2002-07-22
10:55 a.m.

::Sigh of exauhstion:: That explains the last few days quite well.

Saturday, I got up early because I am feeding horses for a friend again, and then I had to go to work. After getting my dogs out and such, I went to feed the horses, only to find one of them was lame. Even better, it had to be that lady's favorite horse. After making sure she was fine otherwise, I went to work, figuring I would get someone out there later in the afternoon.

I got to work about twenty minutes early, thinking how great that was, because I would have everything all nice and done, and the day would go smoothly. When I pulled up into the clinic drive, I see Dr. C's truck parked there, which is unusual, since she normally sleeps as late as she can on weekends. I shrug it off, and walk in the door, only to be met by her. She gives me a big smile, and says 'I'm so glad you are here early.' I knew I was in for it there, she was about to tell me something horrible. 'We have an emergency colic surgery to do.'

For those who don't know, colic is an upset stomach in horses, and since they can't throw up, it can become quite serious. It can cause the colan to become displaced, or other serious complication that can only be fixed surgically.

I don't mind surgeries, but on Saturdays, when we are booked solid, and I haven't had my morning caffine dose, it's not a good thing. So, I rushed around the clinic, trying to get as much done as possible before the three hour surgery. We get the horse on the table with no real problems, until, after the horse is draped, and sterile, and Dr. C goes to make the first cut. Well, the horse wakes up, and begins kicking. I was in the process of putting my mask and cap on, when Dr. C yells for me. I am watching this horse kick wildly on the table, as LeShay tries to get him back to sleep, wondering, what am I supposed to do? I run, and grab the back legs, trying to hold them, so he doesn't kick Dr. C, or unsterilize everything. It was wild. He finally went back to sleep, and the rest of the surgery went by without incident. It really is amazing to see the horses intestines just laid out on a table.

The only real problem is that it was so hot out in large animal surgery, cause out airconditioning unit is on the fritz. The mask and cap made things that much hotter. It really sucked big time. After surgery, I went into the clinic to try and get things a little more calmed down, when Michelle walks up to me and tells me about a lady who had four, two week old kittens, that she is going to euthanize if no one takes them. What have we all learned about Heather? She is a sucker. So, after a crazy day like that, I bring home four baby kittens to bottle feed every two hours.

On the way home, I got Dr. C to stop by and look at the lame horse. She finds nothing significantly wrong, and is about to walk away, when I notice one of the other horses limping. I plop down on the ground, put my head on my knees and ask 'Why me?' There was really nothing we could do at the time, so I went ahead and went home, and called the lady to tell her.

She is one of those really paranoid people when it comes to her horses, so she starts crying on the phone. It really wasn't that serious of a problem, but she is sobbing none the less. After I calm her down, I begin feeding the kittens. That goes on every two hours, all through the night. What was I thinking?

So, Sunday morning, I get up..well, more like I sleepwalk, and somehow make it to work. I get all the animals taken care of, and I am about to leave, when I remember Dr. C had asked me to stay and help her with a cat's tail.

GROSSNESS WARNING!! Scroll down to the next paragraph if you don't have a strong stomach.

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I walk out into our ICU to get the cat, and I notice how quiet it is, when I hear something. As I get closer to the cage, I realize that the sound I am hearing is actually the sound of maggots eating the cat's flesh. Bleh! I pick up the cat to get it's weight, holding it as far from me as possible. After we sedate the kitty. Dr. C begins picking maggots off. There were so many that parts of the cat's tail had been chewed down to the bone. The clippers couldn't even go through the masses of them. The smell was enough to knock me out. There must have been over a thousand maggots. We were pulling masses of them out of the cat's anus, scrotum, ureathra, everywhere on the back end. Two straight hours of picking maggots, and we didn't even bother with half of the tail. We just wrapped it to prevent the maggots from making their way back up to the kitty's anus. Never have I been so disgusted in my life. The cat goes into surgery today to see if we can save him, I wish him lots of luck.

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END OF THE GROSS STUFF

After that whole fiasco, I get home, and take a nap, thankfully, not dreaming of the events above. After feeding the kittens, I get a phone call from my next door neighbor. 'Why are there two cop cars in your driveway?' WHAT!? So, I look out my window, to see two cop cars at the top of my driveway. As I am watching, another one pulls up. They stay at the top, never coming down the driveway. I am sitting in my house, trying to figure out what the hell they are doing there. I know my dogs haven't bitten anybody, we've paid all our bills, I haven't murdered anyone..so why are they at my house? Then, comes a fourth and a fifth cop car. Eap! My Mom is on her way back from Florida, so I am at the house alone, shacking in my socks (I wasn't wearing my boots at the time). Then, about that time, my dad calls, and I ask him if he knows anything. He tells me they found marijuana plants across the street. Ahh, it all makes sense. My neighbor has been growing the stuff. I call him up to tell him what is going on. I am in the middle of a drug scandle now. My neighbor is a nice guy, he doesn't sell the drugs, just grows them for his pleasure. I then, just sit and wait, knowing the cops are going to come and ask me questions. I don't think I would have been able to lie. Thankfully, they never came to ask me questions. As they were leaving, I watched about ten cops coming out of the woods, each with two large paper evidence bags in their hands. As soon as they had come, they were gone.

Why does all of this stuff happen to me? Does anyone else out there really go through this type of stuff?

Then, my cousin comes upstairs yesterday with her dog. 'Heather, can you look at Jake, I think he hurt himself. He jumped out of our truck.' He did what? So, I am holding the dog, feeling him to make sure he has no broken bones, when I hit a sore spot, and the little miniature pincher turns around, and bites me. My dog Rowdy jumps in, growling, and getting Jake away from me. I had to pull Rowdy away, just to get near Jake again. Rowdy kept his eye on the little dog though. Although Jake was scraped up, he was fine. I told my cousin not to let Jake ride in the truck anymore. Although Jake faired well, my poor finger wasn't as lucky. I have a very nice bite mark on the same finger that the other dog bit. I guess that is just an unlucky finger.

Now, I am off to the clinic, on my day off, to get more milk for the kittens. If someone with a sledge hammer would be so kind as to knock some sense into me, I would greatly appreciate it. I need sleep, not kittens. ::Shakes head:: Only in my life.



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