My Wee Sis - Nominated for Vet Nurse OSCARS :-)

UPDATE - SHE BLOODY WON. MY WEE SIS IS OFFICIALLY THE BEST VETERINARY NURSE IN THE WHOLE OF BRITAIN.

So proud I could burst.



My wee sis has been a thorn in my side since she turned 8 and has been a pain in my arse for years.

When she was really wee, I used to feed her, mother her and speak for her. Then, she got older, found her own voice and I thought it was annoying.

If I wanted a biscuit, I could no longer pretend that it was cos my 'wee sis wanted one'. FFS.

In high school, I watched out for her, took beatings for her and generally made sure she was okay, even though at home she used to beat me with the hoover pipe on jobs day (Wednesday). To be fair I used to batter her back so it was always a fair fight and by the time Mama Raw came home, we were best friends (fake) and the house was clean (ish) and we would have bruises all over our arms (hidden, obv) and we'd be sitting next to each other on the couch nipping each other on the arms in secret (in the really fleshy bit that hurts).

We shared a bedroom until I was in 4th year at High School. Her side was neat and geometrically lined up, mine was just a heap. We both hated the other side of the room.  When we moved to what we affectionately called 'the mansion' we each got our own room. Cath's was organised with military precision and not a spec was out of place. My room was a different story. It was wall to ceiling Tom Cruise posters with a heap of stuff in the middle of the floor. I knew where everything was but it looked a bit like Stig of the Dump's house.

Sometimes, Cath would threaten to kill me with scissors if I dared step into her bedroom, so to annoy her I would do the 'dance over the threshold' and keep stepping in and out just to see her turn into the Tasmanian Devil. I would often go in and move things a couple of inches to see how long it would take her to notice. It was usually just seconds!

I now feel her pain as the OCD has finally worked its way down to me and I can't bear things not being where they should be...(thanks Papa Raw, ya radge).

Anyway, back to the point.  In High School, Cath decided she would quite like to be a vet. She studied hard but didn't make the grades needed for Vet School, so Mum and Dad spoke to her about being Veterinary Nurse instead.

My folks were amazing and big on maximising what you could do but equally big on helping you understand your limitations.

With Cath it was "why not be a Vet Nurse rather than a Vet - you love animals and a Vet doesn't really look after the animals - that's what a Vet Nurse does".

So, with the amazing encouragement from Mama and Papa Raw (and some slagging off by me), Baby Raw set out on a career of Vet Nursing.

In the meantime, she was humouring me by being part of the youth theatre I set up - yep, I got my wee sis singing on a stage. Amazeballs (she actually has a lovely voice but she'd never admit it).

Anyway, she started in a work placement post at a Vet Hospital when she was 14 and still in school.

She worked her way up through different Vet practices, working all the hours the big man sent, saving all the animals on the planet you care to name to become HEAD NURSE at Broadley's Veterinary Hospital in Stirling.

She has extra qualifications in 'Bereavement Counselling' and is a 'Specialist Nurse in Exotics and Wildlife'.

She has lectured to qualified vets at Glasgow Uni on rabbit care. Yep, my wee sis is brought in as an expert speaker - how AMAZING is that?

So, what is the point of this blog post? Well, she's only bloody gone and got herself nominated as one of the TOP 3 VET NURSES IN THE COUNTRY.  Yep, people think she is so amazing they have been voting and writing about her in their droves.
The finals will be in April and we don't even care if she doesn't win cos to us, she already has.

---
CATHERINE RAW - TOP BANANA.
She does my nut in, she angers me to the point I want to smash her face in, she makes me want to punch myself in my own face sometimes BUT, she also makes me laugh hysterically, she makes me want to keep doing what I'm doing, she makes life seem more fun, she is brilliant, she is an expert in her field, she thinks I'm brill, she is top banana at her work and if anyone says anything bad about her, they can consider themselves cursed.

For the avoidance of doubt, I am the ONLY one allowed to call her names and give her Chinese burns.

Love you Smeg xxxx

Catherine Raw RVN

Head Nurse, Bereavement Counsellor and Exotics Advisor
Catherine qualified in 1998. She has worked at Broadleys since 2000 and been leading our team of dedicated nurses since 2002.

I knew from a very young age that I wanted to work with animals, and I love every aspect of my job.

I love ‘little critters’ so much that I couldn’t resist having a few myself: 4 rabbits, 4 guinea pigs, a hamster, a gerbil and a degu.

In my spare time I enjoy crafts like card-making and scrapbooking.