Having just turned 30 and with a little bit of wanderlust lingering after a stint overseas, vet Dr Brett Stone was not sure he wanted to buy a veterinary practice but he decided to give it a go.

That was back in 1998 and this month, he marked 25 years at Palmwoods Veterinary Surgery. 

“I knew it was a great opportunity and I just liked Palmwoods. It was a good surgery to buy into. It wasn’t like it was a great, huge clinic. It seemed achievable,” Brett said.

“I guess even then, I could see the potential for Palmwoods.”

Brett was doing locum work when he was offered the opportunity to buy the clinic, which had two part-time vets.

These days, there are two vets and Brett said there was enough work for a third but they were hard to come by. He said the clinic also had six very good veterinary nurses.

“We’re very lucky with our nurses,” he said. 

“They get to experience all the things that they are trained for,” he said.

“They get a lot of good experience because they get to do all the things nurses should be able to do, like taking blood or putting an intravenous drip in. They are very hands-on,” he said.

Brett said his patients had changed a little over the years. The farm dogs were fewer and pet owners were also willing to pay for more complex diagnostics and care for their animals than they used to.

“Veterinary work shadows human medicine. People know what treatments are available to them and they expect similar treatments for their pets,” he said.

Although busier than ever, Brett still likes to get out on house calls, as he has done for 25 years. 

The house calls allow him to get up close with livestock, a return to familiarity for the boy who grew up on a cattle property in northern NSW dreaming of being a vet. 

Palmwoods Vet is at 4 Briggs Street.