Tales of a Vet Nurse by Jade Pengelly

Author:Jade Pengelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2023-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

8

Embarrassing situations

I don’t know what it is about dogs, but they just love to eat things they shouldn’t. At least once a week, no matter where I’ve been working, we’ve had a phone call from an owner whose dog has eaten something suspect. The most common forbidden feasts are chocolate, grapes and onions. All three are toxic to dogs and can cause a variety of scary (and sometimes fatal) symptoms if left untreated. It will probably come as little surprise that Labradors are repeat offenders. They know no bounds when it comes to putting things in their mouths and swallowing them.

While I was working in London, we had a beautiful golden Lab called Buddy come in with his owner.

The pair reported to reception upon arrival. ‘I’ve brought Buddy in because he’s eaten something he shouldn’t have,’ the man said.

Buddy gazed up at the receptionist adoringly, his big pink tongue hanging out the side of his mouth and his kinked tail wagging happily. He was the picture of health and just thrilled to be at the vet clinic. He was ready to make some new friends.

‘Okay,’ said the receptionist. ‘What is it that Buddy’s eaten?’

‘Um . . .’ the man shifted nervously from foot to foot. ‘I can’t really say. But I believe he needs to see the vet as soon as possible.’

Buddy, meanwhile, was busy sniffing the air curiously. He twitched his head to the side, in the direction of the shelf of dog biscuits, then looked back up at his owner beseechingly.

‘Do you know what it is he’s eaten?’ the receptionist asked.

‘Oh, yes,’ the man replied immediately. ‘I saw him eat it.’

‘Okay, well, I do need to know what it was,’ the receptionist replied. ‘Just to confirm that it is indeed toxic.’

The man’s cheeks and tips of his ears had gone decidedly pink. He muttered something in response.

‘I’m sorry?’ the receptionist said. ‘Could you please repeat that?’

‘It was a used condom,’ the man said faintly. He looked like he wanted a hole to open up in the floor and swallow him.

‘Oh . . .’ It was the receptionist’s turn to go pink. ‘Oh, ah, yes. I’ll go and get the vet right away.’

She stood abruptly and disappeared. Meanwhile, Buddy had found something on the floor that had taken his fancy and was enthusiastically licking away at it, desperate to get every last morsel.

Unfortunately for Buddy’s owner, things only got more embarrassing after he’d followed Caroline, the vet, into the consult room.

‘Naughty Buddy!’ she admonished the hapless Lab in her thick Croatian accent, scratching him under the chin while he wriggled delightedly on the spot. ‘Why did you think that was a good idea? You silly dog.’ She laughed, then saw that Buddy’s owner was not yet able to see the funny side of the situation. ‘Ahem.’ She did her best to assume a straight face. ‘So, ah, you say you saw Buddy eat the condom?’

‘Yes,’ the man replied in little more than a whisper. ‘He got it out of the bin in my bedroom.

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.