A day in the life of Irish Vet, Bairbre O'Malley

8.45 Got to the Veterinary Hospital quite early. The traffic queuing into Dublin looked dreadful - I'm so glad the hospital is in Bray, not in the middle of Dublin City. Tasha, my dog loves going to work and bounds into the hospital looking forward to her day at the office!

8.50 Two phone messages. Last week's snake owner is happy - her boa constrictor Ruby is doing fine and has started to eat again. The owner of Parsley, the rabbit that had an operation yesterday will collect her later that morning.

9.00 A quick cup of coffee with my veterinary nurse Claire before our day starts. The owner of a tortoise is to call me about its operation tomorrow - surgery on tortoises is always interesting because you have to operate through a trapdoor cut into the shell.

9.10 Claire says Parsley has been eating well which is good news. Her back teeth had got so misshapen that they had overgrown and impaled her tongue. I had to give her a full general anaesthetic and trim down lots of sharp spurs. Animals like rabbits, chinchillas and guinea pigs all get dental problems and need regular dental check ups.

9.15 The short-eared owl seems calm, and has devoured a mouse (dead) for his breakfast. Despite being a wild animal he has been a model patient. His broken wing is healing well after the operation so I hope to send him off to a bird sanctuary in Wicklow where he can convalesce before being released back to the wild.

10.00 The rabbit's owner is overjoyed to see her. I show the owner how to give Parsley her medicine for the next few days and will see her back for a check up next week.
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10.15 A young boy and his mother bring in a hamster, which has got a sweet wrapper, stuck in its pouch. This needs to be removed in case the hamster eats the wrapper and gets a blockage. If you ask young children how old their pets are, they may tell you their guinea pigs, rats or gerbils are many years old. However if you ask the parents, they often confirm the suspicion that this is guinea pig, rat or gerbil replacement number 2 or 3 and that earlier versions have been quietly replaced. I examine the pouch with a pen torch and carefully pull out the offending wrapper with a tweezers. I explain to the little boy about not feeding his hamster dangerous titbits but I think he has learnt his lesson!

10.30 The first dog comes in - a German Shepherd dog called Rocky, needing his annual booster vaccination and worming. Despite his size and his breed reputation he tries to lick me to death - sometimes pets are scared of the vet so it's nice to be appreciated!

10.45 A black and white cat called Millie is next. She is showing pain when the owner touches her rear end and her owner is concerned that she has hurt her back. A detailed examination reveals a tiny puncture wound just beside her tail indicating Millie has been bitten by the local tom on the prowl! I give her a pain killer injection and antibiotics against the cat bite infection.

11.00 An owner phones to report that Gloria the goldfish is doing very well. Many owners wouldn't bother taking their fish to the vet but this one is 30 years old - a year older than the 29 year old son who brought it in! She had a growth above her eye, which was obscuring her vision. When I'm operating on fish I have to be quick as they can only be out of the water for five minutes at a time. I use a cake tray and a wet face cloth to keep them moist! Unusual and interesting surgery like this is one reason why I love seeing exotics.

11.30 There are two operations scheduled this morning - Hazel a rabbit in for spaying and Henrietta the Basset Hound having a cystotomy (bladder surgery). Just like cats and dogs, rabbits are now routinely neutered. This is not only to prevent unwanted litters but also to prevent cancer of the womb, which is common after 2 years of age. Rabbits are delicate surgical patients that get easily stressed so they need extra special care during and after surgery.

X-ray of bladder stones

12.15 While Hazel is recovering peacefully after her spay I start the operation on Henrietta the Basset Hound. She had been passing blood in her urine and when I x-rayed here there was a massive stone in her bladder! Claire is amazed to see how large the stone is but female dogs commonly get big stones. I remember once removing a bladder stone while being filmed on Animal Hospital for BBC TV. Rolf Harris was so impressed by the size of the stone he took it home and polished it for me. I have it on my mantelpiece at home and it looks like a beautiful shiny pebble from a beach!

While Henrietta recovers on a drip from the surgery I take Tasha off for a walk up Bray Head. Wicklow is great for the outdoors and Tasha adores racing around meeting all her doggy friends. She is a bundle of energy and needs plenty of walks no matter how bad the Irish weather!

15.00 A veterinary colleague phones to refer a bird for treatment. Her client has a cockatoo parrot, which is plucking out all its feathers. Not many vets in Ireland treat birds on a regular basis so she has to drive up from Kilkenny. Cockatoos suffer a lot from feather plucking problems - there are many causes like poor diet, boredom, virus infections and even sleep deprivation. That is when the owners watch too many late night movies so the poor cockatoo can't get a wink of sleep!

15.30 An emergency is brought in. Sally, the dog was walking with her owner on Killiney Beach and got tangled in fishing net. She managed to get two fishhooks stuck in her mouth and paw which was obviously very painful. I give her a sedative and when she is drowsy gently ease them out - luckily she didn't have time to swallow them.

17.00 During evening surgery I get the full range of fur, feather and scales. First in, is a reptile patient, a water dragon called Fester with a swollen toe. I suspect brittle bone disease and admit him for an x-ray the next day. This is a common ailment in reptiles and is caused by lack of calcium in the diet. An owner of a Burmese python phones to ask about treating mites, which can be a real problem with snakes.

17.30 I always know when there's a Siamese cat in the waiting room due to the meowing! Ming, is an elderly male Siamese with amazing china blue eyes that has been scratching his ears. It turns out he has ear polyps. I prescribe an antibiotic ear cream to help ease the irritation but he will need ear surgery in the long term.

18.00 Max the terrier is brought in - he has been scratching himself raw along his neck. Brushing back the fur it's easy to trace the cause - tiny specks of dirt indicate he has fleas. The reason why he is so itchy is that he has an allergic reaction to flea saliva, which is a very common problem in dogs. Although easily treated rigorous flea control is needed to prevent it happening again.

18.30 Next patient is Joey the budgie with scaly beak. I see this a lot in budgies and it's caused by a mite creating scales around the base of the beak. A lady phones looking for an exotic vet. She wants to make an appointment for a chipmunk that has been bitten by its brother. I advise them to bring it down in a safe pet carrier - chipmunks move like greased lightning and have a habit of escaping!

18.45 An owner drops in her cat, which is due to be spayed in the morning, and then last patient of the day is Buffy the Spaniel pup. She leaps into the consulting room full of beans but it was a different story last week. She had been vomiting non-stop and initially I was worried she might have a fatal infection like parvovirus. However x-rays revealed she had a blockage and when I operated I found a rubber teat blocking her intestines. The young toddler in the house leaves her bottles lying around and Buffy was obviously attracted by the smell of milk! It's amazing the difference a week makes - she is a different dog today wagging her tail, while last week she was on her last legs!

Barbara O'Malley, Veterinary Surgeon