As a receptionist in a mixed practice my day is never the same from one day to the next. There is always something interesting happening. From advice to new puppies and kittens owners (yes I do love a cuddle when I get a chance), emergencies as they come in or call through, pet owners needing advice and dealing with the ever evolving schedule of the day. However my favorite thing is seeing all the pets and their families. Watching them all grow and finding out what it the latest thing going on in their lives.
Once particularly memorable day we had a full schedule of surgeries, consults and a last minute emergency horse call . All equipment had been gathered and packed in the vet car while I was confirming the directions. The vet and vet nurse left for the treatment of the horse. In the midst of the chaos a gentleman had come in and waited patiently to explain that he had a cat in the car he would like us to look at.
He and his family had been staying in a campground in Bowning and they had picked up a cat that kept hanging around. Although it looked very matted and a little thin, it did not appear to be a stray. The family was due to head home and the girls didn’t want to leave the cat out there. I followed the man out to the car with the microchip scanner to see a rather matted but cuddled cat in the laps of 2 girls in the back of the car. I was able to do a quick scan for a microchip and luckily it came up.
I returned to the computer and began to search the microchip details in our system. We didn’t get a result in our system but had found a result in the national microchip register.
I was able to speak to one of the contacts listed under the microchip. “Hello this is Louise, I’m calling from the Yass Valley Veterinary I have Coco here with us. He has been brought in to be scanned. Is this your cat?” The owner was silent. “I’m sorry what? Has fluffy been brought in there? You found the body?” The owner was getting teary over the phone. “No, he is alive, a little thin and a few matts, he was found in Bowning.” “Are you sure?? He has been missing for 3 months! He’s alive?”. I replied “Yes, your details having been found on the chip I had scanned”. A very emotional owner “I can’t believe this… we gave up hope… wait, where are you? We live in Canberra, how did he get there…my kids will be so happy, I’m leaving work now…”
The camping family said their goodbyes and one of our vets gave Coco a quick check over for any injuries.
The very happy owner called on the way again to get directions and couldn’t believe he was alive and uninjured.
We can only credit this happy ending to the fact that this cat was micro-chipped at their local vet clinic and it shows just how important this actually is.
I have been working in Yass Valley Veterinary now for almost 3 years. I can honestly say it is a place I love to work at. The team is one of the best bunch of people I have worked with and I enjoy working for a local business that is part of the community.
