“I’ve never seen anything like this”

The title of this entry is what the vet said when she looked at Scampi’s leg abrasion.  Nothing strikes fear into my heart like a vet saying something along those lines, because I’m afraid it’s code for “expensive tests”!  Luckily, the vet decided to treat the problem conservatively for now, under the assumption it’s just an injury which might be slightly infected.  Scampi’s on Clavamox for a week, with an e-collar, and if the wound doesn’t heal he’ll have to have a skin scraping.  I guess it’s sign that the staff at the clinic are comfortable with us, as they made jokes about it being ringworm and me being infected with it, and then they giggled.

One thing I’ve discovered I love about Scampi is that he’s a great pill-taker!  Just slap a bit of cheese around the pill and he eagerly gulps it down, just like a dog.  I can hardly believe my luck, because of all our cats, the only one which can be pilled with any ease is Frank (just pry his mouth open and toss the pill in).  The other cats struggle and squirm and gag, so I barely have words for how much I appreciate Scampi’s cooperation.  This almost makes up for him losing the brand new Lupine cat collar I bought him (I have no idea what he did with it, but it went missing within a few hours of me putting it on him, and I haven’t seen it since) (the design was, “Muddy Paws").

While at the clinic for Scampi’s appointment (and Frank’s FIP vaccination), I filled out a job employment form and attached my resume.  In the spot where it asked if I wanted full-time or part-time, I just wrote, “Please talk to me about this.” I figured that will give me opportunity to explain my concerns about working full-time in reception, while also explaining that I think I could work full-time as long as it was a “work at my own pace” position.  I’ve told the front desk staff more than once that I don’t want to jeopardize the good relationship I have with all of them, so I think they know that I only want to take a job if I feel I can succeed at it.  I’ve seen so many people come and go from that office because they can’t handle the stress, and I know the regular staffers don’t appreciate wasting their time training people who end up leaving.  The rumour mill says there might be a “back office” position open soon, and that would be perfect for me, but that’s just speculation and I’m not sure if it will pan out.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 08/26 at 07:51 PM

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  1. Ooh, well first, good luck with the job situation! That must be a busy practice if the front desk job is that stressful.
    And, here’s a trick I figured out a while back for pilling dogs and cats easily. Either grind up (I have a little bitty pepper grinder I use) the pill to powder. Or - even easier; most pills dissolve - drop it in a little water. Then you have a little pill slurry you can mix with something good and stinky.
    I hope Scampi gets better with the conservative treatment. And I’ve caught ringworm from a dog, it can happen! It’s easy to diagnose though, it will glow under a black light.

    Posted by Carina  on  08/26  at  11:23 PM

  2. The practice goes through an ebb and flow of activity, and sometimes there’s only one vet working.  However, a bunch of new vets have been hired, and soon the office will be staffed with as many as 5 vets as once.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the clinic owner needs to devote more time to surgeries and less time to office visits.  I don’t even know how there’s room for 5 vets at once, as there are only three exam rooms, but that’s why I’m not in charge smile As for stress, it’s partially phone/activity stress, but a lot of it is just “dealing with the public” stress.  I’ve seen quite a few unpleasant owners, including the ones who show up and demand a prescription refill when they haven’t brought their pet in for a checkup in over two years.  They’re always obnoxious, blech.

    Our dogs pill with no problem at all (we single-handedly keep the cheese slice industry afloat), but the cats are tough because some of them struggle and/or hide.  It’s also a bit difficult to make sure that they eat all of their OWN food, and not someone else’s.  The worst thing in the world to pill is Flagyl, though—it must be so incredibly bitter and nasty.  I tried to give it to Derek last year after wrapping it in cheese, and now all you need to do is let him sniff a cheese slice and he gags and foams at the mouth.  It’s vaguely comical (like a Stupid Pet Trick), but he’ll eat absolutely anything, so the Flagyl must have been horrific for him. 

    Maybe I need to go to pharmacy school to go into pet pharmaceutical compounding.  I’ll get to that in my next life.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  08/27  at  03:15 PM
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