Josh’s story starts rather sadly, as a tiny pup… He was found as a stray when he was four to six weeks old, badly injured. After numerous attempts to save his left foreleg, it finally had to be amputated. He was adopted by a loving family at about six months of age, which is where his story improves! However, his right elbow and shoulder started showing signs of degeneration and arthritis, due to the extra strain placed on this leg with him being a three-legged terrier, and due to damage sustained to the leg when he was injured originally.

Many medications were tried, including different types of anti-inflammatory drugs, but nothing seemed to help. This is where acupuncture came into the picture - he responded extremely well to his treatment sessions, and loved having the treatment done! He settled down as soon as the first needle was placed, and relied on his owner’s strong arms to hold him up for the rest of the session, as he became so relaxed, that he virtually fell over! His elbow and shoulder are not perfect, and they never will be, but the acupuncture helped to maintain his very good quality of life, which includes running around with his Patterdale terrier ‘brothers’ and searching for rabbits, both underground and overground!! Josh also won a few prizes - to name but two: he won his regional heat in the RSPCA ‘Rescue Dog of the Year’ competition, and was awarded first prize in the ‘Rescue Dog Class’ at the 2008 Salisbury Show. Our own special little champion! Since moving away from the Salisbury area, I’m no longer treating Josh, but he remains my special treasure.

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Michelle qualified as a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in 2002. The veterinary faculty is known affectionately as Onderstepoort, and is the only veterinary school in South Africa.

Michelle has been living and working in England since she became a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS) in 2003. She is married to a Devon lad, Tony, and they have a rescue dog, Minx, and two cats, Bill and Knuckles.

After spending a year in mixed practice in Devon, they moved to Salisbury, where Michelle has since been working solely with small animals.

Michelle’s interest in complementary therapies was sparked when she was a teenager, when a homeopath in her home town helped to treat her various allergies. She has since undergone kinesiology, acupuncture and chiropractic treatments, and would recommend them to anyone. She believes in combining traditional veterinary medicine and surgery with complementary therapies, so as to ensure the best possible treatment options for her patients. She has done a course in Veterinary Acupuncture, and plans to be trained in Reike and homeopathy too.

The company Michelle Stead Ltd (not a particularly imaginitive name for a company!) was started so that Michelle could realise her dream of building an animal acupuncture consultancy. She keeps her general veterinary skills up to date by doing locum work for various practices.

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