Chapter 1
How I Got Started
When I first read James Herriot's classic book All Creatures Great and Small (now a popular, long-running PBS television show), about life as a small-town vet, it was like my internal alarm clock rang. It was time for me to change from playing make-believe veterinarian to being a real one, starting with getting a real job in a real animal hospital.
But I was only thirteen and had absolutely no idea how to get a job, much less how to become a vet.
So, I took out the family's copy of the thick Queens, New York, Yellow Pages, found the listings starting with "V," and flipped the tissue-paper-thin pages until I reached "Veterinary Hospitals." Then, I started calling each one to ask for a job. They said things like, "Call us after you have some experience" or "We can't take volunteers for insurance reasons." The worst "no" was "Call back when you grow up"-and then they hung up on me.
On my twentieth try, the vet himself answered the phone at the Forest Hills Cat Hospital. Dr. Jay Luger listened to my teenage "I have to be a vet" pitch.
"I also knew I wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a kid," he said. "Why don't you come by one day after school and watch what we're doing?" I was over the moon, even just to watch, even for just one day.
Since I didn't want to arrive late, I skipped lunch so I could leave school early. Bad idea. From the moment I arrived in his office, I felt lightheaded. Whether that was from low blood sugar or excitement, I didn't know.
A smiling technician escorted me into the exam room to observe Dr. Luger's last case of the day. The patient was an old gray tabby. "This guy has lost a lot of weight recently, and I need to figure out why," he said.
He did a physical exam on the cat, and then set up to do some blood tests. Dr. Luger's assistant gently petted the patient while holding him still with his neck exposed. I leaned forward for a better look as the doctor inserted the long needle of the hypodermic syringe into the cat's jugular vein. The syringe filled with dark red blood. He transferred some of the blood into a purple-topped tube, handed it to me, and said, "Amy, turn the tube gently upside down, back and forth, so the blood doesn't clot."
As instructed, I turned the warm tube over and over and watched as the blood rushed one way and then the other. After three turns, I got a funny feeling, like my world was also flipping over . . . and then I passed out cold on the treatment room floor, just fifteen minutes after I'd walked into my first "job" at my first animal hospital.
The blood sample was saved, but my pride was not.
My hope had been to keep going to Dr. Luger's office after school every day, even though I was invited for just one. I was now too embarrassed to return at all. The next day I went back to the Yellow Pages, starting with the entry after Forest Hills Cat Hospital, and made more calls.
Fortunately, another vet said I could come by and observe, also for a single day. This time I made sure to eat lunch before I went.
I arrived at the hospital just as the doctor was about to begin abdominal surgery on a Labrador retriever. His assistant helped me don a cap, mask, and booties. As I entered the surgery room, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a glass door and thought I looked very much the part of a real vet. I was extremely proud of myself.
I watched the doctor cut through the freshly shaved and prepped skin of the retriever's belly, concentrating on how sharp the scalpel must be. My breathing got increasingly louder as I inhaled and exhaled through the mask. I saw little blobs of blood bubbling up as the vet incised the skin and then cut through the belly wall, exposing the internal organs.
"This is called exploratory surgery, because I don't know the full extent of the dog's problem," the vet said to me. "So, I'm going to inspect each of his internal organs first, and then remove the mass that I know is on his liver."
I barely heard what he was saying because my breathing had now become so loud that I thought everyone else could hear it, too. And suddenly the room was blazing hot. And my vision blurred. Why is everything black and white? I thought just moments before I fainted to the floor. Again.
This hospital staff was very understanding, but I left that day with my tail between my legs, thoroughly embarrassed and existentially shattered. How was I ever going to become a vet if I passed out at the sight of blood?
I remained determined. I would just have to redeem myself. And I was running out of vets in the Yellow Pages to cold call. So, the very next day (and after having lunch), I rode three city buses and showed up again-unannounced-at the first vet's cat practice.
When Dr. Luger's nurse saw me, she said dryly, "We thought you might be back. We have smelling salts ready for you." Not only did I not faint that day, I kept going back to the Forest Hills Cat Hospital for six straight years.
D
Fainting at the sight of blood was the first of many obstacles I’ve had to overcome on my path to becoming a vet.
At the end of my junior year at Barnard College, it was time to think about veterinary school applications. I needed a stellar GPA, stratospheric test scores, unreserved recommendations, and wide-ranging extracurricular experience.
The last one concerned me. By now, I knew my way around your standard house pet or lab mouse, but I had no experience with farm animals. If I could secure a summer job with a large-animal veterinary practice, then I would have a standout vet school package and be able to live my James Herriot fantasy at the same time.
From a friend of a friend, I got the name and phone number of a large-animal vet with a mobile practice in rural eastern Connecticut. This was exactly the kind of situation I was looking for.
I dialed the number and a woman answered, "Dr. Nat Johnson."
"May I speak with Dr. Johnson, please?" I asked.
"I am Dr. Johnson."
Nat as in Natalie? It had never occurred to me that this large-animal veterinarian would be a woman! Now I had to get a job with her. I quickly introduced myself and explained the purpose of my call, emphasizing my eagerness to learn about large animals and my willingness to do absolutely anything to be of help.
"I like your attitude, Amy," the doctor replied. "I might be able to arrange for you to spend a few weeks shadowing me. But before you decide, let me explain a few things about my practice. First of all, it is just me. I set up my equipment at the beginning of the day, drive myself to appointments, take care of my patients, and when I return at the end of the day, I wash everything and restock my truck. I work seven days a week but only a half day on Sunday."
This would be the perfect job for me. Since it would just be the two of us, I'd be able to do a lot of assisting. I would help with the washing up and stocking, too-anything to make myself useful. And it sounded just like James Herriot's practice in the Yorkshire Dales.
"I have a husband, three children, four dogs, and a cat," Dr. Johnson continued, "and we live in a house that is way too small for us. So, I'm afraid I don't have a room for you, but I do have an old horse trailer in the back. We could clean it out and put a mattress in. It doesn't have electricity or water, but you'd just be sleeping there. You would eat all your meals with us and use our bathroom facilities."
"I see," I replied. Not exactly what I was expecting, but workable?
"Oh, and one more thing. I run this practice on a shoestring so I'm afraid I don't have any money to pay you. But I guarantee you a wealth of experience!"
Without allowing myself to think too hard about it, I accepted Dr. Johnson's terms, and we worked out the details.
The doctor suggested I arrive on Sunday afternoon-her half day. My parents drove me to Dr. Johnson's that weekend. Passing one beautiful farm after another, we finally arrived at a ramshackle house bearing the address Dr. Johnson had given me.
I knocked on the screen door of the house. No one heard me at first above the roar of the kids yelling and dogs barking. Just as I was about to knock again, the entire family poured onto the porch to meet me. Dr. Nat introduced everyone at lightning speed, then told me to grab my duffel and follow her to the trailer out back.
A small, rusty camper sat in the center of an overgrown and untidy yard, listing slightly, its few high windows covered with years' worth of grime. I pasted on a smile, set my bag down just inside the door to the thing, and we rejoined my parents, who were eager to get back on the road for their two-hour drive home. I didn't really want to be left there, but I was determined to carry out my plan.
"You call us if you need anything," said my mother, her brow furrowed with genuine concern. She gave me a hug and kiss, which was followed by an extra-long embrace from my dad.
"Are you sure you don't want to be a people doctor like your brother?" he whispered in my ear for the hundredth time, as he smiled to hide his worry.
As promised, Dr. Nat welcomed me into the routine of her daily life and practice. Everyone rose at six, and since there was only one bathroom, we followed a strict pecking order: first Dr. Nat; then her husband, Scott; then me; and finally, the children. We ate breakfast together and then Dr. Nat and I did the dishes before setting up for rounds.
Dressed alike in tan coveralls and Wellies, the two of us went off on house calls to neighboring farms, ministering to a motley assortment of ill or pregnant cows, sheep, horses, and the occasional goat or dog. Dr. Nat hadn't been exaggerating when she said this was dirty work. Reaching our patients often necessitated slogging through mud and manure. If there was no running water at the site, I'd have to carry a brimming bucket in one hand and liquid soap and a squeeze bottle of lubricant in the other, trying hard not to spill the contents. Dr. Nat carried two heavy doctor's bags filled with equipment and medication. I couldn't imagine how much longer and harder her days were without having a helper.
When we arrived at a dairy barn, my first job was to identify the cow-usually by a red ear tag. Then I'd slip a mercury thermometer into her rectum and secure the attached clip to her tail fur so the instrument wouldn't fall to the floor or get sucked up inside her. Dr. Nat performed a complete "exterior" exam-eyes, ears, teeth, heart, lungs, limbs, mammary glands-and recited her findings as I scribbled them into her medical notebook. This was great mentoring.
Next, she instructed me to hold out my right arm and snapped a shoulder-length glove onto it. I proceeded to cleanse every inch of the cow's backside with soapy water. Then it was Dr. Nat's turn to put on a glove, lube up, and literally plunge her arm up to her shoulder into the cow's rectum. Gently, she palpated the cow's reproductive anatomy through the colon wall, describing the feel of the ovaries and size of the uterus. As I transcribed her comments, I marveled at her ability to pinpoint the status of the cow's pregnancy and predict the animal's due date. The satisfaction she got from her work was written all over her face, and I longed to possess her skills and confidence.
On a typical day, we'd repeat this process together at a minimum of three other farms. At other times, I was relegated to the role of observer, like when a horse had a laceration that needed stitching or a bull needed to be castrated. (One evening as we prepared dinner, I noticed a container in the kitchen refrigerator labeled "Bill's Bull's Balls" and I was very relieved to find that it was not on that night's menu.)
As far as I could tell, Nat's husband, Scott, had little or no interest in helping either at home or in the practice. He mainly lurked around with a beer can in his hand or lay in the front yard hammock.
Everything was fine for a couple of weeks. Then, one night as I was just dozing off in the trailer, there was a tap-tap-tap on the door, which, thankfully, I'd reflexively latched. I peered through the dirty window and saw Mr. Johnson swaying unsteadily on my doorstep.
Tap-tap-tap.
I stayed stone-still for ten minutes, then dared to peek through the window again.
He was gone.
I crept quietly to the door, checked the lock, and crawled back under my ratty blanket. I didn't sleep another wink that night. I'd been secretly afraid something like this might happen. From day one, he'd given me the creeps. I'd gamely convinced myself he was harmless-but deep down, I knew he was trouble. And now I had some serious thinking to do.
The next morning, I sat at breakfast, red-eyed, staring at my plate while everyone else ate their eggs. I cleaned up the dishes while Dr. Nat was feeding her beloved chickens. Scott Johnson wandered off to nap in the hammock.
Looking around to make sure nobody was nearby, I picked up the receiver of the wall phone in the kitchen and dialed my old friend and mentor, Dr. Luger, from the Forest Hills Cat Hospital. In a furtive whisper, I told him what had happened, and he didn't hesitate for a second. "However much you love the work, this is not what you signed up for," he said. "I'm calling your parents to pick you up."
My first impulse had been to protect my mom and dad from this sordid predicament by calling Dr. Luger, but I knew he was right, so I agreed. I went back to the trailer and threw my things into my duffel, then went off to find Dr. Nat in the coop.
Copyright © 2024 by Dr. Amy Attas. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
