Give a Dog a Bone?
Today I’m thankful I’m back with my regular driver! 🙂 And we’ll have a Paddy with us again. (Paddy = Padowan = new volunteer who we’ll train up.) I fluffed it with Paddy 1 because I didn’t show him enough and I ended up getting bitten by a cat. I was ready to show everything to Paddy 2 but he wanted it slow and steady. What was it going to be like today with Paddy 3?
At the Base
I made the effort to come “on time” this afternoon. And those 15 minutes were spent chatting outside in the sun with my driver, the co-ordinator, and for a very pleasant moment, a dog with arthritis whose owner had a question for us! 🙂
And we talked about chipping. I and the driver had been on a chipping course together, and now the co-ordinator asked if we’d like to chip 2 cats next week! 🙂
Sadly my chipping partner isn’t able to make it, so I’ll be going with someone else. This still ends up good because they’re an experienced chipper so I can see (and try) how it goes with a real cat and not with a piece of kitchen cloth. I’ll also be shown the administrative side of things which in some ways is the backbone of the whole chipping exercise. Anyway, that’s planned for next week and I’m really looking forward to it! But for now, there was already a rescue lined up for us, and we were set to use the brand new spanking ambulance!
Injured Pigeon
This was an ‘easy’ one; a weak pigeon was found on the road and the finder put him in a box ready for us to collect and bring to the wildlife rescue centre.
Even before I had my blue hygienic gloves on, the pigeon was back in the finder’s hands and he handed him over to me when I was ready. It was good to see he washed his hands well afterwards, but not many people are aware that the sweat on bare human hands interferes with the fat layer on bird feathers which affects the waterproofing and warmth. (Indeed, I didn’t know about this until only a few weeks ago.)
I noticed the pigeon had a wound on his head, so I noted this in the administration and the accompanying form for the rescue centre. It strikes me as strange as why this is necessary because all animals are checked carefully by a vet at the rescue centre, whereas it’s easy for me to miss something – or not see anything at all because the animal struggles and is put into the rescue box quickly. Still, the motto is: too much (accurate) information is better than too little.
We brought the pigeon to the rescue centre and placed him into one of the collection cupboards. Even after nearly a year this still seems a rather industrial approach to me – but it is efficient and the animals are safe, warm and calm (as they’re in the dark) whilst they’re waiting for their veterinary check.
Magazines
As there were no more rescues we turned to hand-delivering some magazines. These go to the kind sponsors and donators to the animal ambulance. I’ve no idea why we drive round and hand-deliver these instead of chucking them in the post, especially given the discussions about saving fuel to rescue small animals like mice.
In any case, the magazines are sorted into piles of postal district, and then someone has cleverly worked out the most efficient order to deliver them. We were nearing the end of our run when the next rescue came.
Kitten with a Lame Leg
I should first explain the title of the post. The description of the kitten was that it had a “manke” front leg, i.e. a lame front leg. At the time – in fact through the whole day – I thought it meant “manky”!
So. A kitten with a lame front leg had been walking all morning, meowing loudly and who was clearly hungry. The mother, or other kittens, were nowhere to be seen nearby. This one had been found by a (human) nursing home and was brought inside and kept in a room where he wasn’t particularly happy.
There was a warm welcome from the residents when we arrived – but not from the kitten who hissed and bared his teeth when we entered ‘his’ room. This time I’d paid extra attention to my own safety and brought protective gloves with me (it was also an order given to me by my wife before I left home!) and a trusty towel I could use to catch him, so I was well-prepared!
Again before I knew it, the finder had picked up the animal and handed him to the driver. This was handy because it made reading his chip easier – except I couldn’t find one 🙁
All cats – including strays – are classified as pets, and this means the admin needs a photo otherwise the report can’t physically can’t be submitted without throwing a barny. It’s a handy fail-safe because often these photos are used on a number of lost and found websites. There’s therefore a protocol of what kinds of photo needs to be taken to ensure that an owner has enough information to recognise their cat (e.g. from the front, each side, etc.).
This isn’t always possible because the animals aren’t co-operative or they move too quickly for the tablet-mounted camera to deal with, or because (thinking back to my bitten hand) the situation is too dangerous.
In this case, the cat was difficult to hold in the right ‘aspect’ and he also moved very quickly. I took some marvelous blurry shots on-site for the admin, tried again in the ambulance, and again when were with vet where we brought him.
We received another rescue notification on the way to the vet for another kitten, also with a mank foot. Thankfully the vet was en route so it worked out well…other than the paraveterinary chasing after us as we left; in our rush I’d forgotten to pick up the pet caddy the kitten was in! We told him we might see him again later, and headed out to our next kitten.
This one delivered safely and in good hands, I submitted the admin with photos, including one of the finder’s declaration form.
Another Lame Kitten
The story was almost identical to the last cat, even to the point that we needed to phone the finder to get a more accurate location in advance.
This kitten had been walking around the area for a few days, meowing a lot, clearly hungry and very skinny looking. To emphasise this point, he wore a cat collar which was extremely loose, though to be fair, it’s not clear whether the kitten had lost weight or whether the collar had simply been fitted badly (time jump: I checked with the paraveterinary. There should be space for 2 fingers between the cat collar and his neck). And yes, he walked “oddly”, raising one of his back legs every now and then.
We were met enthusiastically on site by the finder and brought into the building. On the way I got a splinter in my thumb when I touched a fence post. This moment coincides exactly wen I realised 2 things. The first: I’d forgotten to bring my protective gloves with me, and the second: I’d forgotten to bring my protective gloves back to the van from the first kitten 🫨
The beautiful cat sat calmly on a settee. She was tame, which makes sense because having a collar is a strong indicator that she has an owner. But it was also clear she hadn’t been home for a while because she looked undernourished, and as the finders told us, she was suffering from diarrhea too.
First things first: check for a chip. First things turned out to be a second thing; the first thing was the driver going back to the ambulance to get the chip reader. It was hardly worth the effort; there was no chip 🙁 . Some owners hang a small metallic tube that contains the owner’s contact information on the cat collars. There wasn’t one of these either.
If the cat was healthy we’d put on a call-me-collar which asks the owner to call us and let us know that the cat is indeed owned. This assumes the cat returns to the owner within a number of days. But now it was different; the cat needed treatment now, and had been like this already for several days. The best option was bringing him to the vet.
The 2 finders signed the declaration form and I let them fight over the single magazine I brought (I really should hand out more; especially at the nursing home where I think more would have been welcome!). And for the final part of the administration, the photos…which this time were easier to take!
The driver and I were ready to leave, but Paddy was on the phone. Despite calling out to him, tugging his arm and walking away, he still didn’t follow! Even the finders thought this was odd! The driver and I were keen to get the cat to the vet quickly and walked towards the ambulance; Paddy trotted after us after a while. I recalled the ill-timed Q & A from a previous shift. I realised again how lucky I am to have a driver on the same page as me.
We called ahead to the vet. We weren’t sure whether this was necessary as he already half expected us, but better to be certain for the cat’s benefit. We also called the finder of the first kitten who’d found my gloves and would keep them safe until there was another rescue nearby in the area and someone could pick them up. She was very understanding! 🙂
The vet confirmed the poor condition of the kitten. He also took off the collar and looked inside; sometimes owners write their contact information directly onto the collar.
Aside: This makes me think about my own cat which is of course chipped (and collared – provided she hasn’t pulled it off). But what would happen if the chip can’t be read for some reason? How can a finder get hold of me? I’ve had one of the address tubes before but it fell off. I’ve just ordered some more online…
The paraveterinary let us know that someone from the shelter would pick up both kittens the following day. They’d take better photos and place them on a number of lost and found sites.
The comedy moment of this drop off was the driver popping to the toilet whilst the vet called Paddy and I through to hand over the kitten. This meant that the driver stayed in the waiting room when she was ready instead of walking through the labyrinth of corridors and treatment rooms of the veterinary practice. As Paddy and I used a side-door to get back to the ambulance, we’d found we’d left her behind – albeit this time in more of an unwilling manner than with Paddy previously!
I went round to get her. She was being updated by the paraveterinary. I admired both of them for their interest in the kittens.
Priorities and Protocols
It happened that we were in a town where more magazines needed to be delivered, so I was glad 2 more rescues had appeared on our list which of course take priority over the magazines. But one of them was picking up a dead goose who’d died of bird flu.
I wasn’t keen on this ‘rescue’ as it would put me at unnecessary risk (even though we have specialised protective clothing) – “unnecessary” because the poor creature is already dead. At the same time, moving him away would protect other wildlife in the area. But there’s a policy with the animal ambulance that the smallest ambulance is used for cases which involve bird flu. This is because the smaller vehicles are easier to clean thoroughly than the big(er) one we were in so this rescue was taken off our list.
Carrier Pigeon with Mank Leg
That left an injured carrier pigeon to rescue. In comparison with the cats, bird rescues seem much simpler! This pigeon was already in a box, so we were to move it into the rescue box and bring him to the rescue centre.
Inside the ambulance is an enormous folder full of paperwork. It’s big, bulky and far from practical to use in the field. So in practice a few of the most common forms are kept on a clipboard which I carry up front with me as well as on-site so that finders can sign when necessary. I complete the relevant form as much as possible on the way to each rescue so my attention can be directed towards events on the ground.
But now I’d run out of the forms I needed for taking a bird to the rescue centre! I knew there’d be some in the back of the ambulance, but the long and short of it was I knew I’d be fluffing about filling in a form after we had the pigeon in the rescue box for the finder to sign instead of setting out straight away to the rescue centre.
The driver pointed out the rescue centre wouldn’t be manned as it was after 17:00 so the pigeon would be staying overnight in the cupboard. He would need warmth, especially as he was injured, so we brought a hot water bottle into the finder’s location as well as the rescue box and the administrative clobber.
We chatted to the finder who told us they’d found the pigeon by some cars. He couldn’t move well and they saw he had an injured leg. The driver asked the finder to fill the hot water bottle so I took this opportunity to fill out the form, and then handed a magazine to the finder’s young children. I should start carrying the youth version of the magazines with me too…
The driver put the hot water bottle in place, and I encouraged Paddy to lift the pigeon out of the large cardboard box and into the rescue box.
Carrier pigeons count as pets which means a photo is needed for the admin. I took this from inside the ambulance. It was the first time I saw this creature and I noticed immediately his bright eyes! I remember from a previous rescue that we made a note of the number on the foot ring of the carrier pigeon. For practical reasons, I’ve not yet managed to do this again – even now I couldn’t easily see the ring. Then again, other than the “too much info is best” argument, I’d only right down the number which the rescue centre would verify later anyway.
The wildlife rescue centre didn’t pick up the phone when we called ahead, so we left a message and placed the pigeon inside one of the cupboards. I noted that the first pigeon had already been collected.
Back at the Base
It was past the end time of our shift, but we still had a few things to do:
- Clean the 2 cat carriers,
- Clean and tidy away 2 cat traps that were lying around,
- Ask the centralist to make a new call requesting crew in the area to pick up the protective gloves.
Final thoughts about the shift
Back to my Old Self (in a good way!)
For a long time I thought I was energetic, motivated and enthusiastic. That thought evaporated like morning dew on a sunny morning during recent paid employment, although the sun didn’t seem to shine then; just cold, grey, dark clouds bearing down on me.
Now I’m doing something I love, I’m doing it for a noble cause (helping animals) and working with a huge range of people. During the shift today I saw 2 types of people that gave me an insight into myself.
One type made me realise I’ve come far enough out of my burnout such that it’s fair to say I’m energetic, motivated and enthusiastic again! 🙂 And (especially today) the driver made me aware of how much I appreciate working with someone whose “got my back”.
I remember reading something about how people in the army choose their companions. They don’t go for the people who are most accurate with gunfire; they go for trustworthy comrades. These are the people who’ll pull them out of the line of fire, or go back into it to help them. I feel my driver’s like that. I hope I can be the same for her.
When I got home…
2 things:
- A phone call from the co-ordinator. The centralist lost the info I gave her about the glove I left behind, so I need to follow this up myself on my next shift. I’ll discuss this with the driver; if we go there again ourselves I’ll bring some extra magazines this time!
- An email from RVO: I’m an official chipper! 🙂
