I spend most of my day roaming freely on the farm. As “baas van die plaas” I have a very important job. Head of family security is not a role to be taken lightly.
Late one afternoon I was doing my perimeter rounds when I spotted a Wildebeest grazing to close to the border. I went over to see if everything was in order when all of a sudden, the Wildebeest stormed towards me and pointed his deadly horns in my direction.
The dance classes I had as a puppy came in handy and I darted from one foot to the next before twirling around to avoid being stabbed. I felt a rush as I twirled and all of a sudden, I was a bit light headed. I figured I was out of practice and shrugged off the dizzy feeling.
As I looked up, Ozzy (the Wildebeest) started rambling on at such a fast pace I could not make out a single word he was saying. All I heard was “I’m Sorry”. Sorry for what?
As my words rolled off my lips a drop of blood dripped on my nose as well. It suddenly dawned on me that the light headedness I felt was not due to being out of dance practice. I told Ozzy we would chat later and made my way back home.
As I reached the kitchen daddy came strolling in after a long day at work. He looked down to greet me and saw the gash I had on my face. Daddy bent down and asked me what happened. I was still stunned at how the afternoon had played out, that I just shrugged my shoulders.
Daddy told me he would have to take me to the vet to have my wound looked at. The gash was above my eye and daddy wanted to make sure my eye was not injured in the process. Without any hesitation we were off to the vet.
Once at the veterinary practice a friendly lady came and introduced herself as our vet. She showed us into her consult room and gently examined my wound while talking to daddy. She explained to daddy that she wanted to admit me. The vet explained that she needed to clean my wound and give me something for pain overnight, the eye specialist would then assess my eye in the morning and my wound would be cleaned and sutured under anaesthetic.
Daddy told me what a brave boy I was as he took me to the back and helped the vet check me into my room. Shortly after daddy left the vet came and shaved my front leg in order to place an IV catheter. My pain medication was administered and my wound was cleaned. Afterwards I was tucked in to bed and the lights were dimmed. As I drifted off to sleep, I could not help but wonder why Ozzy stormed me?
Early the next morning I got woken up by the smell of breakfast. My tummy growled loudly as I opened my eyes just to find out I had not been served breakfast yet. I flagged down the first nurse I saw doing rounds. She explained to me that I would have a late brunch as they wanted to sedate me in order to clean and possibly suture my wound.
Shortly afterwards a lady with a bright smile entered the ward. She came over and introduced herself as Dr Lo-An, the eye specialist. She spoke to me in a soft gentle voice as she gazed into my eyes and I was mesmerized. I finally broke out of the hypnotic spell when she told me my eye seems to be fine.
Ozzy’a horn did not cause any injuries to my eye. I would however still need surgery to debride skin and eyelid and to put sutures in. Dr Lo-An handed me over to the anaesthetist who explained to me that he was going give me an injection that will make me sleepy. He gently held my paw and started counting Wildebeest with me….. 1 Wildebeest, 2 Wildebeest……. 10 Wildebeest… 20 Wildebeest… …. …. Ozzy…
And with the thought of Ozzy I woke up from my sleep. I found myself wrapped in a warm blanket in the recovery room. As I struggled to open my eyes the anaesthetist came past to check my vitals. He told me the procedure went well and that I would be able to go home soon. The vet said she wanted to see me again in a week. In the meantime, daddy would need to administer daily eyedrops.
After a late brunch I was able to go home. Daddy came and fetched me. On our way home daddy told me that Ozzy came clean with the whole story. Ozzy was busy chatting up Daisy, the neighbour’s Wildebeest. Ozzy got a fright when he saw me on the field and stormed me to protect Daisy. He felt really bad that I got injured.
As we arrived home the whole farm was waiting to greet me. My heart was filled with joy as I was able to sleep in my own bed. As the days went by, I was a good boy. I held my head still while daddy administered my eyedrops.
One morning daddy told me it seemed that my eyelid was swelling. He gently touched it and then said in an authoritative voice that we were going back to the vet for a check-up. Daddy made an appointment with the eye specialist.
When we arrived at the vet, I felt a lot calmer than I did a few days ago. As the specialist came walking down the corridor, I could not help but smile as I looked into her mesmerising eyes. We greeted her and went to her consult room where she examined my sutures.
It seemed that I had some swelling around the surgical site and that some of the sutures pulled out. Dr advised that I have a second surgery to clean the area and remove the dead tissue around the sutures. This would give my wound the best possible chance of healing. Daddy agreed to the second surgery and off I went to my own special room again.
Not long after my admission the same anaesthetist came in and greeted me. He asked me how I was and explained to me that I would have a short nap while they cleaned out my wound and re-sutured it. It felt like déjà vu as I started counting 1 Wildebeest, 2 Wildebeest……. 10 Wildebeest… 20 Wildebeest… …. …. But this time round Ozzy did not wake me.
I lazily opened my eyes when the anaesthetist came to check on me after my procedure. He was followed by the eye specialist who explained that she was happy with my procedure and that I would be able to go home soon.
On my drive home with daddy I glanced at myself in the mirror. Somehow the sutures made me look like more of a bad boy and even I had to admit that it was one sexy hunk staring back at me.