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This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
I left home worrying about my cat who’s hurt her paw and is confined inside whilst her wound heals. The cat equivalent of sad puppy dog eyes haunted me as I closed the door behind me and set off for my shift, but worse was yet to come.
Deceased Cat
An appointment was planned for someone to pick up their deceased cat in the evening. The cat was already ‘prepared’ but needed to be laid out ready for collection.
We have a special room with soft, calm lighting that’s available for this, and well out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the every-day activities of the animal ambulance. Owners are able to spend as much time as they need in here. We have cuddly toys for children, tea and coffee, and small plastic bottles to hold some of the fur of the cat if the owner so wishes.
Sadly there’s a cost payable so I prepared the form and put that ready near by.
Tortoise or Turtle*
* The Dutch word (“schildpad“) means both “tortoise” and “turtle”. Each time I ask whether a schildpad is the ‘land or water version’, the answer, to date is: I don’t know.
Aside: The Dutch also use the same word for pigeon and dove (“duif“).
A schildpad was expected to be brought to the base so a temporary home needed to be made for him until he could be brought by an external driver to a special schildpad sanctuary.
Sally got a container ready and built a shelter. We didn’t know how much water (if any) to add; if it was a tortoise, then it could drown in water. And if it was a turtle then the suitable depth of water was dependent on his size. We made a best guess, and added a stone he could climb onto if there was too much water.
The morning team turned up and brought the schildpad with them. I still didn’t know whether it was a tortoise or a turtle; neither did they. But it was small, so I tipped out some more water from the container.
Struggling Sparrow
Our first rescue wasn’t a rescue.
We turned up on-site and looked for a “box by a bush” which held the sparrow. We could find neither! We rang the bell of the property and the owner, holding back an enthusiastic dog, let us know the previous team had already picked him up!
Aside from being a waste of our time, this was actually good news because it meant the sparrow had been brought to the wildlife rescue centre and would therefore be receiving help quicker!
Presumably; we didn’t know. I didn’t want to submit the admim because I didn’t know for a fact what had happened. Did the rescue centre need to be emailed to let them know they had a patient? We called the centralist who would sort it out for us.
(By the end of the shift the admin was still on our list, so I made a note to make sure the following team wouldn’t call on the finder for a third time!)
Sick Hedgehog
The finder was waiting at the door for us as we pulled up to rescue this hedgehog. The admin stated he breathed heavily, suffered with parasites and was missing an eye.
He curled up immediately as I picked up the poor creature. It was difficult to have a good look at him; I couldn’t even tell there was a missing eye, but I spotted small insects or lice, maybe half a millimeter long, crawling amongst his spikes. Wait up! Were these actually the lighter tips of his spikes? I took a closer look. No, definitely tiny, wriggling creatures on his underside.
As I looked more, I thought I might have seen a wound on his side. The finder suspected he was attacked by a cat, so I noted this in the admin too. Such a sweet thing; I hope he’ll be OK.
Weak pigeon found on road
The kind finder brought him home and put him into a box for us. She also awaited us by the door, although I must admit we were inside a flat and we got a little lost finding the correct number inside!
The cardboard box was filthy inside with droppings; I don’t know if this was a sign of stress or agitation. I saw a small wound on his chest so I made a note of this. It still seems odd to me that I need to write these things down when I’m positive the vet will spot these injuries – and more!
Pigeon lying down doing nothing
I’m not sure where the pigeon was found, but the finder (who opened the door as we got out of he ambulance! 😉 ) told us she’d brought her home. (Again, another hero!) She didn’t have a box available, so had placed her into a (clean) plastic bin about 50 cm and 40 cm diameter – it was huge! I brought it into the ambulance so that I could take the pigeon out and place her into the rescue box without fear of her flying away.
It turned out that the pigeon didn’t move much, though once she was in my hands she had very strong wings! I couldn’t see any wounds, also made difficult because I held the bird relatively tightly against those strong wings which reduced my vision. Besides, the vet would find something if there was anything to be found, I’m sure! 😉
I returned the bin to the owner and joined Sally in the ambulance – then rushed back out again to see ask the finder if she had touched bird with her bare hands (if so, give them a good wash). All was OK, though now as I type, I realise I should have advised her to wash her plastic bin.
Wildlife rescue centre
A simple delivery of the hedgehog and 2 pigeons to the wildlife rescue centre, and a simple photo of the scenery as we drove away.
Homing Pigeon
The last rescue on our list was a homing pigeon that had been placed in a box and left by the letter boxes outside a block of flats. It was a very busy area with supermarkets and zombie pedestrians wandering in front of the ambulance as we drove along the road.
A cardboard box was clearly visible, even though it was tucked in a corner. But it was open at the top; was this the one we were after, or was it a piece of discarded rubbish?
When we looked inside we were shockingly disappointed; this was the right box, and we knew because we saw a mass of bloody toilet paper in it with 2 pigeon legs sticking out of it. I already had my hygienic gloves on, so I pulled the tissue paper out the way. The pigeon had already passed away and lay stiffly upside-down. Her head was very loose; a result, I think, from a severe neck wound.
This bird is a pet because she has a ring. I took the required photo so the admin could be submitted, then set about thinking what to do with this creature. We’d normally return a wild, deceased bird to nature; this didn’t seem like a viable option with someone’s pet. We called the centralist who advised us to bring the bird back to the base.
We placed her into a plastic bag for hygienic reasons, and into the ambulance.
This is a grotesque photo so I’ve hidden it. Password is “iwant2casadimage”
This is out of chronological order, but this is what happened back at the base.
I checked with the co-ordinator who happened to be on-site. She explained the numbering system on the ring to me then pointed me towards a website (which now I’m home I can’t find…) where the owners contact details are given when the ring number is entered. In this case there was a message that the owner of this particular homing pigeon didn’t want to be contacted. (Which I find sad).
Traffic Accident: Deceased Kitten 🙁
With the deceased homing pigeon in tow, we went on to pick up another deceased creature – a little kitten who’d been run over yesterday.
I don’t know how it was known, but the kitten had no chip, though thinking about it now, I think we should have double-checked it ourselves. Sally was still parking up the ambulance when the property owners came to us with the kitten in a towel. Such a tiny thing whose life had ended because of a 4-wheeled metallic monster 🙁
Back at the base
Back at the base, the schildpads had been brought inside, ready for the evening. Yes, there were 2! There was “Gijs” (= Dutch name) from a week or so ago, I think, and “Nout” the schildpad from the start of the shift. He’d had “8” nail polished onto his shell to identify him.
Update: He’s a musk turtle and feeling under the weather so his water (< 0.5 cm deep) needs to be changed every day. Gijs and Nout will be taken to a "schildpaddenparadijs” (Tortoise / Turtle paradise) early next week. I hope they get nicer names there!
Another update: Sally might be the one taking the schildpads (strictly, schildpadden in Dutch) to the paradise next week. I’ve asked to join!
Kitten
The kitten was clean with very little blood or visible injuries, so she needed only a little preparing. I tagged her, took photos so she can be identified and laid her to rest.
I spoke to the co-ordinator regarding the homing pigeon (as you know) then I asked her about the admin for the kitten. I’d been pulled up earlier about my admin regarding a deceased cat which we couldn’t find, so I wanted to get it right this time!
Admin complete, I joined Sally who was registering the kitten on amivedi.nl, a site where missing and found animals are listed. I was impressed with how diligent Sally is with these kinds of things!
It was only later I realised that it was well past the appointment time for the deceased cat from the start of the shift. One of the following team were with the owners; I saw them outside the building holding their loved pet in a box. My heart really went out to them; they’d been here for some time so I know it must have been difficult for them. And kudos to my team member for being with them and comforting them through it.
Beginning and now the End
Cats cats cats. Always on my mind today. I was glad to get home and be with mine! 🙂
