Head Over Heels

The following dictates an adventure where I went head over heels for a horse...or should I say head over heels BY a horse. 

It was my first horse castration and I had enlisted the help of one of the other vets at the clinic, Matt, to help me with it since he'd probably done several hundreds of them himself. The horse was sedated and knocked down without any complications, much to my relief. He was a nervous 3 year old colt and I had been expecting some sort of pomp and circumstance from him but it started off well. He was down for the count and Matt and I set to work castrating the colt. This part too, was fairly uneventful. The horse hardly moved and before long we were finished. We set about gathering up our things so that the stall would be empty when our four legged friend decided to rise. The only thing left to do was give him an injection of penicillin and a tetanus booster. Matt walked to the hind end with the penicillin and I leaned over the neck, reaching down to administer the tetanus shot. Before I could even register what happened, the colt, who had been lying flat out on his side, leaped to his feet with me hanging over the top of his neck--one hand grasping at mane and the other one holding an uncapped needle and trying to not accidentally stab myself or the horse. The horse's momentum came to a stop, however I did not and was tossed across the stall, managing to half land on my feet. The horse stepped backwards and sank down into a sitting dog position, pinning Matt--who also had a large syringe and needle in his hand--into the corner. I only had a second to stand there gawking before the four legged critter launched to his feet and came barreling towards the open stall door--and me. I desperately tried to swing the door shut in the horse's face but he was too strong and ended up halfway out of the door. I flailed my arms in his face, trying to get him to back up even though I knew he wasn't 100% there mentally and didn't have a good grasp on what was happening. But I knew if he got past me, he'd be loose in a small narrow room with dirty laundry, refrigerators, boxes of junk, and stairs that led up to storage. It wouldn't be a pretty picture. Surprisingly, my frantic arm movements deterred the horse and I was able to push him backwards and latch the stall door with Matt inside. 

"Are you ok?" He hollered from inside the stall. "Did he land on you?" I took a minute to look down at myself, half expecting to see a wound or laceration that hadn't yet registered with my body due to the large adrenaline rush I'd just experienced. 

"Uh, no. No I think I'm ok." I stammered out. "Did he get you?" I asked back.
"No, I'm ok." While this story took a few minutes to write, it actually happened in a span of 30 seconds. At this point, my technician Tara came running through the doorway, panicked by the commotion she'd heard. She began asking us what happened and Matt had to answer because I was too busy laughing nervously--apparently my body's adrenaline release for what had just happened. 

"It's not funny!" Tara said angrily as I continued to shake with laughter.
"I know." I said. "I know it's not. I'm not laughing because it's funny." And I think she understood. After giving the horse a few minutes to settle down, Matt was able to sneak past him out of the stall.

"Well," he began. "That's not typically how I like to do my castrations..." And then we all had a hearty laugh. 

The Chaos That Was Known As "Sunday"

So this past weekend I was on call for emergencies. I wasn't really looking forward to it...at all, but such is the fairness of life so I digress. One weekend out of every five isn't anything to complain about. God was good and my Friday and Saturday weren't too stressful. I had a few cases, spent most of my day there Saturday, and had restful nights with no phone calls. And then the cruel villain known as "Sunday" struck. Let me begin the tale...

I arrived at the clinic at 7:00 am. I had a cat with diarrhea to check on, a puppy with parvovirus in isolation, and a horse with an abscess on its hock that needed re-bandaging. There were three other horses in the barn as well who were patients of another vet's, but my responsibility for the weekend. So I checked on everyone and went about my business changing the bandage on the abscess mare who was going to go home at 8:00. Dr. Hopper, bless her heart, had come in to help me with treatments and went about giving medications to the other critters in the clinic. Once the mare was back in her stall and her medications ready to go home, we set about tackling our most critical patient, a young stallion with suspected West Nile Virus who had gone down in his stall the day before. As bad as he had looked the night before, it was ten times worse this morning. He lay on his side, not moving, and struggling to breathe, each inhalation through his nose gurgling as fluid had begun to build up in his lungs. We put on the hobbles and tied on the ropes and three of us girls somehow managed to roll the large body over so that he could lay on his other side. Now, the owner of this particular horse had gone up to the mountains for the weekend and was out of cell phone range. She had left two numbers behind in case we needed to call someone to ask for permission for euthanasia. The first number belonged to a man who happened to live out of cell phone range, and he wouldn't have been willing to make the decision anyway as the day before he'd decided to wait  until the owner got home on Monday. The other number was for the owner's mother, and she didn't answer when I called. There are few things in this profession more frustrated than watching an animal suffer and not being able to do anything about it because of legality issues. Finally, after multiple tries, we finally got ahold of someone and had permission to put the poor horse out of his misery. But once the horse was dead, we faced the awkward situation of dragging him out of the stall with a truck without tearing apart the garage door which stood in our way. And of course it was the weekend and we couldn't take him to the dump, so he would have to sit in the trailer in the parking lot in 90 degree weather until Tuesday rolled around. Oh, and did I mention that we had to cut off his head so he could be tested for rabies as well? But I'll come back to that.

Around 10 am, the ER phone began to ring off the hook. An elderly dog came in and had to be euthanized around the same time that a lethargic/inappetant Pomeranian named Roger came in as well as a very sick Chihuahua who had pups two days ago and a rancher with a few questions about his cattle. We were running around like chickens with our heads cut off, taking x-rays of nearly every animal we were seeing. Amongst all of the commotion, the tiny Chihuahua's catheter began to repeatedly clog up. While we struggled to flush it and figure out why it kept clotting, she promptly rolled over and stretched out, taking one agonal breath before she stopped moving. An endotracheal tube was passed and Dr. Hopper started CPR, breathing for her through the bag and giving chest compressions while I ran to the crash cart for the epinephrine. Finding a vein in a healthy Chihuahua is hard enough, but finding one in a Chihuahua that is on the verge of death and has a weak pulse is nearly impossible. We continued our resuscitation attempts for 15-20 min. before Dr. Hopper gently suggested that there was nothing else we could do for her. At this point, we had the euthanized dog in room 6, the dead Chihuahua in front of us, and a dead horse, whose head we still needed to remove, out in the trailer. We took care of the horse as well as the two dogs and I received several more phone calls the rest of the afternoon. Finally, around 8:00, I went home to bed, hoping that the insanity of the night was over. It wasn't. I received a call at 11:30 from a man whose dog had a seizure. I recommended keeping an eye on her as this was the first seizure she'd ever had and there wasn't much I could do for her at the clinic. After I hung up, I received another call from a lady with an ill Rottweiler that she wanted to bring in. I met her at the clinic, took care of the dog, and then returned home at 1:00. At 3:00, the phone rang again with the owner of the seizuring dog on the line. The Labrador had had a second seizure and I recommended that he bring her in to be seen. The poor dog was in rough shape, still confused and neurologic from her episode, and not completely aware of what was going on. Unable to find enough Diazepam to treat this dog, I had to resort to calling Dr. Hopper and waking her up in order to locate the medication I needed. I treated the dog and sent the owner home with medication to give incase she had another seizure. I wanted to see her back in the morning again but I thought she would be ok for the night. Turns out I was wrong. She had another seizure once she got home and then another one at 7:00 and I had him bring her back in and unfortunately we ended up euthanizing her as well. It was definitely a short night and Monday was definitely a long day. But such is the life of an on call vet I suppose.

Welcome to Wyoming

So I started my new job in Gillette, Wyoming on Monday. It's been great, scary, wonderful, frustrating, rewarding, sad, and happy all at the same time. But I love it. Everyone has been really helpful and it's nice that there's so many other vets there (so I don't have to keep bugging the same person with my questions all the time!) I've been paired up with a vet tech named Kelsey who has been my saving grace. She knows where everything is, what they charge for different procedures, how the computer system works, and most importantly, when my lunch break is! Haha. (My first day no one had told me when I was supposed to take lunch.) I've already had many interesting cases as well as some frustrating ones. I hate feeling like I don't know what's going on. Right now I have a little Jack Russel in the hospital who I just diagnosed with diabetes. This is my first time managing a new diabetic and it has been challenging to say the least! But, poor little Max must be on the road to recovery because he felt well enough to try to bite me yesterday :)

I also have a white Persian cat who came in yesterday with a teenager and two kids. Charlie didn't seem to be that ill but had a temperature of 106 which is extremely high! While the cat himself was an extremely unwilling patient when it came time for bloodwork and catheters, it was the dynamics of his family that made the case an interesting, or rather, obnoxious one. Mom was at work, so the cousin (teenager) had brought the cat and two younger children with her--a boy and a girl around the ages of 10 and 12 I'd guess. That little girl is going to grow up to be a terror and a veterinary client that I would not want to have in my office. She rudely interrupted the teenager several times, to talk over her and to "correct" information that she was giving me. When I regretfully told them they wouldn't be able to go back to the treatment room with me and Charlie, I thought she was going to fight me. I suggested that they all leave and that I would call them when I had the bloodwork back, but that little girl said under no uncertain terms would she be leaving and I felt badly for the exasperated teenager and the little boy who just wanted to go home. The little girl insisted on giving me her phone number instead of the teenagers because "my last name is Gilbert and hers is not". Wow. I spoke with Mom on the phone and obtained permission to perform tests and start Gilbert on IV fluids. I told her it would take several hours for the bloodwork to come back and that I would call her when I had more information. Then the poor clinic came under the onslaught of this impatient family. As I went around the clinic seeing other patients, I repeatedly noticed that the three who had brought in the cat were still sitting up front. I heard the little girl go up to the front desk and ask if the bloodwork was done yet and say that she wanted to go be with her cat at least once. Who knows how many other times she pestered them. The front desk relayed several messages to me about them and I apologetically told them the same thing each time: They knew it was going to take hours. I promised them I'd talk with them when I knew something. And I had suggested that they go home, which they had declined to do. Finally, around 4:30, they had apparently decided to leave. But then the phone calls came. I kid you not, the front desk came back and told me that they were on the phone asking about their cat AT LEAST 4 times over the next hour and a half. I just wanted to scream "I TOLD THEM I WOULD CALL WHEN I KNOW SOMETHING!!!" When I finally did have some answers for them, I called back and of course no one answered. I tried a second time, a half hour later, and still no answer. Finally, I was able to speak to Mom again and was surprised at how gracious and thankful she was to hear about her cat. There was nothing of the rude, arrogant child that seemed to go with this woman. By the time I finished my paperwork and overnight instructions for Max and Charlie, it was 7:00 and I was ready to put an end to this crazy day!

Not much to say...

So my last rotation at school was Anesthesia, which I really enjoyed. I also learned a lot from it and it was a good rotation to end on. I graduated, and Nathan graduated, and I've been interviewing from Wyoming to Montana to Illinois, Indiana, and New York (basically, I'm tired of traveling!) Otherwise, there hasn't been a whole lot going on... The end.

Last week

Last Wednesday, our class went to a humane society, the Franklin County Dog Shelter, and Cat Welfare. The humane society and dog shelter were really, really nice and it was neat to get a "behind the scenes" tour on how the place ran and how they got animals through the system. Of course it's always fun to play with adoptable animals too, especially puppies! The cat shelter, on the other hand, was a very scary place. They had 240 cats and most of them were loose and running around inside the building. I had to shuffle my feet to avoid stepping on anyone. And the poor cats seemed so stressed out. There wasn't room for everyone to have their own space. I know they are trying to do a good thing and keep cats off the street and keep them healthy, but it was way too crowded for those cats...

Thursday was spent getting our accreditation to write health certificates, and Friday we went over a few things, including our student loans and emerging foreign animal diseases. Friday I also found out that the job in Gillette that I had been hoping to get was no longer available and they weren't hiring anyone.

Saturday, I took two friends from school--Mary Elizabeth and Ben--riding with me. Chris joined us too and we all had a good time. Mary Elizabeth felt very safe and enjoyed herself. Ben nearly wrecked twice and enjoyed himself, so experiences are all relative :) It was a day of much needed laughter and relaxation. I hadn't seen Mary Elizabeth in awhile, so it was good to talk to her, and she nearly had Ben and me in tears when she told us that she spontaneously bought a $150 wedding dress online just because she thought it was pretty. That girl is crazy, but I love her :) She has the kindest heart. Sunday I found out that the clinic in Hardin, MT that I had interviewed at was also no longer hiring because the person who was supposed to leave ran into complications and is still around indefinitely...and he's thinking about selling the practice anyway. The rest of the weekend was spent getting ready for my next rotation and job searching, which wasn't terribly fruitful. I'm just so tired of looking for jobs!

Pigs and Turkeys

Monday I went to the hog barn to work until my class got there several hours later. We spent the morning there and then came back to school for a few hours. It was good to be back in the barn, even if I did have to get up at 5:00.
Tuesday, we drove to Fort Recovery to tour egg and turkey facilities. We saw where the young turkeys are housed and it was the cleanest barn I've ever seen. I didn't see a drop of manure anywhere; I don't know how they do it. I would have totally felt fine sitting down in the middle of the barn, the shavings were that clean. The little poults probably only weighed a pound or two and it was funny to watch them ruffle up their feathers and strut around like they were ten feet tall. We also toured a placed where eggs are processed, cleaned, and packaged for shipment. It was fascinating to see and I found it interesting that they said that the "cage free" eggs that people are so concerned about now-a-days are also much dirtier eggs than ones that come from caged hens. Interesting fact. We had lunch and then went to a turkey processing plant. Their days consists of 500 employees on the floor processing roughly 17,000 toms a day, and these birds weight 50 pounds! The typical turkeys that we think of on Thanksgiving day are always hens because toms wouldn't fit in your oven. We saw how the different cuts of meat are removed and processed and also got to see how turkey roasts and turkey burgers are made and packaged. Watching this made me thankful for several things.

1. I am thankful that when I graduate I will get to do a job that I enjoy and one that has variety. I will not have to use a vacuum to suck poop out of turkey butts for 8 hours a day and then return to do it all again the next day.
2. I am truly thankful to the people out there who ARE employed in those jobs so that we can enjoy delicious and healthy food on a regular basis.
3. I am thankful that I have not eaten hot dogs and bologna in years because I just saw what went into making those (including bones) and let me tell you, I wouldn't feed that to my dog...

Family Time

So Friday I headed off to see my horse and check on him for the first time since I've been back from Wyoming. He'd gotten a pretty bad cut on his face while I was gone and Chris had been taking care of it for me. The wound looked really good when I saw it and I took him for a short ride before I had to head to Nathan's track meet in De Graff. He did the long jump and the 800 m. I then went home and the next day I got to see two old friends from high school, one of which had had a baby since the last time I'd seen her. Then I headed back towards Columbus, stopping to see Chris, Ruth, and Jim on the way. Sunday was pretty uneventful but I got a decent amount of things accomplished, which is always nice. Tomorrow is Swine Day and we're going to the hog barn so it should be a pretty fun day for me :)