A Day in the Animal Hospital

You may be wondering what happens behind the scenes here at the NMLC. Truth be told, there are no ‘typical’ days in the hospital. Though no day is ‘typical’, there are daily routines, which include:

• Feeding
• Treatments
• Water quality testing
•  Cleaning (lots and lots of it, after all this is a hospital)

First thing in the morning, the animal care team takes a look at the daily chore chart. This chart lists the daily and weekly tasks that need to be completed by the end of a shift.

Since we currently only have one animal (Ichabod), most days look something like this:

9 AM – Feed Ichabod and prepare his other two meals for the day.

Check temperature, salinity, pH, and bacteria level of the pool.

Vacuum, scrub, and net Ichabod’s pool.

Give Ichabod an EED (“environmental enrichment device”, you might call it a “toy”!).

Clean and disinfect kitchen, hallways, and patient ward.

12:30 PM – Feed Ichabod

Pull fish from freezer to refrigerator for the next day’s feeds.

Vacuum, scrub, net Ichabod’s pool.

Clean and disinfect kitchen, hallways, and patient ward.

Do laundry.

3:30 PM – Feed Ichabod

Complete animal husbandry log.

Take out trash.

Shut down the hospital for the night.

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No day at the NMLC is the same and routines vary according to the amount and types of animals we receive and the condition they’re in. Hope this gives you a little insight into what it looks like behind the scenes here at the NMLC!