True stories from the world of pet care
Things I Saw Working At an Animal Hospital
Pets and humans being the weirdos we are, together
I worked at two vets/animal hospitals for a little over a year, early 2016 to late 2017. They hired me as a kind of receptionist, someone who answered the phone, checked pets and their owners in for appointments, but also I had to mop up messes, weigh the pets as they arrived, and keep an eye on every possible encounter between animals and owners as they waited.
This is NOT a list of the worst things I saw. I have fantastic memories of my time there, albeit with sad moments and a few truly horrific incidents orbiting all that joy.
Maybe I’m somewhat reminiscing because I have a 15-year-old cat who was recently diagnosed as diabetic. It hasn’t been easy on him. Or us.
Working at the vet taught me to balance the rough moments with the spectacular ones. It’s a good skill to have, one I’m always trying to practice.
- A kitten with its head stuck in a mason jar.
It was trying to get a sip of water while its owner slept, but oops, it knocked the jar off the table and fell with it. I imagine its head popping into the jar made almost the same sound as when one of our vets wiggled…
