Any busy Christmas Days folks?

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Mair Tyler — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 22:06:35 GMT

I had to look after a very ill African Grey Parrot on Christmas Day! I've probably seen only 1 or 2 parrots in my entire (10 year) career to date so I could think of better ways to be spending my day! My knowledge of parrot medicine and handling did improve significantly (well it could only really go up!) and youtube proved useful for learning to crop-tube!! The bird died on Boxing Day -at least it didn't drag on all weekend, I think it was a pretty hopeless case anyway! Did get a big box of chocolates from my first client of the day though! :)

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 18:32:44 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]And to think we felt sorry for you when you told us about the (ex)nurse's boyfriend thumping you! [/quote]Well I wasn't knocking her off even though she was a Page 3 Girl so I didn't deserve it. I am talking about 35 -40 years ago when I was tall, dark and handsome. Now I'm just tall!

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Michael Woodhouse — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 18:03:37 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"] I was usually having an affair with one of the nurses so I volunteered and got her to as well and we could spend some quiet time together!![/quote]

And to think we felt sorry for you when you told us about the (ex)nurse's boyfriend thumping you!

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 18:00:49 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]Does that deserve a red star?[/quote]So why did I get 5 gold stars: for confessing to being a lothario, for the resourcefulness in arranging the rotas or just for asking for a red one?!

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 17:16:18 GMT

[quote user="grumpyoldman"]Once or twice while playing trivial pursuit with a bunch of drunken relatives a well timed interruption was a welcome distraction . [/quote]I have to say that pretending to be on call has been a good excuse not to have to go somewhere I don't want to and one you can use more than once. However, Trivial Pursuit is old hat, we were playing Cards against Humanity this year. I wonder if it says something about me that I usually win?!

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

grumpyoldman — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 16:23:07 GMT

Once or twice while playing trivial pursuit with a bunch of drunken relatives a well timed interruption was a welcome distraction .

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 15:24:37 GMT

[quote user="Dagmar Steele"]Before I had the kids I didn't mind working any day on Christmas, even not on Christmas Ev[/quote]Same really, my family lived miles away, my long term girlfriend went home for Christmas and I was usually having an affair with one of the nurses so I volunteered and got her to as well and we could spend some quiet time together!! There was method in my madness.

Does that deserve a red star?

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 15:21:09 GMT

I was lucky enough on 2 Christmases to be on a 1:2 rota with a Scotsman. We very amicably decided that I would have Christmas off, so he could celebrate Hogmanay in the traditional fashion

Wynne

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

patrick murphy — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 15:14:26 GMT

as covering for another practice I had to go out on an Xmas day to a Yorkie with poo stuck to his bottom as the lady could not bear to look at it, let alone touch it.

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Dagmar Steele — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 14:36:33 GMT

[quote user="Wren"]

[quote user="Dagmar Steele"] What comes around goes around...

[/quote]

Well, by my calculations it will even out if I don't work another Christmas for the next 25 years. I'll let you know how I get on with that....

[/quote]

Of course you're right there, but what I meant was maybe others won't mind taking on days that matter more to you and less to them? At least Christmas didn't mean much to me before the kids were born, I'm not a religious person. But I was happy to get a good party on New Years Eve without having to work on New Years Day, so I didn't mind doing Christmas and let the parents get off the hook. Hence I did Christmas voluntarily for at least ten years in a row. Nowadays I don't do my own OOH any more at all and I'm very happy about it....

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Wren — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 14:16:07 GMT

[quote user="Dagmar Steele"] What comes around goes around...

[/quote]

Well, by my calculations it will even out if I don't work another Christmas for the next 25 years. I'll let you know how I get on with that....

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Dagmar Steele — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:51:58 GMT

[quote user="Wren"]

I have just worked out that I have worked 10 of the 15 Christmas Days since I graduated. And most of that time I was on a 1 in 4 rota...! The perils of being the childless one :-(

[/quote]

Before I had the kids I didn't mind working any day on Christmas, even not on Christmas Eve (which is the day the presents get exchanged here in Germany). When the kids were born and old enough to appreciate Christmas I was happy for anyone who would do Christmas shifts for me, in return I didn't mind doing New Years Eve and day, I was up early anyway. What comes around goes around...

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Wren — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:09:14 GMT

I got a pony that hadn't eaten its breakfast at 7.15am this Christmas Day. Which at least disproves the 'people only call if it's a real emergency' theory. At least the roads were quiet...

Previous low points include putting our receptionist's much loved family pony to sleep with a large colon torsion on Christmas Day a few years ago, and a dog that choked on a sprout and was dead by the time they'd arrived at the surgery. I have just worked out that I have worked 10 of the 15 Christmas Days since I graduated. And most of that time I was on a 1 in 4 rota...! The perils of being the childless one :-(

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 10:48:41 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]Try asking around - thousands of dogs get grapes and raisins. You know that nearly 1 in 50 vaccinated dogs dies within a week of its booster.........?[/quote]I agree that the risk is often over-stated and I write a Christmas hazards article for the local rag every year which highlights the risk. Most dog owners know the risk from chocolate, albeit that is also oft over-stated, but I bet most don't know about grapes and raisins and their dogs happily eat them with no consequences. That doesn't mean we should ignore the possibility though.

I've not been on call at Christmas for years since I started using an OOH provider but I held an emergency surgery on Boxing Day and Monday. I saw one rabbit with a dodgy eye and a cat with an abscess (in the past I've had a day such as the worst described here and remember one Christmas going to the first call at 8am and not getting home until 8 pm).

However I did a 10K run Christmas Eve, 50 mile bike rides Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Monday with a long walk in Windsor Great Park on Sunday. It was great to be out on quiet roads, although it was a bit wet and blustery at times, and alleviated the guilt of over-indulgence!

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Michael Woodhouse — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 10:24:41 GMT

Oooh - correlation does not equal causality.

I've seen young dogs in anuric acute renal failure with no history of grape ingestion.

Try asking around - thousands of dogs get grapes and raisins. You know that nearly 1 in 50 vaccinated dogs dies within a week of its booster.........?

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Thomas Johnson — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 09:08:18 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

What do you mean by 'raisin poisoning'? I'm not sure I believe in it. Seen loads of dogs that have eaten grapes and raisins with no ill effects. I've talked to a number on the phone about risk versus cost of Tx. Don't think I've made one sick yet. There seems to be a few anecdotal case reports in the literature. The risk to the dog must be a minuscule fraction of a percent.

I hope people are making this clear to the owners and not forcing them into expensive treatment that the dog very likely doesn't need............

[/quote]

I know the risks are low, and I do tell owners this, but earlier this year I saw a young dog that presented as unwell, and had eaten a bunch of grapes 2 days before, its renal values were very high and it was euthanased within 24hrs as it became anuric.

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Utlendigur — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 22:37:28 GMT

One of the last Christmas days I did was a nightmare. Vodaphone coverage was down when I woke up so I drove straight to the surgery intending to swap to another mobile. Dialled 1471 to get the last call which was a cat RTA (smashed face, eyeball hanging out), closely followed by dog with barbed wire tear, and labrador with a melon sized "inguinal hernia" that had appeared "overnight". At which point the nurse came in saying that the the people with the golden retriever had arrived - the ones that just happened to be driving past and saw we were "open" so could we treat the dog's D+ that it had had for several days. The dog with the lump needed bloods but we had a duff batch of rotas and it took over an hour to get a result. The "hernia" turned out to be a MCT - probably metastatised from the one removed from its leg a few weeks before. After all that we had the woman who point blank refused to give any details or tell me what was wrong with the cat (eg that it had been hospitalised with dyspnoea just before xmas), let alone allow me to see it, because I wasn't the boss - and who later wrote a letter of complaint claiming that she was unable to get any treatment for her cat and had to watch it die slowly at home (2days later!). Topped off with a request from the boss to collect a dead dog from one of his (slightly odd) neighbours. The dog concerned had been dead for a least 48hrs judging by the degree of bloating and putrid smell, even partially masked by the fug of cigarette smoke, but she refused to let me take it anyway

And people wonder why I don't like Christmas

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 22:28:57 GMT

This was my 10th Christmas Day on duty in a row. I LOVE working it. Generally people are really appreciative, and generally everything has needed seeing. This year it was just a calving in the early hours (live calf).

I've put quite a lot of dogs to sleep on Christmas day over the years. I've calved cows. Sick cows. Last year I was giving a blood transfusion to a farm dog trying to die from rodentacide poisoning as the clock ticked over into Christmas day. The dog did well.

[quote user="Silvia Maldonado"]several cases of chocolate and raisins poisoning[/quote]

I hope people are making this clear to the owners and not forcing them into expensive treatment that the dog very likely doesn't need............

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

grumpyoldman — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 21:52:36 GMT

A DKA yorkie all over christmas eve /day , blocked cat , someone wanting to pop in for some prescription diet if i was in anyway , a status epilepticus that lied to get seen Pretty average .

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Thomas Johnson — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 18:54:21 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Quiet this year, but I remember discussing Christmas rotas with a medical GP. I said I dreaded being on call Christmas Eve, as some silly idiot would probably give the turkey neck/legs to the dog. He said he didn't mind Christmas Eve, as most of the problems were the drunks - and the police would scoop them up and take them to casualty, so they wouldn't bother the GP. He hated Boxing Day, as the diabetics who couldn't resist Christmas pud were having reactive hypos, having overdosed on insulin to compensate.

[/quote]

I've seen several diabetic animals around Christmas time that have been over-dosed with insulin because both owners have been at home, not in their usual routine, and have both injected the animal!

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Claudia Niehoegen — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 16:45:29 GMT

My strangest call-out one Christmas Day was a cocktail nail clip, full call-out charge paid. My first boss used to say that _cats might have been suffering CRF for a while,but owners only realized how often they vomited when they were at home all day at Christmas.

Another happily no longer doing OOH.

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

ALASDAIR MATHIESON — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 16:33:22 GMT

10pm Christmas Eve :

" Sorry to bother you, but I'm worried about my dog - he's had vomiting and diarrhoea for about a month now, and so have I "

" Pardon me asking, but why have you left it so long? "

" Well, I've been under the doctor for three weeks "

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Julie Innes — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 16:30:14 GMT

I haven't worked Christmas day for years, but when I did I was amazed by the things people saw fit to call about on Christmas day- a dog with arthritis that they decided should be euthanased on Christmas morning, very matter of factly; cats that had obviously been in renal failure for some time, but which became emergent after the owner was well oiled with cooking sherry; a woman who wanted a dental scale and polish done on her cat (honestly!) and a dog with fleas...I'm so glad I no longer do my own on call!

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 14:25:29 GMT

Wynne

RE: Any busy Christmas Days folks?

Joyce Whitehead — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 14:17:46 GMT

A nice quiet Christmas Day here, helped a little by the foul weather, we have two roads blocked by flooding nearby so all routes to us are considerably longer than usual.

Boxing Day morning, phone call from a client about to take cat to cattery for 3 nights. But the vaccine was due on 3rd December. Chattery were unwilling to take her without a booster. I told the client I would do it but charge an OOH fee. But that their immunity would not be much different by the time the cat came home, and to tell the cattery that my advice would be that she would be safe to be taken in. I'm pleased to say I didn't hear back...

My unusual need for apomorphine was for a dog that had eaten two packets of dried yeast. I induced vomiting as she was a Leonberger and I was a little concerned about a torsion.