Dr. Lacher spent the week before her vacation running around the clinic trying to make sure Dr. King and our fabulous team were up to speed on all her cases before she headed to Paris for a week. She assured me she would bring me back something tasty from France so I allowed her to go. Along with making sure we have good communication in the office, Dr. Lacher all her animals at home were taken care of. I thought I would let you in on her preparations for leaving since I thought it was great information for all humans.
First thing Dr. Lacher did was to make sure she had plenty of feed and hay for the horses, and was stocked up on cat and dog food. She went through her feed room to be sure she had her feeding board up to date. Her feeding board was, of course, out of date with one horse listed in the wrong stall and a few on their winter feeding amounts. Making sure these details are clear for her farm sitter will minimize any confusion while she is gone. While in the feed room, Dr. Lacher made sure there was enough Myristol, Solitude, and One AC for the non-sweaters. She added a bucket of homemade electrolytes just in case the horses sweat overly much one day or someone wasn’t drinking enough. Recipe: two containers of Morton Salt Balancer, or two regular salt and two lite salt containers, and 10 ground up Tums.
In the barn, Dr. Lacher made sure all the stalls were labeled with the horse’s name and that halters and lead ropes were in obvious locations. Dr. Lacher tried to make sure that all those little things we put up with, such as the snap that isn’t quite right, were fixed up. On her last stall cleaning she made sure she added a little extra bedding and made sure they were super clean. She gave all the water buckets an extra scrub and generally did a bit of tidying up. While her farm sitter is excellent, it makes it flow a little easier to have things a bit “over” ready. Just like most farm sitters, Dr. Lacher’s has places to be after taking care of her farm and she tries to get her in and out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Finally Dr. Lacher made sure that an extra copy of the feeding and turnout instructions were posted in the barn aisle and e-mailed a copy to her farm sitter.
Now that all the concrete work was done Dr. Lacher sat down to work on the hard part: paperwork. Dr. Lacher filled out an owner/agent form for each of her horses, cats, and dogs. This form allows her to designate her wishes for each of the animals. There is a location for what kind of procedures are allowed and not allowed, and a monetary amount she is willing to spend on each animal. It also legally allows her farm sitter to authorize veterinary care up to the designated amount. The form has a paragraph designating what to do in case euthanasia should be necessary. This form makes sure everyone knows what should be done with each animal in case anything is necessary! These forms, along with all contact information are placed in a folder readily visible for the farm sitter.
It’s hard going on vacation and leaving us furry kids behind but with the proper preparation you can be sure we will be well taken care of!
May your litter box always be clean and your food bowl full!
