LIfe at the vet clinic has pretty much gone about as what one could
consider "normal"  Day in, day out we start the day turning on all the
equipment, taking care of boarders, seeing appts and treating animals
and several hours later we find outselves turning off the equipment
and driving home to rest our aching feet and to cuddle our own
animals.

Here's a few blurbs of stories that have stood out in my mind from the
past week or so.........

*************************************************

Recently we have acquired another animal that needs a home.  I've
fallen in love with her, and i'm sure if things were different I would
adopt her.

But I can't for several reasons:

1: Mischief
2. Mayhem
3. Imp
4. Semi-crowded apartment

And most important.....

5.  It's a D-THING

Friends of Dr. S decided to move and also decided to not take this dog
with them.  She's a young Papillon dog, her name is Lucy and the best
way to describe her is that she's a set of springs wrapped in fur and
on ten shots of espresso.

In spite of that she's adorably cute. She's brown and white and has
those adorably cute Papillon ears that i love, topped off by a long
curly tail. I love walking her and her undying love(and cluelessness)
and expressions of.....

"WHATAREWEGONNADONOWIMUSTSNIFFYOUWANNAPLAYFETCHOHINEEDTOSNIFFYOUALLOVERANDOHWHATISTHATIMUSTJUMPANDDOWNTOSHOWIAMSOHAPPYISTHATACATWALKINGONTHECOUNTERICANNOTSEEIMUSTJUMPUPANDDOWNANDTRYTOSMELLHERANDSHOWYOUHOWMUCHILOVERHERANDOHWHATISTHATISTHATANOTHERDOGDOYOUWANNAPLAYHEYWHATAREYOUDOING........"
and on and on......

She would be PERFECT if she got some sort of training and could be a
great agility dog.  My mom had our dog trained for agility and Lucy
would be perfect.

I was playing fetch with her behind the reception desk and she was
having so much fun, and I was laughing too (Mainly because picture a
hyperactive dog eagerly playing fetch, on a linoleum floor)  She would
do the cartoon run in place and run back to me, try to stop and crash
but she was so happy none the less.

In another life I probably would adopt her.  But I am currently owed
by three slaves who i also love dearly and must wait on hand and
foot.

Anyone want a very hyperactive Papillon?

*********************

We had a cat today that was in for surgery.  His name was Sammy and he
had bladder stones.

He also has CAUTION stickers pasted all over his file.

Fortunately Dr. C gave him a shot in the butt before he really knew
what was happening and five minutes later he was asleep and we were
able to place a catheter, etc.

Once the surgery was done, J clipped his claws (THANK GOODNESS) pulled
his catheter, etc.

She also hung a towel over the door of his cage, for which I found out
why later.

I was setting up the large cage beneath Sammy's for a large dog who
was having surgery later.  I was on my knees and placing the blankets
when i heard growling.  I looked up and there was a small section of
the cage door which was NOT covered and in the semi-darkness I could
see two eyes and a white mouth (Sammy is a Tuxedo)  I could hear
growling and hissing, but being the silly tech that I am, I just
continued with setting up the cage beneath.

Oh and by the way, I have long hair, and it's up in a ponytail.

I was finishing up when I hear a loud HISSPIT/SCREECH and something
batted or tried to grab my ponytail.  I instinctively ducked and
slowly backed away.  And in the semi darkness I could see the two eyes
giving me the Feline Glare of Death.

Yeeks......

Then the end of the day came and we had to now try to get Sammy OUT of
the cage and into his carrier.

Okay the plan was to open the carrier(plastic with a door), open the
cage and put the open carrier in front of the cat.  Surely the cat
will recognize the carrier and after being in the horrible place you
would think they would want to get into the carrier and get the heck
out of there.

Sounds logical, doesn't it?

(Cue high pitched screams growls and hissing)

Sammy pretty much ATTACKED the carrier every time we stuck it in
there.

Ummmmmm........okay Plan B.

Plan B was to take a slip lease and attempt to "lasso" the kitty
around his body and gently pull him out far enough to wrap him in a
thick comforter.

My attempts to lasso Sammy failed and on the last attempt he attacked
my arm.

I pulled back and looked down ad saw several red lines on my right
forearm.

Yes they were red, but THANKFULLY, all of them were ok, since NONE had
broken the skin.

I attribute my lucky escape to the fact that my coworker had CLIPPED
Sammy's claws.   WHEW!!!!

Well now Sammy is really mad.  And later on I figured out why.  Here
he was trying to attack us and after my close call, he realized
something.  I believe his thought patterns throughout the entire
incident was......

"GET AWAY FROM MY HOOMIN!!!  I WILL SLICE YOU TO PIECES!!!  TAKE
THAT!!!!!

HOW'D YOU LIKE THAT??!!  I'VE GOT MORE.....HEY!!!!!  WHY AREN'T YOU
BLEEDING?!!

YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE BLEEDING HOOMIN!!!

I'm quite sure that had his claws not been clipped that yes, i would
be bleeding and nursing foot long scratches all over my arm.

Plan C eventually worked, which was tossing the comforter over Sammy's
head and grabbing the entire bundle and manuvering the cat into the
carrier.

*Big sigh*

Then we realized that we had forgotten to put an e-collar on Sammy.
Uh......we put one together and gave it to the owner to let him put it
on.

Whew!!

*****************************

I need some purrs for Mango.  Mango, as you recall is an old cat that
has a few health issues, but the other morning, i heard him coughing.
Uh-oh.  So now Mango is in a cage in the isolation room and he is NOT
happy.  He's mad that he can't roam around the clinic.  He's on
antibiotics so i hope he gets better.

**************************

Dr. S is a little mad at Sergio.  Sergio is another hospital cat.
He's got a bit of an attitude and he doesn't walk, he STRUTS.  He
likes to get into the cat room when cats board at the clinic.  He
reaches through the bars and steals their food.

Our manager loved him and used to spoil him ROTTEN.  But she's not
with us anymore so poor Sergio is miffed at not getting the royal
treatment anymore.

So miffed that he's getting into trouble.

I was in the reception area and looked over at the shelves where we
kept the food that we sell to clients.  I then noticed a cat tail,
gray and fluffy, which was Sergio's.

Then I noticed ANOTHER cat tail.  Gray and thin, which had to belong
to Timmy.  Wait a sec, those two cats don't like each other.  So I
walked over to see what was going on.

I found that Sergio had ripped open a corner of a GIANT bag of dog
food (yes dog food) and was munching happily.  Timmy was also there
waiting for his share.

Dang it.  So i removed BOTH cats from the area and got protests from
both of them, of course.

The problem is, it's a HUGE bag of dog food so it's kinda expensive.

So we put it aside to return to the manufacturer.  But then the very
NEXT day we caught Sergio who had again made his way into the
reception are and found that he had made another hole, this one even
bigger, and he was chowing down.  Dr. S was NOT happy.

Now bear in mind, Dr. S does like Sergio, in spite of everything, but
this is just one of those frustrating moments, where the mischievious
side of Sergio comes out.

Sheesh!!!

Well enough for now.  Time to go get something to eat and get some
rest, since the adventure continues tomorrow.

Take care,

Kristi