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Have you ever wondered what life as a working vet is really like? As you read further along with me, you might come to understand the weird and wonderful world of being a vet a little better! I thought I would be working with animals when I left Vet school It was a bit of a shock coming to grips with the reality! Being a vet is a People business first, Pets second. (I'm sorry to say that they taught me very little about the people side of things at vet school- though at least the people don't bite or kick!)

 And you might have wondered why I no longer do large animal work- well When I first worked in England, I was called out to attend to a weaner cow. I got lost two or three times on the way (pretty good, considering how hard it was to understand this blokes accent when I rang up for directions), and was nearly put into a hedge once or twice by suicidal lorry drivers.
The roads over there are very, very narrow! And the drivers are just plain nuts.

I finally turned up, and drove into the farm. There was a shed (it looked like it had been there since world war two, and might have been pretty heavily damaged at the time). I (foolishly) thought that the crush, and yards and so on for handling the cattle, must be out the back somewhere.
After a bit, the house door opened- a very old, very small man shuffled out- he was as skinny as a rake, bent over, and layered in old worn clothes. He struggled with his boots, stopped to gasp and hack for a moment- but finally got them on. He walked past, and mumbled something at me (which for the life of me, I couldn't understand) - So I gathered a scalpel, local anaesthetic, a few other essentials, and followed him into the dank stench of the shed.

A large, half grown cow was in a corner, and there was a post in the middle. I thought we would take the cow to a suitable place to work on it; but no That was it! The old geezer had a bit of rope, with a loop in it- he started wheezing around the shed, trying to throw his rope onto this very lively beast.

Well- I didn't know whether to laugh or cry the weaner galloped around and around, spraying slobber, and getting crankier by the minute. Every now and then the old duffer collapsed against the post to recover; (I thought it a good chance he might expire right in front of me), while I did my best not to get steamrolled.

Eventually he actually caught this cow, which proceeded to drag him around and around the shed through the deep
dung encrusted straw, swinging on the end of his rope, eyes popping out, legs paddling like mad, gasping for breath- until by some crazy chance, he flew past the post, and I managed to grab the rope and secure it.

Then all I had to do was to get local anaesthetic into the huge bulging abscess under its jaw, and lance it with a razor sharp scalpel How I did this without losing a finger or two, I'll never know- the god of veterinarians must have been looking down upon me.
That was the day I vowed to become a small animal vet, and I have been pretty much ever since.

And on that note- at this time of year, fleas and ticks are everywhere- if you see a flea on your dog or cat, do something about it! (or if your pet is chewing and scratching a lot) Your pet won't be able to sleep (imagine having a whole lot of fleas in your bed!), and they will be eating fleas every day, which really messes with their digestive system. If you have an older dog, and all their front teeth are all worn down, this is because they've been chewing at fleas all their life!

Do your pet a favour! We now have flea products which really work, and your pet deserves it. Watch out for paralysis ticks, too- I treated a cat at Christmas (which actually survived!), and these ticks can make your kids or you pretty sick too. I'm sorry to say that the cheaper supermarket flea and tick products really don't work (most of the time) - so don't waste your money on them.

Until next time- enjoy your pets!