In 2007, Vicki became Head of the newly formed Small Animal Epidemiology Unit at the Animal Health Trust. Vicki is supervising Rachel Dean as a Defra funded PhD student investigating the epidemiology of feline injection site sarcomas.  Vicki also supervises Katy Evans as a Kennel Club funded MSc student working on diseases of purebred dogs. As an FAB funded epidemiologist, Vicki spends time carrying out studies of feline diseases as well as clinical studies in collaboration with the small animal clinicians at the AHT. The study of Longevity, Mortality and Morbidity of UK Cats has been completed and the results are being written up for publication.  This study was funded by a grant from Petplan Charitable Trust with additional funding from the Pet Care Trust and Pfizer Animal Health. 

As part of her work with the feline expert panel, Vicki helped to develop a questionnaire to collect information on the experiences of veterinary practitioners performing blood transfusions. This survey was carried out at the ESFM conference in Prague in 2007 and results of this study were presented to the fep in April 2008.  The palatability of medicines survey is continuing with data being collected from cat owners about how the taste, size and consistency of feline medicines affect an owner’s ability to complete a course of prescribed medication. 

Vicki has been in the UK for more than 5 years now and she views it as home even though there is at least one trip per year back to Canada to visit family and friends. Her two cats, Pookie and Saffron, continue to enjoy the good life living in the country.

“After 5 years of working with FAB, I continue to be excited about all the good work that FAB does.  It is very rewarding to be involved in promoting education and research to improve the health and welfare of cats.”