I had a chance to work at a cat clinic for a full day last weekend. The day went by in a buzz and I was exhausted after 10 hours of cleaning cages, learning the basics of animal handling, observing 4 surgeries and holding the cats still while they are being examined by the vet.
There were various ailments, from simple vaccinations, to neutering, a split paw, bad teeth, ear infections, eye ulcers, diabetes and kidney cancer. Although the cats came in for different reasons, there was one common thing threading them all, they are all loved.
The owner of the diabetic cat has to give insulin shots to her kitty 2 times daily. She missed one by 3 hours, that's why the cat was brought in coz he was very sick. The kitty is skin and bones, but the way the owner lovingly stroke her body, she is still the most adorable baby to her.
The kitty who is suffering from kidney cancer was brought in for his chemotherapy. After the injection, I brought the kitty out from the nurse's station to the owner. The vet explained to her that they'll have to use the left front leg for injections next time around, coz the right front leg's veins are too porous after so many injections. The owner thanked the vet profusely and told the kitty that they were going home now and kept telling the kitty that he was a good boy.
It's saturday and the clinic is closed on sundays, so all the cats have to be returned to their owners over the weekend. As I was cleaning the recovery cages after the owners picked up their cats, I felt a warm glow. The cats were to go home. When they were brought out in their travelling bags to their owners, you could see a big smile spread across the owner's face. They all greeted the kitties with "awe...are you ok? we are going home now..." As for the kitties, they would meow to complain and the owners would go, "oh, i know it hurts, yeah, i know....I am here now...."
Yes, it was an exhausting day, but also an exhilarating one. The vows that couples say when they wed rose before me, " for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us apart." Aside from romantic love, the love between the cats and their owners I witnessed that day certainly testify to this.
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3 comments:
I have had loveable pets but I am ashamed to say I never had one that I was very attached to like you and many other loving people are.
But my hat is off to you all for taking care of a life as if was one of your own.
Very sweet indeed.
Thanks, just like you are drawn to babies and tods and go awe....I go awe...with animals...call it mothering instinct!!
it certainly is a mothering instinct
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