New issue magazines
I arrived in the base to see a table full of new issue magazines which needed address labels of donors stuck onto each, and piled according to town, and then ordered in delivery order. (Apparently it’s not possible to print labels in delivery order but I’m sure it is! I’m determined to give this a try for the next issue!)
As chance would have it, I met one of the team members who works on the magazine, and who used to be an editor. She seems nice so I’m looking forward to working with her on the next issue. And I’m sure I’ll have a lot to learn from her too!
The cover photo was taken by the neighbour of someone in the office. He takes photos as a hobby, much to the annoyance of his wife who just wants to walk instead of stopping and waiting for him to take photos. I mentioned this was the same when my wife keeps stopping to look at birds or read information signs. Or me when I want to look at stars at night.
The mention of stars made the ears of my driver prick up; it turns out he’s interested in astronomy too, and we had a good chat about stars ‘n’ stuff…perhaps to the annoyance of someone slapping letters onto the table for us to insert into the magazines.
Injured Pigeon
Our first rescue was an injured pigeon where 2 young, concerned girls waited for us. Unfortunately the bird was dead on arrival so there was nothing to do other than return it to nature. The girls were distraught so we consoled them by telling them they did their best and there was nothing else they could have done. And with a (new issue) magazine.
We took the dead pigeon in the shoe box back into the ambulance.
Because I’d been talking in the ambulance, I wasn’t prepared on arrival – I hadn’t completed the rescue centre form in advance or got the magazine ready in the clipboard ready to hand out. The form didn’t matter in the end, and the driver jumped to my rescue with the magazine, so all came good in the end. Maybe not for the pigeon.
Roadside Cat
On the way back to the base we got a call to rescue an injured cat that was lying at the side of a busy road, probably a road traffic victim. The finder was waiting (in the rain) for us to come; a real act of kindness, especially as it took over 30 minutes for us to get there!
The cat was tame but frightened, so naturally she resisted being picked up a little, but the driver managed and we put her into a box. Unfortunately the box didn’t have a lid so the cat tried jumping out. She wasn’t quick enough for the driver who with an amazingly quick reflex caught her and got her back into the box. I ran back to the ambulance to grab a sheet which we placed over the box. The darkness made the cat a little calmer, but only a little…
The finder filled out a soggy Finder’s Form the best they could in the rain with a ballpoint pen, and went on with their walk. We brought the cat back into the ambulance.
We needed to read her chip number. We do this inside the ambulance with the doors closed, just in case the cat runs away – a high probability in this case! The chip reader couldn’t find the chip, and as it turns out, the driver and I also couldn’t find the door handle inside the ambulance to let ourselves out! We were close to calling the centralist for help when, in a movie-style last minute action-sequence, we found the handle and could get out!
Incidentally, during our extended time in the ambulance, we found a box with a lid. The lid wasn’t very secure for a cat though, so we weighed it down with the folder containing the paperwork / protocols for call-outs. This is the one and only time I’ve appreciated its heavy weight!
We found a local vet online and gave them a call. They were happy to have a look at the cat, but only if we took it away afterwards because where would we bring it? This gave us a problem so we decided to call pikket for advice. We were beaten to the chase – in the nick of time we got a phone call from the centralist who noticed we were driving to the wrong vet – the contracted one being back nearer home. This protocol was outlined, of course, on a sheet of A4 in the folder which was currently lying on top of a box with a cat inside. (And fairly close to a shoe box with a dead pigeon).
A thankful / apologetic phone call to the local vet, followed by an easier phone call to the contracted vet (with no strings attached).
Swapsies
On arrival, there were ‘friendly’ strings attached. The Animal Ambulance had brought a sick cat to them the day before which unfortunately died overnight. We were asked if we’d mind bringing it back to the base for processing. “Processing” means cleaning it up, taking photos so the owner can recognise their pet when the photos go online. And placing the cat into a freezer for hygiene. A horrendous ordeal for everyone. We said Yes – we were on our way there anyway.
It wasn’t much of a swap – a live cat for a dead one, and it was noted by a couple leaving the vet who asked about each of them. I think they were just chatting because they was genuinely happy with the work that the Animal Ambulance do – and that was really encouraging!
Last Rites
Just before we got back to the base we returned the pigeon to nature. It was pouring with rain which I suppose is perfect weather for a funeral. As I wasn’t wearing my protective plastic blue gloves, I couldn’t touch bird directly; only tip him out of the box. This was tricky. We’d pulled up at the side of a country road with a low level vegetation a few meters deep. If I laid him nearby, the pigeon might end up being a plaything for a dog on a walk. Unhealthy for the dog and undignified for the pigeon. My only option was to fling him from the box, out far enough that he’d be ‘safe’ from walking dogs (or other creatures). Regrettably, this ended up being a rather unceremonious affair.
Schrodinger
There was also a lack of ceremony when we got back to the base. The centralist and another volunteer (there are always a few lurking around! 😉 ) were not happy with how we did things.
We shouldn’t have brought the dead cat back with us without a reference number (which makes sense because otherwise we know nothing about this cat, let alone which one it is). Also, and to our disbelief, the lidded box we used for the cats was the ‘wrong’ box. Neither of us understood why – but no-one was able to tell us how else to transport the live and dead cats.
Our co-ordinator wasn’t happy either and asked the centralist to deal with us. The centralist dealt with us by tracking down the reference number thereby sorting out the admin for the dead cat. No further mention was made about the box. We cleaned it and put it back into the ambulance in case anyone else dares to use it.
Feline Farewell
We made the dead cat look presentable, put an identifying tag on his paw, and placed him into a freezer. Unfortunately we were too quick to do this – the reference number hadn’t revealed the sex of the cat so we needed to re-open the freezer to check. This isn’t as easy as you’d think. The large chest freezer had filled with warm air when we first placed the cat inside, and on cooling, contracted thus pulling the lid down tightly with the support of atmospheric pressure. It took both of us to open the lid and identify the cat as a tom cat.
By the time we got back, the centralist had received a call from the vet. The cat we brought in hadn’t been run over, but was very sick. Both of us should have known that as we’d been on an animal first aid course a few weeks earlier where we learned how to check the gums of cats and dogs for disease.
Then again. Given it was a struggle to keep the cat in a box, I think checking his gums would have been very difficult. As always, my deepest thanks and admiration go to vets who can do these kinds of things!
And yes – the centralist too for sorting out our cat mess!
