Laurie Hess - Unlikely Companions: The Adventures of an Exotic Animal Doctor (or, What Friends Feathered, Furred, and Scaled Have Taught Me about Life and Love)

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Copyright 2016 by Laurie Hess

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Da Capo Press, 44 Farnsworth Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02210

Designed by Linda Mark

Set in 12.25 point Weiss Std by the Perseus Books Group

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hess, Laurie, author.

Title: Unlikely companions: the adventures of an exotic animal veterinarian (or, what friends feathered, furred, and scaled have taught me about life and love) / Dr. Laurie Hess, DVM, Diplomate AVBP (Avian) Exotic Animal Veterinarian, with Samantha Rose.

Description: First Da Capo Press edition. | Boston: Da Capo Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016024797 (print) | LCCN 2016035439 (ebook) (print) | LCCN 2016035440 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738219585 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: Exotic animalsDiseasesAnecdotes. | Pet medicineAnecdotes. | Hess, Laurie.

Classification: LCC SF997.5.E95 H47 2016b (print) | LCC SF997.5.E95 (ebook) | DDC 636.089dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016024797

First Da Capo Press edition 2016

Published by Da Capo Press, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

www.dacapopress.com

The names and identifying details of people associated with events described in this book have been changed. Any similarity to actual persons is coincidental.

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NOTE TO READERS

This story is based on real events. Except for the names of Dr. Hess family members, the names and some identifying characteristics of the other people and companies mentioned in this book have been changed.

To all the birds and exotic animals

and the owners who love and care for them.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

MONDAY, 4:28 A.M., HOME

I got the call in what felt like the middle of the night.

Hes dead, Laurie, said my head technician, Marnie.

I threw back the quilt and scurried out of bed and down the hallway, cell phone in hand. I was careful not to wake my husband, Peter, who had gotten into bed only a few hours before, back from a long week of providing legal counsel on the other side of the country.

The uneven floor creaked in our center-hall colonial. Through the narrow four-paned window at the top of the stairs, I could barely make out the tangle of naked maple trees in our almost pitch-black backyard.

My cell phone confirmed that it was early: 4:28 a.m. As a local vet, I keep the same hours as many of the farmers in my community do. At five oclock every morning, the reassuring aroma of espresso roast makes its way upstairs, but at this hour, the kitchen was still and quiet.

I found him in his incubator this morning, Marnie said. And I just received a call from Bob Dixon. He wants to bring in Lily. The symptoms are the same, and I fear the worst. How quickly can you be at the hospital?

This was the fourth death in less than ten days, and, like Marnie, Id been holding my breath, worried that there might be more. Now shed confirmed that wed lost another, and Lily was sick. I wouldnt have time to wait for my first cup of coffee.

Im on my way.

I hurried to get dressed, pulling on workout clothes over my insulin pump, then my knee-high leather Frye boots and Marmot down jacket, the winter uniform of country and not-so-country vets far and wide. A quick check of my blood sugarI have type 1 diabetestold me that I had to eat before rushing off, so, accompanied by my four cats, Bingo, Gizmo, Tilly, and Bean, who thought Id gotten up to feed them, I tiptoed on the wide-planked pine floors through our dark farmhouse and into the kitchen, nearly falling over a mountain of bags. Im constantly on my middle school sons, Brett and Luke, for creating an obstacle course of boyhood gear wherever they go, but this time the mess was my ownpelleted bird food that I myself had brought home for our pionus parrot, Dale. So I really couldnt complain. Our house had been named Applewood when it was originally built as the groomsmans house on an estate; now we simply called it the Hess-Mess.

Because Peter had been out of town, the fridge was emptier than usual, as hes our main provisioner. I settled for a string cheese in one pocket and an apple in the other and scampered out the door, down the flagstone path to the driveway. The sun was not yet rising, and it would be several hours before the ground thawed. Winter temperatures had dropped below twenty degrees overnight, and a thin sheet of ice covered my Highlander windshield, a good indicator that the air was frigid. With mittened hands clutching the ice scraper, I removed the ice from the windows quickly but with surgical precision. The hospital is only seven minutes from home, so, if I hurried, I might make it back before the school bus arrived. It was Monday morning, and with Peter still on West Coast time, I regretted leaving him to rouse the boys single-handedly and get them out the door.

I found Marnie in the intensive care unit of the animal hospital wearing her scrubs and carefully tagging the body.

Good morning, I whispered as I slipped in. I didnt want to startle her, but I did.

She turned quickly and said, That was fast. Youre already here.

I extended a coffee from Starbucks, whichthankfully for usopens its doors at 5 a.m. She gave me a tired smile and took the oversized cup from my hands. I was grateful to Marnie for staying overnight at the hospital. When she offered, Id initially declined, because overnights were not standard practice. But given the seriousness of the case and the need for round-the-clock supportive care, Id finally decided it was a good idea.

Peters back from Los Angeles now, so I can take over.

She looked down at the body. I was sure he was going to make it, but he stopped responding to the antibiotics early this morning. Her voice trailed off. Marnie doesnt give in to emotion easily, but she was taking this especially hard. Of course she cares about all of our patients, as I do, and sometimes you make an especially strong connection with certain animals. Georgie had been one of them.