May 2018

PET TALK
15
years later
by Glenn Kalick DVM
I
received a letter from an old friend named Melissa. I met
Melissa 15 years ago when she rescued a kitten from a
drainpipe. Melissa, and her mom, came in with a half-pound
kitten that she named Zach, who was covered in fleas and full
of internal parasites. Zach was probably six weeks old. Melissa
made quite an impression on me. She was full of personality
and insisted on paying me $5 because Zach was her kitten and
her responsibility. It was after her birthday when she said she
had $20 and was going to pay for all four sets of kitten vaccines.
I wish that I had pictures of this 7-year-old insisting that
she would take care of anything that Zach needed.
Melissa always forward booked the next appointment. If her
mom couldn’t come on that day she would get a grandparent
to take her. One day, her grandfather insisted that he would pay
the bill and Melissa sat him down and explained, “Dr. Kalick and
I have an agreement that I could pay him $5 for anything that
Zach needed and I would make it up to him by working for him
when I am 16.” She also said, “ If Dr. Kalick needs help taking
care of the animals or in surgery, or help walking the dogs, or
cleaning the cages, I am going to help him.” She also told her
grandfather that, “Dr. Kalick did the same thing when he was
my age, and I am going to be a veterinarian too.” I think I saw a
tear in her grandfather’s eye.
Over the next ten years, I saw Melissa at least twice a year
with Zach. When she was 15, she volunteered to shadow me
while I was in surgery. I used to make her stand out of the room
looking through the glass window into the surgical suite, but
I realized that she could not see. So I let her sit on a stool in
the corner, but I would catch her standing on the chair to get
a better look. I would ask her questions and if she didn’t know
the answer she would go into my office and look it up. She kept
a diary of the questions I asked her.
Melissa moved away but stayed in touch with me. She volunteered
at a humane society and became the president of the
Pre-vet club in high school. She enrolled at UCF four years
ago and worked with the Golden retrievers on campus that
were being trained as service dogs. She also had a part-time
veterinary technician position at a veterinary hospital.
I recently received a letter from Melissa and inside there was
two pieces of paper and a ticket. The first piece of paper was
a notification that she was graduating summa cum laude from
UCF and the ticket was for her graduation. The second piece
of paper was her
acceptance to
Veterinary School.
I called her and
told her how
proud we were
of her and that I
would be there
for her graduation.
She sent
me a picture of
herself, now 22,
with 15-year-old
Zach sitting on
her desk with
her acceptance
letter. With all the
craziness that has
happened in our
community over
the past months,
I thought a story
with a happy ending would be nice.
Glenn Kalick DVM, Veterinarian at Brookside Animal Hospital,
www.Brooksidevet.com.
BROOKSIDE ANIMAL HOSPITAL
954-755-5540
10625 Wiles Rd.
Coral Springs
In Brookside Square
www.brooksidevet.com
P
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