"My Lords, Gentleman, Yeoman and Farmers, I hereby give notice of my intention to set up practice as a Veterinary Surgeon at Glan Aber, Llanasa, in the County of Flint" - signed William Cartwright, and dated April 1869.

The above declaration heralded the start of my former veterinary practice, from 1983 until early 2000 . William Charles Cartwright practised in Llanasa until around 1905, when his son, Charles Cartwright Jnr took over. Around 1950, he was joined in partnership by Mr W S Alun Jones ("Gim"), and the partnership of Cartwright & Alun Jones continued until Charlie Cartwright's death in 1963. In 1950, Gim Alun Jones opened the present surgery –Berne House—in Prestatyn, and I acquired the practice from him, on his retirement in 1983. At that time, the work was around 50% mixed farm work –dairy, beef and sheep—and 50% small animal work. Alas farming has shown a progressive decline, but happily for us this has coincided with an ever increasing pet population, and its ever more demanding ownership. The standard of veterinary work for dogs and cats gets ever higher.

An assistant examining a sample under our Microscope

At that time, the work was around 50% mixed farm work –dairy, beef and sheep—and 50% small animal work. Alas farming has shown a progressive decline, but happily for us this has coincided with an ever increasing pet population, and its ever more demanding ownership. The standard of veterinary work for dogs and cats gets ever higher. But alongside all of this there came another revolution …..new technology. We spotted this quite early on and the practice became fully computerised as long ago as 1991. This meant that all of our client and clinical records, stock control, pricing systems, accounts, reminder systems and so on were computerised. All details we now take for granted. And then there came the internet!! What role could or would the world wide web play in practice? Veterinary surgeries have always been "neighbourhood", local type businesses. How on earth could there possibly be an web dimension?

Well for a start there is the sharing of information. The web certainly offers us a source of rapid information on new topics as they arise. Our job will always offer us new experiences—not every day, but often. Text books are useful. But you never seem to have the one you need! But on the web...well there's always some information on every subject, however weird and wonderful!! So that was the first benefit.

But then we got to thinking about all those clients of our practice who have moved away from our area, and were so worried about the local availability of veterinary expertise. And the thought that there must be so many others with just the same problem.

So in September 1999 www.vetontheweb.com was born! And with it has come new challenges, new daily routines, new horizons. We quickly forged a working relationship with the excellent www.Petz.co.uk site. Alan Fortune and Pete Martin have done wonders with their site, and the combination of the two sites – one from the Pet Industry and the other from the Veterinary world - is rapidly becoming an industry standard. And it also became very obvious that the project needed a new base...and QUICK!!

The Prestatyn practice was run as a busy mixed practice partnership no longer the ideal place for a dotcom in the making! So in mid April 2000, we moved our practice base across the waters to the Wirral. I'm taking on the Principal's role at Churchview Veterinary Centre, 23 Upton Road, Moreton, Wirral. This totally companion animal based practice will, I hope, give me the time and opportunity to serve you all, and to build our worldwide-web project to the next stage . Shortly we'll develop a practice profile for Churchview on the web-site. If you live nearby, and you'd like to see us in person, our new practice phone number is 0151 677 7048.

Churchview Veterinary Centre in Moreton

And if you live further away, or if you would just like my opinion on a particular problem, then we can be your veterinary web practice too!....just click here....

...Welcome to VETONTHEWEB DOT COM !

We recommend - Petz: the Discount Pet Superstore

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