Many Shorties

Hola. Yesterday was a day of short stories. It was not slow, mind you, but VERY busy (that is the "b-word" we are not allowed to say at work, hehe, because it jinxes us, they say). From 4-9, it didn't stop. I felt so sorry for the doctors and nurses, because they get no breaks. They are lucky if they get time to go heat up their lunch and wolf it down. Many of them stayed two or three hours past their shift, because there was so much to be done. What can you do? it almost makes me rethink my choice, but I love it too much. I'll find a way to work with the bad hours. Since it was busy, I really didn't have much time to focus on any one situation, so I only have a few details about each. Therefore, I have many short stories.

Car Windows?! We received two small dogs today that had fallen out of car windows, at least one of which belonged to a moving vehicle. The first one was a chihuahua and, luckily, sustained no major injuries besides some scratches and bruises, all over the body. The next one looked like a young Yorkshire Terrier, and he wasn't quite as good. Wasn't bad, though. He came in, and the owners had mentioned he had trouble breathing. We looked, and he was a bit slow-acting, and when we put him on the floor, he was walking crookedly (like a drunken dog). He was also chattering his lower jaw and his tongue was a bit bluish. They treated him like an emergency, and gave him oxygen, but I think he ended up fine, because about 15 minutes later he left. Lucky dogs, these are happy endings! Like one of the nurses mentioned, what's wrong with these car-and-dog-owning people??

Constipated and Enema Poor cat. This must be so embarassing for him to read... I won't mention his name for privacy reasons. :) He was very much constipated, and he in fact was very sick from it, poor guy. They had him running on fluids, hoping he would get it out. He didn't, though, so they had to do an enema... basically, they stuck a long, thinnish rubber tube up his anus, and flushed a whole bunch of slightly soapy water into it, filling his intestines. They very carefully placed him in a cage to drip, hoping he wouldn't start to explode while they were carrying him. I hope it turns out well, because nothing had happened when he left. I don't, however, envy the person who gets to clean his cage after he goes home!

Cats. Dr. Phillips' cats went home with him. Yay for them! We will miss 'em, though; I don't know when they will come to visit again. He brought us human cookies to eat! Yum! Wonderful guy.

Ambidextrous! One of the nurses had her dog in to have his ear checked out. While she was waiting for a doctor to come look at him, I walked by and commented on his good manners. He was, indeed, a nice dog. Sitting properly, letting her poke and prod him... But anyways, she thanked me, and told me that he was ambidextrous... and showed me. She first held up her hand and said, "shake." He politely gave her his right paw. But then, she switched hands, and said, "for lefties." He gave her his left paw! Brilliant! I tried to teach Shasta that, but he seemed confused, and kept giving me his right paw and wondering why I wouldn't take it. I think I'll teach him other tricks instead!