ABOUT US
Meet the Team
For the Familypet Vet team learning never stops. We constantly ensure our pet care, medical and surgical skills are the world’s latest and best. Our team’s aim is to guarantee your peace of mind where your pet is concerned.
Our Veterinarians
Dr Katie Eley
Owned by Maltese X Mallow, young cat Ollie and old soul Burmese Syd
Katie is an Alum from the University of Adelaide and graduated in 2013 with a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine. She has worked in a few clinics over the years, including spending some time in the UK, before settling to work at Familypet Vet. She is our current Lead Veterinarian and enjoys working with cats, dogs and the odd ferret. Katie will tackle most things from internal medicine to surgery and dentistry, to pathology. She is also interested in broadening her skills in animal rehabilitation over the next couple of years, so watch this space.
In her downtime, Katie enjoys reading, gaming and spending time with her family. She has a Maltese X called Mallow, a young cat Ollie and an old soul Burmese called Syd.
Dr Arielle Bridges
Owned by 2 Golden Retrievers: Chad and Dizzie, Winx the Labrador and 2 Spoilt Cats
Dr Arielle grew up in Adelaide, graduating from The University of Adelaide’s Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 2015. She spent some time working in mixed practice in the Adelaide Hills before deciding to concentrate solely on providing exceptional small animal care. Arielle’s experience ranges from performing surgeries on rhinos in South Africa, to treating hopping mice and other tiny creatures.
Arielle is passionate about all aspects of small animal veterinary medicine, focusing on building a great rapport with clients to ensure the best possible outcomes for both her patients and clients. She has a strong interest in surgery and has undertaken extensive training to gain the most up-to-date training in dentistry and small animal reproduction. Outside of work, Arielle is kept busy by her 2-year-old son, 2 Golden Retrievers, Labrador and 2 cats. She also enjoys travelling, baking and playing sports if she ever gets a spare moment.
Dr Sarah Jayalamar
Owned by Labrador Sage, Husky Snow and Star the cat
Sarah grew up in Malaysia. She graduated with a DVM from University Pertanian Malaysia after which she worked in a small animal practice in Penang, Malaysia. She has since migrated to Australia and completed the National Veterinary Examination in 2017. She has worked in various small animal clinics in Adelaide and has completed an Emergency and Critical Care course. She has a passion for surgery, particularly soft tissue, and is currently undertaking further studies in her area of interest.
When she is not working, she enjoys travelling / camping in Australia (as long as there are flushing toilets), cooking and reading as well as spending time with her family and her Labrador called Sage, Husky called Snow and her cat, Star.
Dr Jordan Blyth
Owned by 2 Cats, Purrcival and Cleocatra
Jordan is a 2022 recent graduate Veterinarian from the University of Adelaide. You may recognise her as a nurse who worked here while completing her degree.
Born in New South Wales, Jordan spent most of her childhood in the Blue Mountains and later moved to the North Island of New Zealand. She now lives in the Adelaide Hills with her two fur children Purrcival and Cleocatra, who she has cared for since they were brought into the clinic as strays.
For as long as she can remember, Jordan has been passionate about working with animals, especially dogs, cats and pocket pets. She has a particular interest in soft tissue surgery and pathology. Outside of work, Jordan can usually be found with her nose in a book, camping, or swimming.
Our Nurses
Michelle Littlewood
Michelle knew from a very young age that she always wanted to work with animals. She completed her Certificate in Vet Nursing in 1987 as well as completing a course in Captive wildlife health and rehabilitation. Over the years this has helped her rescue and raise baby possums, birds and a few kangaroos. In 2000 she completed her Diploma in Vet Nursing and also studied to get accreditation in Delta Dog training.
Michelle has been a Vet Nurse here at Familypet Vet for 23 years and thoroughly enjoys her time here. Michelle’s interests outside of work include family time with her husband, children and 3 grandchildren and catching up with friends. She also tends her little farm which houses 3 sheep (Buddy, Chops and Minty), her dogs (Bella and Benda), a cat (Bidds), a Kangaroo (Rocklea), 3 lorikeets and a snake. Most people would recognise Bella who is often at the clinic as our assistant receptionist.
Bronwyn Thomas
Bronwyn grew up predominantly on a dairy farm surrounded by animals (clearly where it all began). She has nursed for many years, 26 of those years being with and helping establish Familypet Vet here in Coromandel Valley. She has had a long and varied career ranging from Practice Management, Head Nurse of an emergency centre and has also specialised in dermatology helping to establish Adelaide’s first Animal Skin and Allergy Clinic. She was also the national runner-up and winner of SA/NT Excellence in Veterinary Nursing in 1997. Outside of work, Bronwyn loves to travel, camping throughout Australia and when possible travels overseas. She is happily married with one wonderful son, has a very Hansome Norwegian Buhund named Boasson, Hurtle the Murray river long-neck turtle and Goeff and Merrill the goldfish.
Kaitlin
Kaitlin grew up surrounded by animals, especially the Cavalier breed, which is her favourite. BEWARE if you own one of these dogs, she might steal it.
Kaitlin is a Certificate IV Veterinary Nurse who gained her qualifications in Adelaide. She has been at Familypet Vet since 2019 and loves all aspects of her job, particularly monitoring anaesthetics and undertaking lab work. Kaitlin lives with her Moodle, Cricket, and loves to go to the beach, travel and scuba dive when she’s not at work.
Stacey
Stacey has been a Certificate IV veterinary nurse for 6 years. Her favourite parts include surgical nursing and taking care of hospitalised patients. Her most valuable time of day includes sending happy pets back to their owners.
Stacey joined the Familypet team just over 3 years ago and had been at a few other clinics around Adelaide before she found her place here. From a young age, she always knew she wanted to work with animals. She loves how every day being a veterinary nurse is different and that each day provides a different challenge. She is passionate about stress-free animal care and making our patients’ experience at the clinic more comforting.
She has a soft spot for kelpies and border collies and in her spare time, she loves spending time with her 8-year-old kelpie x border collie Chester who loves long scenic walks and playing with his toys. She loves to go for walks, to the gym or watch some Netflix.
Div
Div is one of our Saturday nurses who is also in his final year of vet at the University of Adelaide! He has a particular interest in behaviour, anaesthetics and dermatology! He is fur-dad to a gorgeous Netherland dwarf rabbit, Nyx, and has a passion for all things 4 legged, big or small! Outside of work and university, Div loves reading, cooking, going on runs and taking 674829 photos of his rabbit. He looks forward to helping you out on Saturdays!
Alistair
Alistair is another of our nurses and has completed a certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing. He graduated in late 2019 and has been working part time at Familypet Vet since. Alistair split his career to be a stay at home dad and raise his now almost 3 year old daughter. He has always loved animals and had, cats, dogs, birds, lizards and chickens growing up. He currently has a rescue cat named Mono who of course runs his household. It was this love of animals that led him to this profession and he feels very privileged to support, comfort and care for your beloved companions in his daily work life.
Sophie
Sophie is currently undergoing study at Tafe to become a qualified vet nurse. She has previously finished a Cert III in animal care and husbandry as well as a Certificate II in animal studies but her end goal is to become a qualified veterinarian. Sophie grew up on a farm which has an abundance of wildlife and animals for her to keep herself busy. Some of these animals include beef cattle, sheep, alpacas and chickens. She has one dog of her own, a Maremma x golden retriever called Jack, and two-family dogs, a coolie x border collie named Biff and a kelpie named Maggie.