9:50 Vinnie, my canine companion, and I arrive at our vet’s office and, luckily, we can
park right outside the front door. I brought my French dictionary, and textbook,
paper and pencil. The only thing missing is a tasty mug of coffee…but then, no, I
wouldn’t be able to use the bathroom here anyway. I have no idea how long this
will take but am more than willing to wait. I have plenty of things I can work on.
9:55 I put my mask on since I will be near the two techs briefly. I can’t go in the doctor’s office but I call the main office and tell them we are here. I worry about Vinnie being
nervous, but I think I’m more anxious.
10:00 Right on time two vet tech’s wearing masks come out to escort Vinnie in for his
check-up. Vinnie needs two techs because he wears a “Help Em Up” harness
and he weighs close to 60 pounds. He can’t walk on his back legs.
10:07 “Wuf,wuf, wuf..” barks my cell phone. I go over Vinnie’s health information with
a vet tech before he sees the doctor. He’s there for his physical exam, bordatella
boost, and some other matters. Although we can’t see each other, I hear the
smiles in her voice.
10:00 The weather is perfect, 65 degrees, and I have the windows open. A nice breeze swooshes through now and then. I am comfortable studying and doing my French homework.
11:15 The doctor calls and gives me a report. She’d like to run a blood panel. They always check with me before running tests, which I appreciate.
12:00 The doctor calls and tells me when I can expect the test results and when
she will call me. “A vet tech will call you in a few minutes with
today’s bill,” says the doc.
12:10 The vet tech calls me and gives me today’s accounting. They have my credit card
on file, so no card changes hands—-nice. I put my mask back on and get the
ramp set up to get Vinnie back into the car.
12:15 The two wonderful techs bring my boy out and they transfer Vinnie over to me. I
walk him up the ramp and get him comfortably in my car. I thank the techs and
get in the front seat to chauffeur Master Vinnie home. Before heading home, I use hand sanitizer since I have touched the handles of Vinnie’s harness touched by others.
12:30 I get Vinnie home and we go immediately to the shower where I give him a bath,
singing a silly song to put him at ease. I wonder: Do all the employees at the
vet office check their temperature every day? Do they all use hand-sanitizer
liberally? How many different sets of hands have touched Vinnie? I’ve seen that
they all do wear masks.
12:45 I’ve dried Vinnie off with a nice soft towel and am now using my hair dryer on him.
He loves the warmth on his body.
1:00 Now that the Vinster is nice and clean and smells like lavender it is huggy-time. We thank our vets and the techs for taking such good care of our pets and dealing so kindly with clients through this quirky but necessary period of social distancing.
- Linda Pattison