Day 3: Cats, Dogs, Goats and Tortoises 1 May 2008
The surgery dealt with cats, dogs, goats and a tiny tortoise today. It has been the busiest day so far. Word about the surgery has been getting around and the phones were ringing non-stop all morning with people wanting advice, arranging times to bring their animals in, or asking for animals to be collected and brought into the surgery.
Late in the morning, a cat was brought in with a tumour that dominated the side of his head. White cats can suffer badly from sunburnt ears and the melanoma that can result during Symi’s hot summers. Often, amputation of the ears is an option, but sometimes the cancer is quite advanced and has spread to other parts of its body and is inoperable. After a long consultation with the vets where different options were outlined and explained, the lady who brought the cat in made the difficult decision to put it to sleep. It is never easy to accept that there is no hope left, and I have never found myself in the position of having to end one of my own animal’s lives. My sympathies go out to her, and the other people that I know were very fond of this cat.
The next patient was a cat from Pitini with a long list of problems. Most pressing was the state of its claws. These were misshapen and many of them had curved around and punctured the pads of the wee thing’s paws. Tassoula gave the cat a much-needed manicure, a big shot of antibiotics, vaccinated it against four nasty illnesses, and treated it for a bad fungal infection in its ears and nose. After washing and drying the cat, Christos and Tassoula gave its owner a prescription for medicine that can be obtained via the pharmacy in Yialos to continue its treatment over the next few weeks.
Late in the morning, a cat was brought in with a tumour that dominated the side of his head. White cats can suffer badly from sunburnt ears and the melanoma that can result during Symi’s hot summers. Often, amputation of the ears is an option, but sometimes the cancer is quite advanced and has spread to other parts of its body and is inoperable. After a long consultation with the vets where different options were outlined and explained, the lady who brought the cat in made the difficult decision to put it to sleep. It is never easy to accept that there is no hope left, and I have never found myself in the position of having to end one of my own animal’s lives. My sympathies go out to her, and the other people that I know were very fond of this cat.
The next patient was a cat from Pitini with a long list of problems. Most pressing was the state of its claws. These were misshapen and many of them had curved around and punctured the pads of the wee thing’s paws. Tassoula gave the cat a much-needed manicure, a big shot of antibiotics, vaccinated it against four nasty illnesses, and treated it for a bad fungal infection in its ears and nose. After washing and drying the cat, Christos and Tassoula gave its owner a prescription for medicine that can be obtained via the pharmacy in Yialos to continue its treatment over the next few weeks.
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There is a very gorgeous black cat that lives next door to the surgery, and it is a frequent visitor, enjoying a good head-scratching or a nap on one of our laps. After its check-up on Day 1, the owner has been very kindly bringing a constant supply of homemade cheese pies and biscuits to the surgery every morning. Her son-in-law also came into the surgery today for advice about his goat which has a case of mastitis.
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Missie, one of the 3-legged cats that live down in the harbour, was taken up to the surgery for her vaccinations in the afternoon. She is a lovely little thing but wasn’t too keen on the car journey, bless her. Once at the surgery she calmed down and allowed herself to be thoroughly examined and vaccinated before a marginally less-distressing return journey.
In the early evening, we collected a trio of very noisy cats from Pedi for check-ups and vaccinations. One of them had a nasty infection in her ear and had to be sedated before she could be treated. The other two sat in their cat-boxes being very noisy as she was then given a thorough clean-up.
In the early evening, we collected a trio of very noisy cats from Pedi for check-ups and vaccinations. One of them had a nasty infection in her ear and had to be sedated before she could be treated. The other two sat in their cat-boxes being very noisy as she was then given a thorough clean-up.
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Last patient of the day was a very young tortoise… it’s cute, I’m sure you’ll agree. Its shell is still quite soft and the girl who found it wanted to know the best things to feed it and how to care for it.
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We are all very tired after such a long and busy day and we are looking forward to a good night’s sleep before tomorrow. The first patient of the day has already been “booked in” and we expect to be as busy as today. As the “official driver” for FAROS, I would like to give my own thanks to Kostas Sykallos of Symi Tours for letting us use one of his hire cars for free; without it, things would be so much more difficult and Kostas’s generosity is very much appreciated by all of us.
Will
Will
Updated 01 May 2008, 23:49 // 251 hits