About Tom Cave
BVSc MSc (Clinical Oncology) DSAM MRCVS
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine
What is a Specialist in Internal Medicine?
Internal medicine specialists are experts in complexity. They are specially trained to solve diagnostic problems and, once the causes of illness are diagnosed, to help patients with complex and often chronic conditions. The recommendations they make should be based upon the unique situation of each patient and their owners.
To achieve this, they must see the big picture. Extensive training and knowledge of the entire body and its organ systems gives them a unique perspective on how everything works in unison. They routinely analyse and consider information from the patient’s history, physical exam, lab test results from blood and other body fluids, different forms of diagnostic imaging, and biopsies. They then need to connect all of these dots to be able to help.
Knowledge is important but experience can be even more so. Because Tom has spent so much of his career in busy clinical practice this breadth of experience helps Tom give owners and their vets the best possible support. He also understands that all recommendations must be rooted in pragmatism considering not just what might be possible but also what the owner’s wishes are, what they can afford financially, manage logistically, and where the balance between risk and benefit lies.
Tom's Career
Tom qualified as a vet from Bristol University in 1996. He has been in busy clinical practice ever since.
He worked in primary care practices for three years predominantly caring for dogs and cats where he achieved the RCVS Certificate in Small Animal Medicine. This postgraduate qualification identifies a general practitioner with a particular interest and further skill in the discipline. He then spent a year working in a busy emergency clinic covering much of southern Wales.
Tom then began specialist training at the University of Glasgow’s vet school as the RCVS Clake & Sparrow resident in oncology and haematology. At Glasgow he worked in the busy oncology and internal medicine departments for 3 years. He also undertook further externship training in the USA at the University of California in Davis and the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Centre in Seattle. He also began a two-year taught and research Master’s degree in human clinical oncology at the Cancer Research UK’s Institute of Cancer Studies at Birmingham University which he was awarded with distinction in 2003. In his final year at Glasgow, Tom became Senior Clinical Oncologist with full responsibility for running the clinic and undergraduate oncology lectures.
In 2003 Tom returned to the south-west and spent a year working at a private referral clinic as their clinician in small animal internal medicine and oncology. He obtained the RCVS Diploma in Small Animal Medicine in 2004 which is equivalent to a consultant’s exams in human medicine. The following year he was awarded RCVS Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine status which he maintains to date. This recognises not just that an individual has passed challenging exams and has deep experience but also has “national and international acclaim and publishes widely in their field.”
In 2004 Tom and his wife Claire set up their own private referral practice in Somerset accepting referrals from other vets throughout south-western Britain. Initially Cave Referrals saw patients at three primary care veterinary hospitals spread across south-western Britain with Tom as the sole clinician. In 2011 Tom & Claire built their own purpose-built referral hospital in Somerset, employed specialist vets in other disciplines, and renamed their business Cave Veterinary Specialists. Tom & Claire grew this family business to employ 95 staff when, in 2018, it was sold to the corporate Linnaeus who continue to operate it today as one of several referral practices.
After a brief stint as Clinical Director, Tom left Cave Vet Specialists and in 2020 set up Lazarus Veterinary Specialists to provide specialist oncology and medicine support within primary care practices. Until 2024 he also provided a busy medical advice service for vets submitting clinical samples to the VPG laboratories throughout the UK and Ireland. He now continues to do this within Lazarus Veterinary Specialists. He is also a trustee of the Animal Cancer Trust Charity.
Tom and Claire have three children. They have three dogs: Bear, Moose, and Pete, Winston the cat, Paddy the donkey, Ben the working Clydesdale horse, and run a farm on Exmoor which they manage regeneratively with English Longhorn cattle, Exmoor Horn sheep, and several Mangalitza pigs. When the opportunity arises Tom still enjoys mountaineering and sailing.
