Dr Ferox's life as a veterinarian

There are not many worse ways to start the morning than being abruptly pulled out of a consultation with a nice couple and their old dog to by an anxious nurse,

“That revisit patient coming to see you. He died in the car.”

“Is the owner here?”

“Yes. There’s a kid too.”

I was expecting the patient to put him to sleep that morning, and as sad as it always is to lose a pet it is much worse for most people to either find them dead or watch them die in their arms. It can be downright traumatic to see a pet die, especially with no vet guiding you as to what to expect or if you think the pet is suffering. [Read more →]

Veterinary Work Tip #5

You know you’ve been working too long when you answer the house phone at your parent’s place with “XYZ Vet clinic, Dr Ferox speaking, how can I help you?”

Today, I feel like a Fairy Godmother.

Very keen for dinner time!

Remember that cat I took in who had been hit by a car? Three anaesthetics and a month later and he’s a normal cat, except for one lump (a haematoma that will shrink) and slightly crooked front teeth. He was eating normally, bright and active. Probably too active for a person living alone who comes home utterly beat after doing what often turns out to be an eleven hour day. As such, his original owners (who loved him very much, but other life circumstances meant they wouldn’t have been able to syringe feed him at the time) received a phone call on Wednesday informing them that we was a normal cat once more and just wondering if they had room for a cat in their life again.

Turns out my little cat had a buddy back home. A young kid about waist high that probably wasn’t even in pre-school yet, who had grown up with this cat, he slept in his bed at night, and had been asking for days when the cat was coming home, and then why he wasn’t coming back. [Read more →]