Animals – A day in the life of a vet

Today, the work day started at 8am, with a couple of scheduled surgeries to do; an old dog that had some suspicious looking lumps on its body, and two sweet young female kittens that were due to be spayed. The technical challenges of the surgery were on my mind as I drove to work, and once there I was met with a very anxious owner sitting with her obliviously happy old doggo.  However, before I was able to start checking the dog over a call came in – calving trouble!  Prioritising cases is something vet teams get very good at, so on went my overalls and I hopped in the car to go to the farm. 

With the help of an epidural and some clever manipulation, the farmer and I managed to deliver a healthy calf.  I got packed up and headed back to the clinic to find our old dog patiently waiting in a kennel. An hour later, in clothing more appropriate for surgery and thoroughly scrubbed up, I’m carefully performing an H-plasty to allow me to both remove the lump and put the healthy remaining skin back together. 

Next up are our pair of kitties. Although it turns out the ginger-coloured one is indeed a female (rare as hens’ teeth), the tabby is a lad and therefore needs a much simpler procedure (it’s all on the outside, you see). This is also a bonus for me because now the time lost this morning needn’t be made up from the lunch hour.

The early afternoon ticks by with some general appointments – dirty ears, itchy rumps, plus a whole litter of retriever pups here for their first check-up and vaccination. Time to squish my face into cute fluffy bundles and make nonsensical noises while reminding myself to look professional.

Interspersed between such appointments is a lot of desk work – bloodwork has come back from the lab, there’s clinical notes to write and billing to do. Meanwhile, any number of farmers or pet owners call seeking advice on their animals.

About the time afternoon milking comes round, in comes a call for a cow with a prolapsed uterus. I can tell you it’s slippery, squishy, and larger than a small child. This particular cow was lying down in a muddy paddock far from the shed, so by the time I had corrected the problem, I’m sweaty and covered in goop.

I have to hitch a ride back to my car in the calf trailer, and we stop to collect a couple of newborn calves along the way. I’m tired, so I flip a bucket to sit on and pull one of the calves to me for a cuddle as we enjoy the view of the farmlands in the late-afternoon sunlight.