When your animal gets sick, it takes an entire team of dedicated professionals working behind the scenes to help you get them back to good health
It’s 7:00am on a Monday morning and you have just woken up to the unmistakable sound of your 9-year-old cat, Tom, vomiting somewhere down the hallway. You reluctantly drag yourself out of bed to investigate, figuring it’s better to clean it up now than risk accidentally stepping in it later.
Armed with a paper towel and cleaning spray, you find and eliminate the offending fluid from your front hall carpet, then make your way back to the kitchen to feed the offending feline his morning meal. But Tom surprisingly doesn’t come running like usual at the sound of biscuits being poured into his dish. Strange!
You play hide-and-seek with Tom for another 10 minutes before finally finding him in the laundry room lying next to his litter box. He seems far too quiet for Tom, which has you very worried, and you decide to call your veterinary clinic as soon as they open at 8am to book him in for a consult.
Meanwhile, across town….
Thanks to the diligence of Rebecca, the veterinary practice manager, the clinic staff scheduled to work that day arrive at 7:45am to a building equipped with electricity, heat, water, and internet, as the utility bills have been paid. The cleaner, Louise, who was in over the weekend, has left every surface disinfected and clean to help keep your pet safe from any harmful bacteria or viruses that may have built up in the environment. By 8:00am, the head receptionist, Susan, has powered up the computer systems, switched on the phones, and unlocked the front doors, ready to face whatever comes their way during the day.
Laura goes to the treatment room to find Tracey, the veterinarian handling emergency cases at the clinic today, and presents her with a brief summary of Tom’s situation. Tracey has been registered with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand (VCNZ) as a practicing companion animal veterinarian for ten years since graduating from Massey University so you are able to trust that she is competent to be treating Tom.
Susan takes your frantic call about Tom and showcases her impressive scheduling skills to fit you in for a consult as soon as possible. You arrive at the clinic with Tom at 8:30am, where the veterinary nurse, Laura, who is on triage duty, brings you both into a consult room to discuss Tom’s medical history and check his vital signs. He is definitely a sick boy, but she reassures you that the team will do their best to help him return to good health as quickly as possible.
From Laura’s report, Tracey thinks that Tom may have problems with a blocked bladder, so she asks Laura and the veterinary assistant, John, to prepare for collecting diagnostic samples while she returns to the consult room to examine Tom. Fortunately, the inventory coordinator for the clinic, Christine, has ensured that the treatment room is well stocked with supplies and equipment from the veterinary supply companies, so they have everything they need to provide Tom with the best care.
Tracey’s exam confirms that Tom has an unusually large bladder, and she discusses the different causes and treatment options with you. You just want the best for Tom and tell Tracey to go ahead with whatever she thinks will work best. Tracey takes Tom back to the treatment room, while Susan has you sign the admission paperwork to leave Tom at the clinic for further care.
With Laura and John’s help holding Tom, Tracey is able to get a better feel of the bladder. With some pressure, she can get some urine to pass, meaning Tom is not completely blocked. Yay! John catches some of the urine in a clean dish, which Susan whisks to the clinic’s diagnostic laboratory to check for anything unusual. The readings show an unusually high number of crystals in the urine and some bacteria.
Since it is uncommon for male cats to have urinary tract infections, as we know from the many researchers who have studied this condition, Tracey decides to send a sample to one of the commercial veterinary diagnostic laboratories to see what bacteria is present and what antibiotic will be the most effective to treat it. Laura packages the urine sample, which will be picked up by Martin, the courier driver, later in the afternoon and delivered to the lab where Robin, the microbiology technician, will prepare it for analysis.
While Tracey is busy managing other cases that have come in, Laura and John give Tom some fluids and prepare all the discharge instructions to go over with you at 3:00pm when you can return to pick up Tom. Laura discusses with you how to make sure Tom is drinking plenty of water to flush out his bladder, switching him to a prescription diet specially made by commercial pet food companies to help dissolve the crystals in Tom’s urine, and finding ways to control stress in Tom’s environment to prevent the signs from returning. Laura bundles Tom back into his carrier, and you take him home, glad that he’s going to be okay. Alex, the kennel attendant, cleans out Tom’s cage in the treatment room in preparation for the next patient who needs it.
Two days later, the clinical pathologist at the diagnostic laboratory, Lisa, reviews the urine culture results and sends the report back to Tracey so she can prescribe an appropriate antibiotic. Tracey consults the New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) guidelines on responsible antibiotic use, which were prepared by a team of veterinary experts, and selects one of the pharmaceutical products approved for use in New Zealand by the Agricultural Compound or Veterinary Medicine (ACVM) team at the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
Laura prepares the medication and calls you to review the instructions on how to give it to Tom, who is feeling much better since his return home. Who would have thought you would be so excited to see your cat pee!
It takes a team to treat every Tom
When we take our animals for veterinary care, it’s easy to focus on the veterinarian as the central character in the story. However, the work they do is only possible thanks to a dedicated team of professionals behind the scenes – from veterinary nurses and assistants to receptionists, managers, and many more.
This year’s World Veterinary Day, on 26th April, encourages us to put the spotlight on these hidden heroes, each contributing their unique knowledge and skills to ensure that our animals receive the best possible care when they need it most.
