The Yorkshire Vet: Back to work but struggling with a spaniel

Even though I was delighted to be back in action, it turned out Helen was right- I found myself craving the mini-breaks to lift my limb and let the swelling subside. Sadly, the first minibreak had to be abandoned, as Vera appeared as an extra emergency. She struggled into the consult room, accompanied by her owners, with the tell-tale signs of a pyometra. This is an infection of the uterus and can be very serious if not identified and treated promptly. She went straight onto a drip, intravenous antibiotics and into theatre. I hobbled straight from my list of consults into operating mode. Vera’s uterus was interesting, as one horn was completely normal, while the other consisted of about five spheres, each one full of fetid pus. Their walls were perilously thin and fit to burst. It was a good job we’d operated as soon as we did. Fortunately, the GA and surgery went to plan. Vera was soon waking up in her comfy kennel.

“Well, you haven’t forgotten what to do after your time off,” said Lucy, our brilliant nurse, boosting my confidence, which had been depleted by the protracted inactivity. Evidently, I hadn’t and I was delighted Vera’s surgery had gone smoothly.

But my full-time return to action wasn’t completely straightforward. I was pretty capable when upright and balanced, even though my recovering knee was very swollen. Bending down to examine a large dog on the floor or lifting a spaniel onto the table for an elderly lady recovering from surgery for a new hip herself, however, were steps too far. How could I hope to check over an unruly Labrador who wouldn’t stay still for me to place an otoscope in his ear?

“I’m sorry, but can you lift him onto the table?” I found myself saying, adding a brief explanation, which was easy to corroborate by pointing to the huge contraption keeping my right leg restricted to sixty degrees of bend. The scenario was even worse when a fifty eight-kilogramme hound came in later.

My first, full day back at the Thirsk practice was just as challenging. There was no emergency pyometra and my second appointment of the morning looked a doddle. They were waiting outside, so I thought I would venture out to perform the perfunctory process in the back of the car. Two second vaccinations for dogs whose immunity had lapsed. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Except, these two enthusiastic Weimeraners also had a lapse of concentration and decorum. They both jumped out of the boot and ran around like yearlings in spring. As they eventually returned like boomerangs to the car, the larger of the two careered towards me, only avoiding a high-speed collision with my stiff and weak leg by a whisker.

Later, a moment of hilarity developed in the most unlikely of circumstances. The time had come for the final injection for a geriatric Labrador. Both owners and vet were suffering with our stiff limbs and we arranged and rearranged ourselves like a game of Twister until everyone was in the right place. The injection was straightforward and the end peaceful and smooth. I shared some words of condolence and we chatted about how full the old boy’s life had been for a few minutes. Then, none of us could get up off the floor!