While my sister was here, Nolan was beside himself with joy. Here was an extra person to lean on, to lick, to receive pats from. He could barely contain himself! I might add though, that the three animals found life fairly confusing at times. We humans kept disappearing! This meant that the various animals kept having to be shipped off to baby sitters…to such an extent that the animals literally didn’t know whether they were coming or going! They’d no sooner come home, than they would be back at the babysitters. I got the distinct impression when I went to pick them up that they were asking, well yes, lovely to see you….but are you just visiting or are we REALLY going home? So…when my sister went home, while they missed her…I got the distinct impression they were pleased to be home….and to be staying home!
We stayed put for a few days before I even went down the street to do shopping (I needed the rest too) and it was a week or so before we could say we were back in any sort of routine. Then it was back to the normal routine of taking Nolan for a bath, visiting the oldies, shopping, and such normal pastimes. Well that was the intention….Nolan went for his bath alright….but when I went to pick him up, the lady who did the bathing was in a bit of a tizz, because she had found a tick on Nolan’s neck! I have lived in Rylstone nearly 40 years, and I had never heard of a pet in town getting a tick. I had spent most of my school years on the coast, and there had been plenty of ticks, there….paralysis ticks…nasty little critters, and I had known dogs and cats die from them because the ticks’ presence hadn’t been found in time. Fortunately, Nolan’s tick was a “bush, or cattle” tick. I knew native animals wandering round in the bush got them…I had seen them on echidnas and wombats; and I knew cattle got them, but this was the first one I had seen on a “domestic” animal in Rylstone. First time for everything I suppose! Well, the tick was removed, but I thought if he’s had one, he could get another….so….I went straight to the vet to get the appropriate preventative stuff before I went home. I decided I would get the combined tick and flea applications for all three animals; there wouldn’t be much point in just treating one animal. Nolan of course was quite happy to be taken into the vets….he was going to talk to people!
I was quite surprised when I got there to discover the vet was actually there. Normally it is staffed by a vet assistant, but she was having some time off. There was a shortage of assistants to replace her, as they were all needed elsewhere (this vet has several branch surgeries), so this vet had come down from Mudgee to take the assistant’s place, temporarily. She was on “light duties”, as she was recovering from an accident. She was able to give me the medication I needed for the animals, and agreed with what I intended to do. I also asked her to make me an appointment for Nolan next week, as he was due for his booster injections. She said, oh we can do that now if you like, just bring Nolan through into the surgery. Nolan suddenly lost interest in being at the vets, and headed for the exit door. I insisted he go where he was supposed to, and he obeyed….grudgingly. However, once in the surgery, he behaved impeccably as she gave him a thorough checkover, then his injection. Then she gave him a treat. Nolan suddenly had a new best friend!
We went back out into the waiting room to pay the account only to discover the computer was out. So the vet wrote down each item that she would need to charge for and told me she’d get the vet assistant to send me the bill once she was back, and the computer was back on line.
So Nolan and I went back home; I wanted my lunch, and Nolan wanted a nap. I had almost finished my lunch when the phone rang. It was the vet again; because the computer was down and she hadn’t been able to check Nolan’s records, she hadn’t given him his heartworm treatment….so I organised to bring him back down later that afternoon when I would have some mail to post. Nolan was pleased to go for another drive, although not so impressed when he had to go back into the surgery at the vets. He was however a good boy while he had the injection, and of course wonderfully co-operative when the treats came out. Seeing the computer was back on line , she was able to give me the bill….so I left there considerably poorer. We went home again, and both Nolan and I needed naps by this!
The next day, I took Nolan to visit his oldies. He was delighted to be back there….I hadn’t taken him while my sister was here, and the residents and staff were as pleased to see him as he was to see them. He visited just about everyone there, and leant on them all, and nearly dried himself out the amount of licking he did. He visited the court yard as well, and watered their grass for them….he had to make sure that the hostel grounds smelled right…. Then I took him home….he had had a fairly full couple of days, and he was exhausted. In fact, apart from meals, he slept nearly the whole time for the next three days!
Mamaroo's Diary 