A hectic day in the life

First of all I have to qualify this by saying normally we have one vet work on Saturday and one on back-up. Unfortunately, on this particular Saturday, with holiday travel and events, I was on my own.

First appointment, 9:30 am: pregnancy check 211 cows and heifers, look at some cows that had died in the recent storms, then vaccinate 3 cats and a dog. Check back into the clinic to find out emergencies are waiting. Drive 40 miles back to the clinic to get necessary supplies and directions to head out on emergency run.
1:40 pm. Look at sick cat with repiratory problems. 3 pm arrive at dairy farm to treat cows with severe grain overload. 4 head were down and one was unable to rise. The farmer asked "They'll be all right won't they?" I had to be honest and say you never know how they are going to do. Though I am not a pessimist, I don't think all of them will make it. 4 pm I pulled into another farm to check on a heifer thought to be aborting. She was also down and in a very bad way. She was breathing hard and did not respond to me at all. The calf's nose was sticking out without any legs. I pushed the head back in to find that the calf was dead and bloated. The nails of the toes came off in my hand. Several minutes of manipulation combined with lubrication and the help of the son in law on the end of the chains the dead calf was deliverd. Mom only lasted a few minutes more. The combination of cold, dead rotting calf inside, inability to deliver the calf after laboring for at least most of a day, and then the stress of having it pulled finally did her in. Then it was back to the clinic for a quick wash and a look at a dog with a corneal ulcer on its right eye at 5:30. By 6 pm I was off again to another farm to perform a necropsy on a calf that had just died and the owner wanted looked at before it froze solid. Severe pneumonia and emphysema were determined to be the cause of death. The -9F temperature was determined to be the cause of my numb fingers. By 7 pm it was driving back to the clinic (I drove just short of 200 miles today) to enter medical records into the computer while waiting for the final (hopefully) emergency of the night. A rectal prolapse was fairly easily reduced, sutured, and on its way home. I was able to clean up and get home by 8:15 pm. I guess the animals haven't received the memo that we are only supposed to work till 3 pm on Saturdays.