25/06/2024
As locums we see a lot of strays or unwanted animals and it's very hard not to bring them all home.
Locum vet Julie Saunders has posted about her gorgeous acquisitions, in her daily FB posts during June for (see below)
Let us know your stories on how you acquired your pet too!
The acquisition of personal pets.
As a vet in general I have always been of the ‘you get what comes to you’ mindset , and this includes my own pets.
I have acquired two pets during my time as a locum vet, one from Cwmbran in South Wales and one from Highbridge in Somerset.
Had I not been working at those practices on those days my pets would never have been. It was fate 😁.
Jane the little Welsh cat:
She was tiny, brought in as a found kitten, only around 5 weeks of age. She was streaming with cat flu, gunky sore eyes and snotty nose (yes these are veterinary terms 😂) and was born with deformities of her front legs and tail.
Despite this she was happy in the isolation kennels and playing in her cage.
I loved her as soon as I saw her and I sent a video to my partner asking what she thought, the answer was a very clear “get her, get her, bring her home”.
By the time we got home there was a litter tray, food bowls, food, treats, toys, beds etc. etc. etc.
When Jane was a bit older I took her for a CT scan to check out her legs. She has a condition called radial dysplasia where one of the bones in her front legs, the radius, is not normally developed, in fact, in her left leg is is absent except for a tiny dot (see pic). At this stage I noticed a heart murmur which progressed quickly over the following few months. I took her to a veterinary cardiologist for an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) she was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (thickened heart muscle) and systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve (one of the valves in her heart gets sucked the wrong way as her heart beats) for which she is treated with beta blockers . I did not think she’d survive past a couple of years but she is now 12 years old and still as spoiled as the day I met her.
Jane is what we describe as a ‘vet pet’, multiple conditions and abnormalities but we wouldn’t have her any other way.
Dotty, on the other hand ☺️:
I was working at a practice that neuters for the local RSPCA centre. Dotty was on my operating list for the day. She is a hairless Chinese Crested dog, I remember her in the kennel looking worried, wearing an ill fitting T-shirt and being quite indifferent to my attentions. I loved her immediately. I sent a photo to my partner asking “do you like this dog?”, quite a different response to the introduction of Jane, the answer was, “why?” 😂
Obviously she was destined to be ours. We have had her for 8 years, she has a vast wardrobe, it is nice to have a dog I can legitimately dress, because she is hairless the T-shirts protect her from sunburn, jumpers and fleeces protect her from cold and coats protect her from rain.
Being hairless is, however, a genetic mutation and without the right care, could affect her quality of life. Interestingly, another mutation is linked to the hairless gene, which affects their dentition, they develop ‘peg like’ teeth called primordial dentition. Dotty has had to have dental work because of this.
She has her own instagram page although she has recently been rather lazy recently in posting her pics 🙄🐾🐾
Over the years I have ‘gently encouraged’ many colleagues from lots of different practices to home little strays and animals with issues, obviously only if circumstances suited. Many veterinary staff provide forever homes to ‘vet pets’ 😻🐶🐰🐹
Remembering Beanie, Anita Crocombe 🌈 💕
And Phicle, Eleanor Martin ❣️
https://www.facebook.com/830990164/videos/2150662988636633/
