Yes, I can turn you away

Today was an interesting Monday to say the least. I know that people's tempers are a bit frayed from the continued state of emergency in High River. Here's the thing, it does not give you the right to be rude to my staff. They are my work family and I tend to be very protective of my family.

A lady called and made an appointment for her dog because it had a cut on its leg. Not a problem, the staff "made" an appointment (aka, we were fully booked and needed to find a place to squish her in). The fun started when she arrived. My receptionist, Belle, told her that she would take them into a room and I would be in shortly to do an exam to see what needed to be done. This person told her (in no uncertain terms) that the dog was not going to have an exam because the dog just needed to have some stitches put in. Oh yeah, she didn't want antibiotics either cause vets just like to over medicate the animals. Belle tried to explain that unless I saw the dog, I wouldn't know how to treat the dog appropriately. The person informed her that she should just get the vet.

So Belle came and got me. I came out and asked what the issue was. I sure got an earful!!!! Can I tell you how much I love being told how to do my job? Here's the thing, without examining the dog and coming up with a treatment plan, how do I know what needs to be done? Does it have a small cut that can just heal on its own? Is it a large laceration needing a general anesthetic? The person flipped out when I mentioned a general anesthetic as her vet never used an anesthetic and would just take the dog out back and throw in some stitches. I finally figured that no matter what I said, it would start another argument.

I took a deep breath and told the owner that we had obviously gotten off on the wrong foot. She nodded her head in agreement. "So, with that in mind, Belle, would you mind calling X veterinary clinic to see if they have any room to deal with this patient?" After picking her jaw off the floor, she stormed out with the poor dog in tow.

This is my dear Reason who is now 14 years old. Just added her picture as a reward for reading my little rant.

Things I learned today

Well, I have learned a number of things about myself today. I can still run in my heels. I can almost get myself stuck under a car. I can climb around the engine block to get a scared cat. Yes, I learned this during business hours!!!

Let's start at the beginning. I was having an informal meeting with another vet, Dr. Leicht, when one of the staff said they needed help catching a cat in the parking lot. Out we all went to find the cat which was now hiding in the engine block of someone's Mazda. Easy to find the car as there were a number of people surrounding the cat. Luckily, the vehicle owner was found so she popped the hood. Before the two of us on top could move, it darted down, dove past everyone stretched out around the car and took off. I went running to the sidewalk in hopes of keeping it from going on the road.

Our group gathered around another ....... Mazda. If you want to see a well protected engine, go look at a Mazda. I tried to get under to have a peak and almost got stuck. So there we all are, standing around the vehicle. I joked that it would be a good idea to get the owner's attention by setting off the car alarm. I hit the car and son of a gun if it didn't go off! I may never be able to hear quite the same again. That didn't bring an owner so my girls and Dr. Leicht went to the different businesses to find an owner.

It took a bit, but finally the owner of the car came out. He popped the hood for what turned out to be the first time since he'd owned the car. The girls were ready underneath with the fishing net a kind young teenager had offered to the cause. The others were placed strategically around the car. As the hood opened, I jumped on top of the engine and almost grabbed the cat by the tail. The cat poked its head down under then aborted mission and hid on the other side of some part of the engine. Luckily my arm was just long enough to reach the scruff and I held on for dear life. My Mom would have been so proud. Dr. Leicht had the cat carrier ready and in she went.

So, this scared little cat is in our quiet cat room. We will look for identification once s/he has settled. If you know of anyone who lost a cat in the Walmart parking lot today in Okotoks, it is safe with us. Oh yeah, the current nickname is Mazda!!!