Health & Fitness
On the Road with Dr. Niesenbaum
Dr. Niesenbaum is on the road, making house calls and taking care of the pets of Long Island. Follow his adventures here as he posts about his visits from time to time.
It's not how I like to start my day, but as the temperature started to climb this morning, I found myself on the road, making my first house call of the day. What? House Calls? You read it correctly, your eyes did not deceive you, the Doctors at Great Neck Dog and Cat Hospital still make house calls.The reason that this particular call was bringing me down was the nature of the pet's problem. Sneezily (I don't name them, just try to take care of them), was an 18 year old cat that according to the owner, just wasn't doing well. When I got to the home this morning, I knew right away, that it was a bit worse than they let on. The kitty cat, usually feisty and not fond of people, was lying on the owner's bed. His namesake noisy respiratory sounds were audible before I even went into the bedroom.
It didn't take very much of a physical examination to determine that the kitty was very thin (further questioning of the owner revealed that he hadn't been eating for a few days) and dehydrated. Tearfully, it was decided that it was time to put Sneezily to sleep. The owner was comforted by the fact that this could be done in the home and that her cat did not have to suffer the stress of a last trip to the animal hospital.
The next stop was also a house call, this time to see three cats. These guys, formally outdoor feral types, had the good fortune of wandering into a situation that took them off of the streets and into a good home. I have been helping their owner take care of them for 5 or 6 years at this point. However, although the passage of time has honed my skills at catching them allowing me to examine and vaccinate each one in turn, each visit to the home is still an adventure in feline acrobatics. While I was eventually successful, and all three received their wellness care, it was not until I had crawled under and behind every piece of furniture in the den to extricate the reluctant patients in turn. Now I remember why I keep a change of clothes in the office. My knees were brown by the time I got back into my car to head off for my morning office hours and my day ws just getting started.
