Bressingham veterinary nurse Emily Philpot travels to Zanzibar for volunteering role

A Bressingham-based veterinary nurse travelled more than 6,500 miles to use her skills to help improve the welfare of animals in East Africa.

Emily Philpot, head nurse at Uplands Way Vets, flew to Zanzibar to volunteer with an animal welfare project which neuters and spays feral cats to reduce their numbers and help prevent the spread of disease.

She spent a week with the Southern Zanzibar Veterinary Clinic, where she helped to catch feral cats using nets, so they could be transported to the clinic to be neutered, vaccinated against rabies and given flea treatments and wormers.

During the trip she also helped to treat injured birds and ducks and was able to share the knowledge she has gained through 10 years of veterinary nursing with the Zanzibar clinic team.

Emily said it was a world away from treating pets at Uplands Way Vets. She said: “Volunteering at the clinic was an experience of a lifetime. It was amazing to be able to use my skills to help make a difference.

“I’m used to working in a practice with modern facilities and equipment designed to give pets the best possible care, so it was very different to work in a clinic with limited resources and medications, but it challenges you to adapt your skills and come up with alternative ways of delivering care.

“As well as helping improve the health and welfare of local cats, I enjoyed sharing my own knowledge with the clinic team and the other volunteers, which included a group of veterinary students from the University of Glasgow.

“I gave the clinic some ideas to help improve efficiency, including suggesting they put up a whiteboard where they could list their patients and the treatments and medications they needed.

“I had a brilliant time volunteering and projects like these are so important because they reduce the number of stray cats, which in turn improves animal health and helps to control the spread of disease.

“I’m really keen to help other animal charities in the future and would love to work with a project that helps care for wildlife.”