\”Hello dear, I was wondering if you come and give our old dog a checkup again? He\’s almost out of his arthritis medicine, and he really struggles without it…\” I knew the voice, a lovely old lady who lived a bit out of Townsville on acreage. I\’d been there to see there dog many times. […]
I pulled into the car park, looking out for the man and his old dog. A friendly wave greeted me, they were sitting under the shade in the corner of the park. I waved back, then collected my stethoscope and bag. I walked over and pulled up a chair. \”G\’day Doc,\” he said. \”Those lumps
The lump got smaller! Read More »
\”I need some more antibiotics for me cat,\” I was informed, on the phone. Her voice was familiar, I\’d seen this cat a lot of times over the years. \”Them snuffles have gotten bad again, and I\’m out of that paste stuff that makes her better – can you come around today?\” \”I can\’t make
As soon as she saw me she bounded in, a wriggle of tail thrashing, nipping at me with her sharp little teeth, jumping all over me, so, so, so excited to meet a new person. Absolutely no respect for my personal space, none in the slightest! I had squatted down to meet her, and grabbed
I woke up in the cold grey morning, and steeled myself to get out of the warm cocoon of my feather doona. It was dark outside, bleak, the icy fret wafting up from the northern ocean, foggy. Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North of England, had been my home for months now, and I had
\”I wonder if you could help me…\” his voice faltered on the other end of the phone, dissolving into tears. I waited a moment for him to regain his composure. \”I\’m so sorry, I\’m a bit of a mess. My old dog simply can\’t get up any more today, and I live over on Magnetic
I rang to see if they were at home, as, for once in my life, I was actually running early. A man answered the phone, and told me his wife would be back in a few minutes, and to come straight around… \”Our road\’s a bit muddy,\” he told me. \”I graded it the other
The sun was beating down, like a red hot hammer on the van, the air-con struggling to keep me even a bit cool. I found my way across the steaming, baking, brown and suffering city of Townsville to my next call. I opened the gate and drove in. I knew that the old lady would
\”Are you the vet who comes to people\’s houses?\” she asked. It was early, and I was half asleep. I gathered myself together and replied… \”Yes, that\’s me – how can I help you?\” \”Well, my cat has a very sore, fat foot, he won\’t let me touch it, and he\’s just sitting there growling
I was typing, frantically, cursing every misspelling that I had to backspace and correct, sweating on the hubbub of the overflowing waiting. Trying to get the last case written up, and the medications sorted and… maybe, if I was lucky, take a sip of the vile, cold caffeine kick of my poor neglected coffee. A
A screamingly painful tail Read More »
