how we learned to listen to millie

millie came to stay at the office, which suited her and we love having her here.  her role has changed slightly over the years.  at first, she was a greeter.  she would come out and say hi to almost everyone who walked through the door.  she would come into the exam room with some patients, talking up a storm and seemingly very insistent about telling us something.

being human, and rather caught up in our human-ness, we weren't very good about listening to her when she had something to say.  in fact, it's a little embarrassing to look back on how dismissive we were when she offered her input.  but one case changed all of that.

"I began to pay attention to the health of the animals who come here for diagnosis and treatment.  I found that I frequently know what is wrong with them before my colleagues do. 


one day, a woman came in with a very sick dog.  the woman was extremely upset, another doctor had refused to run diagnostic tests that she requested, and was arrogant about and dismissive of her gut feeling about what was wrong with her dog.  


our doctor examined the dog and was thinking the worst, cancer.  the dog was very, very sick. but I knew it wasn't cancer, and I knew how that diagnosis would crush the woman, so I clawed at the exam room door until they let me in.  I walked on the dog, so I could touch him with my paws and make sure that I was right before I said anything.  then I turned to the doctor and told her it wasn't as bad as she thought."

this was a few years ago, before I started really trying to 'hear' millie at work.  back then, when we knew millie had something to say we asked her questions and got yes or no answers via muscle testing.  my talent for 'hearing' her came into play through knowing or guessing which questions to ask.  here is how that conversation went:

millie, do you have something to say?  (this is how we start every muscle-testing conversation with her, and it is a standing joke in the office now, as she makes it very clear when she has something to tell us.)

"yes."

is it about this dog?

"yes."

does he have cancer?

"no."

really!?!?

"no."

is he very sick?

"yes."  (it was obvious that he was, but with muscle testing it's a good idea to throw in questions that you know the answers to along with the questions that you are looking for the answers to, in order to check to make sure you are getting accurate responses.)

is what he has treatable?

"yes."

is he going to die?

"no."

do we need to refer him for further diagnostics?

"yes."

millie was very sure that this dog did not have cancer and that what he had was treatable.  we had played this kind of 20-questions game with millie before about patients that she indicated she had information about, but the difference with this case is that we took a leap and actually *told* the client that our cat said her dog could be treated.

wow.  does that sound crazy, or what?

we believed, but hadn't actually discussed how or why we believed, that millie really did have a special talent when it came to understanding the inner workings of our patients.

we believed, but hadn't articulated, that we were getting good information when we asked millie questions.

without really thinking it through, or we probably never would have done it, we told this client that millie said her dog was going to be okay.  both the doctor and I had our doubts about that.  did I mention that this dog was really, really sick?  the client was very relieved to hear what millie thought, even though we qualified it with 'we could be wrong's and 'this isn't scientifically sound's.  she was in a much better frame of mind when she left the office than when she had arrived.

when we got the first referral report from the specialists, it said the xrays showed a large mass in the dog's lung.  we were sure that confirmed our suspicion of cancer.  the specialist thought so too, and they scheduled a surgery to biopsy the mass.

when we got the next referral report, it said the dog had a fungal infection, the mass had been removed successfully and he should be fine with long-term antibiotic therapy.

wow.

millie is sitting in front of me as I type this (good thing I've learned to type without looking) and she is purring.

"I like this story.  it was a good example of the kind of cooperative relationship I have developed with my colleagues.  I enjoy being here, being a part of the work that we do here.  I enjoy being treated as an equal, and having my thoughts considered when I make them known.


this is how it can be with animals.  we have a lot of wisdom to share, for those who listen.


my human friends are worried about putting this blog out there too widely.  they are worried what people will think, how it will affect the business.


I am not worried.  I know what I know.  this is a good thing.  this is truth."

as always, thank you, millie.