I rang to see if they were at home, as, for once in my life, I was actually running early. A man answered the phone, and told me his wife would be back in a few minutes, and to come straight around… \”Our road\’s a bit muddy,\” he told me. \”I graded it the other […]
The sun was beating down, like a red hot hammer on the van, the air-con struggling to keep me even a bit cool. I found my way across the steaming, baking, brown and suffering city of Townsville to my next call. I opened the gate and drove in. I knew that the old lady would
\”Are you the vet who comes to people\’s houses?\” she asked. It was early, and I was half asleep. I gathered myself together and replied… \”Yes, that\’s me – how can I help you?\” \”Well, my cat has a very sore, fat foot, he won\’t let me touch it, and he\’s just sitting there growling
I was typing, frantically, cursing every misspelling that I had to backspace and correct, sweating on the hubbub of the overflowing waiting. Trying to get the last case written up, and the medications sorted and… maybe, if I was lucky, take a sip of the vile, cold caffeine kick of my poor neglected coffee. A
A screamingly painful tail Read More »
I rolled up to the front door just as the first heavy drops of rain splatted on the windscreen. I\’d been watching the heavy grey clouds as I drove, with bright bolts of lightning flashing down to the earth now and then, and thunder was rolling all around the valleys as I ran up the
Thunderstorm Phobia Read More »
\”He\’s been limping on one hind leg, you know,\” she told me. \”It\’s been going on for a couple of days – he won\’t use the steps, and I even found a wee out on the verandah here this morning- he\’s normally such a clean dog, so it must be hurting him. Of course his
A dog with thunder phobia… Read More »
\”He\’s got a terribly upset tummy again,\” she told me. \”He\’s breaking wind in the most alarming and toxic fashion, and running outside every 30 minutes or so to do small, runny poos. Otherwise he seems ok though.\” He was jumping all over me, a boxer with a waggly stump of a tail, wiggling in
A Boxer with an upset Tum Read More »
\”Hello?\” a careful voice, tentative… \”Are you the vet who comes to our home?\” \”I am!\” I said. \”How can I help you?\” \”We\’d love to have you come around and give us a second opinion, about our kitten… Would that be possible?\” \”Of course I can,\” I told her, with a smile – and
A kitten with a wonky leg Read More »
The blood kept welling up, and my heart rate was climbing with it. My fingers felt numb, awkward, fumbling around ineffectively. I was in the middle of a spey, a big dog, fat, not an easy one… About 5 minutes before, the ligature I had placed on the stump from the right ovary had slipped
\”Are you the vet?\” – Her voice was panicked, words blurring one into the next, I could hear her breath fast and ragged through the phone – \”Me dogs collapsed, and he\’s foamin\’ at the mouth, he\’s paddlin his legs like crazy, and I think he\’s gunna die!!!\” \”OK,\” I said. \”The first thing you
An epileptic episode Read More »
