About
About Us
Nursing Pawfection
Nursing Pawfection is a small, local business dedicated to providing in-home veterinary nursing care to your beloved pets. Nursing Pawfection is based in Rolleston and travels to other parts of Selwyn and Christchurch.
Courtneay is a qualified Veterinary Nurse with experience in general practice, mobile nursing, and shelter medicine.
Courtneay has two dogs, eight cats, and a variety of foster animals at home who keep her learning, and looking for new and better ways to improve the lives of all animals. They also contribute to the experience and compassion Courtneay brings to every house visit.
Qualified Vet Nurse
Animal Lover
11 Years' Experience
Guardian to 2 Dogs & 8 Cats
Meet The Team
Courtneay
Courtneay is owner and operator of Nursing Pawfection.
Courtneay has always loved spending time with animals and often prefers their company to humans. At 21, Courtneay decided to turn that love into a career and studied Veterinary Nursing at CPIT. Courtneay gained a Certificate in Veterinary Nursing – the only qualification at the time. Since then, Courtneay has worked in a number of general practice veterinary clinics in catteries, reception, surgical nursing, hospital nursing, as head nurse and practice manager. Courtneay has also worked in shelter medicine for several years and volunteers her time to assist with desexing programs whenever possible.
After working for Mobile Nursing company, Courtneay was blown away by how much more relaxed pets and their parents were at home. In 2001, Courtneay made the decision to go out on her own as a mobile vet nurse and so in January 2022, Nursing Pawfection began. Courtneay was excited about providing a personalised service with as little stress as possible in the comfort of a pet’s home. Courtneay was equally as excited about creating a better work-life balance for herself and spending more time with her partner and fur-family.
Courtneay often misses the busy clinic environment, a big surgical list and intensive hospital cases but she loves seeing her patients in their homes, getting to know their families and having more time for her own family. Courtneay still does some locum nursing at the SPCA to keep her clinical skills sharp and get her surgical nursing fix.
When she is not working, Courtneay is usually reading, scrapbooking, doing jigsaw puzzles, gardening, walking or training Ollie and Pilot or playing with and snuggling her felines.
Galen
Galen is Courtneay’s partner, and Dad to all the Nursing Pawfection canines, felines and fosters.
Galen and Courtneay went to school together and had lots of mutual friends in their early 20’s, but never had much to do with each other. Probably because they are both nerdy introverts who love books and animals so neither was going to start a conversation! Galen and Courtneay start dating in January 2017 and have been together ever since.
Galen may not be directly involved with the running of Nursing Pawfection, but he is an important part. He gave Courtneay the encouragement and confidence she needed to go out on her own and is incredibly supportive. He provides moral and emotional support, and is frequently responsible for making sure Courtneay eats and takes breaks from working!
Galen also loves animals almost as much as Courtneay. Many people think Courtneay is responsible for there being so many furry critters in the house all the time but Galen certainly doesn’t object to a new addition – foster or permanent! He’s never unhappy to see Courtneay arrive home with a carrier… he’s just excited to find out who is inside and if he can give them cuddles.
Galen works in I.T. and goes to university part-time which keeps him very busy. When he’s not working, he can usually be found reading or gaming with a cat or two on his lap.
Ollie
Named for the novel ‘Oliver Twist’
Date of Birth: 13th May 2013
Breed: Greyhound cross
Nicknames: Roadblock, Poodle, Olls, Olliedog
Ollie joined the Nursing Pawfection family as a young puppy. Ollie is Courtneay’s second dog and after Codie was quite a shock to the system. As a youngster, Ollie was very destructive, had terrible separation anxiety, endless energy and fear aggression. He had some traumatic and horrible experiences with people and other dogs so there was a lot going on! It took a long time and a lot of work, but Ollie has turned into an amazing adult and now senior dog. He taught Courtneay an incredible amount about dogs, behavior, herself and has shaped her into the person she is today. Ollie still does not like other dogs and is wary of people he doesn’t know, but he has faith in his Mum not to put him in a situation he can’t cope with. The trust he has in Courtneay is incredible.
Ollie has had some pretty big adventures in his life. He competed in agility for many years. Mum retired him after an injury but he still likes to show off in the backyard with his small jumps. Ollie spent his early years coming to work with Mum each day and was often called on to be a blood donor or a demonstration dog for restraint, ultrasound etc. Ollie has had many vet visits for medical reasons too. He has had spinal surgery to treat a herniated disk, bladder surgery to place an artificial urethral sphincter for incontinence, he has regular physiotherapy to keep his spine happy and help with his strained iliopsoas muscles – the injury ending his agility career. Ollie also has a long list of food allergies which required a year long food trial to diagnose as well as geriatric onset laryngeal paralysis. He’s ripped nails, cut paw pads, had wounds from dog attacks and even had a grass seed travel under his tongue and lodge in his salivary gland causing his neck to swell up like a balloon! Life with Ollie means never a dull moment – or a spare dollar – but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ollie is often hard at work testing out new products for Mum – he’s the go to to check for toy durability and of course provides household security and supervision of his younger siblings.
In his spare time, Ollie can usually be found snoozing on the bed or couch. He still loves a good walk as long as there is no rain, snow, frost or excessive cold thank you very much.
JD
Named after Jack Daniels Whiskey
Date of Birth: 17th February 2015
Nicknames: J-Dizzle, Jackyboy, Fatboy
JD joined the Nursing Pawfection family as a tiny 5-week-old kitten. He was presented to a vet clinic to be euthanised as he was ‘wild’ but Courtneay fell in love with him immediately. He’s lucky he was so cute as he came with fleas, worms, and ringworm! After a lot of treatments, food and TLC, JD turned into a stunning cat.
In his younger days, JD got into a lot of fights and has had more abscesses than he can count. He decided it would be a great idea to steal some Paracetamol from Courtneay’s Grandad, nearly died, and needed nearly a month of intensive nursing care and medication. Lucky he picked a vet nurse to be his Mum! Several years ago JD was diagnosed with asthma but he is also allergic to the treatment options so he requires careful monitoring and life style adjustments
JD was initially quite put out about being an indoor cat with catio access. No more fighting or stealing neighborhood cat food! He has since realised life is a lot less stressful this way and now enjoys lazing about in the sun without worrying about being attacked by other cats.
JD is a very hard worker and takes his role as administration assistant very seriously. Courtneay clearly would not be able to write her notes with out him cradled in her arm like a baby!
Pilot
Named for the dog in the novel ‘Jane Eyre’
Date of Birth: 10th October 2016
Breed: Border Collie x Springer Spaniel
Nicknames: Pi, Pikelet, Pikey
Pilot also joined the Nursing Pawfection family as a puppy. He was from a ‘whoops’ litter. With two working breeds, Courtneay expected Pilot would be as full of beans as Ollie. Courtneay thought she may as well have another mad hound since she spent so much time training, walking and doing agility with Ollie anyway! Pilot had other ideas. Pilot is in fact a couch potato at heart. He won’t say no to a walk but he’d just as happily snooze on the couch all day. He definitely does not see the point in agility, scent-work, competitive obedience or Rally-O thank you very much.
Just when Courtneay thought she had this puppy training business sorted, Pilot threw a spanner in the works. Learning to motivate a quite unmotivated puppy was such a shock after eager to please Codie and highly motivated Ollie. She always gets the dog she needs not the one she wants! Despite being very different than expected, Pilot is a lovely dog. He would let anyone give him belly rubs all day long – for their enjoyment not his of course. He has an intense dislike for other dogs despite being well socialised as a puppy. He has had the bad luck of being attacked while on lead several times so who can blame him really!
Pilot has managed to keep his medical misadventures to a minimum which is quite surprising considering he will eat literally anything and wonder if it was food afterwards. His favourite tasty treat is cat poo. Pilot has just started physiotherapy as he is showing very early signs of arthritic change in his hips and is just starting to slow down on walks.
As you have probably guessed, Pilot is not a hard worker. He doesn’t care for security detail, and is just as likely to chase his siblings as he is to supervise them. He is always happy to taste test new dog treats but it doesn’t say much about anything if Pilot is happy to eat it.
Tibbs
Named after Sargent Tibbs in ‘101 Dalmatians’
Date of Birth: 4th November 2017
Nicknames: Tiblets, Tibbles, Tubbs
Tibbs joined the Nursing Pawfection family, along with his sibling Sterling at around 5 weeks old. They are technically the first foster fails! Courtneay found them in the middle of a back road when driving home very late. She picked up Tibbs who promptly tried to attack her. The only method of containment she had was a cooler bag so in he went, closely followed by Sterling. This was the day Courtneay started keeping a cat carrier in her car and a love for taming wild kitties was born. Courtneay was adamant she would only foster Tibbs and Sterling until they were social and around 12 weeks old. Clearly that did not go to plan.
Tibbs has lived a life full of adventure and mischief! In 2020, Tibbs was shot by a neighbour and required multiple surgeries and weeks of intensive hospitalisation. He is very lucky to be alive. This was the incident that caused Courtneay and Galen to build their catio and keep all of their felines contained. Aside from this, Tibbs also has Asthma so needs an inhaler every day – another learning curve for Courtneay.
Tibbs is a simple boy. He enjoys food, sunning himself in a hammock and cuddles with Mum and Dad. He’d give it all up in a heartbeat for time with his Ollie Dog! He adores Ollie and nothing makes him happier than sleeping next to Ollie, rubbing around Ollie’s legs or getting a big slobbery Ollie kiss on top of his head.
Tibbs has a very important role and we are blessed to have him on the team. Tibbs is our socialisation cat. He is kind, patient and gentle with our foster cats, kittens and any new member of our family. We haven’t had a foster cat or kitten yet who doesn’t ADORE Tibbs.
Sterling
Named after Sterling Archer in the show ‘Archer’
Date of Birth: 4th November 2017
Nicknames: Sterly-Whirly, Twirly, Whirly-Bird
Sterling joined the Nursing Pawfection family, along with his sibling Tibbs at around 5 weeks old. They are technically the first foster fails! Courtneay found them in the middle of a back road when driving home very late. She picked up Tibbs who promptly tried to attack her. The only method of containment she had was a cooler bag so in he went, closely followed by Sterling. This was the day Courtneay started keeping a cat carrier in her car and a love for taming wild kitties was born. Courtneay was adamant she would only foster Tibbs and Sterling until they were social and around 12 weeks old. Clearly that did not go to plan.
Sterling has also had his share of adventures and caused Courtneay and Galen more than one grey hair! His greatest hits are going missing for 10 months in 2019 and developing a taste for plastic which resulted in a gastrointestinal obstruction requiring major surgery in 2023. During his 10 months away from home, Sterling injured his back leg and had a large scar when he returned home. Over a year after returning home, he became obsessed with this and would chew his leg open. Sterling spent nearly 18 months in e-collars and various body suits and leg covers while taking a variety of medication and undergoing several surgeries to stop this self-harming behavior. To this day, Courtneay and Sterling’s vet do not know what started this obsession, but they have finally found a medication, supplement and food combination which keeps him a happy healthy boy. We won’t be tinkering with that any time soon!
Despite being a stressful little critter, Sterling is a huge Mummy’s boy. He thinks Galen is OK but cuddles with Courtneay are just the bee’s knees. He has been known to dribble from joy and usually sleeps with his paws wrapped around Courtneay’s hand.
Sterling’s role at Nursing Pawfection is security. He regularly checks the catio fences to ensure there are no gaps someone could sneak in. Of course, if he finds one, the only way to let us know is squeeze through the gap, realise he dislikes the big wide world and sing the songs of his people until Mum comes to the rescue. Of course Courtneay can’t always find the gap right away so Sterling will happily repeat the process until she sees where he is getting out. Thankfully Sterling is so good at his job, no new gaps have been found in quite some time.
Cogsworth
Named after the character in ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Date of Birth: 16th February 2020
Nicknames: Coggles, Cogdog, Cogs
Cogsworth was originally a foster cat called Charlie. He has a chronic skin condition which meant the rescue didn’t consider him adoptable. He was such an easy-going lovely boy, Courtneay and Galen couldn’t see him euthanised so in 2024 he officially joined the Nursing Pawfection family. A new start means a new name and Cogsworth suited his personality so well.
Cogsworth has changed a lot since becoming an official family member. He used to love foster kittens and was happy to see a new cat anytime. Now it’s his house, he is much more selective about who is allowed in it. If foster cats and kittens are annoying him, he goes into the catio (where they can’t follow) and glares at them through the glass door. He has also decided being a sixth of Ollie’s size shouldn’t stop him from being in charge. He has no problem telling the dogs what they can and can’t do! We are thrilled to be pretty on top of Cogsworth’s skin condition and he very rarely has flare ups these days.
Cogsworth loves a good play with Mum so he has taken on the role of cat toy tester for the website.
Atticus
Named after Atticus Finch in the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
Date of Birth: 9th March 2020
Nicknames: Atti, Fatti, Fats
Atticus was adopted from the CatNap Cafe in 2022 shortly after the loss of Old Man Bombay. Despite having three cat siblings and two dogs at the time, Tibbs really struggled with the loss of Bombay so Courtneay and Galen were actively looking for a companion for Tibbs. Atticus was everything they expected and more!
Atticus really helped Tibbs through his grief. For the first year, Atticus and Tibbs slept cuddled up together constantly. They are less dependent on one another these days. Atticus has taken on the annoying little brother role, but they can still be found having a late afternoon cuddle most days.
Atticus is such a character. When he first arrived, he hated the dogs and if he wanted to go from room to room, would catch a ride on a human’s shoulder. He is completely comfortable with his dogs now but shoulder rides are still his preferred method of transport.
Atticus also has the best bedtime routine. Every single night, Courtneay and Galen must provide many headbutts before getting into bed. Once the headbutt quota has been met, Courtneay must select a CatNap Cafe fish from Atticus’s own special toy box and throw it for him to savage. If a fish is not selected, human feet will be savaged instead. Sometimes Atticus is unhappy with the selected fish and will dig through the toy boy and carry his own selection back to bed.
It is Atticus’s belief that he is a hardworking kitty creating wonderful social media content for Courtneay. Why else would he sleep with his tongue out?
Nimbus
Named for the Nimbus 2000 in ‘Harry Potter’
Date of Birth: 6th January 2023
Nicknames: Nimmy, Nimbley-Bimbley, Bim, Bimbles
Little Nimbus was another foster fail. After the loss of Crowley, Courtneay brought home this frozen, emaciated, flea burdened, fluey, anemic, little kitten and both Courtneay and Galen fell in love. He was one of the most underweight animals Courtneay has ever seen and his journey back to health was a long one. Due to untreated cat flu, his left eye was in a very bad way and required eye drops every 2 hours to try and save it. Courtneay and Galen had a wedding to attend in Dunedin, so Nimbus went on a road trip and stayed in a hotel with them so he could receive his eye drops on schedule. It was worth the extra effort – look at those beautiful little eyes!
Nimbus is likely the most spoilt little cat you will ever meet. His rough start meant he never really caught up. He never made it to 3kg and is just tiny. For a long time he couldn’t jump well enough to follow the big cats so he would wail whenever he got left behind. Of course his parents came running and let him use their backs to climb up where he wanted to go. Nimbus still knows a wail will bring the humans running to do his bidding!
Little Nimbus is always hard at work creating social media content with his delicious little face and helping Mum eat her lunch on the days she can pop home – Avocado days are his favourite! Nimbus also has an eye for administrative duties, regularly assisting with the unpacking of orders and reading Courtneay’s emails before she sends them.
Hiccup
Named after the character in ‘How to train your dragon’
Date of Birth: 24th January 2023
Nicknames: Lumpy, Lumpy-doodle, Doodle, Doodle-bug, Buggly-boy
Hiccup is yet another foster fail. He was born via cesarean section while his Mum was undergoing emergency surgery. His Mum needed extra TLC while she recovered, so her and her 4 kittens all came to stay with Courtneay. All of Hiccup’s siblings went to their homes before Hiccup was cleared for adoption. He had Pododermatitis or ‘Pillow Pad’ which means his paw pads were swollen and required treatment before he could be cleared. While he was being treated, he and Nimbus bonded and Courtneay and Galen couldn’t bring themselves to separate them.
It’s never been smooth sailing for Hiccup. At just 6-months old, both of his patella began luxating – his kneecaps popped out. He was in a lot of pain and required surgery on both knees. Due to his young age, he had surgery with a specialist to give him the best chance of a good outcome. Unfortunately, Hiccup had a growth spurt after surgery which caused some unexpected complications and he required revision surgery 8 months later. Despite all of this care with a specialist surgeon, ongoing physiotherapy and very dedicated parents, Hiccup’s knees are still not 100%. He suffers chronic pain and requires an array of medication, supplements and lifestyle management to keep him happy and comfortable.
With all of his challenges, Hiccup has been given a permanent exemption from working. This is probably a good thing as he likes to spend the majority of his time chasing flies or sleeping in outrageous positions with his feet sticking out in weird directions.
Bramble
Named for Bombay Bramble Gin
Date of Birth: 27th December 2023
Nicknames: The Brambler
Bramble is the newest member of the Nursing Pawfection team and is still finding her feet – she only has three of them. Once she has finished settling in, she’ll be sure to write up a fabulous profile for you all.
Codie
Date of Birth: 21st October 2002
Date of Retirement to the Rainbow Bridge: 17th May 2013
Breed: Labrador Retriever x Border Collie
Nicknames: Codes, Muttnuts
Codie is the original Nursing Pawfection canine and Courtneay’s first ever own pet. Her family had many pets in her life but this boy was hers!
Codie came to Courtneay as 12 week old puppy when she was only 11 years old and he grew into the perfect dog. Courtneay didn’t know much of anything about caring for animals let alone training them, so she was very lucky. Codie was an easy going chap who was great with dogs, cats, adults and children. He walked like an angel on lead and knew all the basic commands without Courtneay teaching him. Whether Courtneay was running around playing or sitting and reading a book, Codie was happy to be by her side and match her energy.
While Courtneay was studying Veterinary Nursing, Codie started having horrible gastrointestinal upsets. He would regularly soil himself because he didn’t know when he needed to go to the toilet and he found this incredibly distressing. As did Courtneay as he slept in her bed! Initially Codie would have several weeks between episodes and each episode would be brief, but after nine months, many vet visits, tests, specialists trips, medications and diet changes, he was having more bad days than good. Making the descision to farewell Codie at only nine years old was heartbreaking, but it was the right thing for him.
Codie’s journey taught Courtneay so much about animals and the kind of Vet Nurse she wanted to be. There were so many things she would do differently for Codie if she could start back with that little 12 week old puppy, but even that feeling of wanting to do better has helped her guide her clients through feelings of guilt. When we know better, we do better and that’s what’s important!
Bombay
Named after Bombay Sapphire Gin
Date of Birth: 7th May 2002
Date of Retirement to the Rainbow Bridge: 9th January 2022
Nicknames: Bombdizzle, Bombs, Old Man, Sir
Bombay was the second feline to join the Nursing Pawfection family and was already a senior when he arrived. He showed up at a cafe Courtneay was working in while studying Veterinary Nursing. One of the seating areas had been closed off when Courtneay arrived at work and when she asked why, they told her it was because there was a cat in there attacking customers and staff. They weren’t kidding! Bombay hissed and swatted at Courtneay as soon as she went in, and she had her work cut out for her trying to secure him in a carrier. A quick trip to the vet and they confirmed he was desexed but not microchipped so Courtneay took him home while she tried to find his owner.
No one ever came looking for Bombay and after several months of advertising and dropping flyers, Courtneay begrudgingly accepted that she had a new cat. Bombay was not what she would have chosen! He was angry, hissed at her all the time, and regularly stalked her in the garden and would attack her when she wasn’t looking. She has many Bombay scars on her arms. It took well over 18 months for Courtneay to win Bombay over. Once she did though, she was his person. He was still a cranky old man with everyone else, but he loved his Mum!
By the end of his life, Bombay had a huge list of health issues. He suffered from dementia, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and hyperthyroid. Despite all of this, he lived to be almost 20 years old and was happy right up to the end. He trained his humans to turn on the shower for him to drink from, had them build their first catio so he didn’t get lost with his dementia, and demanded one human pick him up for cuddles while the other fed him his favourite treats. The day he crossed the rainbow bridge, he stopped eating and took himself out to his catio instead of having morning cuddles with Courtneay and she knew it was time. He drifted off in his big throne (cat tower) in the sunshine.
Bombay is the reason every animal since him has been a rescue animal of some kind. She never would have chosen him but he chose her and she couldn’t have loved him more if she tried.
Crowley
Named after Crowley in the show ‘Supernatural’
Date of Birth: 26th October 2022
Date of Retirement to the Rainbow Bridge: 6th January 2023
Little Crowley was born in Courtneay’s bathroom! His Mum (Sahara) had a high-risk pregnancy, so Courtneay brought her home to foster in case of complications. She was an amazing Mum and had no issues what-so-ever.
Courtneay found homes for Crowley’s four siblings with clients of hers and Crowley was the only one not spoken for. Courtneay and Galen couldn’t part with him so they accepted the foster fail!
Crowley’s death is one of the hardest, most heartbreaking things Courtneay has ever been through. While Courtneay and Galen were out seeing a movie, one of the dogs broke into Crowley’s crate and killed him. The dogs have meet hundreds of foster cats and kittens over the years and all supervised introductions with Crowley had gone well so to this day Courtneay doesn’t understand why.
It was a very long road rebuilding Courtneay and Galen’s relationship with the dogs. It was an even longer road for Courtneay forgiving herself, and some days that is still a struggle. Courtneay’s heart still aches at the thought of Crowley, but she carries him with her any time a client experiences the traumatic loss of their own fur-baby.
Brandy
Date of Birth: 6th September 2009
Date of Retirement to the Rainbow Bridge: 3rd January 2025
Nicknames: Tart
Madam Brandy is the original Nursing Pawfection feline. When she was 18, Courtneay asked her Nana (who raised her) if she could get a kitten and Nana said ‘no’. So of course, Courtneay got a little Brandy kitten and hid her in her bedroom. She was busted within a week but Nana’s a big softie and let Brandy stay.
When Brandy was given to Courtneay, she was told Brandy was a girl and Courtneay didn’t think to check. Turns out, Brandy was in fact a boy! Courtneay felt like she was too darn pretty to be a boy, so after her neuter, Courtneay continued to call her ‘she’. There have been some very entertaining conversations with her vets over the years!
Brandy was one sassy little madam who loved everyone EXCEPT her Mum Courtneay. Maybe because she kept telling everyone she’s a girl, or maybe because Mum was always bringing home more furry family members. Brandy’s Dad Galen didn’t come into her life until she was already 10 years old, but Brandy was a true Daddy’s girl. Their bond was amazing. When she wasn’t adoring her Dad or having him adore her, she could be found rolling on warm concrete in the catio, savaging her favourite toys, snoozing with Hiccup or terrorizing Nimbus.
Brandy lived a long and happy life. She had a heart murmur and some stress related issues which kept her on medication from a young age but she was a relatively low maintenance girl for most of her life. After Bombay’s passing, she immediately took to being the high-maintenance senior. In the space of two years, Brandy was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis, chronic inflammatory bowel disease, chronic hepatitis and chronic kidney disease. A cancerous mass called a squamous cell carcinoma also developed on her lower jaw in June 2023. Treatment of this cancer needs to be aggressive surgery, chemotherapy and radiation which would have been very hard on Brandy. As treatment usually only increases the life expectancy from 3 months to a year at most, Courtneay and Galen elected for palliative care and spoiling their girl rotten. Brandy has never been one to do what’s expected, and she continued to live happily with her Dad at her beck and call for 18 months after her diagnosis!
Deciding on the ‘right time’ to say goodbye to Brandy was very challenging for both Courtneay and Galen and they experienced a lot of anticipatory grief. The day Brandy crossed the rainbow bridge was the perfect time for her and she had the very best last morning filled with her favourite cat treats, cheese, ice-cream, and a visit from her Uncle (Courtneay’s Brother) and Nana. The wonderful vets from Our Pet’s Goodbye came to her and she passed peacefully in her own bed.