Simon Ratcliffe was wonderful to have a chat with and I think we had quite a lot in common! He is definitely an eco warrior and wants to help save the planet! Thank you Simon! That is so important! 

Simon was incredibly humble and human. He is thrilled to own his own independent practice and they recently renovated it. This is a great legacy as Kelperland vets have been established for many decades, so it’s important to put your stamp on it and keep it healthy as we stroll into this century. 

In one anecdote, Simon told us of how he had to save a very poorly tortoise who had sadly managed to get a severely infected penis. Ouch!

He has wonderful staff who have been long established in the practice, for even longer than he has. Simon has always wanted to be a vet and would do nothing else. 

It was a great chat!

What Simon Loves About Physio!

Well, yeah, I think it is very important and completely overlooked. I have to say in the training of that, certainly in my experience (which is, you know, over 15 years ago now) but tended to be obsessed with bones and joints. But we’re not very good at worrying about the muscles around them. And I’m creaking a bit in my old age now, and I’m going to the physio quite a lot. And I think we completely underestimate the effect of physiotherapy on animals and it should be done much more, even if there’s nothing wrong with your animal they can benefit from it. But yes, in my world, doing complex surgery: physio is, you know, a big part of the rehab. And the success obviously, often of your actual surgery can hinge on the rehab as opposed to the actual surgery that you’ve done.

It’s no coincidence that all the big referral centres now: Fitzpatrick, the super vet and all the big referral centres around us: the Ralph and Hamilton referrals, they all have in-house, physiotherapy and hydrotherapy and they take it really seriously…

But also, like I said, any will animal benefit. But I think in older animals, the veterinary profession is obsessed by giving out arthritic medication. And we’re getting better at that using safe medication and better combinations and medication. But we’re not very good at helping with the muscle support. And if you’ve got if you’ve got bony arthritis, but you have strong muscles around those joints, then they’re much better off if you’ve got bony arthritis, and then you allow the muscles to waste away because they’re not doing enough exercise. They’re not keeping strength that then you really get in a downward spiral. So yeah, I think it’s really important and massively undervalued at the moment.

Simon Ratcliffe’s Biography:

Simon Ratcliffe is a dairy farmer’s son from Cheshire. He runs Kelperland Vets in Maidenhead, Berkshire with his wife Camilla.

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