Passionate: New Collie veterinarian Faheem Noor loves working with animals.
COLLIE'S new veterinarian, Faheem Noor, spent his childhood moving between the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
Faheem's mother is from the UAE and his father from Malaysia, so when they separated, he and his sister alternated, year about, between the UAE and Malaysia.
It meant attending international schools and learning how to make friends quickly, so making the move to a small country town like Collie should have been "a walk in the park", but it came with some trepidation for Faheem.
"It was scary coming to Collie," he said.
He expected to be treated differently because of the colour of his skin, but he has been pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the welcome he has received.
"I feel welcomed in town. People don't see me as different," he said.
Faheem moved to Australia in 2006 to study at Murdoch University to fulfill his life-long ambition of becoming a vet.
"The teachers would ask me at school what I wanted to be and I would always say 'a vet'," he said.
"I have had animals all my life cats, chickens, ducks, hamsters, rabbits. I used to bring back strays and would get told off by my mum because I would want to keep them."
Growing up in two different countries meant Faheem got to experience a lot of different cultures.
In Malaysia there were a lot of Indian and Chinese people, and in Dubai there were people from all over the world, he said.
He also got to learn different languages, speaking Malay when he was with his father and English and Arabic when he was with his mother in Dubai.
Faheem completed his veterinary science degree last year and has really enjoyed working as a vet at Collie Veterinary Clinic.
"It was pretty hard at first, but I have had a lot of guidance and support," he said.
Faheem said if he could offer advice to pet owners, it would be to be aware of heat stroke, particularly when dogs are left in cars.
Recently he treated a dog with heat stroke. The dog had been left in a car for three hours in 40 degrees heat.
"I had to give it fluids and plasma and monitor it to make sure it was OK," he said.
"I had to check it every two hours and give it antibiotics and pain relief, it was very serious, it almost died."
Faheem said the owners were very sad and had felt terrible, not realising how easily a dog could suffer heat stroke.
Another recent experience has been treating a dog that had a twisted gut and a blocked gall bladder.
"He was in a lot of pain and he was in shock," Faheem says. "I had to do surgery and take out the gall bladder."
Faheem said the best part of his job was the satisfaction it provided.
"I wake up in the morning and I want to go to work, I look forward to it," he said.
"I like working with animals, you see different kinds of personalities, they are all different, some come in and are scared and some don't really care."
Faheem said the worst aspect of the job was occasionally seeing people who do not look after their pets. "You should be responsible, it is like having a child," he said.
He has two cats himself and he has named them after Harry Potter characters Draco and Luna.