Activelife
A day in the life of
MIKE THORNE
Leicestershire and Rutland’s very own flying vet
I
normally get up at around 6am, depending on where my first call is. Today I went to a dairy farm on the other side of Bourne, but our practice covers the East Midlands so I could be anywhere from Leicester, Newark, Peterborough or Rugby. I come from Zimbabwe so long distances don’t phase me at all. To be a little more efficient I’ve qualified to fly my own helicopter so I can effectively halve the call out time to farms on the edge of our area, and it’s really quick to get to emergencies too. You could call it my mid-life crisis! It’s a small chopper and looks a bit like a ferris wheel with a tail stuck on. I have a few hairy moments every day but that’s all part of the fun. But I never land in a field of cows as they’ll chew the rotor blades off! I don’t often stop for breakfast. I just have coffee, and then I graze all day on the packed lunch my wife makes me. In the spring when I’m a bit more stressed with lambing and calving I live mostly on a healthy diet of Red Bull and crisps! But I always finish with a good dinner later in the day. A typical morning might see me taking my mobile ultrasound scanner to a dairy herd to internally examine cows after they’ve calved to see which ones are coming into season and when they’ll be ready to be served through artificial insemination. If they’re not ready I can give them medication to prompt their cycle. I’ll also check to make sure there are no reproductive problems remaining after calving. I should think I burn a few calories every time I stick my hand up a cow’s bottom as they’re not very willing patients and clamp down tight! You need strong arms and you always build up a bit of a sweat. I often do about two or three visits a day with up to 50 cows each time, so that’s pretty active. As a practice we’re all about preventative medicine rather than just fire-fighting. We talk to the farmers about their production levels and vaccination programmes. I should think about 55% of the business is now farm animals and the rest, small animals. I still do some small animal consulting, mainly for my longstanding clients who have become more like friends, and also at some of our new clinics. I start these in the afternoons at about 4pm after all the operations have finished. We have five veterinary nurses in Uppingham and four in the branch surgeries in Oakham and Melton, and 10 vets altogether. I have a fantastic team with a great work ethic who are openminded enough to work with me and my bizarre ways. I arrived here 22 years ago with a rucksack on my back and not much else – Mugabe having 20
‘I have a few hairy moments every day in the helicopter, but that’s all part of the fun’ got rid of all the farms – and I count myself immensely lucky the UK has given me the chances it has. I’m trying to build up a practice that can support all 10 vets and not just sustain my family, so I’m not just Mike, the vet anymore, I’m Mike the businessman too. I try not to work on Friday and Saturday nights but most other evenings I’m working at something or other. There’s always jobs to do like updating websites, interviewing people, listening to grievances or organising builders, and obviously animals get sick all times of the day and night.
The best time for me is around eight or nine o’clock, after dinner when my blood glucose is up, my belly is full, the kids are home and the stresses of the day have started to wane so we can enjoy a bit of quality time. I play squash one night a week and I go running about twice. I don’t like running when people can see me so I run in the dark or go early in the morning. I think it’s because I feel a bit guilty - people expect their vet to be working, not exercising. Mike is the owner of the family-run Rutland Veterinary Centre based in Uppingham. He is married with two sons.
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20/08/2015 18:46