Header photo used with permission from Garfunkel.
A Funny Start to a Heavy Shift
The shift starts with an ambulance parked awkwardly by the building. It’s possible to enter the grounds via 2 gates, but a driver chose to go through the one which was blocked. Irritated they came into the building.
“Who parked the ambulance in the way? Someone needs to move it!”
It got moved, and the car driver drove past.
And parked awkwardly over two carpark spaces!
Dog Transport
I lost the first call that came in to the other team on duty – and that was my fault 🙁 A dog with his owner needed to be transported to another address. I was a driver today, but only in the smaller of the ambulances for which I don’t need to pass a safety assessment. As there wasn’t enough space in the ambulance I was allowed to drive, the call went to the other team.
I’m rethinking my idea of not being (an assessed) driver because then I’ll have more options…
Request for Payment
Not interesting, but my second money-related task; sending a payment request to someone who’s cat had been run over. The animal ambulance collected the cat, and under request from the owner, had it “destroyed” (it sounds terrible, but apparently this is the term used when there’s no burial/cremation ceremony).
Fleas 🙁
This rest of this post isn’t about fleas. It’s about what they did to a poor little kitten 🙁
Important note: Some of the images show the kitten in a poor way, and may cause distress when seen. I’ve hidden them behind a password. If you’d like to see them , and acknowledge they may be disturbing, enter the password “:(DeHydratedKitty:(” and they should become visible.
Dog walk
A lady walked her dog in some fields and found a kitten near the border. She went the extra mile by walking past some farms to see if she could find the mother, but unfortunately the mother puss couldn’t be found. The kitten was weak and without his mother, the lady called the animal ambulance.
Finder’s Address
When we came to collect him, he was in a bad way. His coat was scraggy coat, his eyes exuded some kind of liquid and he was very, very weak. The co-driver, Garfunkel, picked up the kitten and gave him a good check. He could feel his ribs under the skin and found an area on his belly which looked like blood. It was clear he needed care!
He wasn’t chipped so this meant there was no owner we could contact, so the decision was made to bring him to the rescue centre where he could be brought back to health with a lot of tender loving care.
We placed him in a pet caddy, and Garfunkel spoke to the finder to determine the exact location where he was found during her walk with her dog. In the meantime I tried to make a note of distinguishing marks on the kitten. He was a black little kitty with white boots on his back legs, and on the front…I couldn’t quite make out because his head was resting on top of them!
His head wasn’t the only thing in the way – I was on all fours, crouching to take a closer look through the front of the caddy when the finder’s dog entered the scene. So much so his head was now in the way! I pushed him back gently, and bent down again for another look. I got my bald head licked for that!!!
Find location nailed, Garfunkel suggested we put a hot water bottle in the caddy to help keep the kitten warm. This also helps to conserve his energy. I learned later that even in hot weather, this is good practice when collecting young animals. The bird boxes I’ve used so far already have towels inside, whereas this pet caddy didn’t, so I took the opportunity to also grab a towel for the kitten to lie on instead of on the hard plastic floor. The towel also prevents animals from coming into direct contact with the hot water bottle.
The finder was more than happy to get some hot water for us – and also some tissue and a plastic bag; the kitten had dumped in the caddy. I hoped this was a good sign. When I finished cleaning the caddy, I put the hot water bottle inside and reached over to put the towel on top.
Except I couldn’t reach it! The pet dog had carried it off into the lounge and was playing with it! (Come to think of it, it might have come in handy to dry my head after that lick of his!). Funnily enough, I became the retriever,a and got it into the caddy, and then the kitten too.
Rescue Centre
The rescue centre seemed deserted when we got there, but Garfunkel rushed around to find a member of staff given the poor condition of the kitten. Thankfully he was successful, and the staff member came quickly to have a look at the new arrival.
I saw her pinch the skin of the kitten. It’s a good sign if the skins falls back down to the body quickly. But if the skin takes some time to return to normal, as it did now, it’s a sign of dehydration. She also stroked the inside of the kitten’s ears. I asked her why she did this, and she explained it was to assess the temperature of the cat. The underneath of the paws also help give a temperature indication. Here, they were cold.
But there was a problem. There was currently no vet at this rescue centre, and the kitten wouldn’t last overnight – let alone over the weekend – until the vet was on site. We needed to take her to a vet now.
The staff member prepared a bottle of milk for the kitten whilst Garfunkel phoned the vet to make an emergency appointment. The kitten was slow to take to the bottle, but eventually she took some sips.
Vet
Time was of the essence, and the journey to the vet seemed unduly long, not helped by cyclists pedaling two-a-breast on a narrow, windy road making it hard to overtake, and then an impossibly slow council lawnmower cutting grass verges with no space at all to overtake. I told Garfunkel if I found out lawnmower man had mowed down a rabbit or another creature, forgiveness would come very slowly.
I don’t like drawing attention to myself, but this really was a time when I wished we were allowed to switch on the ambulance sirens and blue flashing lights to get these people out of the way!
The long journey was made all the worse with deep feelings of guilt. Garfunkel was fraught with guilt about not thinking to take the kitten to the vet straightaway instead of ‘wasting’ an hour with the rescue centre.
And I was of course equally to blame. I’d taken a cat straight to a vet before so I should have known – or at least thought about it. And worse, I didn’t even realise until Garfunkel said it 🙁
It was simple. We’d got it wrong. Consolation was difficult; all we could do now was do best we could and hope it was good enough. And learn and remember for next time.
We reached the vet in the nick of time for the appointment, but was it in time for the kitten?
The vet repeated some of the quick tests – feeling the ears and paws, pinching the skin, and she also looked at the gums which were white instead of red. Not a good sign. Out came the thermometer, and in it went. Kitty’s temperature was so low that the digital thermometer didn’t even register. He was placed on the scales and weighed in at less than half a kilo. Also not good.
The blood on the belly that Garfunkel saw earlier were flea bites that had bled and discoloured. Indeed, kitty had fleas. Lots of them.
The prognosis wasn’t good. Kitty’s fleas had caused so much blood loss that his small body had become severely dehydrated. He’d be very lucky to make it through.
Garfunkel asked whether it would have made a difference if he’d been brought in an hour earlier. The vet replied in the negative which relieved some of the guilt, but of course not any of the miserable feelings.
The vet administered some sugar water to Kitty for sustenance, and injected some fluids. But now another problem surfaced. The vet closed at 18:00 and remain closed over the weekend until Monday morning. In other words, Kitty couldn’t stay here to be treated and recover. Garfunkel called our co-ordinator for advice, and that was to take her to an emergency vet another 30 minutes’ drive away. This emergency vet was open 24/7 (read very expensive) but was now the only chance Kitty had. Both Garfunkel and myself were extremely grateful to the co-ordinator for authorising this.
(On the admin side, payment to the vet would be organised, but the Animal Ambulance would need to cover the costs of the emergency vet).
We reheated the hot water bottle and even added a second one, placed Kitty back into his caddy and drove to the emergency vet.
Emergency Vet
I dreaded opening the ambulance door when we got there – would Kitty still be alive? Thankfully he moved as soon as the door slid open. In fact, he was looking the most alert we’d seen him all day. This was a huge relief!
Inside the emergency vet were two desks, one for ‘regular’ vet appointments and another for emergencies such as ours. It had a bell in case there was no one by it but thankfully we were seen straight away; admin fluff arranged first, then we handed Kitty over for immediate attention.
We were invited to take a seat whilst we waited for the vet to make their examination and let us know how things lie.
The waiting area was segregated by species; one for dogs and another for cats. I asked Garfunkel where the area was for humans and he showed me the coffee machine 😉 (incidentally, with no plastic lined ‘paper’ cups 🙂 )
New Prognosis
In time the vet called us through, and presented Kitty and his findings to us. He was on the up, but he wasn’t healthy enough to be left without further treatment. The good news was he was healthy enough that treatment should at least be tried!
Treatment meant re-hydrated, kept warm, and of course treated for fleas. The vet also indicated that he may be suffering from an illness, but treatment for re-hydration was paramount for now. And the best news – he gave him a good chance! 🙂
We left him there in excellent hands, and made our way back to base feeling much better!
Back at the Base
Very little excitement now. I met a new centralist – very chatty because it had been a quiet for her and I think she wanted some human contact! And I spotted the team from the next shift sorting donated clothes. I warned them about the plastic bags from dead animals from the freezer.
And I cleaned the pet caddy. I had odd feelings doing that; the previous occupant was fighting for his life whilst I was pissing about with a hose, disinfectant and a scrubbing brush.
Closing Comments
It was a busy day! The afternoon shift ends at 13:30 but I wasn’t home till around 15:00 and I’d had no lunch. But I feel I helped a kitten in trouble rather than (re)housing one. I didn’t mind staying late at all.
This is a special shift to write about. I write about my shifts to relive the moments and remember the animals, and especially in this case I’m wondering how the little kitten is doing right now as I type. He’s young and without his mother, sick in a new surroundings. And surely itchy with all those flea bites. But I hope he’s doing better!
Happy Update! 🙂
Garfunkel sent me a message and some photos this morning (2 days after we rescued Kitty)
Update a day later 🙁
A miserable update 🙁
Garfunkel checked the administration for this rescue and found an email from the rescue centre; Kitty passed away 🙁
I’m devastated.
Last Words
The sickening irony is when I started writing up this shift, I named the co-driver Garfunkel (after Art Garfunkel from Simon and Garfunkel) because he likes art. Their most famous(?) song? The Sound of Silence.
But I can still hear Kitty’s little miaow’s, and his little paws trampling through my mind…
One of my favourite parts in the Bible is when Jonah gets grumpy that a plant dies. God tells him if he’s so sad about something he didn’t create or tend, then he should understand God showing compassion over things that He (God) did. Take-home message? I suppose I’m allowed to be angry, but be mindful there are lots of opportunities for compassion. And being with the animal ambulance is one of them.
Paul
