ABOUT US

Dr. Carra Walters

BSc (Hons) BVM&S MRCVS

Trained as a Veterinary Surgeon at Edinburgh and with a BSc in Biological and Medicinal Chemistry from Exeter University in the UK, Carra returned to South Africa to pursue her passion for animal well-being and commitment to critical care.

Her experience, working as an emergency vet for the last eight years, has reaffirmed her dedication to improving the way in which veterinary care is delivered when needed the most.

She heads up a team of enthusiastic colleagues and will continue her predecessors legacy of providing a service to the Upper Highway community and to those in need, 24 hours a day, all year round.

Dr Pieter Hanekom

BVSc MRCVS

Dr Hanekom is a very experienced vet with a particular interest in cardiology and orthopaedic surgery. He has authored several continuing education articles on echocardiography for general practitioners, feline cardiomyopathy, feline dyspnoea, snake envenomation, bite wounds as well as an article on stress in the veterinary profession (a very serious problem).

After 18 years of being a vet and 11 years owning his own practice, he sold it and went overseas to complete the North American Veterinary Licensing exams (which were very hard!). He says: “It was like a major refresher course, and I believe it made me a better veterinarian. It also enabled me to see practice in the USA and Canada which was great.”

Dr Shantelle Naidoo

BVMCh

Dr Naidoo has been working as a vet for 20 years and has a particular interest in surgery and exotics. She is our “go to” on the HVH team when it comes to pet snakes, birds, lizards and other exotic pets.

She enjoys intricate surgeries and finds them really rewarding. She also states “lost causes” as one of her specialties, so you know she will do everything in her power to have a positive outcome for a patient, and prefers to treat every patient she sees as her most important.

Dr Inke Helm

BVSc

Dr Helm has been a practicing vet for four years and is extremely passionate about her work, and about animals. She puts in many hours and is always striving to improve her knowledge and skills as veterinary surgeon. She is currently enrolled in a postgraduate diploma in Small Animal Surgery through the University of Pretoria, and this is not an easy feat whilst being employed as a full time vet! She has a love for and an outstanding ability for surgery cases and is extremely competent in abdominal ultrasonography.

Dr Helm is also busy writing an article in anaesthesiology called “Clinical bed side methods for assessing optimal positive end expiratory pressure in the anaesthetised veterinary patients”, and will be looking at publishing it next year in 2022.

Dr Nicky Hogan

BVSc

Dr Hogan has been a practicing vet for over 16 years, of which four were spent working in the United Kingdom. She is especially interested in wound management and care and says; “I am in constant awe of how the body regenerates itself and over stages, even huge wounds contract and heal if they are managed correctly”. (The secret, of course, is having the knowledge to manage them correctly. >> Insert our wonderful vets!!)

Dr Hogan speaks of a specific case that she remembers: “A few years ago I had a very bad bite wound case in a female dog. Her front legs had been mauled and there was significant tissue loss, so much so, that I could see the bone on the upper part of her front leg. It took three surgeries and four weeks but with lots of time, patience and proper wound care, all her wounds healed perfectly.”

Dr Yonela Nkubungu

BVSc

Dr Yonela Nkubungu has been a vet for 16 years, 9 of which were for the state, before moving into small animal practice. In 2018 he started work as a poultry vet which he found very interesting but after two years came back to what he really enjoyed, small animal practice.

“I have a special interest in soft tissue surgery as well as emergency cases and I spend a lot of time working through the emergency hours of Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital. This is very rewarding as I often get to save precious lives.”

When Dr Yonela is not working he spends time with his family, two beautiful daughters and one handsome son who takes after his dad!

Dr Lauren Myers

BVSc

Dr Lauren qualified from Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital with a BVSC in 2009 and spent the first three years in small animal practice in the UK before returning to South africa in August 2023.

Dr Lauren has been working with us since August ’23 and she says: “I really enjoy having the facilities and equipment to provide better care for patients as well as being in a large team of wonderful caring vets to pull knowledge and expertise from when needed on a complicated case.”

Dr Emma Brown

BVM&S

After completing her undergraduate degree in Biological science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Emma Brown moved to Edinburgh to pursue her passion for veterinary medicine. She graduated in 2021 from the University of Edinburgh and returned home to South Africa to start her career as an equine vet. Dr Emma then completed her community service year at a production animal research centre focusing on tick borne diseases and vaccine production in Pretoria.

“Throughout my studies and early career I have developed a keen interest in surgery, cardiology and diagnostic imaging. I am very excited to start my next chapter as a small animal veterinarian where I hope to gain experience in my areas of interest.”

Dr Carra Walters

BSc (Hons) BVMS MRCV

Dr Walters was born in Pretoria but relocated to London, UK, at 12 years old when her parents immigrated. She returned home to South Africa on completion of her Veterinary Degree at Edinburgh University and after working for three and a half years in London, where she gained a huge amount of experience in small animal medicine and surgery.

What most people don’t know about Dr Walters is that she first studied and gained a first class honours degree in Biological and Medicinal Chemistry before pursuing her ambition to become a vet. “I knew I’d always regret not following my dreams and I am so happy I did!”

Dr Walters has been a vet for 15 years and started at HVH in 2009, first in the capacity of a full-time emergency after-hours vet, then as co-owner after buying into the business in 2016. She took complete ownership of HVH in 2019. Much has changed both aesthetically and in management here at Hillcrest Vets. She says “running a 24hr practice comes with many challenges, and has been the steepest learning curve and the greatest achievement of my life (second to raising a little boy as a single mom)”. “I feel very strongly about compassionate care of our patients and we give our best here at Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital. Being able to offer top of the range diagnostic and surgical facilities to the greater Upper Highway area is real a privilege”.

Sr Kathryn Justham

Veterinary Nurse

Sister Kat was born and bred in a small farming town in the Free State, where she was lucky enough to grow up with her own horses and was always surrounded by dogs. She had always wanted to be a vet growing up with her nose permanently in a James Harriet book and spent her school holidays at the local vet practice.

After completing a post matric course in Equine studies, she went on to study veterinary nursing. She qualified 12 years ago from Onderstepoort and has had the absolute pleasure of working in some incredible practices in KZN, gathering immeasurable knowledge and experience. She says she is thrilled to be a part of the Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital team, where she is passionate about caring for all patients as if they were her own.

Sr Chantal (Chan) Robinson

Veterinary Nurse