Monday was looking good. Schedule was not too frantic, things were running smoothly and everything was under control. We got all too comfortable but then Tuesday came. My goodness, I really still don’t know how we managed to pull through and maintain any cognitive function at the end of the day.
If we didn’t come together as a great vet team, we would not have been able to get through the work load scheduled for this black Tuesday.
I must say chapeaux bas to my boss Dr. Bruce Syme who conquers all his over booking battles week in week out. That is the price of being a popular and awesome part-time vet and founder of vets all natural products.
We all simply looked like this by the end of Tuesday…
Wednesday came and I decided to bring in the infamous almond croissants from Annie’s Apple for everyone at the clinic. I felt that we deserved a sweet treat and did not discuss the calories involved in each individual croissant. We had yet another cruisy day up until close to closing time.
There I was impatiently waiting for Gaby, my goat patient and last appointment of the day, to arrive for her weekly bandage change when I heard her owner yelling and storming out of the clinic. I did not know what had upset my client and had chased him down the street trying to soothe him and resolve the situation. His partner had just arrived at the scene and he handed us the leads of Gaby & Xena and took off. I confidently grabbed the leads and was ready to guide the girls (goats) back to the consult room but then they suddenly took off after their owner.
I simply went flying onto the ground and hung onto their leads with dear life.
I was mortified of letting go because they would be roaming a very busy street. Unfortunately I ended up being dragged on a decent stretch of dirt road and had to let go of them when I smashed into an obstacle. I shed a very few tears out of reflex but there was no time to feel sorry for myself, I had two loose goats to catch.
Thankfully, Amy, one of our vet nurses, had heard my shrieks and came to our aid and did the Haka dance to ward off the goats from going towards the highway. After 5-10 minutes, we managed to catch them and escort them to the consultation room. I proceeded with the scheduled bandage change and then had to assist my colleague afterhours with her patient ‘Bonnie’, the goose.
When I finally got home and my adrenaline levels had plummeted, I felt my body aching.
I had acquired a few war wounds and could not sleep the night. I have since taken a few days off work to recover.
Gaby & Xena’s owners have sent me the loveliest bunch of flowers and a card apologising for the girls’ misbehaviour. They also informed me they had threatened the girls and told them they were going to be turned into the most expensive goat curry ever. They have spent a fortunate on getting Gaby back to full health and we have just a few more weeks until she is there. I will be writing a whole blog about her when she is 100% cured!
I learnt a valuable lesson: ‘Let go of the leads attached to goats on a mission to escape!’.
I also secretly wished someone took video footage of my then ordeal and now pretty funny tale that illustrated how far I would go for my patients.
I tell you, a vet’s life is never dull and I sure as hell am a dedicated vet 🙂 …
Dr Rayya's Online Veterinary Journal 
October 23, 2011 at 11:46 am
ooh hahahaha brilliant post Rayya, just like you, brilliant! Poor you, as long as you weren’t hurt it’s okay to laugh, I would have loved to have witnessed the whole thing 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Love
Kasia
October 23, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Hey Kasia. Glad you enjoyed it. I had to expose myself and share this rather funny experience with you all. 🙂
October 23, 2011 at 11:55 am
I would have liked to have seen the haka dance, but I would not have liked to have seen you dragged down the road! I think that goes beyond what’s expected of a vet, though I understand the importance of pursuing the goats.
October 23, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Amy sure looked halarious and her haka dance worked in warding off the goaties. I agree, a vet does not need to acquire injuries during the job to prove him/herself ;-).
October 23, 2011 at 12:09 pm
glad the goats (and you) are OK, that was funny!
October 23, 2011 at 5:31 pm
Thanks Jimmie 🙂
October 23, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Howdy Doc –
It;s a funny story, but I’m sure you didn’t think it was funny as you were being dragged. Did you at least get to eat one of the almond croissants before the dragging ordeal ?
Yep – no doubt about it – extremely dedicated 🙂
October 23, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Hey Cowboy.
Of course I had one of those infamous croissants that morning. Thankfully I had digested it by the time I acquired the injuries 🙂
October 23, 2011 at 1:29 pm
What a great story. Sounded like it would have made a great movie scene even though it wasn’t funny at the time.
October 23, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Hey Gretchen. I definitely think of many experiences I have had at the clinic that would have been great hits at hollywood if turned into movie scenes :-). And this story would have one of them for sure.
October 23, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Oh noo, poor you Rayya… I hope ur wounds heal quickly! Sounds painful being dragged, I dont think I would want to see some photage of that.. But funny story nevertheless! 😉 Take care!
October 23, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Thanks Elin :-). I am recovering very well…See you soon.
October 23, 2011 at 6:07 pm
It could only happen to a vet! 🙂 Have you ever seen All Creatures Great and Small? It was a popular British television series, based on the books of the British veterinary surgeon Alf Wight, who wrote under the pseudonym James Herriot.
You should be on television!
October 23, 2011 at 11:17 pm
I have read many of the books of James Herriot and loved them. They really transport you to vet’s life journey… I wouldn’t cope with the attention of being on television. 🙂
October 23, 2011 at 6:39 pm
i can absolutely imagine that you maintained a happy smile, even when being pulled by the goats! even your writing exudes happiness! and i fully expected this story to be about a dog who ate “goat curry” and became sick, requiring expensive surgery! i hope that you recover quickly! i would send you a get well KIND bar gift basket (but in a pretty box, something apple store-esque) if we lived closer! 🙂 xx
October 23, 2011 at 11:20 pm
Thanks Nicole. You are right, I had to keep smiling through it all. You have to have a great sense of humour to be able to enjoy life with its ups and its downs. I would have loved the very generous and kind gift- too bad I live down under. 😉
October 24, 2011 at 2:09 am
Oh my goodness! You do have the right personality for vet work, because I can imagine it’s never a dull moment! Glad all are well, especially you.
October 24, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Thanks alot :-)… I’m back to work tomorrow and feeling 100% better.
October 24, 2011 at 5:42 am
That is a funny story. Got a good laff at your expense.
Took my cat to the vet a few weeks ago and hate to admit it but I didn’t know where the cat’s penis was. In showing me where the opening was the vet was holding the cat in an uncomfortable position and while I was bending in to take a look, the cat got mad and scratched me on the hand. The vet said to Merlin, my cat, “Never bite the hand that feeds you.”
October 24, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Thanks for sharing your ordeal with your kitty cat at the vet’s. Cats don’t like to be overly handled. We recently had a cat that was admitted to be castrated. As soon as you picked him up, he went into melt down mode. However, if you approached him in his cage, he was the sweetest feline and loved heaps of pats. Cats will always be cats >>> Unique unpredictable creatures.
October 24, 2011 at 7:19 am
A funny story Rayya – but not funny for you at the time! It would have been hilarious to watch it on video though, and I think you would have laughed at yourself in spite of your injuries!
Like you say, there is never a dull moment at your surgery!
Looking forward to reading your post on Gaby the goat’s full recovery.
October 24, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Thanks heaps Barb…I would have loved to see my video footage so that I could make fun of my own reactions. I obviously don’t have a very good survival instinct :-).
October 24, 2011 at 11:35 am
Well that made me giggle, funny story although I am glad you were not seriously injured. Your clients are very fortunate to have you as their Dr. The haka dance sounds very interesting, maybe you could capture that on video sometime and post it 🙂
October 24, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Hey Misty. I promise to try to get you footage of the haka dance the next time Amy attempts to do it :-).
October 24, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Very amusing post Rayya – I hope you have recovered well and I look forward to hearing more about Gaby.
October 24, 2011 at 7:40 pm
Thanks heaps…I’m feeling great now…can’t wait to blog about cheeky Gaby 🙂
October 24, 2011 at 11:57 pm
You sure are a dedicated vet Dr. Rayya, I hope you recover quickly from your goat ride. 🙂
Why did owners take off?
October 25, 2011 at 7:37 am
Hey jodi…thanks ;-)…I’m afraid that’s classified information about the owners, hehehe
October 25, 2011 at 2:18 am
Wow, so glad you survived Team Goat & the Breakdancing Tech (would’ve loved to see the Haka Dance. I’ve had similar happen with Magical-Dawg intent on teaching “those #$%^! coyotes” to get off his property!
So glad you weren’t injured. The organist at my church dog-sat for her daughter and the Rottie went after a skunk–and my organist friend fell and broke her shoulder. She’s still going through rehab.
Guess now if someone wants to get your goat–you’d let ’em, right? *s*
October 25, 2011 at 7:44 am
Hey amy…ya I was pretty lucky not to incur any serious injuries…your poor organist, she won’t be dog sitting anymore! Let’s just say those goats are lucky to have great owners and a very forgiving vet 😉
October 25, 2011 at 3:05 am
I hope you are recovered now Rayya. Also glad that the goat did not end up on the plate!
October 25, 2011 at 8:14 am
Hi All I am the owner of Gabby and Xena and I am like my partner so sorry for everything that went wrong on that day I noticed some ask why did I leave, I suffer from MS and have good days and bad days, I was have a bad day at work, running late for my appointment. when I got home I had one angry goat and one goat who could hardly wait to get in the car and go for her weekly trip in to town (xena loves to ride in the car) Gabby was doing her best to run away, I managed to get Gabby in the car and Xena was sick of waiting and got out. So I drove off with only Gabby . Looking in the revision mirror and he do I see but Xena running down the road behind us. When I got to the Vet the goats new I was angry and walked to the door of the Vets nicely, until I opened the door and Gabby did her best show me she was not going to go in, I got them in side stood them in front of the window as they like to watch the car and trucks go by when I was told that Gabby and Xena was not welcome in side and I should take them out. yes is I did yell “I will take them out” and soon as the door was open the goats were off and heading back to the car with Rayya coming after me, the goats stopped when we got to the car, Rayya was talking to me when my partner turned up . And I handed every thing over I had to get home before the pain started and I could not move. I thought I had given the girls to my partner and I walked off toward our other car when I heard yelling and saw Rayya been dragged at the time it was not funny but thinking back to see the staff from the vets and us jumping around on road trying to herd the goats up running around yelling at the goats that just made them run even faster, and we did catch them. And you never know how much of a great vet you have until this happens, Rayya still re-dressed Gabby and like always helped me out to the car and made sure Gabby and Xena ok in the car just like she does at every visit. You cannot put in to words how bad we feel and how sorry we are that Rayya was hurt, I can no longer cope on my own with the girls and my partner will be going with me to vets. If it was not for the good service and treatment we received by Rayya and the other Vets and staff Gabby would not be up and walking and getting to miss jiff as she is to day
October 25, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Hey russell…thank you so much for sharing all this personal information…you and george have been terrific and very dedicated owners…I’m looking forward to seeing the girls tomo and hopefully we will be doing our last bandage change…my next mission would be a home visit to get pics of gaby and xena’s bunk beds…:-)…take care
October 25, 2011 at 9:59 pm
Great story Raaya – realy cheered me up 🙂
October 25, 2011 at 10:13 pm
Thanks rosie :-)…always happy to be able to cheer up one of my fellow bloggers.
January 5, 2012 at 6:35 am
Hi Rayya
Quick up date up Gabby, she is back to her normal self as much as she can be, when she runs it is more like a bounce and her back legs move as one, She still cannot climb to high but she sure does now how to con me to give her extra fruit and tip the odd oak tree branch down so she can eat the leaves. I have to be care full and not leave the door of the car open or she is in and wanting to go for a ride, Xena has bound with her again and the two are never far apart. I still cannot take them for a walk on the leads as i am still not strong enough, without you and the other staff at the clinic I would not have my favourite goat with me today (don’t tell Xena that she think she is the favourite)
When i am better i will bring them in for a visit
Ta Russ
January 6, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Hey Russ…thanks for the update…I am not surprised to hear gaby has you wrapped around her hoofs :-)…I will be contacting you soon to organize a house visit to get pics of the gals and the pampered lifestyle they enjoy…I will be equally happy to have them drop in to say hello when yopu are feeling better…take care 🙂