For the last two weeks, Triar and I have been at Cavan Vets in Wolverhampton. I haven’t told them about this blog, but I have nothing but praise for the practice, so I hope they will forgive me for mentioning them without asking permission first.

For me, it was a huge thing that Triar could come to work with me. The civil service don’t allow it and PDSA (understandably) didn’t have space for him, so it was a real treat to bring him with me and for him to be made so welcome. I was working from nine in the morning until seven at night, so he would have been alone for a very long time otherwise, even with a walk at lunchtime. Instead, he was spoiled rotten by all the nurses and receptionists and the lovely cleaner even took him out for walks, though she said he and Paddy (practice Labrador) often went in opposite directions.

As for me, I’ve learned a whole lot from two weeks of consulting. There are so many new drugs and preparations since I stopped working in small animal practice. Non-eating cats can get appetite stimulants, epileptic dogs on phenobarbitone can have liver supplements. One of the vets at Cavan is an eye specialist, so there were a lot of eye preparations I hadn’t come across before, as well as some I had forgotten. Dogs with dry eye are sometimes given Optimmune, which contains a cyclosporin, which helps in autoimmune conditions. That was available years ago, but I had forgotten about it. It’s of particular interest to me, as I have an early case of dry eye myself. It’s good to know that, if it worsens, there are more options than just tear replacement drops. I’d read that, in severe cases, saliva can be redirected through the tear ducts, but that sounds like it could come with some profound risks and problems, so it’s nice to be reminded that there are other steps before that one. Google isn’t always your friend when it comes to accurate understanding of your own medical conditions.

I did find myself feeling a bit like an imposter, particularly the first week. It was exacerbated by the fact that my client care soft skills and muscle memory remain intact. When you know how to wield a syringe to cause the least pain possible, it’s always seen as a valuable skill. I was however, shamed one day by a kitten. I’ve long prided myself on being able to tablet cats efficiently and have even added a little flourish, where I wash the tablet down with water from a syringe (few things feel worse than feeling a dry tablet stuck in your throat) but it all went to pieces when a cute, but feisty kitten managed, not only to get its claws on me, but even managed to bite me for good measure. Fortunately, there’s no sign of infection, but my pride received a bit of a battering as well as my fingers!

It was curiously restful working such long hours. I’ve a bad habit of rumination and there are things in life I regret, so only having time to walk Triar, eat, watch an episode of Ludvig and then drop into bed was actually good for me, if exhausting. Days split into 15 minute appointments (and the great company of the staff in any breaks) passed surprisingly quickly. Several staff said they wished I (and Triar) were staying and the feeling was mutual. I don’t think there will be any vet jobs going there though, even if I did want to move. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the veterinary staff have all been there a very long time.

I didn’t have a whole load of energy for exploring last weekend, but I did discover that there was a disused railway line path in Tettenhall, near where I stayed, which ran close to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, through a nature reserve. Triar and I went for a walk there last weekend. I envied those in the narrowboats we saw. There are few things more relaxing than drifting through the countryside at 4mph.

So I will leave you with some photos from that walk. As usual, thanks very much for reading and I hope you have a good week.