This afternoon Judith and I went to the vets surgery for open clinic, so on the backseat of my car were two baskets, one with a chicken and the other with my cat.
I did have to smile as I knew the vet would find Judith and her chicken sitting in the reception area a great amusement, as most people around these parts would rather neck a chicken than pay a vet bill, and they know how soft she is about her hens.
I took Romey, the cat that we purchased with our house. Unfortunately she has white ears and is a sunseeker. This year the cancer that has appeared on her ears has rapidly got worse, and now looks red, sore and is not healing. I have been told there is nothing to be done with them, but she is so uncomfortable I couldn't just leave her. The vet gave her a cortisone injection and is going to review her before deciding wether or not to take the ears off.
It was then the turn of the chicken, and the vet shook his head and laughed when he looked in the cat box and saw the hen. It has had a large swelling on its foot that Judith had tried to lance without much sucsess. the vet sliced it's foot open and removed a large ball of pus, before swabbing it with betadine. He decided not to put a stitch in it and told Judith that as long as it was eating and drinking and looked happy enough she shouldn't worry about it. It cost her twelve euros, which would have bought her a new chicken, but lets hope the hen makes a full recovery.
I am sure the vet was amused, I dont imagine many chickens get taken to the surgery. It was a different story when I worked for Vets in Zimbabwe and South Africa. There, we see all kinds of pets from snakes to mice and hamsters to circus animals. There were a few very expensive small animals around!! All well loved pets. Cancer was a big problem there with white dogs and cats. Diane
ReplyDeleteSorry about Romey..poor cat.
ReplyDeleteI chuckled at the chicken though...I knew a woman who kept chickens...English of course...who took a poorly one to the local vet.
She went in and you could hear the vet shouting from the waiting room
But Madame..wring its neck....don't waste my time on a hen!
Needless to say she found another vet.
There is such a large British community here I think they are getting used to our soppy animal ways. I now feel quite guilty that the first time we dealt with them I was so horrified at what to me seemed like careless handling of my cat. The longer I live here the more I understand the French way of doing things....
ReplyDeleteBut do you like it? Vets that is?
ReplyDeleteActually yes. I feel like sometimes in the UK we go completely over the top, and that is not always to the benefit of the animal.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the french vets seem also to be of the opinion that if an animal has the will to eat, it has the will to live but I think sometimes that it may not have a good quality of life despite it's ability to eat and would be better put to sleep. But that's a whole big can of worms!!