19/10/2007 by Arielle.

Our neighbour’s mother came running over frantically this morning as I was eating breakfast with the family as her daughter was out jogging with the dogs and had come across an injured boy in a bush and she wanted me to go and fetch the dogs whilst her daughter went to find the boy’s Mum.

A young chap in the village (only 11 years old) was waiting for the schoolbus when a complete freak accident on a normally quiet country lane was to occur. A tree surgeon was driving past and his trailer on his van flew off; hitting the boy in his face. The boy is critically ill and we are all praying for him. What a tragedy. It is such a quiet road and he stood in the only spot to catch the full impact. The tree surgeon was obviously devastated and the police later closed the entire road.
I raced out to put the dogs in my car and help my friend, only to see the car windscreen thick with frost and realised that it would be quicker to run there. I raced to collect them which was a better solution as my neighbour (a pet sitter and dog walker); had gone out with 2 enormous Rhodesian Ridgebacks and her Weimerpoodle. They were a handful to walk home again, but I enjoyed the time walking them quietly back to think about the horror that had just happened. Pets have this wonderful therapeutic effect that bring us back to reality.

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05/10/2007 by Arielle.

The usual onslaught of viruses has hit our family. My 9 year old son has recently gone completely deaf from an ear infection. As we as vets are so aware of; I know that doctors are reluctant to give antibiotics but when my son said he could not hear his teacher; I felt maybe he needed antibiotics.

While we waited in the waiting room first thing this morning, a boy of about 8 years old arrived. He was in obvious pain with his very concerned mother holding him up. Just before the doctor called us in, the nurse came out to talk to the mother as it appeared to be an emergency and I listened with horror.

Her son had been involved in a fight at school and had been stabbed with a stick and it had split open his testicle. Listening to this and hearing his whimpers of pain just brought tears to my eyes. As the doctor called us through, my first words to her were - ‘Thank goodness I am a vet as I could not cope with what you deal with’. She looked at me and replied ‘Well I could never do what you do to animals!’. Thank goodness we each have our callings!

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20/09/2007 by Arielle.

A lady in the village stopped her car to ask me and my 3 year old daughter if we had seen 2 chocolate brown labradors running through the village as they had escaped from her farmhouse. My daughter listened carefully as I asked her where she lived just in case we did see them and whether they were used to sheep as we are surrounded by sheep farms. They would obviously be at risk if a farmer was to spot them bothering his sheep.
My daughter then spent the whole morning worrying about these labradors and asking me when we were going to look for them. She raised herself as high as she could in her carseat and scanned all the fields that we passed on our way to Tescos, hoping to spot 2 brown frolicking labs. I found myself also dangerously looking around as she mentioned them so much instead of concentrating on the winding roads ahead!! I do hope the owner found them. Labradors are just my favourite breed.

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