24/7

OK, so first a brief explanation about this blog in general. Most often the blogs are written by a 4th year vet student who has spent time with us. As such, those pieces are meticulously researched, peer reviewed, and are of sound veterinary value – for example, all those pictures of trees, and ticks. See Aug and July blogs. However, sometimes this blog is written by me. And this month’s blog is about the Charlottesville Women’s Four Miler in aid of Breast Cancer Research… You see, if you have not been following our FB page, you will not know that we ran it. But we did. The whole lot of us - minus new member of the team Debbie, who slipped in after the entry date, and who texted back in reply to our triumphant and sweaty post-race photo that she was sat with her feet in a spa bath having a pedicure. Well, that will change for next year. So off we rose at 5 am to run four miles in the thoughts of some we know, and in the memory of some we knew, and of the many we did not. And to raise money for that cause. Our team name was The Teat Strippers. We chose that name because we neatly and cleverly combined the essence of the cause with a large part of our practice. That is, the care and treatment of the udder. We also liked the symmetry of four miles with four quarters. So we could shout out to other runners as they passed us, “You go girl, only one quarter to strip!” (Recognizing that the general public might not get it, Dr Lesley (who finished 51st of near 3000!!) actually ran with a mid-lactation Jersey cow called Bluebell. And at each motivational mile-marker (or quarter) Lesley and Bluebell would stop and demonstrate the technique of teat stripping to check for udder health in cattle. Obviously this cut into Lesley’s personal best...) And then, at the finish, as everyone else sucked on oranges and doughnuts and melted away to lay on the couch for the rest of the day, there were two people who went straight to their phones to see what they had been asked to take care of… And so it was that Dr Melinda went west to pull something out, and Dr Lesley went south to put something back in. Which made me think, how many other participants of the race had to switch back to their day job so quickly? And no easy week-day job. A difficult calving and a prolapse – 24/7, 365 days a year, Louisa Veterinary Service takes your call. I myself went back to the farm and did farm stuff, sweated probably two-thirds of what Melinda and Lesley did. And then raised a glass to them, and the philosophy of our practice. As anyone reading this should too. Remember there is still time to donate; visit Women's 4miler Charlottesville