Bedlam… The waiting room was overflowing, and we were all behind. The noise of dogs barking, cats complaining, and people chattering away was gradually getting louder. Last time I popped my head out to call my next consult in, there were even a few people waiting outside, well rugged up against the cold, grey, damp, windy English winter day. They looked cheery enough, breath steaming, cocooned in long coats, warm hats and wrapped around and around with scarves.
I was settled into my first long term locum in the UK, though I was still completely swamped by the pace of this place. Five minutes of precious time for each consultation. Five minutes in which to call in the people from the waiting room, invite them and their animal into the consult room, introduce myself to them and their pet (and somehow build rapport???), take a history, examine the pet thoroughly, talk about what was going on, decide on a treatment plan, talk the owners through what they\’d need to do, answer any questions they might have, write up the case notes, bill up whatever medications were needed, and then get that lot out the door, and get ready for the next lot…
I was stretched thin enough to read through, I tell you. There simply wasn\’t enough time to do a good job. What it did teach me was how to take one look at a sick animal and be able to tell in an instant whether it needed to be admitted right now for hospitalisation, or if I could throw some antibiotics at it, send it home, and see if it came back. If it came back, well then I\’d either admit it, and/or take some bloods for the lab, or throw some different antibiotics at it and see if they worked. The level of stress was unbelievable – I discharged that playing darts very badly, and drinking pints at the pub across the road from the clinic before staggering home to my flat up above the hospital. Then it would all start again early the next morning, only with a filthy hangover thrown in for good measure!
Being sent out to do a large animal call was a blessed relief! And they had a few small animal home visits as well. I remember going to see a very old lady several times – she was still living in her home, though obviously only just coping and not far away from having to go into a nursing home. She had three big old dogs, and one was prone to hotspots. I loved those visits – mostly because I had thirty minutes of driving each way – thirty minutes of blessed peace and quiet without anyone able to ask me anything, or things to do.
I\’d pull into the drive, the front yard all overgrown and neglected, house tired and weathered. A knock on the door, and her voice echoed from inside…
\”Come on in dear, I\’m not too good on my pins, so I\’ll just stay sitting here in my comfy chair.\”
I opened the door and walked in – the dogs all came rushing over in a tottering old sort of way, wagging their tails and sniffing me all over. The house was grubby, careworn; the old lady was a shapeless lump of tired old clothes heaped in the chair. She was a bit vague, obviously failing a little in her mind, but cheery and friendly.
\”D\’you want a cup of tea, dear,\” she\’d ask, every time.
\”No thanks,\” I\’d reply, politely.
No way was I drinking anything that came out of that kitchen – a sink full to overflowing with dirty plates, a stove caked with old grease, a pile of old tea bags heaped on the bench beside the kettle, smelling stale, laced with the quiet rot of old rubbish. No- I could feel the pressure of time, and I knew that all my colleagues would be even more stretched without me there, so I pressed on. It was the old golden retriever, same as usual- she had two big, red, weepy, smelly hotspots on her back. I called her over and clipped away the hair from the sores before giving them a good scrub with betadine. It must have hurt like the blazes, but she was a lovely old girl, and let me work without more than a reproachful glance or two. Then I left the packets of antibiotics with her and made my way back into the maelstrom of the clinic – checking hospital cases, radiographs to be done, blood tests to check over, recommendations of treatments for cases, follow-up calls to see how pets were going, a quick bite to eat gobbled in a stolen moment if you were lucky…