How did a Soci Hons student end up as Vet Nurse? Carpe diem, seize the day, and things do happen.
First impressions...
Corgiboy was then a ripe one year-old puppy, and had been trundled off in his crate to Aunt Aggie's, his groomer. Taking countless advice from seasoned dog owners to "stay with your puppy in case the groomer ill-treats him" to heart, I hung around Aggie while she commenced her fur-trimming, nail-cutting routine.
When assured that Aggie was not going to smack the corgiboy upside down, nor leftside-right, I decided it was time corgiboy learnt to be independent. Afterall, one doggy year was rumoured to be the equivalent to seven human years. So out I stepped, to pop by the vet clinic conveniently situated next door.
An exclusive one it was, with a trickling fountain in front, frosted glass panels and (gasp!) an ionizer to sanitize the air. Not to mention the clinic's principles etched in green, of which one jumped out at me. The clinic did not approve of euthanasia...
The interview...
A few months later, corgiboy was back at Aunt Aggie's for his trim, and her "the clinic next door is looking for staff, why don't you give it a try?" greeting saw me sitting in a green rattan chair, back facing the frosted glass panel awaiting an interview. Afterall, due to a quirk in our uni-timetable, we had a couple of days free each week.
In short, I was hired as part-time staff, and spent the first day drawing out scores of vaccines into syringes as one of the vets was going out on a mass jabbing spree (read: it was actually a home visit to a shelter to vaccinate the strays.)
Learning Opportunities...
I learnt to:
~ stay till midnight to help in a caesarian, and subsequently watch the two little ones grow on their repeat visits.
~ keep a chinchilla baby peeping out from my scrub pocket to warm him up.
~ set up drip sets and blood transfusion sets.
~ pick maggots from open wounds.
~ assist a dentist in teeth-scaling.
~ use the autoclave and x-ray machines.
~ shave and prep an animal for surgery.
~ draw blood for blood tests.
Thankful for the "let's smile even when we are down and haven't eaten our lunch at 4pm" colleagues, and the furry, prickly, itchy, scratchy, scaly, feathery, fur-less animals.
Corgiboy Zaccheus' home away from home: The Clinic
