Owen can offer our clients specialist imaging services at First Vets (by appointment) as part of his mobile business.
The Governor General's visit on August 15 was a fantastic part of our birthday month celebrations, and featured Mark Vette showcasing 'Dog Zen' training principles with the KFAAA's (Kotuku Foundation of Assistance Animals Aotearoa) new German Shepherd puppy.
Finally, a huge thanks to all our customers! We are proud to be able to provide a locally owned and independent choice in veterinary care to the Whanganui community for the first time in many years. Thanks also to local businesses and to our industry reps for their ongoing support. In 12 months we have achieved all that we wanted to and more. We're busy and we love what we do. As for the future? Watch this space, there's plenty more to come!