A few weeks ago I was greeted by a frog on the front doorstep of the vet clinic. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t lining up for a consult and was just sheltering from the elements, but I relocated him to the undergrowth before any larger patients coming to visit me had a chance to discover him.

Morning consultations were full of the normal cat and dog problems followed by surgery on a labrador to remove a benign growth, extraction of some rotten teeth in an elderly siamese cat, castration of a randy rabbit, and X-rays on a lame spaniel.

At lunchtime I checked on Henry the tortoise who is still sleeping through the last of winter’s cold days and will soon be waking. He has only lost 50 grams of weight, which is perfectly acceptable for five months of brumination (tortoise hibernation), so no need to cut his sleep short this year.

Several vets were on hand to deal with any horse issues
In the afternoon I waded through the traffic making their way into the Cheltenham races. Although I get to admire the thoroughbreds trotting past our main clinic, I wasn’t needed on the racecourse. However, several of our vets were on hand to deal with any horse issues that may have arisen (hopefully nothing too serious). Patch up the odd injury, check any horses that have pulled up sore after they’ve raced, and collect urine samples from the winners to make sure no one was cheating!

In my later consultation session, amongst all the usual vaccinations and check ups, I prescribed some mite treatment for a snake, trimmed a budgerigar’s beak and advised an owner on how to deal with their senile terrier.

It seemed like a rather unexciting day in the grand scheme of things but looking back I saw dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, rabbits, horses and an amphibian. Just another average day in the life of a veterinarian.