Style: June 16, 2020

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IT’S A TEAM EFFORT
Dr Michele McMaster understands how stressful it can be when our pets
are unwell. She explains how McMaster & Heap Veterinary
Practice has built a specialised team and facility to support its clients.
What has been a highlight on your
journey so far?
We completed our 350sqm expansion
last year and are thrilled we can offer
our clients and their pets a completely
separate cat reception, alongside
dedicated cat consulting rooms, a
special cat intensive care and treatment
area. I’m very proud of our stateof-the-art
theatre and surgical suite,
where complex orthopaedic cases,
like spinal surgeries, take place. We
have created a one-stop-shop, where
all your pets’ needs are catered for
with exceptional care, attention to
detail and, collectively, decades of vet
experience.
It seems you just keep expanding but
still keep personalised service. What
is your secret?
Steve Heap and I are just a great team.
He is definitely the big picture thinker
and I deal with day-to-day running.
Our practice is independently owned
and has a family friendly feel to it. We
try hard to see our own clients so
there is better follow-through of cases
and clients get to form trusting, lasting
relationships with each of us.
We still love what we do 30 years
on and a big part of that is because
we regard our staff as our biggest
asset. We have nine highly-skilled
veterinarians and 21 support staff. We
don’t micromanage because we trust
and enable them to make day-to-day
decisions and be their best at work. As
a result, we have a great team culture
and have retained key people with
special skills allowing us to offer a wide
range of services to pet owners.
Tell us about your own furry friends.
Lola, our 11-year-old black Labrador is
just about more famous than both of
us! Lola has been meeting and greeting
our clients since she was 12 weeks old.
She is a frequent flier on Facebook and
our clients love seeing her holidaying
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Sara Hodgson, Steve Heap, Michele McMaster, LOLA the Labrador,
Kirsty Thompson, Helen Milner, Richard Lucy.
in the Bay of Islands, fishing, swimming
and watching our sons at tennis. She is
a kidney cancer survivor and is utterly
beautiful and kind.
Maximus, our chunky ginger baby,
is the laziest cat I’ve ever met! But he
adores us and Lola and keeps the feisty
neighbours’ cat away and blobs on any
cosy lap he can find.
What is the most valuable thing you
do for people and their pets?
We love making a positive difference
by solving their problems, quickly
and professionally. It is a fantastic
feeling when you are responsible for
improving the quality of life of a muchloved
family pet.
For instance, Steve operates on blind
dogs with bilateral cataracts. After
surgery, these dogs are able to see
immediately and the smiles on their
and their owner’s faces are priceless.
We never turn clients away and will
always squeeze in a sick patient.
What might people be surprised
to know?
We offer chemotherapy. Lola had
chemotherapy after her kidney tumour
was surgically removed about five
years ago. She hardly experienced side
effects and she really fought to survive
and to date is cancer-free and living
her best life. We have a highly-skilled
committed team of passionate vets
and nurses who get huge rewards
treating these amazing animals, often
very successfully. It’s certainly not for
every patient or every family but we
always give our clients all the options,
discussing, in-depth, the side effects,
what chemo looks like for their pet,
financial costs and the expected
survival times.
mcmasterheap.co.nz