[The Story of Neo - Part 1]: Meeting Neo

[Prologue]

If you remember, i've said at the beginning when i started this blog, that i would really like to write about my experiences as a vet and the animals i've met throughout this journey.

Last Friday while i was driving home in the rain, i suddenly thought about Moose - a racehorse i met during my attachment at the Singapore Turf Club), and Neo - a Golden Retriever i met when i was still in private practice. I've met a lot of animals and i like most of them, but there are some animals i just share an inexplicable connection with. Neo is one of them, and he is a dog that has stayed at the back of my mind even though i've left private practice for a good, whole 6 years (gawd, has it been that long?), and it's often during rainy days that he comes into mind because i still remember how he loves taking walks in the rain....

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I first met Neo about 7 years ago, when he and his sibling, Daisy came in for their annual vaccination. Actually i can't remember if they're from the same litter but i've always referred to Daisy as Neo's sister anyway. Neo was a 2-year-old, male Golden Retriever who was strikingly handsome. He had a nice, broad head and was of a good size with a shiny cream-coloured coat. Daisy was slightly smaller, but was also of a nice, healthy size, with the same glossy cream-coloured coat, though paler than Neo -- if i remembered correctly.

"These dogs must have good owners..." I thought to myself when i saw them walking into the consult room. 

As you probably know (or do not know) i'm not much of a Goldie person because i always thought they were too friendly for my liking. After i joined private practice, i realised, to my horror, that there were actually more ill-mannered Golden Retrievers than friendly ones. I think it's simply because people who buy Golden Retrievers think that just because dogs from this breed generally have a good temperament, they do not require any sort of obedience training -- which is of course utterly wrong.

Anyway, Neo was different. He was neither a slut for affection (Daisy was!), nor was he one of those snappy, uncooperative ones that made life difficult for their owners (and the vet). Doing a physical examination and vaccinating him was a breeze because he didn't try to lick, head-butt, paw me, or did any sort of typical GR-thing (sorry, Goldie owners!). He was friendly but didn't sought for attention excessively.

He carried himself like any dignified dog should, and maybe because of that, he left a very deep impression on me the first time i saw him....

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Next up, Part 2 will be on Neo and his Human Family. Stay tuned.

Autobiography: {Prologue - Young Dreams Never Come True}

"Young dreams never come true", the lanky teenager said in a tone that almost sounded like she was mocking her pudgy younger sister who just timidly confessed she wanted to be a vet when she grew up.

Those 5 words didn't make sense to her at that time. All she knew was that she had watched her elder sister feed the stray black cat at school during recess time, a stray that her sister named Astreal after the black cat in "Smurfs". She witnessed how her elder sister picked a stray puppy up from school, brought it home in a cardboard box, only to get a earful from their concerned father and auntie because they weren't sure if the puppy was "gam chek" (had worms in its tummy). She was also fascinated by all of her elder sister's prized books on animals, especially a hardcover black book named "Dogs" that had a picture of Lassie on its cover and talked about all the wonderful dog breeds of the world. She envied how her elder sister was always so at ease with their cousins' dogs and the dogs of strangers she met on the street - playing, petting, laughing and having the time of her life.

Most of all, she knew her elder sister's ambition was to be a vet who helps animals, and she too, wanted to be kind and compassionate to all God's creatures, just like the jie jie she looked up to.

She didn't know why her elder sister said those words and what those words really mean, but she could sense the severity in the tone her elder sister used. The words left a sourish feeling inside her but strange enough, it also gave her a sense of empowerment and a sense of determination that she would some day, prove her elder sister wrong.

And who would have known, these words didn't just ring in her ears that very day; it resonated in the depths of her heart for the next 20 years....