Crab Lane Vets

31/05/2026

May is Veterinary Nursing Awareness Month within our profession and we want to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful team of Veterinary nurses here at Crab Lane Vets for all their hard work and dedication, every month, all year round.

We have 6 qualified Registered Veterinary Nurses (RVNs) here at Crab Lane: Lise, Anna, Rachel, Rose, Leah and Charlotte and they are supported by student Veterinary Nurse Sheena and student Animal Care Assistant Amanda. They are all hugely important members of our team.

🤔 DID YOU KNOW? To become a Registered Veterinary Nurse involves years of challenging training and, upon qualification, each RVN has to undertake a minimum of 15hours of additional training annually to maintain their registered status.

The British Veterinary Nursing Association run a different theme every May to increase the publics awareness of the roles of Veterinary Nurses within our profession . The themes this year are and as we write this, we reflect on the dedication and passion required to both train and practise as a veterinary nurse and the compassion towards patients and people we see from our nurses every day.

Many of our nurses roles will be known to clients and the public:
🐱🐕🐇🦜They provide direct patient care and nursing support
😷🩺 Surgical and anaesthetic support via preparing theatre, sterilising equipment, anaesthetic monitoring and recovery support.
🔬🩸Our nursing team are involved in diagnostic and laboratory work, assisting with x-rays and ultrasound scans; taking, analysing and recording blood samples, as well as using a whole host of other in-house laboratory equipment.
📜They have an important role in client communication and education as they explain medication instructions, pre-operation consent and post-operative care instructions as well as running their own nursing clinics.
📚⛑️Some of our nurses are heavily involved in practice operations and compliance as they are responsible for Heath and Safety, First Aid, and do the majority of the paperwork involved in us maintaining accreditation to the RCVS Practice Standard Scheme.

BUT...our nursing team also have a whole host of other super-skills- you will learn more about these in our Monday Meet the team posts!
🛠🦸‍♀️🧐These range from being able to fix any piece of equipment (usually that the vets have broken...), being human inventories for every item we own (what it is called and where the hell it is when you need it in a hurry...!) they have super-sleuthing skills when a stray animal is handed in with an unregistered microchip, and between them their ability to recall clients or pets names from a one snippet fact is second to none- you cannot learn that at college!💪

Thank you to all of our Veterinary Nurses, present and past, over the 5 decade history of our practice. You have truly kept the cogs turning here at Crab Lane Vets.👏👏👏

30/05/2026

🙏💚𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪!💚🙏

Once again, our tireless volunteers will be raising much needed funds tomorrow at Ripley Castle.

We'll have our usual table of goodies including a Luxury Tombola, Teddybola and of course our almost world famous cat kickers!!

It's a lovely location, and even better if the sun is out so you can make a day of it!

29/05/2026

😥 It's a sad day here at Crab Lane, and the end of an era, as today we marked Allison Gleadhill's last official day in work before her retirement.
30 of her 40years as a vet have been spent at the practice here at Crab Lane which is an incredible achievement and so many have been fortunate to have benefitted from her knowledge and experience for so long.

🩺 Allison qualified as a Vet from Cambridge in 1986 and her first job was House Physician at Bristol Vet School. She undertook a PhD in renal function from the University of London and has RCVS certificates in Small Animal Medicine and Dermatology. She moved back to her homeland of Yorkshire in 1996 and has been at Crab Lane Vets ever since, originally working under the founding partners Nigel and Frances Harcourt-Brown and then taking over the practice as they retired in 2016. She has had a very full career and treated many generations of your pets with her expert knowledge and wide range of skills.

🎂 We had a little send off after her last consultation today- Thanks to RVN Anna for baking the delicious cake to have with our fizz.
Staff past and present contributed to some fitting gifts to celebrate Allisons time at Crab lane, her love of the local area, her interests and this big day:
🎨 A beautiful original oil painting of Bluebells at Upper Stean Beck by the incredibly talented local artist Sarah Garforth Ramsgill Studio
📚Two books to inspire Allisons campervan adventures (now she will have more time to go away in it!) from The Little Ripon Bookshop
🌱 Some beautiful plants she doesn't need to remember to water from BUD Floral Designs , Ripon
🧶 A hand knitted snood with wool from Hoop made by our talented RVN Rose who excelled at secret squirrelling at the recent Threads festival at Sunny Bank Mills to buy the wool and knit it in time...we don't think Allison will need it right now if this heatwave continues but it will be useful for cold adventures in that van....!

We all wish Allison well and hope to see her back in the practice whenever she gets bored of retirement...however with all those bat surveys and new qualifications she has signed up for, we might be waiting a while....🤣

❤️ Please comment or send us any messages for Allison (or any of her famous quotes....if they're appropriate to share...!) below- we shall make sure she sees them.

ALLISON GLEADHILL MA VetMB Cert SAD Cert SAM PHD MRCVS , Veterinary Surgeon 1986-2026, Retiring...NOT EXPIRING!

23/05/2026

Just a reminder again about our opening times this bank holiday weekend☀️

🐾 Thanks Nessie for helping spread the word about our upcoming May /Spring Bank holiday opening times! 🐾

🩺 We have a Vet here every day of the Bank holiday weekend. We are open our usual Saturday hours: 9am-3pm. On Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday we are open 10-11am to see any urgent cases.
At all other times over the weekend, registered patients can be seen by the lovely team at Bishopton Veterinary Group in Ripon HG4 2QR 01765 602396.
We open again as usual on Tuesday 26th May at 8.30am.

💊💊🚨Please remember to order any repeat medications in plenty of time to collect before the weekend.🚨💊💊
💡 Did you know that the easiest way to do this is via a form on our website? https://www.crablanevets.co.uk/our-practice/repeat-medications/

📸 This is Nessie having a little rest while walking the Cleveland Way (with her humans) last May half-term. Are you heading anywhere with your dog this bank holiday weekend? Let us know in the comments below if you can recommend some great dog-friendly spots to visit! 🐾

19/05/2026

🐾 Thanks Nessie for helping spread the word about our upcoming May /Spring Bank holiday opening times! 🐾

🩺 We have a Vet here every day of the Bank holiday weekend. We are open our usual Saturday hours: 9am-3pm. On Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday we are open 10-11am to see any urgent cases.
At all other times over the weekend, registered patients can be seen by the lovely team at Bishopton Veterinary Group in Ripon HG4 2QR 01765 602396.
We open again as usual on Tuesday 26th May at 8.30am.

💊💊🚨Please remember to order any repeat medications in plenty of time to collect before the weekend.🚨💊💊
💡 Did you know that the easiest way to do this is via a form on our website? https://www.crablanevets.co.uk/our-practice/repeat-medications/

📸 This is Nessie having a little rest while walking the Cleveland Way (with her humans) last May half-term. Are you heading anywhere with your dog this bank holiday weekend? Let us know in the comments below if you can recommend some great dog-friendly spots to visit! 🐾

18/05/2026

Meet our newest Vet.... Abby!

We had an incredibly busy week last week so poor Abby had to hit the ground running. Many of you met her, apologies that we have failed to introduce her to you all!

🩺 Abby is an experienced Vet who has been working in Yorkshire for the last 9years.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Abby graduated from Edinburgh Vet School and her first job after graduation was with our very own Louise where they worked together as Mixed Vets (treating both livestock and small animals) in Otley.
🐾 Abby has a huge range of skills in Diagnostics, Medicine and Surgery so we are delighted to welcome her to our team here at Crab Lane.

As many of you who have been into the practice recently will also have realised, Allison Gleadhill has stepped back a little from her full-time role at Crab Lane as she gears up for the next phase in her life as her retirement approaches.

We can assure you that although you may see little changes happening, the future of Crab Lane Vets is secured and is continuing to be run as the truly independent practice it has been since its foundation by the Harcourt-Browns in 1977.
As we approach the milestone of 50years of caring for the pets of Harrogate and surrounding areas we are going to start showing you a bit more behind the scenes...watch this space!

🤔 Shall we do a ?
Comment below 👇if you want to learn more about who our team are and what goes on behind the scenes.

18/05/2026

Update: Owner found! 🥳
Thanks to all those who shared our post, thankfully this lovely cat was re-united with his owner at the end of last week. He has had surgery for his fractured leg and has a long recovery ahead of him as he is an elderly gentleman. His owner is happy for us to share updates of his journey so look out for more posts about Bobby aka 'The Texas Ranger'....! He has had a very interesting life....!

**UPDATE: Owner and cat reunited!**
Thanks everyone for sharing this post. His name is Bobby and he had surgery last week to repair his fractured leg. He has a long recovery ahead of him as he is a very old boy. His owner is happy for us to share his progress so you may see more posts about him in the future. Thanks again to our lovely clients for sharing the post, to our dedicated staff for catching and collecting him after the accident and for nursing him all week and to Harrogate Cat Rescue for efforts to find him a foster home to recuperate in if we hadn't located an owner 👏👏

Do you know this cat? They were known to be bumped by a car yesterday evening on Bachelor Gardens, Harrogate. They have a microchip but it appears to be unregistered. Currently receiving care at Crab Lane Vets so please call if you think they may be yours 01423 508945.
Please share!

12/05/2026

**UPDATE: Owner and cat reunited!**
Thanks everyone for sharing this post. His name is Bobby and he had surgery last week to repair his fractured leg. He has a long recovery ahead of him as he is a very old boy. His owner is happy for us to share his progress so you may see more posts about him in the future. Thanks again to our lovely clients for sharing the post, to our dedicated staff for catching and collecting him after the accident and for nursing him all week and to Harrogate Cat Rescue for efforts to find him a foster home to recuperate in if we hadn't located an owner 👏👏

Do you know this cat? They were known to be bumped by a car yesterday evening on Bachelor Gardens, Harrogate. They have a microchip but it appears to be unregistered. Currently receiving care at Crab Lane Vets so please call if you think they may be yours 01423 508945.
Please share!

08/05/2026

As the world wishes a very Happy 100th Birthday to Sir David Attenborough, we at Crab Lane Vets would also like to send our congratulations to him on this momentous day. His legendary career as a broadcaster, conservationist, natural historian, writer, producer and narrator has undoubtedly had influence on all of your lives and many of our careers. What he has achieved in conservation and education within his lifetime is outstanding. We have all been fascinated by many of the 'firsts' in animal behaviour that he documented and broadcast to the nation over the last 80 years.

🚑 All vets have a professional duty of care to provide immediate first aid and pain relief to sick and injured wildlife. We are proud to say that (although its not a patch on Sir Attenborough's career!) for the 50 year history of Crab Lane Vets we have done our utmost to tend to any wildlife that ends up under our care and, where possible, do our bit to treat these species and release them back into the wild.

Some species may be too big or carry risks for us to safely handle and in some circumstances of severe injuries that would limit an animals ability to rehabilitate safely in a stress free way to return to the wild then sadly euthanasia has to be considered as the animals welfare is paramount.

🦉 We have lots of success stories though! The image above shows a Tawny owl who was handed into us by a member of the public. The owl had sustained a traumatic injury to one eye, we assume she was likely hit by a car. There were corneal ulcers (damage to the front surface of the eye), hyphema (bleeding into the eyeball) and extensive bruising around the eye. She was incredibly subdued and weak. Thanks to the dedicated care from our nursing team (primarily Sheena and Anna 👏👏) the owl had frequent administration of eye drops, pain relief and food each day and we are delighted to report that after 2weeks of treatment she had gained weight and the eye recovered so that she could be released back to the area she had been found. See the video to show her flying off into the trees 🌳🌳

Did you know? All wild bird species in the UK are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This law also PREVENTS the release of non native species (eg Grey Squirrels) back into the wild. If you want to see more about the wildlife that we treat at Crab Lane, then comment with your favourite native species!

" If children grow up not knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it, and if they do not understand it, they won't protect it, and if they don't protect it, who will?" Sir David Attenborough

02/05/2026

Thanks Milo for helping spread the word about our May Bank Holiday opening times...

We have a Vet here every day of the Bank Holiday Weekend. We are open our standard Saturday hours today: 9am-3pm. On Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday we are open 10-11am to see any urgent cases. At all other times over the weekend, registered patients of ours can be seen by Bishopton Veterinary Group in Ripon HG4 2QR.

We open again as usual on Tuesday 5th May at 8.30am.
Thanks Milo and have a great Bank Holiday Weekend everyone!