Yes I'm here, though things are pretty much still routine at the vet
clinic.

One animal I had failed to mention in my earlier journals was Buster.
Yes he's a d-thing, but I didn't mention him because his story was
always in flux.

About two months ago, Buster's caretaker brought him in a state of
panic.  Buster had decided to go one on one with a coyote.  Need I
elaborate on what happened?

i was filling a prescription when he was brought in, minus the skin on
top of his head.  He wasn't in shock, but he was shaken up. The best
thing we could do was stop the bleeding, flush and debride the tissue
and then lightly bandage him up.  I did get a chance to help care for
him in the many days and weeks to follow since his bandage needed to be
change twice a day.  A small section of his skull was exposed and part
of his right eyelid was torn.

Every day his bandage needed to be removed and the wound flushed and
tended to.  Eventuallly the granulation tissue covered the skull again,
and he was then sent off to a specialist to sew up his head.  But all
this time Buster was wearing an e-collar.  and Buster does NOT like
e-collars.  Almost everyday he would have what I would call his
'afternoon spaz' when he would whine and try furiously to remove his
collar.  we had to keep a close eye on him because once he managed to
get it off and ripped out his staples.

Now I am proud to say that Buster's head is now much much better and
almost completely healed.  His head is now a little funky looking and
his right eyelid will be forever misshapened, but he can still see and
he's alive.  His staples are now out as of last Friday and hopefully
when I go into work tomorrow I'll find that he went home.  He's pretty
much has stayed with us almost every day for the last two months for
everyday care.

I know what you're thinking, just how much did this cost?  when he
first came in, it seemed pretty hopeless.  if your dog or cat was that
severely injured and would require round the clock care to eventually
get better over many weeks and still have a good quality of life, would
you pay for it?  I found it hard to answer, and even now I'm not sure
what the answer would be.

But Buster had no problem with his bills, mainly since he is owned by
the actor Kelsey Grammer.  The attack happened at Grammer's home in
Malibu and Grammer was out filming something I think.  I've never seen
him in the clinic, but I know he has a bunch of dogs that are brought
in for treatment.  So in Buster's case, money was no object.  Wish I
could be at that stage in case something happened to my babies.

Anyway that's my Buster story.

There have been a ton of animals in the clinic since everyone is on
summer vacation.  Rememeber how I said I was going to get Mayhem
shaved?  Haven't had a chance because we don't have the cage space.
It's been quite quite busy.

Two black cats with MAJOR attitudes are boarding, and their names are
Aretha and Whitney.  hehehe...  Aretha can be a bit pissy at times, but
Whitney won't hesistate before taking a swing at you.  I feel bad, but
i'm kinda glad that she's declawed in the front, since she's bapped my
nose a few times.  Whew!!

I know I've mention the two big Great Danes, Zeus and Tucker.  Well
Zeus had a tumor a while back and went to the RB, and last Friday
morning I saw his owner come in.....

He had a Great Dane puppy named Duke.  Awwwwwwwww!!!  He was two months
old and about twenty pounds.  I started giggling at the thought of
Tucker, who is 135+ pounds, playing with a twenty pound pup.  Can't
wait to have them board at the clinic.  That will be so much fun!

I committed a horrible sin to cats on Friday.  I gave a cat a bath.  I
know I know, and it was with cold water too.  Hey, you have the cat in
one hand and the hose in the other, so you can't really adjust the
water.  And not only did I bathe ONE cat, named Stimie, but I also
bathed his buddy, Buckwheat.  They both HOWLED their discontent, but I
am proud to say that I was able to bathe both of them without
sustaining any injuries.

I'm now into week four of Microbiology this summer and I'm hating it.
The teacher is so boring a cup of coffee laced with Ritalin couldn't
help.

The only good thing about working so hard at the vet clinic and putting
in extra hours is of course the extra money.  Today I splurged and got
a drinkwell fountain for the kitties.  Now I'll have to save up to get
an Ionic Breeze air filter.

Also, please give purrs for my classmate's cat, who fell out a three
story window.  She suffered a comminuted (shattered) fracture of her
hip and there's still a large piece floating around in there.
Fortunately she's doped up on so much Torb she doesn't feel much pain.
Please give purrs that she gets better.

Take Care,

Kristi

PS, hope my stories give people a little something else to read on this
group.  I've been quite shocked and disappointed at the lengths people
have stooped to and the things people have said.  I thoroughly have
enjoyed visiting this group, even though I haven't followed every
little thread.  And it just kills me that people would stoop to
flinging insults and posting pornography (I'm referring to the 'This is
NOT Dan and Monica' thread) just to 'get back' at someone.  I'll try to
keep up with posting my Vet Tech journals for a nice change of pace and
hope that this will blow over and we can get back to exchanging stories
about our lovable kitties.

Now I must go and break up a possible fight between Mischief and
Mayhem.