Animals Don't Blush by Gross David R

Author:Gross, David R [Gross, David R]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: A. V. Harrison Publishing
Published: 2011-06-14T04:00:00+00:00

***

The next morning, Siam’s temperature was three degrees above normal, and she was not eating or drinking. Her white blood cell count had almost doubled from the day before. I decided to switch antibiotics and loaded her up with intramuscular injections of gentamicin every six hours.

Gentamicin is no longer used extensively, too many adverse side effects, but in those days, it was considered a very effective broad-spectrum antibiotic. It worked exceedingly well in this case.

Mrs. Neilsen visited every morning promptly at nine, always dressed in a different suit, clean and pressed, hemline well below her knees. She returned each afternoon at four, still immaculately turned out. On the fourth postoperative day, Siam accepted the teaspoonful of canned tuna Mrs. Neilsen offered. She reported the event to me beaming with pleasure.

“That’s great, Mrs. Neilsen. Her temperature was back to normal last evening, and her white count was also normal, but I wasn’t able to get her to eat anything. She has been drinking water since yesterday, though, and as you saw, we don’t have to give her fluids under the skin any more. Please come back to the ward with me. I want to see for myself how she’s eating.”

We walked back to the ward, and Siam came immediately to the cage door, purring and rubbing against the bars. I opened the door, and she immediately leaped into Mrs. Neilsen’s arms, snuggling. Her purring was almost a roar.

Mrs. Neilsen’s laugh filled the room with joy and hope. The two dogs in cages below joined in, barking their good wishes.

“Let’s take her out to the treatment room,” I said. “We’ll put some of that tuna in a bowl for her and see how she does.”

Mrs. Neilsen put Siam gently on the table, petting her to keep her in place. I put the remainder from the opened can of tuna into a bowl and set it in front of the cat. She immediately wolfed it down. After she emptied the bowl, she meticulously cleaned her face, alternating front paws after licking them.

“Well, I think we can send her home. She will do much better with you taking care of her than she will here in the hospital. Bring her back in six days, and I’ll remove the skin sutures. Call if she stops eating, gets depressed, or acts sick in any way.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.