Wednesday - appointment day. No great interesting appointments. It's been so slow that there were only 2 appointments in the morning and I only helped with one of them as I was on the phone with a client during the other one. Mostly just vaccination appointments - our bread and butter I guess you would say. Mostly the animals are good but sometimes you have to hold the dog or cat just right so the doctor doesn't get bit or scratched. Most of us techs are pretty good at it, you have to be for self preservation!
Thursday - surgery day. I had two dentals - both springer spaniel sisters. The one dog was very scared and you had to move slow and hold tight! Their teeth were atrocious so it gives you a really good feeling to send these dogs home with sparkling white clean teeth. Both dogs had gingivitis (yes, just like people) which means their gums were very red and inflammed. One dog had the start of ulceration of the cheek from the rough tartar rubbing against the inside of the cheek. This was the first time they had had dentals and it was very satisfying!
Let'see. Thursday was a long time ago. I did bring Emma's cat, Juju, in to be shaved. He has very cottony fur that mats easily. He looked great on the outside but when you petted him you could feel all the mats under neath. Emma and I have both tried to comb them out but Juju was never cooperative. Finally I bit the bullet and brought him in. I do this quite often at the clinic. Medium and long haired cats - often very fat - have to be shaved once a year because of matting. Juju had to be asleep for this as its a rare cat who lets you shave him while awake. I was very glad I had brought him in - the mats were horrendous! And the skin was starting to be affected. I usually do a "lion" cut - meaning a shave down the body of the cat, the legs to the knees or hocks depending on matting, the neck but I try to leave the 'ruff' around the head like a lions mane, and I leave the tail. Sometimes I actually have to shave the tail because of mats! Then I leave a tuft on the end, just like a lion's tail. Juju's tail was ok though. Here's a before and after picture.
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It will grow back, I promise. Juju was a little loopy all night but it didn't slow him down at all. By the next day he was back to his old tricks of jumping on the kitchen counter and stealing the meat that was defrosting....
Friday - I'm float. That means I do whatever needs to be done. At one point a couple brought their dog in to be cremated and ashes saved. They weren't clients any more but wanted the ashes after cremation. We are the only clinic in the area that does this. Other clinics often send bodies down to Iowa or over to Mankato but one of our doctors has a crematorium on his farm so we do this almost every day. Problem was this dog, a young black lab, had died suddenly, probably from being hit by a car. Owners will bring their dead animals in and the pets will often be bloody, stiff..not in good shape. Once the owner leaves, we have to bag the animal, which is hard if they've been dead any time at all. Pam helped me and we added this blue bag to the growing pile. Not a good week for big dogs in the area. Often the cold weather takes its toll on old animals. It's still hard. Later in the day, I helped with a 'put to sleep' appointment - an old yellow lab, his time up. With the owner silently crying, Dennis and I quickly took care of him. The dog died with his head resting on his owners feet.
I took care of the kennels, went into some appointments, unboxed the UPS deliveries, answered the phone (a LOT). Typical float day.
Saturday - my turn to work and open up. The doors are unlocked at 7 so I have to be there earlier to unlock the other doors, get the cash box out, transfer the phones, turn on lights... Once that was all done, I had one cat I had to take bandages off. The cat was a declaw from Friday. We keep the declaws overnight and take off the bandages on their feet the next morning. This is so 1) we can get the bandages off as owners have a hard time doing it, and 2) so we can check for bleeding. This little tortoiseshell was a real sweetie to work with. She had also been spayed at the same time and was ready for food at 7 in the morning. I cut the bandages off, pulling half her fur out as I pull the tape off. Sometimes I can do it myself and sometimes I can't. There's a rare cat that we have to gas down to get the bandages off! Cats can be very tricky patients.
It was a busy, busy morning. Lots of appointments (including another put to sleep). Two steers to be examined for health papers so they could go to a show next week, vaccinations, ear infections, itching...Pretty normal. My job was at the front desk though so I took care of the clients as they came in and answered the phone. As usual, Tom through a wrench in with a call to get some things ready for a pig producer. With waiting rooms full, phone ringing, steers waiting... the pig producer came in 5 minutes after I hung up with Tom. No time to get his things ready! Karla, who was working with me, had to go get the pig stuff ready while Dennis did the appointments be himself. There's only one doctor and two techs that work on Saturdays. Sometimes it's too many, sometimes not enough. Today it wasn't enough.
But we survived another Saturday. Jacky picked me up for lunch in town and we came back to wash the cars in the barn at the clinic. By the time my car was done, I had to start the kennels. Neither kennel help was able to work saturday night. Not too bad - just 5 dogs. But none of them wanted to potty in the outdoor runs so I hand walked each dog. I so wish people would leash train their dogs. If only they trained their dogs like in Europe. Every dog was a struggle and my hand was sore after fighting the leash. But I was successful as each one went for me. I'll be glad when these go home though - almost all are without manners at all and spoiled!
Glad to be home with my own, although they test me every day. Still, they know when they better straighten up!
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