Occupational Hazards

Remember this post? The one about how it's not IF you get scratched/bitten/mauled/deformed in the vet world, it's WHEN? Well, my answer came on June 12th when a very angry cat nailed me and left his claw in my arm. Yes, I said in my arm. Jub Jub didn't like me from the start - he hissed at me every single time I walked by his cage. Both the doctor and my supervisor (Rof) agreed that Jub Jub could sense my distrust of cats and I'm sure that's true but what was (am) I supposed to do to remedy that? When, as a student and an intern, you are beaten over the head with tales of cat bites leading to nasty and long-lasting infections or worse! I'm not a huge cat person anyway (sorry, Gweenz) but I definitely have the fear of God in me with regard to cat teeth and claws. So, since I am so hesitant to tangle with felines, it only follows that Rof takes every opportunity to make me handle them. I understand his logic but me no likes. And so it was that I was tasked with taking Jub Jub from his cage and placing him in his carrier. Jub Jub did not want to leave his cage and he really didn't want to get in his carrier. Rof wound up taking over, using a giant towel, and I wound up with a claw in my arm. See?

Jub Jub also left a nice, big scratch from my middle finger knuckle past my wrist and two puncture holes in my forearm. I tried to take a photo but it just did not turn out well so I've whipped up an artist's rendering of my injuries:

I have a bunch of bruises on my arm from other mishaps with both animals and cage doors and I can assure you - and Robert and my parents can attest to this - my right arm really did look like this for quite a while. I receive most of my bruises from dogs that don't want to be restrained but I also seem to run into doors and locks a LOT at the clinic. It's pretty annoying. I've also been nipped by two dogs but neither broke the skin so that's good. As much as I was distressed at my Jub Jub injuries, I was extremely happy he didn't bite me. Because even with just a scratch, I had to run my arm under hot water and squeeze the puncture holes to get my wounds to bleed as much as possible. Then I got a thorough scrubbing with soap and then alcohol. It was delightful.

Of course, it's not just clinic animals that can hurt you; I was recently disfigured by our horned sheep, Alvin. A little backstory: For past couple months, we've been asked to modify our contact with Alvin because he's become too aggressive. First, we had to stop petting him. Then we weren't allowed to feed him his daily allowance of oats. Then we weren't allowed to feed any of the ruminants oats because "humans need to be associated with nothing good." I know some students didn't but I followed the new rules, even though I had never had any sort of problem with Alvin. He'd never shown any dominant behavior while I worked with him so I was careful but not afraid. That all changed last Tuesday when I tried to feed Charcey and Alvin decided he really wanted some of her feed. He'd never expressed interest in her food before but I assume he was feeling oat-deprived and wanted some grainy goodness. Anyway, Alvin wouldn't get out of Charcey's stall and Charcey was hungry and pissed that Alvin was keeping her from getting her food. So I had an angry sheep and an angry horse on my hands. Fun! I tried all of the "approved" methods for moving Alvin - shooing him away with a hand towel and then a broom - before I just grabbed him by the horns and pulled him out of the stall, (locking Charcey in behind me). Was this the best option? At the time, I thought yes. I didn't want to get trampled by Charcey and Alvin was making moves to butt me so I just wanted to get him out of there. In the end, however, I didn't avoid the butting as Alvin was pissed he no longer had access to the Equine Senior Delight - he turned and very deliberately nailed me in the left shin with his horns. These horns.

Which, as I'm sure you can imagine, HURT like a mofo. That is to say a lot. A lot a lot. I was first completely bumfuzzled, then a little hurt that Alvin, previously a nice guy, had turned on me. Then I was pissed. Alvin was and will forever remain (excuse my language) on my shit list.

Photos of bruises just don't come out well but I tried. I think Robert will agree that the following pictures just don't do it justice. And it's not a bruise, actually - it's a hematoma. (There are actually two but the upper one is much smaller.) Cause it's big and knobby and suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper tender. It's a week-and-a-half later and my leg is still too sore to lay on. It's super fun at the clinic when dogs run into it, too. Hrmph. So when you see me wearing shorts this summer and you wonder at the big purple lump on my leg, that's it.