by Gillian Hick
As the flow of urine gradually lessened and reduced to a slow drip, I gently forced the bladder upwards to drain as much urine as possible before carefully withdrawing my needle.
‘Well, that’s the best we can do for him tonight,’ I told Derek. I then injected Monty with a suitable antibiotic, which would hopefully sort out any bacteria I might have introduced into the bladder and a strong anti-inflammatory, which I hoped would reduced the swelling in his penis enough to allow him to urinate normally. I poured some of the urine into a sample bottle for further testing at a clinic in the morning, advising Derek to label it carefully in his fridge overnight.
‘Keep a close eye on him tonight and ring your local vet first thing in the morning,’ I continued.
I sent him off with the appropriate referral letter, wondering what the vet on duty might think of my ‘fire-brigade’ tactics.
When I saw Derek throw a fiver into the voluntary donation box on his way out, I wondered whether my basic, but nonetheless effective, intervention might not have been worth a little more.
The last I saw of Monty that night was as he hopped down the steps out of the clinic and immediately launched an attack on a waiting Yorkshire terrier. At least, for the moment, Monty was back to himself, although I knew my treatment was unlikely to be a longterm solution.
Although I remembered to tell Donal about the Monty episode that night, I had all but forgotten it the next Sunday morning when I was in the unusual position of doing a shift for the Dublin emergency clinic. A vet I went to college with worked for them on a regular basis, but due to a family event was unable to do so on that particular day. She rang to see if I would cover for her and I agreed to do it, knowing I was off that weekend myself.
For the first hour or two, I quite enjoyed myself in the purpose-built premises, so different from our own consulting room which served not only the small animal population, but also doubled up as a large-animal treatment room for lambing ewes, replacing prolapses or the odd calf with a fractured limb. I was quite enchanted by the idea of having two fully qualified nurses as my assistants instead of hollering out to Melissa on reception to give a hand whenever things got too chaotic. Eventually, I gave up trying to do anything as the nurses protested whenever I answered the phone or picked up a mop to wash the floors or do any of the hundred and one other mundane things that usually need doing in a veterinary practice. I was sitting back finishing a rare second cup of coffee when the first client came in. I quickly identified the tooth abscess in the cat’s upper molar which was causing it such pain. I was delightfully amused to observe that before I had finished filling up the computer record (which admittedly took more time than looking at the cat) that one of the nurses had administered the pain relief and antibiotic injection that I had prescribed and the cat was comfortably set up in a unit and on a drip. Over the next few hours, the clients that trickled in every half hour or so were equally efficiently dealt with by our team. As the clients dwindled off well before lunchtime, I was beginning to appreciate the comfort of the job and wondering if I should go for an unprecedented early lunch.
The computer screen flashed to advise me that I had a new client waiting. In the presenting problem box were the words: ‘difficulty in urinating since last Wednesday’. The clinical history reminded me of Monty and I laughed to think of my difference in fortune today. I couldn’t believe it when the door opened to admit the same Monty, followed by Derek. His eyes narrowed as he looked as me and then around my auspicious surroundings.
‘It is you, isn’t it?’ he enquired cautiously, as though I were an illusion.
‘It’s me, all right,’ I agreed cheerfully. ‘Back in the day job,’ I continued, knowing he wouldn’t have any idea where I worked normally.
It seemed that Monty had done well on the day after my intervention at the clinic – so well that Derek had ignored my advice to take him to a local clinic for further treatment. However, since Saturday morning, Monty had only been dribbling urine and was almost as blocked as the first night.
Before beginning my shift in the emergency clinic, I had been given instruction in relation to the standard protocol for various conditions. I laboriously typed the clinical history into the computer and in the treatments box ticked the sections for sedation, catheterisation and urinalysis, and put question marks over the blood testing and ultra sound examination – all considered ‘best practice’ for what can potentially be a very dangerous condition. Derek readily signed the consent form as I explained the reason for the various treatments. Before he left, he handed over the urine sample which appeared not to have left his pocket since the previous Wednesday night. I cringed as I pressed the discharge button which would send the computer generated bill through to reception and ushered Derek out the door while Monty was whisked off by one of the nurses. I couldn’t help thinking about the fiver casually thrown in the box on the previous Wednesday. I could just about make out the efficient muted tones of the nurse in reception as she printed out the bill and read out the bottom line.
There was a brief silence before a bellow erupted from Derek: ‘How much to see Dr Hick? But sure, I saw her on Wednesday night and it only cost me a fiver!!’
About the Author
GILLIAN HICK was born in Dublin and qualified as a vet there. She has practised for the past eleven years in both Dublin and Wicklow. She now lives with her husband and three children in County Wicklow where she runs her own veterinary practice. Vet among the Pigeons is her second book. Her first is Vet on the Loose.
THE BLUE CROSS
The Irish Blue Cross is one of Ireland’s busiest and longest established animal welfare charities. The charity first began to provide its popular mobile clinic dispensary service in the mid-1950s. The small-animal services are provided for pet owners unable to afford private veterinary fees. The intervening years have seen the service grow and expand to the present-day ten weekly Dublin destinations. In 2009, 18,211 check-ups, treatments, vaccinations and procedures were delivered to the most needy pets attending its Dublin-based mobile clinics and newly established small-animal clinic at Inchicore. In addition, Blue Cross-trained horse ambulance staff provided a total of 399 service days at race meetings and equine events throughout Ireland, north and south. Funding for services and equipment is provided through the generosity of the general public, central and local government and the horse-racing sector.
ALSO BY GILLIAN HICK
Read Gillian’s account of her years as a veterinary student and her earliest experiences on the job.
About Vet on the Loose:
‘Ireland looks set to get its very own James Herriot … full of anecdotes and funny incidents’
Irish Farmer’s Journal
‘It’s an exciting account of the situations she encounters where the humans are often more problematic than the animals, particularly the guys who want to know: Where is the real vet?’
Irish Independent
‘Very well written in an easy-flowing style’ Irish Farmer’s Journal
‘Gillian is a young vet with a lively sense of humour and a pleasant, easy-going writing style … animal lovers will be well pleased with her pacy anecdotes’
Irish Examiner
Copyright
This eBook edition first published 2012 by The O’Brien Press Ltd,
12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland
Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.obrien.ie
First published 2010
eBook ISBN: 978–1–84717–439–0
Text © copyright Gillian Hick 2010
Copyright for typesetting, design, illustrations and editing
© The O’Brien Press Ltd
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue reference for this book is available from the British Library.
While this book is drawn from actual experience over several years of practice, situations, locations and names have been changed.
Any resemblance to any person is entirely accidental.
Editing, typesetting, layout and design: The O’Brien Press Ltd Illustrations: cover – Martyn Turner; page 1 – Aidan Cooney
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