Mike Sheldon BVM&S MRCVS
Mike has worked for Towcester Veterinary Centre since qualifying in 2003 from Edinburgh University, becoming a partner in 2011. Mike has particular interests in equine medicine, poor performance, dentistry and equine anaesthesia. He was responsible for the introduction of the practice’s dental and gastroscopy services now making up an integral part of the medicine department. Mike can often be found out on the road seeing clients but is increasingly in clinic with orthopaedic cases and anaesthesia monitoring for the surgical caseload. Mike is an active member of the wider equine community and owns two ponies with wife Alice. Mike also enjoys tennis, snowboarding and ultra marathon running. He has a two young daughters Matilda and Beatrix.
Andy Hayes BVetMed MRCVS
Andy qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 1991 and joined Towcester Veterinary Centre in October of the same year. Apart from a year’s sabbatical in South Africa in 1997, he has worked here ever since and became a partner in 1999. Andy was instrumental in setting up the equine clinic at Plum Park and has seen it expand from humble beginnings to the twelve-vet equine team we have today. He is particularly interested in lameness diagnosis and treatment. In 2023 he was voted as a finalist for the Petplan Vet of the Year awards. The team were very proud to see him recognised for his incredible work – he was the only equine vet to make it to the final from thousands of nominees across the country.
Andy is married, lives in Towcester and has three children. If he has any spare time, he enjoys playing tennis.
Gareth Keevill BVSc MRCVS
Gareth joined Towcester Veterinary Centre in 2000 after graduating from the University of Liverpool. He joined the partnership in 2009 and now heads up the farm department. He enjoys all aspects of his job, especially the interaction with farmers and being able to make a difference on the farm. He has a particular interest in herd and flock health planning and has a great interest in cattle fertility and mastitis. He is a registered plan user of the AHDB Mastitis Control Plan.
Gareth enjoys all sports and plays football regularly. He is a keen rugby fan and wishes he had been good enough to play for Wales. He lives in Towcester with his wife and two children.
Helena Brownfield DrMedVet MRCVS
Helena qualified from Szent Istvan University in Hungary in 2017. She joined the Towcester Vets team shortly after graduating.
Helena enjoys all aspects of the job, especially surgery, first opinion consulting, and out of hours work. Helena likes eventing her horses, running, and walking with her dogs. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her husband and two young daughters and their array of animals. Helena also became a partner at Towcester Vets in Spring 2024.
Jen Calder BVetMed PG Cert SAM MRCVS
Jen qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in London in 2010 and started working at Towcester Veterinary Centre shortly after. Her professional interests include gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, dermatology and emergency critical care. Jen also carries out endoscopy, bronchoscopy and rhinoscopy investigations. Jen is also part of our surgical referrals team, most recently gaining her certificate in small animal internal medicine.
Jen lives with two Border Terrier’s: Hartley and Winnie, a cat Astro and a tarantula called Tiki.
Aside from looking after her pets, Jen enjoys watching movies, going to concerts, walking and general outdoor pursuits.
Dr Catharina Beecroft BSc (Hons) DVM CertSAS MRCVS
Cat qualified from the Ontario Veterinary College in Canada in 2000. She came to the UK and worked in mixed practice for a few years before starting at Towcester Veterinary Centre in 2005. Cat became a partner in 2011 after passing the RCVS examination in Small Animal Surgery in 2006; and now works as part of our surgical referral team. Cat enjoys all aspects of surgery but particularly fracture management and cruciate surgery and, along with Helen, is one of the few people who carry out laparoscopic surgery in Northamptonshire.
When not in the operating theatre Cat likes spending time with her family and their pets. She enjoys horse riding, skiing, running, cycling, cooking and travelling and has completed several half marathons and triathlons.
