What makes pets so enjoyable to own is their unpredictability. They’re full of surprises. But sometimes these surprises aren’t welcome one’s. Working in a vet hospital means that I see all sorts of pets in all sorts of situations every day. And seeing your pet involved in an accident or suffering a serious illness is hard enough without having to worry about whether you can pay for their treatment. Money just shouldn’t have to come into what is a really tough emotional experience. I once got called out to see a dog that had been hit by a car. The owner adored this dog and had already saved her life once by adopting her from an animal shelter. And after stabilising her after the accident it became clear that her injuries were serious. In order to save her, she would need 3 separate operations. The eventual cost? More than $15,000. Money shouldn’t matter in these situations. But decisions over whether they could afford it do often decide what happens next.

Pet insurance adds some degree of control into the world of pets that is almost entirely unpredictable. I like the fact people know that if they pay a premium each month, then there won’t be any big financial surprises if the unthinkable happens.

Vets are animal lovers too. So, no vet wants to be forced to be the mediator between someone’s best mate and their bank balance. Having patients that are covered by pet insurance takes away that worry that an owner might get themselves in deep financial trouble and have to make that most awful of decisions. It also means you can spend more time on matters that really matter; like finding out exactly why that pet is unwell in the first place.

For most people, life is almost impossibly busy. Many of us just don’t have time to worry about things we can’t control. But it is possible to get just a little control over the financial side of owning a best friend. But it frustrates me that so few people know that pet insurance exists and even fewer are made aware of the benefits. There’s no doubt that pet insurance saves lives.

I want to get this message out there. And by partnering with what I believe is Australia’s most trusted name in health insurance I know people will know we’re serious.

So I’m excited about partnering with Medibank to make sure people know this potential lifeline exists.

Pets add so much to our lives. And while we sometimes think they’re giving so much to us in the form of unconditional love and huge doses of fun, remember this. They are so incredibly reliant on us. They look to us for leadership, to enrich their lives and sometimes even to help save their lives. So we have to be there for them when they need us most. In my opinion, it’s the unwritten deal we make with them when we first take them home. That we’ll be there for them no matter what. Pet insurance can certainly make honouring that promise possible.

Growing up with my Dad as my suburb’s local vet was an interesting situation to say the least. After all, when those sick animals from the vet surgery needed ‘round-the-clock’ attention, they would end up in my backyard. So, at various stages, I called everything from a donkey to ducks, chickens, a cow, a horse, a wallaby, koala, dogs, cats and even a penguin a ‘pet’. But it wasn’t just the absolute saturation with interesting and amusing animals that made me become a vet. It was actually one animal in particular, my pet dog called “Claude”. All through my teenage years, he had been my sidekick; that reliable and ‘ready for anything’ companion. Yet, when I was 16, something suddenly didn’t seem right. He wasn’t keen to run and it almost seemed like an effort to raise his head. Dad ran some tests and had some bad news. Claude had a serious heart condition. He deteriorated quickly. But in these days and weeks, I would sit by his side trying to find ways to make him more comfortable. All the while I was questioning Dad as to why his body had been rendered so helpless and what the medication he was on was doing to fight back. And even though Claude lost his battle, I learnt from that experience that not only did I love animals but I was fascinated with how their body’s worked and was obsessed with knowing how I could make them better.

While playing with puppies and kittens is obviously a pretty cool part of the job, it’s actually the bits that are far from fun that make me the happiest.

I feel most complete as a person and as a vet at those times when there is a crisis. To be able to walk into a situation totally gripped with panic and remain calm while being able to provide comfort and care to an animal and their owner makes all that training and experience seem very worthwhile. It honestly feels like a huge privilege to be the person that people trust to make an incredibly scary situation better.

Rusty, nine, a kelpie. Rusty was abused as a puppy and was useless with the stock on the property next to our farm – bit of a failed farm dog. He was going to be shot and I couldn’t let that happen so we brought him to the city. As for George, about three years ago, I was at a party when I got a call from the police, telling me to go straight to work. The police had seen someone throwing a cat cage into the ocean. Sadly, there was a cat inside. I rushed to the clinic and found this cat, blue and barely breathing. I spent the night trying to revive him and, once he pulled through, I adopted him. He was fiery at first but he’s mellowed. Now he’s an absolute sook who loves nothing more than getting on my lap and poking me in the face with his paw until I pat him.

A dairy cow. I've always loved cows. Growing up part of the time on a farm is a big part of that. I got a cow for my 12th birthday — her name was Bridget. I used to milk her and make butter and cream. There's something calm and amusing about cows. The next best thing is chickens and I've got two in my backyard in Bondi. They are very quiet and give me an egg a day.

Animals have a unique ability to embarrass you. I grew up with a dog called Claude, a tall poodle. I'd go running with him on the beach and one day he walked up to a nude sunbaker and put his cold nose between a woman's legs. Actually he did that a few times.

Try to get a sense of what the pet is looking for and what makes them tick. A lot of dogs that run away are looking for exercise or companionship. You have to find a compromise.

I live at Bondi, so I surf. We had a tortoise come into the vet clinic which had its shell broken. We couldn't work out what to do with this tortoise and so I ended up using my surfboard repair kit and re-glassed his shell with fibreglass. The last I heard he was doing well and so, as soon as his own shell repairs itself, the fibreglass will drop off