Life and Veterinary Adventures

Surprise, surprise... I've been ignoring my blog again. I think I'm going to cue up a few posts to prevent any more cobwebs from forming over here. So I last left you with a post about Cookie having some GI upset. It actually continued for about a month, while I experimented with different medications and continued to use some, until a vet I worked with suggested to change her diet. I had not thought about that because she had been eating the same puppy food for months with no issues. I gradually transitioned her to a new food with a different major protein, and sure enough, I saw an improvement. (I'll spare you the details.) I discontinued her meds, and she's been back to her old self ever since. Cookie just turned 1 year old this past month! Her big sister, Honey also had a birthday and turned 3. They grow up so fast...

I've been at my job for one year now. I've learned so much in that year that I didn't learn in school. I've become much more confident in my technical skills as well. Everything really just takes time, patience, and practice. I'm not afraid to try to place a catheter in a dehydrated kitten anymore. I'm not too much of a wimp to place a muzzle on an aggressive dog (within reason, of course) and surgery isn't nearly as scary as it once was. I've been lucky enough to work with some really amazing vets, techs, and kennel staff, who have made the transition from school to work not so bad. Don't get me wrong, there are days that are really difficult and make me question my career choice. Sometimes I just have too much on my plate and get overwhelmed. Sometimes I feel like I just don't make enough money for the things I have to put up with. At the end of the day, I just have to remind myself that it's not always about the money and that I...

Since my last post, I spent about a month searching for a job. After a few interviews (and job offers) I settled on what happens to be my favorite practice in Chicago. It's a new non-appointment practice in the West Loop. I've shadowed at this practice while still in school, and I knew I really wanted to work here. They weren't hiring until I stumbled upon a Craigslist ad they had posted. I obviously applied right away! I've been working here for about 3 weeks now. At first, it was really stressful learning the ropes and being efficient at the same time. Everything is paperless, so if we do anything, we have to make sure to log it into the computer and put in the charges. I'm also responsible for calculating and prescribing out medications (usually for parasites) which is something I haven't had much practice at since Pharmacology class. I'm also new to digital x-ray, ultrasound, and laser therapy. I've thankfully had some practice with Cornerstone ...

Today I completed my last day at The Children's Farm for my Large Animal Practicum class. It was an extremely hot day with temperatures of over 100 degrees. Luckily, we were dismissed as soon as we finished our skills with our instructors. I just about passed out while working in a humid horse arena practicing tail wraps, leg wraps, IM (intramuscular) injections, and jugular blood draws. We were rewarded with popsicles and Gatorade when we were all done, though! This week has been a lot of fun as well as a lot of hard work. It was a great experience and I love how my classmates work together to get things done. Time to enjoy another break with a few days spent up north with my family before going on my externship! I'll leave you with some cute photos of animals at the farm.

This is the stack of binders and books I've accumulated while being in school. I'm happy to say that I'm now done with classes! It has been so much work. I've lost too many hours of sleep, had an unhealthy level of stress, and I've had to put my social life almost completely on hold. I feel like I can take a deep breath now and relax. Well, almost. Tomorrow I will be on the farm for the Large Animal Practicum course. My class is rotating through there the next few weeks to get our AVMA skills. We took a trip out there last week and I loved it. I'm excited to go back tomorrow. I'll have a week off between then and going back for four more days. I'm most excited to set up a sheep. (Basically, when you sit a sheep on their rump they just kind of relax and I think it's adorable.) I highly recommend checking out The Children's Farm in Palos Park, IL if you're in the area. They're a nonprofit organization dedicated to educat...

This winter has been pretty weird. We've had hardly any snow and the temperatures have been fairly warm for the midwest with a few below freezing days scattered in there. Last Friday was exceptionally snowy, however, and I was stuck driving in it. It usually takes me 45 minutes to 1 hour to/from school, but last Friday it took me over 4 hours to get home. It was awful. When I finally got home, I ran to the bathroom and then got ready to meet up with Tristan, Ninna, and Sean for a movie date. At least four people ditched their kennel duty that night at school, and a few people from my cohort who weren't scheduled decided to stay and help out. I'm glad my cohort actually cares about the well-being of our animals, unlike the newbies. (But I won't get into that.) This past week at school we were able to perform ultrasounds and we got to see the reptile show.  Ultrasounds are more complicated than one might think. There's a lot that goes into getting ...

Honey had her spay surgery a few weeks ago. I was so anxious all day and checked on her every free second I had, along with her new mommy, Tammy. We were there when she got her IM shot and started to feel woozy as she sat in Chris's lap. Her actual surgery was done while I was in class, but I heard all about it. It went well, aside from the fact that they lost her(!) for a while, but she pulled through. I checked on her when she was still asleep afterwards in a cage. I was told she was growling in her sleep, so I didn't get too close in case she woke up and bit me because of the anesthetic effects. A few days later, she had somehow ripped her stitches out. It must have been from her jumping around too much in her cage because she had an E-collar on. So, she had to go back into surgery. This happened another time, and they finally decided to use different sutures. She was also placed in a smaller cage, so she couldn't move around as much. Poor thing. Another morning...

I decided super last minute last week to continue training Honey. I was in the dog kennel grabbing another dog for class and Honey gave me the sweetest "Mom?" face and whimpered as I left. She pretty much gave me no other choice. At the trainer meeting last week we were all asking Ms. Reyes and Mrs. Starkey why they chose certain animals for us to train and Ms. Reyes told me she chose Honey for me because I'm a kind, nice person, but I'll put my foot down when I need to and that's something Honey needs. (It was kind of freaky how well they knew us all already!) Today we had our weekly outdoor training meeting and Honey made me so proud. She walked nice, looked at me when I called her, and obeyed "sit" and "down" right away with no treats. Both teachers gave me high fives and Ms. Reyes said, "If I made a training video, this would be it." I love making that lady proud. :) I love her!

Yesterday marked the first day of term 4 at Fox College. It's been known notoriously as the "make it or break it" term. That nickname in itself scares me. We were also missing 3 people the first day whose GPA's were too low for them to continue. I'm such a procrastinator and I tend to just "get by" in school and not apply myself. (Hey look, I'm procrastinating right now as I type this post.) I know I could get straight A's if I really tried, but I always find something to distract me. Maybe I'll turn over a new leaf...? Last term, I trained one of the dogs at my school. Her name is Honey, she's about 10 months old, and she's a hound mix (but I think she's a Vizsla .) We got her from a shelter, like most of our animals, and she had Parvo. If you've ever watched Animal Planet, you've probably seen litters of puppies come in with parvovirus. It's a deadly and contagious gastrointestinal disease with a distinct smell. Sh...