An increasingly important role being played at veterinary clinics is that of veterinary nurse, the assistants who, as their title suggests, perform very much the same duties as their equivalents in a human hospital situation.

Their patients are the animals confined for surgery and care in modern clinics which contain a wide range of high-tech equipment requiring a variety of skilled operators. Highly qualified veterinary nurses.

Such a person is Cindy Paton, an employee of one of the country's largest practices, Cambridge Veterinary Services, which has no less than 10 veterinarians at its disposal. Cindy brings to the practice valuable skills developed in several years' work at stud and stable properties in the district.

A farming background nurtured Cindy's interest in animals, while the New Zealand Veterinary Nursing Certificate she acquired through Waikato Polytechnic fitted her for her current position.

A standard day at the Cambridge clinic entails procedures such as setting up sterilized surgical equipment for the wide variety of operations performed on small animals, conveying blood samples for analysis, attending to ongoing medication for in-house patients and ensuring that the clinic is maintained at the highest possible level of hygiene.

Cindy's favourite patients are the horses whose needs are seen to at the clinic, as well as those requiring treatment "in the field" at properties in the area. One such case that she found especially interesting was the caesarean delivery of a foal, an operation requiring well co-ordinated teamwork and very rewarding in the way that she was able to be involved.

Neo-natal foal care strikes a special chord with Cindy, as it would anyone with a heart for the apparently helpless and gangly new-born. An interesting observation she makes of this part of her work is the determination that such animals show despite their innocence.

"It never ceases to amaze me how determined and strong young foals can be when the chips are down," she says. "Modern veterinary care certainly does a lot for them, but their recovery from life-threatening situations often has much to do with their own attitude and instincts."

Such situations, when human care and attention combined with an animal's own mechanisms produce a successful outcome, make the work that Cindy and her colleagues perform especially rewarding.

"The clinic is a great environment to work in," she says. "There are times when I miss being out their and unable to get my hands dirty, but dodging the frosty mornings and teeming rain make up for that."