Interviewer: Good Morning, CAT! It’s good to finally meet you. And a very happy birthday!
CAT: Thank you! It’s good to be here.
Interviewer: We’ll start off with an easy one: You’re called the CAT+ Doppler. But can you be used on other animals?
CAT: Don’t let the name mislead you. I may be called CAT, but I can be used on any animal with a pulse!
Interviewer: So what was your most unusual patient or case?
CAT: There’s a famous picture somewhere of me monitoring a goldfish under anaesthesia… I’ve worked with a few big cats too, but the goldfish I think was the most interesting. Non-mammals are strange!
Interviewer: And what is your favourite procedure?
CAT : I love taking cats’ blood pressures – but any anaesthetic I can get involved in really.
Interviewer: What’s the most common fault that you come up against?
CAT: My yellow low-battery warning light. If it glows brightly and then goes out (on power up) the battery is good. If it is on all the time the battery is dead and sound quality will disappear. This has caused a bit of frustration for some of my colleagues, but the good thing is that it’s usually an easy fix. Thames Medical sell rechargeable batteries and chargers, so provided we’ve got a spare on hand, it’s never really that much of an issue!
(Click Here to check out batteries, chargers and other accessories)
Interviewer: So you’re known for your international travel – do you speak any other languages?
CAT: Well I was born in Wales (Cymru am byth!) but during my travels I’ve picked up a thing or two. You learn a lot working in 40 different countries.
Interviewer: Which was your favourite place to work?
CAT: If I had to pick one, it would probably be Italy. They have the best food there! After that, probably Wales. There’s really no place like home.
Interviewer: What about your favourite song?
CAT: ‘Whoosh whoosh’ from my patients! But outside of work “The Green Green Grass of Home” by Tom Jones (showing my Welsh roots there!))
Interviewer: What would you do if you weren’t just Veterinary?
CAT: my cousins work in human medicine now – and particularly with children on cancer and kidney wards to help find pulses. I love working with animals but I think it would be really fulfilling working somewhere like that too.
“We’re in the middle of surgery, and the capnograph is all over the place,” proclaimed the slightly panicked voice on the other end of the phone.
“Okay, let’s work through this step by step. First, please check on your patient and tell me what is happening. Are they breathing?”
Did you know that, despite the name, you can use the CAT+ Doppler for accurate blood pressure measurement on any species?
