04/10/2008 by Arielle.

Every evening when I return from work, my children ask me what I have seen in my day. Today’s memorable consultations have to be a gorgeous black Pug puppy called Bubu for his second vaccinations. The owners made me laugh when they said that when he was 6 weeks old, you could not make out any facial features in his tiny squashed black face!

My second memorable case was a Pekin duck that came in. The owner had rescued 3 of them quite literally from the pot (they are the breed used to fatten up for Pekin duck - a delicacy in certain restaurants - not the ones I go to!!)

She had 3 ducks that lived in her garden but had the freedom to leave her property and go onto the canal to swim. She had found one dead and one with a large open wound on his neck on the canal. There were no feathers anywhere so she did not imagine it was a fox or dog but was concerned that a very territorial swan had attacked them.

We x-rayed the dead duck and found a pellet in his chest. How cruel some people can be with such beautiful creatures. She now had the evidence needed to report the incident with the x-ray. The duck that came into my consulting room appeared bright, made a huge mess with his water and droppings all over my consulting room floor; but hopefully will respond well to the antibiotic treatment and will live with his pellet buried in the muscle in his neck.

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17/09/2008 by Arielle.

We drove for a few hours at the weekend to meet up with university friends whom we had not seen for many years. We all graduated from the same vet school in the 90s and it was wonderful to see them and meet their children.

We shared in the joys and stresses of being ‘veterinary mummies’ and balancing our family with work. One friend Mary really made me chuckle but at the same time, I really sympathised. Like me, she only worked part-time so that her life was balanced between veterinary and her husband and 2 young children. She told me that she worked every morning simply because people actually paid her to listen to her - no one listened to her at home!

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10/09/2008 by Arielle.

My friend (also my childminder) has a lovely Labrador cross called Spud. It was my children who came to tell me that Spud was being sick all over their house that prompted me to quickly visit and help.

She explained how Spud also had nasty diarrhoea when she came down this morning and appeared very weak. She also didn’t do her regular ‘hoovering up’ of the remains of children’s tea under the dining room table. She was a veterinary nurse before having chidren and knew to starve Spud for 24 hours. I then advised a bland diet of chicken and rice for a few days given in a few regular meals.

Just before leaving, I mentioned to my friend to be careful as dogs can carry the same gastro bugs as we get namely E. Coli or Campylobacter. My friend looked at me slightly concerned as I left as she had just started with a really sore tummy!

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24/08/2008 by Arielle.

What a lovely relaxing 3 weeks we have just had spent with my family in France. They all flew out from South Africa and my children were able to catch up with their Grandparents and cousins. The highlight of their trip was a game of dog Top Trumps. They all played it every day and we are now all experts at every dog breed mentioned!

We returned to a very happy but also very thrilled Slick - our black Labrador. The kennels I usually use let me down and my wonderful friend (who looks after my children as well on the day I work); offered to look after Slick in her home. She also did some pet sitting and visited our home daily to feed Shadow and Buttons. They were all in such good hands.

Back to work now and after 3 weeks away, I am actually really looking forward to seeing all the animals and clients again!

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30/07/2008 by Arielle.

I am off on my family holidays until the 24th August so I will not be updating my blog till then. I leave you with this which is so true:

How to worm a cat

Pick up cat and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby.

Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat’s mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop in the pill allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa, cradle cat under left arm and repeat process.

Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away.

Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat under left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Prize jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth closed for a count of ten.

Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe.

Call spouse for help.

Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws.

Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth,drop pill down along ruler and rub cats throat vigorously.

Retrieve cat from curtain rail and get another pill from foil wrap.

Make note to buy new ruler and mend curtains.

Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from under armpit, put pill in the end of a drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

Check label to see side effects if swallowed by humans, make tea to take taste away.

NOTE- Cool soapy water will remove blood from fabrics and upholstery.

Call fire brigade to retrieve cat from tree across the road.

Apologise to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat.

How to give a dog a pill

1. Wrap it in bacon

2. Toss it into the air

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30/07/2008 by Arielle.

A friend a few houses down the road asked if I would help feed her animals while she was away for a night. They went camping in the Peak District. As the weather was so good, they stayed on a few days longer and she ended up getting more than she bargained for.I had to feed their ferrets, African Grey, canary, stick insects, tortoise and very old deaf dog with 1 ear and no hair (when my daughter saw him she just said - What IS that?!)

I realised very quickly that the tortoise was not well and took him into work with me. He had a hard abscess on his neck which needed removing so I  sorted him out. One of her ferrets also had a burst abscess under his chin, so I separated him from the other ones and brought home some antibiotic to give him. My friend had chosen the right person to pet sit as when she returned from her holiday, her animals were all sorted!

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18/07/2008 by Arielle.

I had a really bouncy Labrador to vaccinate last week. Her owners did not hold her still and I managed to put the needle through her skin and then stab myself straight in the thumb which resulted in blood dripping on her golden fur!

It was very painful and my thumb swelled up but I did not think anything of it. Suddenly this week, my knee swelled up. It was red and hot and sore so I reluctantly went to the doctor and was put straight onto antibiotics (the ones we use) and she said that it could have been caused by the infection in my finger.

I do feel slightly fluey as well, so yes, my job carries its rewards and its risks!

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15/07/2008 by Arielle.

Amber is a gorgeous massive 70kg brown Newfoundland. She has epilepsy and her enormously patient owner has been in to see me a number of times. We could not keep her seizures under control so I referred her to the Animal Health Trust neurology unit.

She is on a cocktail of medication. The treatment for epilepsy in dogs is the same as that in humans and the side effects of the drugs are the same. They tend to make the animal put on weight. Poor Amber is now so large from all her dosing that she struggles to pull herself up on her backlegs.

We heaved her large fluffy body onto the scales today and the owners and I were thrilled for her when the scales read 70kgs - she had lost 3 kgs!

I however had a quiet fleeting thought which I did not share with the owner. Amber looks so huge with all her thick coat and I weigh more than she does!! I really need to get my head around sticking to a diet before our summer holidays - wish me luck!

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11/07/2008 by Arielle.

It was much easier for the Doctor to look at my daughter’s one swollen eye and make her diagnosis, than it is for me when a dog or cat is brought in with a large swollen lid. They tend to wriggle and possibly even bite or scratch!

When the Doctor told me to use the eyedrops and if there was no improvement, then I was to return within a day or 2 for oral antibiotics as eye infections can be very serious; I just smiled to myself.

These words echoed what I would have said to a client about their pet with a sore eye and even the Choramphenicol eyedrops were exactly the same as the ones I would prescribe.

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03/07/2008 by Arielle.

How guilty I felt last night when I got in from treating animals all day at 8pm and my husband asked if I had remembered an antibiotic injection for our own cat Buttons. I had forgotten and felt so bad for him. He had been involved in his first cat fight and not all cat bites need treatment, but this one did as his leg had swelled with the infection.

I was due to go back to work for another few days and the practice I work at is 45 minutes from where we live so I had no choice but to go to a local practice.

What a humbling experience it is. I think every professional should become a patient. I felt the same frustration getting Buttons into his carrier, then listened to him cry mournfully the whole way there. I felt very anxious waiting in the waiting room and struggled to hold Buttons for the young vet as he tried to shave and examine his sore leg.

I then had to feel the same stress of paying for his treatment (which I have obviously never had to worry about before either). So all in all, Buttons’ cat fight was a good lesson for me being on the other side of the table and luckily he is now on the mend.

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