Chapter Text
Chris had started an ordinary day at the clinic in central Sydney, then during the morning received a call for an emergency for an animal that was, well... Exotic.
He made his way to Bondi beach, where he met the man who had called him.
“Walkers had reported a penguin,” he explained, a blue blanket chirping with discontent in his arms.
Being a member of a wildlife rescue group, he was qualified to handle the poor bird.
They sat down on the sand, Chan put down his briefcase full of medical supplies, then took the little penguin out of its blanket.
The first thing he noticed was that the animal was very weak. Jake, the animal rescuer, had done well to catch it before an urban predator found it and eat it.
Chris took a long look at the fairy penguin, noting that it was well under-nourished. It had been found at the right time. It would also seem that it was the moulting period, making the animal more vulnerable.
Less able to swim, tiring more quickly, this little Australian blue penguin often ended up on the shores of Sydney at the end of its tether, and sometimes even in the belly of a dog or cat.
Luckily for him, this bird was going to get a second chance. Chris was going to take it back to the clinic for proper treatment.
Sam, his veterinary assistant, was obviously moved by the little bird he noticed as soon as Chris walked through the door.
Ashley, the other vet in the practice, didn't bat an eye, long used to the surprises Chris could bring.
She was more of a cat-and-dog person.
Sam was requisitioned to look after the little penguin, who had not lost it verve and protested vigorously when they tried to feed and water it.
Sam was forced to hold the bird while Chris fed it. And while the assistant vet weighed the small, one-pound animal, Chris examined its stool.
And sure enough, they were full of parasites. It was a miracle that the little penguin was still alive and kicking.
It was surely this fighting spirit that had saved it, and now it was going to rest peacefully in the clinic until zoo staff came to collect it tomorrow.
Of course, it couldn't be put in a cage between a dog and a cat, the poor thing would die of stress. So Chris found it... Another place to stay.
“Yeah, hello, Nathan? Yes... Well, um... I may have found us a new roommate.”
Obviously, on the other end of the line, his roommate let out a long sigh. He was more than used to Chris bringing home temporary roommates.
“What is it this time?”
“A bird.”
“Well, that's fine by me.”
Chris took a diversion to buy some fish for the penguin before heading home. Nathan looked at him as he walked home, dumbfounded.
“You said it was a bird, but I was expecting a parakeet!”
“Surprised?”
Nathan could only look at him, shaking his head.
For Patty the Penguin's evening meal, as Sam had named him, Chris had to go to a local restaurant to get chopsticks before sitting on the terrace with Nathan, who was holding the bird.
Chris then proceeded to feed the penguin, who protested vigorously, not very appreciative.
It was honestly not very tasty and very messy, but he managed to gobble up all his mackerel with a little help.
Chris went to put him in the bathroom, and covered his little cage. He now mostly needed sleep.
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Adam had a problem. Or rather, his dog Billy had a problem. The poor Jack Russel was lame after a dog had knocked him down. So he was forced to take him back to Dr Christopher Bang's clinic.
Chris greeted him with a smile, the advantage with dogs is that he had much more practice than with penguins, and they were more often cooperative.
And then there was Lewis, from the Sydney Reptile Park, who asked him to look after alligators.
Anyway.
After a brief examination, Chris decided to take Billy out into the hallway to chase his ball and find out why he was lame.
Despite the excitement of the hunt, the dog was still limping and Chris ordered an X-ray. It revealed the poor dog's condition.
His hip joints had just... disintegrated. Of course, this was extremely rare in a dog that young. But that was Chris' diagnosis.
His solution? Operate on Billy. The bone had to be removed so that there was no more rubbing and therefore no more pain. The dog would be able to go on with his life on all fours without any worries or pain.
But this was no small operation. It was going to be painful and it was going to take Billy some time to recover. There weren't really many other options, at least not ones that were as effective in the long run.
“We'll do what we have to do. I can't even stand the pain in my knees...” Adam muttered.
The fifty-year-old was admiring that his dog was carrying on so normally despite the pain. But if the operation would allow the young dog to have a long, pain-free life ahead of him, then he would allow the operation.
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Night had fallen on the clinic, when a man rushed into the clinic with a trembling, muzzled rottweiler in his arms.
Quickly attended to by Chris and Sam, the three made their way to the emergency room.
According to Zenna's owner's roommate, he found the dog in the garden, completely shaking.
Short of breath, with dilated pupils, she showed all the signs of snail ball poisoning. They would have to act quickly if they wanted to save her before her body was completely overcome by the poison.
When it was finally possible to reach Zenna's owner, who was out of town for the night, he confirmed Chris' suspicions. Some of the neighbours didn't like the dog, and it was entirely possible that someone had tried to poison her.
Chris explained to the owner that he was going to give Zenna an injection of atropine to try and counteract the effects of the poison. The man did not object, and Chris quickly injected the dog with both atropine and counter poison.
All that remained was to make her vomit to spit out the poison. Adam, Sam and Chris waited only a minute before the dog spat out the snail poison balls.
Except that they contained a poison called metaldehyde which unfortunately had no antidote.
They would have to rely on atropine.
Except that the drug wasn't really working at the moment, so Chris gave the dog a very small dose of atropine through her eye.
The eye being full of blood vessels, the drug would be quickly absorbed and quickly take effect. Except the dog didn't really appreciate the irritation and squirmed.
It was Sam and the roommate who held her back while Chris applied the medicine.
Meanwhile Paul, Zenna's owner, was hurrying home to be with her. Several of Paul's friends were already there, silently supporting the dog.
When the dog's condition did not improve, Chris called the owner back to tell him that the dog was going to be transferred to the emergency hospital for anaesthesia and gastric lavage.
Meanwhile, the poor dog was convulsing on the examination table.
The owner agreed to her removal, and using the flatmate's car, Chris, a friend and the flatmate transported the dog to the SASH, the local animal hospital.
There, consultant vet Matthew Lee was waiting to see her. Chris explained the situation to him and then, as Paul's friend looked on in concern and horror, Matthew intubated the dog before washing her stomach.
Chris was worried, fearing the worst for the dog's brain, as her temperature was over forty degrees, which was particularly high for a dog.
After the wash, all that remained to do was to put the dog in one of the cages and pray for the best. Her nervous system had to calm down and the shaking had to subside.
When the owner arrived, he burst into tears in front of the cage. As a policeman, he was sure that someone had wanted to harm his dog. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to harm an innocent dog, but there were no snail balls in his house. Someone must have thrown them in his garden.
The next few hours would determine Zenna's future. If her body could get rid of the toxins without overheating her nervous system, she would be fine.
If she failed to purge her metabolism and had a stroke... Well, it sure didn't seems good.
After a complicated night in SASH, the atropine had finally mhave an effect. By the morning, she had even managed to recover enough to go home during the day.
It was Matthew who made the reconciliation with her owner, and both Zenna and Paul were happy to be reunited.
She was able to return home without any after-effects despite the severity of her poisoning. However, her owner was considering moving to a different neighbourhood to prevent such an accident from happening again.
As for Patty the penguin, before leaving for the zoo, he had the honour of taking a turn in Chris and Nathan's little inflatable pool. The little bird flapped his wings happily as he waded through four inches of water.
After that, Patty had to be handed over to Jake, the wild life caretaker, who would take care of transporting him to the zoo. The penguin would stay there for a few weeks to recover. After that, he would be released into Sydney Harbour to join his fellow penguins.
For Billy, however, his adventure in the clinic was not over. His operation was scheduled for today. Chris had prepared the operating theatre with the help of Sam and Ashley.
Once Billy was intubated and covered with a green sheet, Chris outlined the plan of attack to Ashley. With the surgical tools ready and the surgeons at the ready, all that remained was to begin.
While Sam checked the dog's overall condition, Chris made incisions on both sides of the dog's hips.
Then he took a hammer and chisel and set to work.
When he removed the bone, he showed it to the owner who was a little green. The head of the femur had lost most of its cartilage, and that was what was making life painful for poor Billy.
And it must have been a long time since the labrum slowly started to disintegrate, because it didn't happen overnight. The pushing and shoving must have just made the pain worse, and the operation would ease it.
The owner then looked away, and Chris finished his operation.
Eighteen hours later, the little dog was well on the mend. His leg wouldn't work perfectly, but at least he wouldn't be in pain.
As for Patty the penguin, after two weeks in the hands of the Taronga Zoo, the bird had finished changing its plumage and was quite plump.
All that remained was to release him, but he was not alone, in the meantime he had become friends with another rescued penguin.
They were released on one of the beaches of the harbour town, where they could join the penguin colony on Sydney Harbour.
When Chris returned to tell Sam, who was still very much involved in their rescue, the good news, he asked him what the next time would be?
“I don't know, another sea animal?”
Sam laughed at this as if it had been the best joke he had ever heard.
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