IT wouldn't be Christmas without a nativity donkey. These stars of the show need their vaccinations just like anyone else, and it is our intrepid vets who must administer them. Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher recalls an encounter with a prickly individual named Holly.
“I'd only been qualified for a few months, and Christmas was just around the corner, when I was sent out to give Holly, the local vicar's donkey – and star of numerous nativity performances – her annual flu vaccine. Holly was known to be extremely vet-phobic, but I was assured that the vicar's wife was excellent at managing her during stressful procedures.
“My heart therefore sank when I arrived to find the vicar himself waiting, with a benign smile on his face. I dismally observed Holly snorting in the corner of the stable, with an upside-down headcollar around her neck and the leadrope trailing on the ground, as the vicar explained that his wife was indoors with a cup of tea, having been trampled on while catching Holly just five minutes earlier.
“Normally my approach with such a patient would have been no-nonsense and
