*Phew*

[mad_andy]

I survived. I am knackered.

However, here's an anecdote that sums up tonight and, indeed, night shifts here in general:

It's 0615. I am gore and saliva to my eyebrows, because the cat whos tried to stop a car with his face has decided he's going to finish the job by braining himself on the walls of the incubator. Morphine has stopped working. The only thing that is working is me putting the beast in a (gentle) headlock.

So.

Cat. Blood. Saliva. Headlock.

...phone.

"My cat's bandage has fallen off."

There is a moment of silence while I try to come up with a response that does not begin with "WHAT?!!!!!WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?

They sound nervous. So they bloody should.

So I make them an appointment to come in and see the vet, and hang up very gently.

...

People. Gotta love 'em, right?

Comments

[stonefinder.livejournal.com]

I remember when Tuck lost his toe. It was like 5 am in the morning, I happened to be up (thank God!) and the vet's office was closed. I called the service, told them what happened and they had whoever was on call call me back. I figured they'd open early and have me come in, right? The cat is bleeding like a stuck pig, right? No, he told me to stop the bleeding, bandage him up and bring him in when the office opened at 7 am. Wha-? I had no gauze, no experience in holding a wriggly six month old kitten still enough to bandage his foot and how the fuck was I to know I wasn't doing it too tight if I did? The bleeding wouldn't stop no matter what I did and I ended up using Qwik Stop for which I got chided for. What else was I suppose to do? The cat wouldn't stop bleeding, and he didn't understand what the hell I was doing. I ended up using a pad and vet wrap to bandage him up. Turns out the only thing keeping his toe on was a flap of skin. To be fair, I hadn't realized that it was that bad, so I couldn't tell the vet how nasty it truly was. And when he came back? He was constantly getting his bandage off. And shoving it under my pillow. Was good about taking his pain medication though. Tuck is a smart cat.

[madandy.livejournal.com]

Had you called here you would indeed have been seen by an emergency vet - if something is bleeding, and the bleeding clearly isn't superficial, then it needs to be seen. End of story.

This, however, was a light support bandage. And I wouldn't mind but the surgery opens at nine on a saturday - she could have called then. I was up to my assfeathers in it and really didn't need the added stress.

Poor little sod didn't make it. *Sigh* (The RTA, not the bandage cat!)