There are some unsavory aspects to my job. The things that go on behind the scenes, like in the euthanasia room, I keep to myself. However, sometimes weird things happen in public places that just... are so ... strange.
If you don't want to know, stop reading now. You probably don't want to know. Just a warning.
This morning, around 8 am, my coworker, who was working cats, came and got me. She asked if I had seen anyone from receiving and I said no, so she asked if I would come look at something and tell her what I thought. "I really just need someone else to look at this, too."
We walked into the cat room and she went up to a cat cubby, pushed the button and opened the door. Inside, at the back, was an unhappy looking, fuzzy black cat. At the front, near the door, was a tiny head. A tiny kitten fetus head, so shiny it looked like plastic. It was no bigger than my pinky nail. It was quite possibly the most bizarre thing I've ever seen.
I wonder how many times I'll say that.
"..."
"...it looks like she had a miscarriage. That's a fetus head."
"Okay, I just wanted someone else to verify it."
"Gross."
Later, when we talked about it--because, really, what else is there to talk about?--she said that it wasn't as bad as the time she found a drowned kitten. I immediately thought she had found a kitten that had fallen into its water and drowned (the water dishes are kind of large, especially for the smallest kittens). No, a feral mother had given birth inside the feral box, then taken the time to carry the kitten out and drop it in the water dish. The rest of the litter were found dead inside the box.
Keep in mind, these aren't even the worst stories. These are just things that happen, because we deal with animals. It's so much worse when humans are involved. But I can't share those stories here.
On a completely different level of gross (just plain gross, not gruesome or gory), a dog vomited up corn on the cob. She's been in the building for one week, and no one (to my knowledge) has given her (or any of the dogs) corn on the cob.
... Corn. On the cob.
My job is straight crazy.
