What an awesome week!
Sunday
A hedgehog in the garden!
I’d thought that seeing a hedgehog during the daytime was not a good sign. But I’ve since read that seeing that a hedgehog is active during the day does not automatically mean that something is wrong. This is good news!
We left a saucer of cat food and another of water for him.
Monday
Not “just a pig”. It’s “What an awesome beast this is!” Spotted (with some unpictured chickens) at a pancake restaurant we went to.
Tuesday
My upcoming paravet training needs practical coaching and experience so I contacted a local animal (= cat and dog in this case) hotel for an internship. And they invited me for a trial day to see how it goes!
Meals on Wheels
I checked the route and ensured I had plenty of time to drive there. By the time I”d got downstairs and finished feeding and watering the guinea pigs the estimated time had bumped up 15 minutes! If I left now I’d barely have 5 minutes spare.
I raced around the house kissing goodbye to my wife and kids, grabbed my toast from the toaster (I’d forgotten to press it down, so it was still bread) and jumped into the car. Set the route on my phone and…saw I’d set it to cycling time instead of driving! Ah well. May as well head of and be in plenty of time!
I didn’t eat in the car and the bread stayed there through the day. It was toast by the time I saw it again! I gave it to the birds when I got home, and the left-over bit of banana to the worms in the composter at the back of the garden.
Incidentally, I made my lunch the day before. So no problems there! 😉
On-site
It’s summer holiday time so there were a lot of dogs (I didn’t see inside the cat section today). I helped prepare food, feed and water the dogs, clean their inner and outer enclosures, and also their run-around area.
I loved it! But do they love me? The staff will have an internal meeting and let me know by the end of the week.
Hedgehog
And the hedgehog is back! We spotted him at the other end of the garden, so he’s been having a good walk around!
Wednesday
- Animal ambulance shift.
- There’s only 1 thing better than spending a day at the animal hotel. And that’s getting an email telling me I can come there more often! Yep, they would be happy to have me do my internship with them! I’M HAPPY TOO!!!! They’re awesome!!! 🙂 (I’m including all of the animals in the “they’re” too! 😉 )
- Oh yes, and let’s throw in for Wednesday a partial (90%) solar eclipse and a late night with my daughters watching the Perseid meteor shower!
Admittedly there was a rescue that riled me up, but the long and short of it is we rescued a sweet little kitten!
Thursday
Chipped 4 kittens! It’s been a long time since I chipped my last (first) cat, so I was hesitant to volunteer Sally and myself to do this when there was a request sent on the app. I spoke to Sally about it on Wednesday during our shift and she felt the same – which is why she was going to watch. I saw an opportunity here; we could both go and chip whilst the experienced chipper checked we did it OK. This meant (first and foremost) we’d do it OK, but also that we’d be better set for the future when the next call for chipping cats come!
The 3 of us met on site. Inside, 4 gorgeous kittens and their mother lay on the cool, tiled floor. It seemed like a good idea and I was tempted to join them! 😝 And the kittens were beautiful, as if a child had coloured them in! One of the 4 had thick fur. She must have been really warm. The mother approached Sally, and then me, to sniff our fingers and give a slight head butt, as if to say yes, you can chip my children!
It was beautiful to see them climbing and falling over each other, and grooming each other too. I didn’t know kittens did that.
The expert, who’ll I’ll name here as Rowena, spoke with the owner and dealt with the admin. Sally positioned herself on a chair with a blanket to protect bare legs (35 degrees C outside) and I donned hygienic gloves – quite an effort with sweaty hands, but after a mere 5 minutes they were on…
Rowena checked the chip inside the needle could be read with the chip reader, and that it matched with the paperwork. Meanwhile, Sally made herself comfortable with one of the kittens on her lap. I was passed the needle, Sally got her cat-grip ready, and off we went!
I felt nervous but I needn’t have been! It went really well! 🙂 I noticed the skin was much softer than the adult cat I’d chipped before. I checked the chip wasn’t outside on the kitten’s fur and was indeed inside the body. And Rowena checked with the chip reader the chip could be read. It could! And onto the next.
Well let’s talk about kittens 3 and 4 first because they went well too, although their skin was more like the adult cat. The second kitten had really soft skin and the needle went in really easily. Except it didn’t. When I pulled it ‘out’ it didn’t feel the same as with the previous kitten, and indeed, I saw the chip on her fur. I need to do this again – and again and again until I got it right. How many times s I going to puncture this poor animal?
Once! Because that’s all that’s needed! Anyway. The 2nd attempt went fine – a good lesson for me that every cat has different skin! Indeed the last cat (one with the thick layer of fur) seemed to have her skin very tight against her body which made it difficult for me to pinch and pull up to make a ‘tent shape’ (the chip goes in the cavity this makes between it and the cat’s flesh). Thankfully the kitten was compliant and Sally held her well too!
Rowena passed me a comb to make it easier to check the following kittens that the chip was indeed inside.
The Admin was easy, but it took time for 4 forms (one each for each kitten) to be filled in. Looking back I realise I should have spoken to one of the children at the property more. I’m a stranger in his house sticking a needle into his cats and I should be more sensitive to how he’s feeling too.
I found it interesting that Rowena approached things differently than the previous expert Sally and I had chipped with. For example, she asked the owner to leave the room whilst we chipped. Like with the animal ambulance shifts, I wondered how Sally and I will settle down with this!
All in all this was a great experience for me – not just the act itself, but the confidence I (and Sally) now have that we can do this on our own next time!
Friday
It’s been a restful day. By necessity really because it’s 35 degrees C outside. I’ve been writing things up here, and also reading some animal care books (in Dutch) in preparation for my training. And I’ve been taming our new baby guinea pig. He’s only a few weeks old but he’s already showing his character!
And finally an evening stroll through the local forest just before sunset; this tiny mouse thought he’d do the same too!
