I work at a boarding kennel. On this particular morning, there are four customers in our reception area. [Customer #1] is a young girl with special needs, and her mother is with her. [Customer #2] is my hero. [Customer #3] is a bitter, mean-spirited hag.

The girl with special needs has short-cut hair that has been dyed in a mix of pink, purple, and blue. She obviously finds communication difficult but she’s always polite. With her mother’s encouragement, she answers the questions I need to ask about her cat and even manages a shy smile as I take the box from her.

I leave my coworker to process payment while I take the cat to get settled, coming back just in time to see the girl’s mother already outside while the girl steps back, holding the door open for [Customer #3] to enter. She swoops in with an exaggerated huff of disgust.

Customer #3: “Teenagers these days, am I right? They have no respect for anyone.”

At first, I assume something must have happened prior to her visit since nothing I’ve witnessed could be seen as remotely disrespectful.

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Customer #3: “Well, fancy doing that to her hair? Why should I have to look at an ugly [lesbian slur] like that?”

I’m both stunned and outraged, trying to find words that won’t get me fired while secretly desperate to tell her what I really think. The girl in the doorway was already upset about having to leave her cat and is now on the verge of tears.

[Customer #2] is an older gentleman with shock-white hair and an infectious smile that suddenly turns to a stony glare as he speaks up.

Customer #2: “Get your eyes tested, you old hag. She looks great. I might get my hair done like that.” *To the girl* “Do you think it would suit me? I mean, I’m not as pretty as you, but it might look cool? Or I could have green, orange, and red; I’d look like a fruit salad!”

The girl went from tears to giggles in seconds and nodded enthusiastically at his suggestion for what colours he might try in his hair. [Customer #3] ended up storming out in disgust. We never learned why she was there in the first place.

Thank you, sir, for saying what I couldn’t and for putting a smile back on that girl’s face.

This story is part of our Best Of June 2021 roundup!

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I work in a boarding kennel and cattery. I am taking a dog up to reception who visits regularly, so we know his behaviour and personality really well and can tell when something is off. He was only in the kennels with us for a weekend.

Me: “Hi, Mr. & Mrs. [Customer’s Last Name], here’s Hugo! He’s had a good time and made lots of friends as always, but we did notice that he has been a tad lethargic this time around and limping on his left front leg.”

Customer: “Oh, no! His meds are supposed to help with that!”

Alarm bells start ringing because I KNOW Hugo was never given any meds over the weekend.

Me: “Oh, my, I’m so sorry. We never gave him any meds!”

Customer: “Oh, no, we kept them at home; we didn’t want them to get lost here!”

Me: “…”

I’m a Registered Veterinary Technician running my own pet sitting and dog walking business. I’m on day two of a three-day overnight pet sit at a breeder’s home with cats and dogs and it’s a long weekend for Easter. There are currently three six-and-a-half-week-old kittens running about creating havoc and general kitten mischief.

I have to drive back into town to care for my own pets and take a quick shower. Shortly after returning to the client’s home, I hear faint distressed meowing coming from down the hallway. I go to investigate, opening some of the bedrooms to check to make sure I didn’t lock a kitten in when letting the dogs in and out of their rooms.

I get to the master bedroom and find a bunch of the cats peeking under the bed, and the meowing is coming from underneath it. I get down and look and find one of the kittens wrapped up in some fabric that had been torn from the bottom of the box spring. I reach under to try to unwrap her, but she’s halfway under and I can barely reach or see her and it feels like the fabric is wrapped around a leg. I crawl back out and rush to the kitchen to grab a pair of scissors to try to cut her out with.

On my way back, I hear her give one more strained cry and fall silent. I rush over to the side of the bed and get down, ready to reach back under, only to be face to face with an angry hissing momma cat. Fearing more for the kitten than myself, I plead with her not to scratch my face and reach under. The kitten has gone limp. In a panic, I realize that there is no way I am going to be able to maneuver the scissors to cut the fabric and instead grab a handful of the fabric close to the boxspring and pull. I don’t know if it’s adrenaline or if the fabric is just frayed enough, but I manage to rip the fabric from the bed and pull the kitten out.

She’s still not moving or breathing, and I see that the fabric is wrapped tightly around her little neck. I manage to get the scissors between the fabric and cut it. Even with the fabric removed from her neck, she still is not breathing, and I begin CPR and mouth to mouth. After a minute of compressions and breaths, she starts coughing and moving sluggishly. I scoop her up and rush to put her in a carrier while getting the emergency vet number and also trying to reach my client over the phone.

We don’t have an emergency vet that stays open up here; instead, the clinics rotate who is on call each day and you have to wait for them to call you back. While waiting, I keep monitoring the kitten, and she slowly starts to move around and be aware of her surroundings.

Finally, after twenty minutes, the vet calls me back and we go through an assessment over the phone to determine if I should bring her in. By then, the kitten is acting as if nothing happened beyond being a bit quiet, and it is decided that she will be okay.

And that is how I saved the life of a six-and-a-half-week-old kitten by knowing how to perform CPR on pets. Happy Pet First Aid Month, everyone! If you have pets, please consider enrolling in a class that will teach you Pet CPR and First Aid; you never know when it may save a tiny life.

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for April 2021!

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I work in a boarding kennel and cattery where people leave their pets in our care while they go away.

One of our regular customers is very wealthy and treats us like crap. He pulls up and I go out to meet him in the carpark and help him carry his pup’s things into the reception. This is during a very hot summer.

Customer: “It’s been a very long and hot ride over here, you know.”

Me: “I imagine so! So unusual for England to get this warm, isn’t it?”

Customer: *In a very condescending tone* “My dogs really need water; make sure you give them water in their kennels.”

Wow? Really! I’m so glad this man told me dogs need water; who would have thought?

Me: “Of course, sir. I’ll make sure when I put them away.”

Customer: “You do give them water, right?”

Me: “Of course, we do, sir!”

He’s been bringing his dogs here for years, and only NOW he’s worrying about that?

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I used to take my dogs to a local dog daycare a few days a week. I knew the owner — a friend of a friend — and while I didn’t know her all that well, we were friends on Facebook and texted back and forth sometimes.

I’m sure most dog daycares are similar, but this one has a punch pass you can buy in advance that gives you a lower daily rate than if you pay each day. I bought that because I like to save money, and I was going so often that it made the most sense.

Eventually, my work schedule changes, and I am no longer able to take the dogs to daycare. I have two days left on my punch pass that I figure I’ll use eventually. Six months or so after we stopped going, I get a text from the owner.

Owner: “Hi! We are going through our system and noticed an issue where you came one day and weren’t charged.”

Me: “Oh, really? When? We haven’t even been there in months.”

Owner: “[Date six months ago]. Our system isn’t the best and we didn’t notice the issue until now, but we’ll need payment for that. It’ll be [cost].”

Me: “Seriously? You’re asking me to pay for something from six months ago?!”

Owner: “Yes, you didn’t pay for that day and you need to.”

Me: *Realizing something* “Wait, I’m pretty sure I still have two days left on my punch pass. Can we just use that to cover it?”

Owner: “No, your punch pass has expired.”

Me: “Are you kidding me? I paid for the punch pass, and you guys forgot to charge my account for that day. How is it on me to have to pay for this?!”

Owner: “Well, if you’re going to be like that, just forget it!”

What. The. F***.

I didn’t respond to her after that, and we obviously have never been back. What kind of company forgets to charge someone, and then six months later demands they pay for the company’s error? Especially when I had pre-paid days left on my account, although expired, that could have covered the cost had they caught this sooner. Unbelievable!