After an influx of nominations for our Kingston's Best Vet competition, our third featured vet this week is Sinead Armstrong from Michael Hamblin's veterinary surgery in Chessington.

Sinead has been nominated by Angela Stretton from Chessington.

Mrs Stretton said: "She is very approachable and always has time for her clients. You always know you are getting the very best care and advice. I feel she deserves this acknowledgement for all her hard work and dedication."

Sinead, 34, has worked at Michael Hamblin's for four years. She loves working with animals so much that her two dogs come with her to the surgery every day. She said: "The hours are long in this job, so I stay sane by walking my dogs twice a day, once before work in the morning and then when I've finished consulting in the evenings. It relaxes me. My life revolves around them."

Sinead was born in Northern Ireland and announced her intention to be a vet at the age of just six. She moved to Cambridge at 18 to study for her degree in veterinary medicine. "It was hard work, probably more than studying to be a doctor because animals can't tell us how they feel when they're ill," she said.

Over the last four years at the Chessington surgery, Sinead has established important relationships with her clients and finds it difficult not to get attached to the animals.

She said: "If you don't care about an animal, you can't do your job properly. The better you know an animal, the easier you can recognise when they're not themselves and the quicker you can treat them."

The vet with the most votes from Kingston Guardian readers will win the title of Kingston's Best Vet.