Meet the Team

I was born and raised on a game and livestock farm in the Eastern Province of South Africa. After the obligatory 5 1/2 years of student life at the University of Pretoria Onderstepoort Veterinary Faculty, I qualified in 1989.
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My next move was 15 months compulsory national service in the South African Defence Force. I spent 12 months of this working as a vet in a rural tribal area, providing a service to the local farmers and pet owners.

With that obligation completed, I returned to my hometown to work in a mixed practice for 9 months before deciding to have a 6 month working holiday in the UK.

As the saying goes, the rest is history…

I joined Heathfield Vets in 1991 and became a partner in 1998.

I am married to Rose-Ann and am the proud father of 2 daughters, Natalie & Jaime.

We have 2 family cats, Tommy and Peter, and after much badgering by Jaime, a recently acquired Springer Spaniel called Nala.

We also have a small flock of pet chickens, which produce fresh eggs for the larder.

In my spare time I enjoy cross-country jogging and I’m also a fair weather cyclist, though a full time profession and a young family don’t allow too much time for these.

Having said that, I recently achieved a long held ambition by spending a major part of 2016 on my bike, culminating in a 9 day cycle ride from Land’s End to John o’ Groats while raising funds for Chestnut Tree House.

I enjoy the variety of work that is encountered at the practice. However I do spend most of my day treating and operating on family pets.

I particularly enjoy, and am interested in, surgery and I also practice acupuncture.

Ian

Ian Killian – BVSc MRCVS

I was born in South Africa and as part of my National Service, I spent two years in the Infantry Corps of the South African Defence Force, before enrolling as a Veterinary student at Onderstepoort, The University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Veterinary Science.

I completed my studies in 1989 and joined a mixed rural practice in Harrismith, South Africa, where I worked for three years.

In 1992 I started my own practice in the Karoo, an agricultural region famous for its sheep. It was a mixed practice, although most of my work centred around sheep reproduction.

This enabled me to make contact with experts in the field, which allowed my wife and I to visit the UK for the first time in 1994. We enjoyed it so much, that we decided to move here on a temporary basis in 1997.

Well, the temporary move became permanent and after spending seven years in another East Sussex practice, I joined Heathfield Vets as a partner in 2004, after catching up with Ian Killian, my old classmate from back in South Africa.

I’ve been married to my wife Katrien for 30 years. She is a primary school teacher.

We have two cats, Leeutjie, a very fluffy Moggie and Violet, an Oriental Shorthair.

I enjoy running and cycling in my spare time.

Philip Snyman – BVSc MRCVS