26/09/2008 by Arielle.

This did not happen to me today. One of the other vets I work with came into my consulting room looking very stressed. A 94 year old man had brought in a cat for vaccinating. He explained how much he loved the cat. He had called him Harvey and Harvey had ‘chosen him’  he said and had appeared in his garden 5 months ago.

As we always have to scan any stray cat to see if it has been chipped or not, my colleague did the right thing and scanned Harvey, only to find a microchip (to her horror).  After a quick phone call to the national idchip company, she found out that Harvey is actually Elvis and has been missing from a house not that far away from the elderly man, for the last year!

She felt awful telling the 94 year old man. He was there with his daughter and she gently explained to him that there were plenty of cats around in the rehoming centres and they would look for another cat that afternoon.

He reacted like the man in Little Britain by saying ‘ No, I want that one. Now I have nothing to live for!’ What a dilemma. I will find out tomorrow what happened to the cat and poor old man.

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15/09/2008 by Arielle.

We drove for a few hours at the weekend to meet up with university friends whom we had not seen for many years. We all graduated from the same vet school in the 90s and it was wonderful to see them and meet their children.

We shared in the joys and stresses of being ‘veterinary mummies’ and balancing our family with work. One friend Mary really made me chuckle but at the same timeI really sympathised. Like me, she only worked part-time so that her life was balanced between veterinary and her husband and 2 young children. She told me that she worked every morning simply because people actually paid her to listen to her - no one listened to her at home!

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10/09/2008 by Arielle.

My friend (also my childminder) has a lovely Labrador cross called Spud. It was my children who came to tell me that Spud was being sick all over their house that prompted me to quickly visit and help.

She explained how Spud also had nasty diarrhoea when she came down this morning and appeared very weak. She also didn’t do her regular ‘hoovering up’ of the remains of children’s tea under the dining room table. She was a veterinary nurse before having chidren and knew to starve Spud for 24 hours. I then advised a bland diet of chicken and rice for a few days given in a few regular meals.

Just before leaving, I mentioned to my friend to be careful as dogs can carry the same gastro bugs as we get namely E. Coli or Campylobacter. My friend looked at me slightly concerned as I left as she had just started with a really sore tummy!

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02/09/2008 by Arielle.

While we were away last month, my husband had to attend the funeral of an admirable and very brave young man. He was a soldier and dog handler who was killed in Afghanistan along with his explosives sniffer dog Sasha (as both seen in the picture).

My husband spoke little about the funeral except to say that this brave young man Lance Corporal Rowe; had said that one day for his funeral, he wouldn’t like traditional English hymns but rather rock songs (It’s My Life) played. My husband found this the most moving as it made you realise just how young these soldiers are.

I have every respect for this young man and his loyal happy companion Sasha - a golden Labrador. The Military Working Dog Support Unit wrote a poem entitled In Memory of Sasha which I thought I would share with you:

My dog is more than my partner you see,

Because she is a very good friend to me.

She’s the nose I don’t have, the eyes I have not,

She’s one of the best partners most soldiers ain’t got.

Day by day we do what we do best,

Her four paws never seem to rest

She always does whatever I ask,

Seeming to enjoy every task.

I know one day her work will be done,

But for now we can only have fun.

For my dog is more than a partner to me,

My dog is my best friend and she always will be.

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