Growing up in Enugu, south-east Nigeria, gave 36-year-old Obi Amazu plenty of opportunity to develop an interest in animals.

"There were lots of dogs running around all the time and there was no one to look after them, so I started to care for them. In a way, they became my closest friends," says Obi, remembering his childhood.

It was this early contact with animals that led him to the University of Nigeria to study vetinery medicine before coming to the UK in 1992.

Obi, who lives in South Croydon and works at the Nelson Surgery in Pampisford Road, says there are many skills needed to become a vet: "You need dedication to cope with the length and volume of study, but compassion is also important; both for the animals, who are often scared and unwilling to be treated, but also for the owners who can be very upset."

He adds: "Intuition is also very important. You need to develop a sixth sense to be able to connect with the animals and determine the problem."

Obi, who practised in Potters Bar for two years before settling in Croydon, says there are highs and lows to the job.

"One of the most rewarding feelings is making an animal feel better and the smile that you get from the owner of the pet.

"But one of the hardest things is when you have to put a fit and healthy animal down because it has bitten someone. It can be very distressing to put an animal to sleep when it bounds into the room wagging its tail."

After treating sick animals for more than a decade Obi's advice to any budding vet is to gain as much experience as possible.

"For anyone interested in becoming a vet, I would say put the work in early by gaining hands-on experience. This may be by helping out at a local practice for a couple of hours a week or even gaining experience as a farmhand or helping out during the lambing season.

"Developing good people skills is very important for dealing with worried pet owners sensitively and patience is a necessity as, unlike humans, the animals can't tell you what is wrong with them or where it hurts."

"Above all," he adds, "expect the unexpected. I was once expressing a dog's anal gland, which often gets filled up with an unpleasant and smelly liquid.

"While I was squeezing the gland to empty it, the liquid shot out straight out of the dog, completely covering my face, and landed in the worried owner's mouth!"