I think I'm on number 17, but it's been so long I haven't kept track.

Anyways, sorry I haven't been keeping up to date, but I've been busy
with school, work and springboard diving.  Also after a while the same
things tend to go on at work.

Also for the last month it's been REALLY slow.  But in the last week,
with people going away for the holidays, it's been extremely busy
again.

So here's a few vignettes of what has happened over the last month or
so.

My Clinical Procedures class had out first surgery lab on Wednesday.
It was just a simple cat neuter, but since there's 13 people in my
lab, there were 13 tasks that needed to be done.  Things like
intubating the cat, inducing anesthesia, taking blood, taking urine,
assisting the doctor during surgery.

My task was post-operative recovery.  I keep an eye on the animal once
he's taken off the anesthesia and check his vital signs every 15
minutes.

Well, our cat being neutered was an 8 month old tabby named Kit Kat.
Well after the first 15 minutes, he tried to bite me as I took his
vitals.  15 minutes later, he was still woozy, but he screamed and
jumped up about 6 inches when I tried to take his temperature.

"Uh, Dr. Grisham?  I think the cat's definitely awake."

Next week, I'll finally get to do a dental during class.  Well, at
least a little bit.  It's one dog and there's six of use that are
going to be performing the dental, so I'll probably get a few teeth.

One day after working an 8 hour shift, a cat came in with a blocked
urethra, which needed immediate surgery.  His name was Buster, and
though he cleared up, he blocked again, so I heard he had to have an
operation which bypasses the urethra a little bit.  Basically, poor
Buster now pees like a girl cat.  :)

Brother is now back with Sister and the last I saw of him on Wednesday
he's looking just fine.  He still has some battle scars on his nose
from when he hurt himself trying to go through a chain link fence, but
I know he is SOOOOO happy to be safe indoors.

One of my doctors at work is trying very hard to find a home for some
cats.  She has about nine of them and is having trouble finding homes
for him.  The two I know of that are up for grabs are two Scottish
Fold cats.

The first is Fiona.  Fiona is an adult female, that's brown, white and
gray.  She's very sweet, but she needs a home where she's an only cat.
Dr. Z has to keep her separated from her other cats because Fiona
will fly out and attack them all.

The other is Oscar.  I haven't seen him since he was a kitten, but I
hear he's grown.  He would be about 6-7 months now.  He's gray and
white, and also a sweetheart.  However, he does have chronic diarrhea.
As long as he's on his medication, he's okay, but he gets bouts of
diarrhea, and Dr. Z has done a lot of tests and can't find anything.
As long as he gets his meds, he's okay, but he's going to be hard to
find a home for.

Let's see, what else?  Currenly boarding for the holidays are:

Molly and Riley:  Two LOVABLE golden retreivers.  I would own a Golden
retriever if I knew Mischief wouldn't beat him up.

Sugar, Romeo, and Mao:  I've probably mentioned them before.  Mao is a
white cat that is as big as a turkey.  He also has diabetes, big
surprise.  Romeo is very shy, but Sugar makes up for it.  She yowls at
the top of her lungs.  Of course I did a fecal on her today, and I
found out one reason why she was so upset.  She's got Coccidia, a
parasite.  Easily treatable however.

Fat Louie:  Contrary to his name, Fat Louie is a tiny, blue eyed
kitten.  He's SOOOO cute too.

Jack and Vanna:  Known as the "Pigs" because they are bulldogs.  Have
you ever heard a bulldog?  They sound like pigs, they run and eat like
pigs.  They are so funny though.

The rest is pretty much routine.  The animals come in, the doctor
tells us what they need help with, and we assist them.  I've gotten
much better at drawing blood from the jugular.

Now my next goal is to be able to perform dentals.  That's a tricky
part, because not only are you performing the cleaning, but you also
have to monitor the anesthesia and the animal at the same time.

I'd like to get into it more because there are days when I'm tired of
walking dogs and giving baths.  And I found something else to dread
besides doing poop patrol.

Try doing poop patrol in the dark............with a flashlight.
Sometimes we're so busy that by the time we finish walking, the sun
has set and it's dark out in the parking lot.

Looking for s*** with a flashlight was NOT in the job description.  

You can't see s***, literally.

As bad as it was, there's another low that will be even worse, and I
know I will eventually have to do next year.  Scooping poop in the
dark with a flashlight in the rain.  yeah, I'm really looking forward
to that, NOT!!!

Gave my furkids ham for Thanksgiving, and they really liked it.  And
even though I had to work on Thanksgiving and couldn't see my family,
my best friend invited me over to his place to eat with his family.
It was really cool.  I couldn't stay long because I had to work this
morning.

I have the day off tomorrow, which will consist of cleaning, studying,
more cleaning, starting my senior project which is due in two weeks
that I haven't done anything one,  yet more cleaning, finishing my
journal report that is due wednesday, but I haven't made it to the
library yet; and yes, even more cleaning.

That's the plan anyways, the trick will be to see how much actually
gets done.

Okay, must go now, I have a purring cat on my desk that starting to
eye my pizza crusts.

Kristi