The Cow Whisperer, The Mayor & The Vet

BY AYESHA JOY CLIFFORD ©

GOOD Morning Spring Sunday in the country.

You are lovely. But wait … What’s that? What is she doing up there lying on her side, legs kicked out?

Legs up or out is never a good look. It’s especially not a good look when it’s your  favourite house cow, especially at 6am the Sunday after election.

Coffee going cold and lazy Sunday visions vanishing into the spring haze, we phone the local vet.

With my husband occupied doing the cow equivalent of hand-holding – shoulder wedged firmly to keep the patient in an upright position, help is on the way.

Some people wait longer at hospitals than we did for the vet to arrive and administer a swift IV in the neck to treat the Jersey house cow Ophelia for milk fever.

As he leaps into his car and disappears down the drive at 8am he already he has a couple more callouts to attend and an urgent surgery consult for ten pups born overnight.

Just another day on-call for the country town vet who aside from animal duties and being dubbed The Cow Whisperer by me, also wears the caps of Mayor and Councillor.

Well perhaps The Cow Whisperer is a tad poetic. I had detected a few colourful phrases on occasion. That’s to be expected when you’re trying to convince hundreds of kilo of cranky cow to be more obliging.

He didn’t say a thing last time I forgot to slide shut the gate on the race and treated cow athletically launched herself over the bonnet of his car and hoofed it back to her paddock after her prolapse surgery. All in a day’s work.

“I’d love to have a farm and work with animals,” is one of the most common responses I hear from people.

I often wonder if they really would.

Animals don’t pick a convenient time to get sick or need attention.

There is no pause button. There is a never-ending parade of ailments and activities requiring attention – more often than not “now” – ready or not.

What a blessing to have dedicated professionals multi-tasking on our side and willing to go the extra (literally) country mile to help care for us and our animals.

Thanks Ross The Mayor, The Vet and The Cow Whisperer -  you’re a legend!