Vetnuus | Desember 2023 48 « BACK TO CONTENTS This edition carries for me some very special feelings. I am at the start of my 50th year in practice – it hardly seems possible! One has to sit back and think of all the good times and a few bad ones. Yes, it was in November 1974 that Hoffie pronounced us veterinary surgeons in the main lecture theatre at Onderstepoort. Three days later I was in practice on my own in Pietermaritzburg. This was definitely not by design but by circumstances. The previous owner had phoned me on the morning of my surgery exam saying he wanted to meet with me that day for 10 minutes. I was to join his practice once I qualified, or so I thought. Max arrived to tell me he had accepted a job with an agricultural company and either I bought the practice or there was no job for me. With huge debt, a wife and a child a rapid decision was necessary. A friendly bank manager had made it possible for me to purchase the practice and Max had extended the loan, so we were on our way. The major client of the practice art at that stage was Orchid Meats, owned by the Pediatrician Dr Perling. Most afternoons were spent at his feedlot and just out of interest, a full bovine PM was R15.00. In three months, his outstanding account was R13000 and it was at this stage that a heady bank manager phoned to say that as my overdraft was unsecured it had been called up. It was also close to R13000. I phoned George Perling and told him of my situation and asked if he could help me by settling his account. “Oh Mike, have you not seen the morning paper? I have been declared insolvent!”That was all I needed after a total of three months in practice! A sleepless night followed and in the morning I was sitting at my desk trying to work things out and what to do about my situation when in-walked Dr Perling. “Mike I cannot let you down and have got a check from my mother to settle your account!”. Problem solved and we never really looked back. John Borrowdale a classmate had offered to help me, free of charge and in his khaki shorts arrived each morning. I had promised him I would pay him what the practice could afford, the going rate for a recent graduate being R500 per month. Also of interest was the price I paid for a new Toyota Hilux for the practice – R1500 or three times the graduate’s salary. Try that today and you won’t get a car off the rubbish dump for three times the graduate salary. Anyway, we managed to pay John’s salary and when he left to join Outward Bound in Rhodesia, yes it was still Rhodesia, three months later the practice managed to buy him a canoe as a present. Going through some of my client cards of those years makes for very interesting reading. The hourly rate for farm calls was R66 per hour. Horse euthanasia was R20 and mileage was R1.50 per kilometer. Preg test for less than ten animals was R4 each and for more than 10 animals R2.00 each. To dehorn and castrate calves were R7.00 each. And we made a living. On Christmas day 1974, we were having dinner with the family when I got a call from the local Lion Park. There was a very sick lion that needed help. With merely 4 weeks of practice under the belt and some very excited relatives, I took off for the Lion Park. On arrival, there was a crowd of people surrounding the lion and on examination, I was thrilled to see the lion had crossed the bridge. Dead lions are not fearsome; I was pleased. A PM examination showed a very enlarged spleen – anthrax??? On my first PM. It turned out to be a barbiturate overdose from the horse meat it had eaten. The horse had been a difficult customer and the vet concerned had got a significant amount of barbiturate peri-vascularly. The Lion Park recorded many similar deaths and a decision was taken that only horses that had been shot would be collected as feed. Life plus 25 without parole Mike Lowry Mike Lowry has been in veterinary practice for "life plus 25" years. In this column, he shares his experiences and opinions. Regulars I Life plus 24 +25
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