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 :)

Cows and Inmates

So today we went to the Pickaway County Correctional Facility or something like that. Basically we went to jail. They have a dairy barn that the inmates work at as well as a slaughterhouse onsite. I don't care how safe they say it is, it made me nervous walking among inmates who were wielding very large knives and giant saws that can cut a cow open. We got to see a carcass go from freshly killed to ground beef or prime cut steaks. It really was interesting, if you could get past the paranoia. We were done in the early afternoon and I came home for the rest of the day to finish the little bit of unpacking I still had to do.

Friday to Wednesday Catchup

Friday morning we packed up the car and I went to the clinic for the first part of the day. We saw a few appointments and then Kelly and I got to sedate four horses and pull fox tails out of their lips, gums, and tongues. The poor horses had eaten the hay before the owner noticed the foxtail weeds in it. Two of them were slobbering, one of which had blood-tinged saliva. The owner just wanted the other two checked as well, since they'd been eating the same hay. The first horse was horrible. The prickly little weeds were embedded all over her mouth and she had a wad stuck under her tongue that had rubbed her tongue raw and ulcerated. It almost felt futile as we tried to flush and remove as many of the plant pieces as we could, but many of them were already burrowed under the mucus membranes. She was the first one that we did and was the worst. One of them barely had any lesions and the other two had a fair amount that we had to pull. It was a good lesson in not knowing what the heck you're doing and being willing to try various methods to see what works. Hopefully these horses never have to go through this again. In the afternoon, dad came to pick me up at 2:30 and we headed out for a 6+ hour drive south to Laramie. It was sad to leave the clinic as I really enjoyed my time there, but I was excited to see Ryan and Jackson in Laramie (both are guys I've met from Paradise and have been friends with for years) and I was also excited to just go home and sleep in my own bed with no traffic, trains, or sirens going off. We stopped in Casper to eat and then drove through the Shirley Basin. I've been through the basin once before and it was gorgeous then, but it was even more gorgeous this evening with the storm clouds behind us, a rainbow in front of us, and an ever changing sunset to our right. AMAZING!

We got to Laramie and headed to Ryan's apartment where we were staying for the night. We watched the movie Buck and got caught up on each others lives before calling it a night. 

Saturday morning, we got up and met Jackson at a local restaurant for breakfast at 7:00. It was so good to see him! There's something about Paradise people. I hadn't seen Ryan in 15 months and Jackson in 8 months, but it was like we'd just been together yesterday. That's how you know people are lifelong friends :)

After breakfast we drove out to see where they kept their horses and I was amazed at the progress Jackson had made with his mare. When I last saw her in July, it took us about an hour to even catch her. His hard work has paid off. Dad and I headed out and made it to West Liberty, Iowa around 9:00 their time and stopped for the night. Got up early Sunday morning and spent Easter driving about 8 hours to Aunt Carrie's in Bellbrook, OH where dad had left his truck. We visited with her and two of my cousins for awhile before heading out, dad towards home and me towards Columbus. I was exhausted when I got back and had to take care of a few things like bills and laundry before falling asleep, not bothering to unpack. 

Monday morning was a harsh reality. My alarm went off at 6:30 am but my Wyoming brain said it was 4:30 am. I headed to school for my first day of Preventive Medicine. We spent most of the day in the University Laboratory Animal Resources building (ULAR) getting a tour and then doing some hands on work with mice, rats, and rabbits. It's not something we get to do elsewhere in school so it was a good experience, except one of the mice promptly died after we were finished with him, which was sad. I spent the rest of the day catching up on other important things and still didn't make it around to unpacking even though I could barely walk through my room. 

Tuesday was pretty boring. We talked about managing outbreaks and then had 4 hours of lecture on poultry and their diseases. It made for a long afternoon. 

Wednesday, we went to the zoo, which was fun, but we didn't get to really see anything or do anything out of the ordinary. I did see 2-3 week old baby lynxes through a window... And Brutus and Buckeye the grizzly bears were tussling around in the cool morning air which was fun to watch. 

Today

Dad dropped me off at the clinic this morning. I was drawing blood for one of our surgeries while another technician was pulling a feral cat out of her carrier and then the cat took off across the room and into a small storage room. Jackee ran in after her and slammed the door shut. I went back to my business but several seconds later there was yelling and the sound of falling boxes. Dr. Saam stepped into the room to help and several minutes later there was another shriek followed by more commotion and then they came out of the room with the cat in a box and blood coming from Dr. Saam's hand. Apparently the cat had launched herself at them and bit her hand in the scuffle. Life at a vet clinic is never boring. So they got the cat sedated and then I spayed her. Then Dr. Saam and I removed a mass from a cat's hock and I finished the morning by removing teeth from another cat. The afternoon was pretty slow. We changed all of the light bulbs in the treatment room. Ended the night by watching the buckeyes win with a last minute shot and watching The Princess Bride on tv. 

Wednesday

Wednesday, Dr. Saam doesn't come in until one so I spent the morning hanging out with dad. When we got to the clinic, we had a good laugh over an ironic situation. Dr. Saam's husband called her, angry and yelling because she forgot to pay his cell phone bill and verizon was going to turn his phone off. And then, a few minutes later, flowers were delivered to her from her husband because it was the ten year anniversary of her opening the clinic :) We were pretty busy with appointments including a drooling dog, a lameness exam on a horse, and an eye mass removal on one of the tech's horse Donk. I got to sedate and do nerve blocks on the horse for the procedure. It made me feel like a real vet :) And it was soooo nice outside and sunny! When I was done I picked dad up at the hotel and we went out for dinner. It was a good day :)

The Past Week

Thursday

I got up and drove to the clinic in Gillette and met Dr. Kohn and Dr. Lynde, the practice owners, and the practice manager Deanna. I got a tour of the clinic and then met Dr. Powell, Dr. Innes, Dr. Hopper, Dr. Vercimak, Leisa, Jillian, and at least a dozen other people. It was a bit overwhelming. Everybody was really nice though. I saw a few appointments with some of the vets and then Dr. Kohr took me on a tour of Gillette before we went and met Dr. Lynde and Deanna for lunch. They also took me out to dinner that evening which was really nice of them. One thing that was frustrating about the day was that Dr. Kohr informed me that there may not be a job opening anymore. The vet that was filling in for them was interested in staying on permanently and hadn’t made up her mind yet.

Friday

I woke up and went to the clinic and spent the morning doing a dog spay with Dr. Noland, whom I had met previously up in Bridger, checking in on me. I saw appointments with him the rest of the afternoon and ended the day by doing a necropsy on a dead lamb from a ranch that had lots of lambs dying suddenly. Overall it was a good day and I was glad I got to spend more than one day there.

Saturday

In the morning I packed up and headed to Sheridan. On the way there I stopped at a vet clinic open house to see if they were hiring. Unfortunately they weren’t but the vet was very nice and took my resume anyway. I wandered around Sheridan for awhile and then met up with Liz, Jackson’s mom, to see her. We walked down town for dinner and then went to see a musical at the WYO theatre called “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”, which was based off of the Peanuts characters. It was really entertaining and we had a good time.  

Sunday

Sunday I got up and packed my things and headed out across the northern Bighorns. The roads were somewhat snow covered, but not bad if you went slower. It was very foggy and it was hard to tell if it was snowing or just blowing snow. There were a lot of people driving snowmobiles up and down the mountain. I got back to Greybull and hung out at the hotel for the rest of the day. I had a rough night of sleep between trains, semis, the 9:00 tornado siren that goes off every night, my mind racing, and then a barking dog that someone brought into the hotel between 10-12 at night.

Monday

Headed to Basin for the day. It was pretty slow and we only saw a few appointments, but Dr. Saam and her husband took me out for dinner, which was nice of them. One of the patients we saw that day was a Scottie that swallowed some burrs when she was trying to pull them out of her coat. She was hacking and coughing. We sedated her and took a good look down her throat but were unable to see anything. We also removed the rest of the burrs from her with clippers.

Tuesday

We were busier and I got to do three dentals in the morning, which was fun. We also looked at a 17 year old Border Collie with chronic kidney disease. In the afternoon we went to look at a new horse that someone had bought the day before from an auction in Billings. It looked like they had been lied to because the large, handsome Clydesdale was clearly recently castrated when they had been told he was castrated two months ago. Dr. Saam confirmed the recent castration and we gave the nervous boy a look over. He was a little nervous but the owners seemed to be winning him over with apple treats. I came back and ate dinner before heading out to pick up dad from the airport in Cody. His flight got in on time and we headed back to Greybull. 

Wednesday

Wednesday was a pretty quiet day. We saw several appointments but nothing too exciting. Dr. Gretchen had the morning off so I brought my computer in and was able to get caught up on emails since I can't get the wifi to work at the hotel. I also posted pictures on Facebook from my trip so far. After we were done for the day, I headed to Gillette for my job interview the following day. I drove down through Tensleep and then headed across the southern Bighorns. It was hands down one of the most beautiful drives I have ever done. The sun was starting to go down and lit up the entire western side of the mountains. There was clean, white snow everywhere that reflected back the sun. It was so amazing, and I wish pictures could do it justice but they didn't. It was so peaceful. It was sunset by the time I reached Buffalo and then I drove most of the way to Gillette in the dark which made me a hair nervous but I didn't see any deer. The hotel the clinic put me up in was really nice and it didn't take me long to fall asleep. The drive through the mountains was the perfect way to end the day :)

Monday and Tuesday

Monday

Clare left in the morning and headed back to southern Wyoming and I headed to Basin to the Saam Veterinary Clinic where I would be spending the next two weeks in Wyoming. Dr. Gretchen Saam was great and super nice and everyone at the clinic was wonderful. We weren’t terribly busy but still saw a few appointments and then finished the day by pulling a dead lamb from a pregnant ewe. It took a lot of time and three people to get the large, dried up lamb out but in the end we succeeded. The poor ewe certainly had to feel better after that.

Tuesday

Tuesday started off busy and then slowed down by the end of the day. We neutered a beautiful cream colored kitten and then did a necropsy on a cat with an unknown gastrointestinal disorder. I’ve gotten to practice drawing blood and placing catheters in small dogs and cats here which has always been difficult for me. In the afternoon, we went out to a ranch that is getting out of the rodeo bucking bull business. We needed to do TB, Brucellosis, and Trich testing on a big bull named Redbird. I had been warned that the owners were a little…different…but still nice folks. We were required to whisper when we worked around the bull—never mind that rodeos aren’t exactly the quietest places :) But it was neat to see these massive animals up close and not-too-personal. We headed back to the clinic and I enjoyed the view on the ride. It amazes me how different the landscape is from this side of the mountain compared to the east side. This area was all dessert with sagebrush, minimal grass, and limited water. It was a stark contrast to the green valleys and flowing rivers of Paradise that I was used to. But it was a different kind of beautiful here. We got back to the clinic and finished up a few things before heading out for the day. The hotel was quiet, as usual, since as far as I knew I was the only guest staying here during the week. I found a TV channel about Alaska which entertained me for several hours while I cooked dinner and packed up a few things. I ended the night by watching an episode of Dr. Quinn on TV that I honestly don’t know if I’ve seen before. It was an end to a good day! 

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday Clare and I got up early and went hiking to the top of Sheep Mountain outside of Cody towards Yellowstone National Park. The weather was supposed to be in the fifties but as we approached the mountain, it looked cold with the fog moving it, and it had clearly snowed overnight. We piled on the layers and then, with bear spray in hand, walked past the sign warning against dumping carcasses because it attracts bears. I don’t think I would have done this hike alone. The initial climb was really steep—greater than a 45 degree angle—and we had to stop often just to breathe. Being out of shape kind of stinks. It wasn’t until we had to take that trail back down though that we realized just how steep a climb we had come up. But I digress. We finally reached a point where the ground leveled out or at least we were climbing at a less steep angle. It was like being in a winter wonderland, or Narnia as Clare like to think of it. There had been a red truck parked at the base of the climb and from the lack of fresh prints in the snow, we presumed someone had camped out overnight. We came across many carcasses, some still with the hide on them, but we didn’t see anything alive. Not even the birds were out. We followed the trail until it emptied into what we presumed to be the center of the valley. Because of the snow, we were unable to find a distinct path to follow and set out to make our own trail and find a view and hopefully some sheds left behind by elk or moose or even a deer. We hiked up and out of the valley and traipsed across the ridges to a set of trees where we hoped to find some sheds. No luck. Not even an animal track other than two bare patches where some wildlife had spent the night in the snow. We hiked to the next highest ridge and stopped for lunch with an amazing view of Carter Mountain floating in the clouds. 

But it was windy up top so we headed out after we were done, hiking towards an area that was full of tracks. We didn’t find any wildlife or sheds there, but we did find where a large herd of what we presumed to be elk had spent the night. A dozen bare spots with poop at one end decorated the snow. 

We could see for miles, over one hill to the next, and still there was no sign of wildlife. We began our descent back down to the valley floor, walking through some snow that was well over my knees. It only stopped there because it became too compact to allow me to sink any further. Clare resorted to doing the army crawl on her belly to avoid sinking into the deep snow. We began the hike back to the car and made good time. Overall, it was an 8 mile hike and we were so happy we did it, even if we didn’t see any wildlife or sheds. We drove to the rec center to shower and clean up and then came back to the clinic to nap for an hour. We were exhausted, but it was a good kind of exhausted. We ended up going out to a few of the local stores and then ate Mexican for dinner before coming back and going to sleep. It was a long day.

Sunday, Clare and I got up and packed and headed to church. We then came back and ate lunch before heading off to the Buffalo Bill Museum. We spent a few hours there before coming back, loading up the car, and heading to Greybull where we would spend the night. We made good time and got settled in for the night. 

Friday

Friday started off with no appointments and quickly escalated from there. We changed the bandage on the colt with the fence injury and the wound looked like it was healing nicely except for one small corner of the cut. Dr. Fillerup was pleased with how it looked. The owners of the dog Griz that we had put to sleep recently brought in their cat who has been progressively losing weight. Euthanasia was discussed but Zoey was so active and happy to be around people that they decided to wait a little longer and see how he does. Tests were sent out to the lab to confirm Dr. Fillerup's suspicion of either GI lymphoma or FIP. A large Rottweiler/St. Bernard cross with a bad ear came in. We sedated her and cleaned her ear out, finding lots of debris in the canal. Dr. Fillerup then went back to his house to finish packing, as he was headed to a conceal to carry course in Nevada with two of his sons over the weekend. Have I mentioned that he has 11 kids? Anyway, while he was out, a Lhasa apso came in for constipation and not eating for the past two days and "walking funny in the hind end". The cute little mop of a dog was very good for his physical exam but some of my findings worried me. He was pale. VERY pale. And he had a heart murmur, which is usually something I have trouble identifying. When Dr. Fillerup returned to look at him, he also thought he looked a little jaundiced and was concerned about something in the abdomen which I was unable to recognize. I drew blood from the little guy while Dr. Fillerup went and did some Coggins tests on a few horses. We performed a heartworm test, which was thankfully negative. We then did the rest of our bloodwork which showed that Domino was anemic and had a very low platelet count. As I swirled the tube of blood, you could see clumps of it sticking to the side, which was very abnormal. Thrombocytopenia in these types of breeds is not uncommon, but I was unsure how successful treatment was when it seemed as though most of the dogs at school with autoimmune blood disorders crashed and burned quickly. We treated Domino with some fluids, an antibiotic, and a hefty dose of steroids to quiet his immune system, in the hopes that it would stop destroying his blood cells. Finally, Dr. Fillerup was able to get out the door to leave for his trip, and I helped Marcie clean up the clinic before she too left. Clare arrived from southern Wyoming a few hours later. We drove around town a bit and then got a bite to eat before heading back to the clinic for the night to plan our hike for the next day. It was so good to see her!

Thursday

Today, we had a very quiet morning. Our first patient didn't arrive until after 10:30. Hayley was a cute 4 month old Bichon puppy who was due for her booster vaccines. Dr. Fillerup made me give her her shots so that "Hayley will still like me after you leave". The mare with the foot abscess came back in and we re-wrapped her foot. She was doing so much better; it was good to see her bearing weight on that foot. Then Dr. Fillerup trimmed the toenails on several bunnies while I looked at a beef calf with respiratory disease. We ended up doing a transtracheal wash on the calf to collect a sample for testing and also took a nasal swab. Another puppy came in for vaccines and then Dr. Fillerup and I headed out to the landfill to euthanize an old horse.--CAUTION: the rest of this entry may be disturbing to some readers.-- It was humbling to drive into the animal section of the landfill. Most of the composted carcasses appeared to be from roadkill, but I tried to not look too closely when I spotted part of a goat. A skinny, old white pony stood beside a small horse trailer, looking around and sniffing the ground. Dr. Fillerup spoke with the owner. He was clearly choked up and didn't want to be around to see his old friend pass on. After he drove out and was gone, Dr. Fillerup retrieved his shotgun from the back of his truck. With the owner not present, Dr. Fillerup preferred to use a single shot as his method of euthanasia. Even though carcasses were composted at the dump, any level of toxin (euthanasia solution) was harmful to the environment and to the wildlife that visited the landfill. I will admit it; I was hesitant. I have seen more deaths via euthanasia solution than from a bullet. But it went far smoother and faster than I've seen any death with Euthasol go. It seemed like the horse dropped to the ground before I even heard the crack of the gun. And there was no thrashing, no twitching, no movement at all. The horse lay still. And it brought to mind all of the other times I've seen animal life end, and none seemed as instantaneous, as quick, as this had been. Dr. Fillerup knelt and removed the halter from the gray fuzzy head, and we quietly left. It was a sobering end to the day.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning, I neutered a very cute 9 month old Border Collie puppy. And the vet didn't even peek in on me, other than to ask once how it was going. Dr. Fillerup has definitely been good for my confidence. We only saw a few other pets and it was starting to look like an early end to the day. Then we got a call for a colic that was about a half hour away. The road we took headed West, towards Yellowstone and our drive took us down a canyon with mountains on either side of us. By the time we pulled off and drove up a hill to the house we were looking for, I was stunned that people got to live in places that had views like this. From the top of the hill there was a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains with multiple peaks on each side. I'm pretty sure my jaw was on the ground. While I envied the view, I didn't envy the narrow, steep gravel road we'd driven up or the violent wind that pelted us as soon as we opened the truck doors, but my gosh, that view was beautiful. We carried our supplies to the barn, leaning sideways to combat the wind. Our patient was Feather, a cute little bay paint mare who had an upset stomach. We did our physical exam and then treated her with some pain medications and also tubed her with some electrolytes and mineral oil. Within ten minutes, she was feeling better and nuzzling her owners, begging for attention. It was easy to see why they loved the little mare. We eventually headed on our way and made several stops on the drive back into town. Dr. Fillerup pointed out various landmarks and as well as trailheads for hiking. I really appreciated how much time he took to answer my questions and show me cool things. You can tell he really loves where he lives. We got back to the clinic and cleaned up for the evening. It was another successful day in Cody, Wyoming.

Tuesday (yesterday)

Tuesday morning we took care of the Bassett and then headed off to do the weekly dairy herd check at George Farms. I met more of the family and was further harrassed for wearing my Select Sires hat by those who had not met me the week before. We pregnancy checked a few dozen cows and then looked at a sick cow with mastitis. We then moved on to their dry cow pen and pregnancy checked a few problem cows. We headed back to the clinic to look at a cat with hind leg problems and a dog with a similar issue. We had just started on the cat when we got a call from the dairy that they had a cow with a dystocia. Both the dog and the cat were placed in cages and I drove us back out to the farm. We arrived and Dr. Fillerup pretty much just said "have at it" and let me go. I won't lie; I was kind of excited to try one on my own. At school you only ever get to have a tiny piece in a procedure. We gave the cow an epidural after cleaning her up and then I sleeved up and went hunting for a calf. True to the farmers opinion, the calf was coming forward and was alive, but the head was nowhere to be found. Puzzled, I moved the calf's legs around and pushed and prodded, looking for the neck and head until all of a sudden, it was right in front of me, lined up and ready to deliver. I told Dr. Fillerup it was all luck because all I'd really done was jiggle the calf around a little, but he encouraged me by saying that luck was all about being prepared and knowing what you're supposed to be looking for. I like that philosophy. It took three of us to pull on the calf before it was actually on the ground. I then was slightly repulsed to see that the barnyard chickens swarmed the calf to peck off the afterbirth and the cartilage on its feet. Welcome to the world baby calf. We cleaned up and packed up and I drove us back to the clinic, a little prouder than I had been when we left. We ended up taking radiographs of the cat's pelvis and diagnosing some arthritis and proliferative changes that, coupled with the cat's obesity, were causing his problems. The dog we ended up sedating and taking radiographs of also. It was a cute australian shepherd mix who had more separation anxiety than he knew what to do with. His radiographs showed marked hip dysplasia of his left hip with severe femoral head and neck changes. It amazed me that the dog was walking as well as it was! It was close to 6:00 by the time we got both pets out of here and I was famished. The colt had gone home that afternoon as had the Bassett hound in the hopes that he would have an appetite at home. It was another successful day at the clinic.

Monday (2 days ago)

Monday left us with an odd assortment of appointments and surgeries. We continued treating the poor Bassett hound and enouraged him to eat something edible but had little luck. The dog with the laryngeal problems returned again, this time breathing even worse than before. After radiographs were taken, large masses were seen in his lungs, compressing his bronchi and making it impossible for him to breathe. His owner made the difficult decision to end his suffering. RIP Griz. We all stopped for lunch, and when I came back down to the exam room, I heard a familiar growl coming from around the corner. Rodney was back for his SQ fluids and was not any happier than he'd been the last time I'd seen him on Saturday. That afternoon we did surgery on the cat with the bad teeth to remove both of her upper canines. Then Dr. Mel did a mass removal on another cat while I looked at a lame mare that had been dropped off. I dug out her foot and we found a large abscess hiding behind her frog. After lots of flushing, we packed her hoof and sent her home. While this may seem like a short post, it was actually a long day and we were really busy.

Sunday

Sunday I woke up and did chores with Dr. Fillerup. The cat had an even higher temperature, so she was given more antibiotics and some fluids and her dental extractions were pushed to the next day. The colt received his treatments as well and then both Dr. Fillerup and I headed out for the day. I drove out to Uncle Val's house and parked, leaving a note on the door reminding his wife that I was out hiking so that she wasn't startled when she came home to a strange vehicle. I then hopped the fence, landing on public lands, and headed for Cedar Mountain. I had my phone in one vest pocket and a bottle of water in the other. My camera was on my right hip and the bear spray Dr. Fillerup had lent me was on my left. I was ready, or as ready as I could be to climb a mountain when I was out of shape, not adjusted to the altitude, and struggling with a stuffy nose and cold. I set the tracking device on my phone so I could calculate where and how far I would be going and I was off. The dry desert ground was rocky and scattered with short, stubbly brush. Dr. Fillerup had told me rattlesnakes wouldn't be out for another month, but I still kept my eyes open. The fact that they existed at all paranoid me. The initial walk to the base of the mountain was easy and from my vantage point it didn't look like the climb would be as difficult as I had originally anticipated. Several false summits later I was proven wrong. The climb became steep and several areas were covered with loose rocks which made it feel like you were walking through sand uphill. It didn't take my lungs long to tire out and I began making frequent stops just to breathe. Not long after that, my legs began to give out as the climbing angle was at least 45 degrees upward. I began altering my plans as I climbed and had decided that reaching the top wasn't particularly the goal I was currently striving for anymore. I had wanted to reach the top before noon, before the sun shadowed the mountains instead of highlighting them. But there was no way I was going to make it in time in the shape I was in. I had to stop repeatedly to blow my nose just so I could breathe. The only wildlife I saw were a dozen black birds that seemed to claim Cedar Mountain as their home and one lone rabbit I had seen back at the very beginning of my hike. It was barren. Eventually, I made it to a flat opening where I could see down both sides of Cedar Mountain. It wasn't the tallest point, but it still provided a beautiful view. Buffalo Bill Reservoir lay at the base and the sun shone off the clear water. It really was beautiful, even if I couldn't breathe. After resting for a bit, I headed up toward several towers that were at the summit of the mountain. The climb here wasn't as steep, but it was through tall pine trees and had occasional pockets of snow that were almost up to my knees. Because the vision was so limited and because I was paranoid, I held the bear spray in my hand as I hiked through the trees. Nothing was going to take me by surprise. I did see several tracks in the snow from what I assumed were elk or moose. It was hard to tell how long they'd been there. Eventually, I came to a barbed wire fence, and that jogged my memory. Dr. Fillerup had mentioned at one point that part of Cedar Mountain was private property. I turned left and walked awhile before beginning my descent. I thought the trip down would be fast and easy, but I must have picked my path wrong. Once I got back out of the trees, I felt like I had to crawl down a lot more rocks than I had originally climbed up. Instead of a smooth, steady climb down, I had to zigzag and weave around boulders, slipping and sliding around. And the temperature had begun to climb. I had dressed for the cool early morning and was now sweating through the multiple layers I had on. I was reluctant to remove anything because then it simply meant that I had to carry it. As I finally approached the bottom of the mountain, I picked up a trail that I was able to easily follow back out to where I'd come from. The climb was beautiful and I had taken lots of pictures, but I ached and was slightly frustrated with how inept I was in this altitude and climate with a sickness. I headed to the local rec center to shower and change before swinging by Granny's for some very late lunch. When I returned to the clinic, there was a sad looking Bassett hound in the clinic whom had not been there when I'd left that morning. Before long, Dr. Fillerup showed up to check up on the dog and as we pulled him out of the cage, we found a large amount of cloth material that he had either vomited up or pooped out. Curious as to what this dog had eaten, I started to unroll the cloth and was soon appalled to realize that it was someone else's underwear! Two pairs of it! I could not wash my hands enough times. We gave the poor pup some fluids, antibiotics, and pain medication and then let him rest for the night. I didn't do much the rest of the evening and went to bed early, exhausted.

Saturday

Saturday, I woke up and helped Dr. Fillerup do morning treatments. There was a colt who had come in the night before for a laceration and we changed his bandage. He had gotten his right hind leg caught in some fencing and needed stitches. He was a two year old sorrel quarterhorse with a white stripe down his face. He had kind eyes, but gosh was he a nervous, jumpy boy. Any movement other than a slow one caused him to react violently. After we finished with the colt, we looked at another cat from the local "crazy cat lady". The black kitten that we had sent home earlier that week was bouncing around the clinic and doing great, but the calico that she brought in today wasn't. She was thin and dehydrated and only had two teeth in her mouth, one of which was foul and rotting. Dr. Fillerup wanted to remove the tooth but decided we would wait a few days and see if we could get her temperature to drop down to normal before putting her under anesthesia. A dog also came in with a cloudy eye after an unseen mishap with possible wildlife. I had offered to do afternoon treatments so Dr. Mel could go to his wilderness first aid and safety class that he was attending. I made a run to Walmart to pick up some cough medicine. I also ending up buying several winter fleece jackets that they had on sale for only $3. And as I waited in the checkout lane, I watched a Walmart employee chase a loose Schnauzer through the store. Only in Wyoming... I stopped at several other shops in town, looking for specific items, and then I spent the rest of the day catching up on things like laundry and also watched some movies before going to bed.

Friday

So Friday I got up at 4:40 am and drove three hours to Hardin, Montana for a job interview with Dr. Mark Francis. The town of Hardin sits right on the edge of the Crow reservation, and to be honest, the town made me a little nervous. When I pulled into the clinic, the dog warden's truck was in the drive. When I walked inside, the first thing I saw was a black dog on a rabies pole pushed against the floor and about to be euthanized. Welcome to the Animal Care Center. Dr. Francis was really nice, as were the receptionists. Dr. Francis gave me a tour and I discovered that he is a brilliant and resourceful man. He built the clinic nearly on his own and brainstormed and then created his own anesthesia machines which he now sells to other practices. He uses the local hospital for his bloodwork, CT, and MRI scans. He has obtained a free ultrasound and surgical tables from the hospital as well. He also has digital radiographs and an endoscope. I was very surprised with how much he had available to him. The clinic was very nice and organized. I watched Dr. Francis remove a mass from a dog's mouth and then we drove out to ORIgen so that he could do some TB checks on a few of the bulls there. We also did lots and lots and lots of paperwork. It wasn't a very busy or exciting day, but Dr. Francis was getting ready to leave for vacation and this was the only time our schedules worked out to meet. I stopped at another clinic on the way back to Cody and got a tour there as well. When I got back to Cody, I was exhausted and pretty much went straight to bed because I didn't feel very well. It was a long day.

Thursday

Thursday was another busy day. We saw several cats and dogs in the morning and then headed to the other dairy about 30 miles away to treat some sick cows and do pregnancy checks. Fritz, Dr. Mel's dog, came with us. The owners of this dairy happened to be inlaws to one of the receptionists/technicians at the clinic. Joann was very pleasant to work with, but she quickly informed me that her inlaws would not be that way and I was encouraged to not take any comments personally. That didn't give me warm, fuzzy feelings. Before we went to the dairy, we swung by to check on the ewe that we had seen several days ago witht the swollen udder. She had lambed the day before with no difficulty and had 3 lambs. However, she was still not doing well, so Dr. Mel and I stopped by. The cause was quickly evident as Dr. Mel did a vaginal exam and pulled a dead, decaying lamb from her uterus. She was given more antibiotics and pain medications and instructions were given to her owners for continued care. Then we headed to the dairy. The drive to Clark was beautiful, with the sun shining on the mountains to the west. It was nice to get to see some of the countryside. When we arrived, Dr. Mel turned Fritz loose to roam around while we got to work. Several dozen cows were run through the chute and Dr. Mel and I pregnancy checked each one. I was continuing to improve my palpation skills. I met the three men who ran the farm, and each one of them seemed pleasant enough to me. But I was glad I had been warned. As we waited for them to gather up the sick cows, Dr. Mel gave me a tour of the farm. They milked 250 head twice a day, farmed over 1,000 acres, and I was shocked to find out that the three guys I had met were pretty much half of the crew. I couldn't imagine getting all of that done with only 6-7 people. Amazing. The sick cows were examined and each one treated according to her ailment. One had metritis, another had mastitis. And one had a LDA, which is a left displaced abomasum, meaning that her stomach--which should normally be on the right--had swung over to the left and was large and distended, preventing food from passing through the digestive tract. A decision was made to try to treat her. We pumped her rumen full of fluids to try to push the abomasum back to its normal location. Then, using ropes, the cow was rolled from one side to the other in an attempt to relocate her stomach. And it seemed to work. Time would tell if we had fixed her problem. As we headed to the parking lot, Dr. Mel hopped into the passenger's side of the truck and proceeded to take a nap. Apparently I was driving again. On our way back to the clinic, we swung by the other dairy once again, this time to draw blood from several cows that were being sold. Seth helped us pen up the cows and ear tag them while I drew blood. And then we were off again. The day ended with a patient I had been warned about from the beginning of the day--Rodney the Persian. I had completely forgotten the conversation until I saw the owner walk into the clinic holding a yellow and very angry cat. Angry cats scare the crap out of me. I would rather deal with an upset horse any day. Sure, horses can deliver one blunt blow and kill you, but cats....well cats just shred you from one end to the other and then let you die a painful, infectious death. And Rodney had that look in his eye as he was placed on the exam table. Dr. Mel was able to pet him without incidence, but the moment we began to do anything with him, the screaming and hissing and swatting and biting began. Both Dr. Mel and the owner agreed that sedating Rodney would be the best course of action. We allowed the sedation to take effect and then blood was drawn for labwork. As we clipped an area to draw blood from, the owner asked if we would just shave the entire cat, as Rodney had mats that the owner had been unable to remove. I was delighted. There was something very satisfying about shaving down a matted cat who was unable to move and could only growl in protest. But as the sedation wore off, so did Rodney's immobility and we eventually had to stop before one of us got hurt. Rodney was left with four yellow socks and a fluffy head but was naked from his chest to the tip of his tail. The ridiculous haircut seemed to go perfectly with the angry expression on the cat's face. After he was given some fluids, Rodney was wrapped in a blanket and sent out the door. Little did I know I would be seeing Rodney again.

Wednesday

Tuesday night I had moved into the upstairs den of the clinic. It had once served as an office but was now mainly a place for storage. I had jumped at the opportunity to have a place to stay for free. Dr. Mel had warned me it wasn't particularly nice but I didn't care, and to be honest, I was sure he was bluffing a bit. Turns out he wasn't as critical as I thought. The small room housed lots of boxes, a desk, a microwave, and several survival backpacks. There was barely enough floor space to set up a cot and bring in my suitcases, which was ok because it looked like the floor hadn't been swept in...well who knows how long. The window to the north was covered in plastic which I assumed was to cut down on the draft and the large window to the east had no curtains. But it was free and it was mine for two weeks. I was still grateful. When I woke up that morning, I heard movement and voices downstairs. Dressing quickly, I headed down to find Dr. Mel examining a small black kitten whose breathing I could hear several feet away. Wheezing and sneezing, little May lay there dull and uninterested in what was happening around her. Her owner, I later found out, was known for hoarding cats at her house and it was no surprise that this little kitten had become ill when she was taken in. Dr. Mel took care of the kitten and started her on antibiotics and then we headed out to look at a colicky horse. I was excited, as we had not had many equine patients so far. As we pulled into the drive, we noticed the gray mare lying on her side in the pasture, and from a distance, we couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.
"This doesn't look good." Dr. Mel muttered as he put the truck in park. We briskly walked over and did a limited physical exam on the little Arabian mare. She lay on her side groaning and thrashing occasionally. A few times she would stop grunting and hold her breath, which in turn caused each of us to hold ours, waiting to see if she would breathe again. Dr. Mel got pain medication into her as quickly as he could and after fifteen minutes or so, we were able to get the mare on her feet to finish our exam. Her rectal exam led to the diagnosis that the vet was worried about--the melanoma that she had had for years had finally spread to her abdominal organs. It didn't take long for the pain meds to wear off and before long, she was back on the ground, thrashing again. Both Dr. Mel and the owner then made the kindest decision they could and ended the mare's suffering. As the owner kneeled on the ground beside her beloved horse, sobbing into her mane, I tried my best to keep my emotions off my face. For some reason, watching horses die is harder on me than any other species. I think it's because someday I know I will have to make that decision for my horse, and I can't imagine how painful that will be. Dr. Mel and I left quietly after everything was taken care of. It was a sad start to the day. We returned to the clinic to take care of more equines. Several mules and a pony were brought in for Coggins tests and to have their teeth filed down. A lame paint gelding was dropped off and after nerve blocks and radiographs, we finally diagnosed him with a fused tarsal joint and arthritis. We also had a mass removal on a very large Pomeranian near the tail. Dr. Mel let me do nearly the whole procedure and left the room to see another client while I finished sewing up the dog's backside. It is a good thing Pomeranians have long hair because this poor dog looked like her butt had been chewed on by a coyote. Our day ended with returning to the dairy for another necropsy. This time, it was a 5 month old calf that had been doing poorly and then died abruptly. Most of our necropsy was performed by the truck headlights. We returned to the clinic and I drove to the local rec center to take a much needed shower.

4 days ago (Tuesday)

Tuesday morning, I dropped dad off at the airport and then headed to the clinic for the day. We looked at a dog with possible laryngeal trauma and then headed to the dairy for their weekly herd check. Seth, one of the owner's sons, gave me a hard time about my Select Sires hat as their dairy uses ABS for their semen. Dr. Fillerup and I pregnancy checked about 20 cows before doing a breeding soundness exam on two of their two year old bulls--Thing One and Thing Two. Thing One failed his exam and as the vet and I headed out to pregnancy check their heifers, the owners discussed the bull's fate--a second chance or McDonalds. Dr. Fillerup and I drove out to pregnancy check their heifers and I really started to feel like I was getting back into the groove of pregnancy checking. I only missed a few and was overall very happy with how I had done. We then headed out to Uncle Val's place to write health certificates for his horses. After we looked at the herd, we went up to the house and Uncle Val offered us both lunch. I had already eaten, but Dr. Fillerup took him up on the offer. I almost regretted saying no as I saw the tasty enchiladas that were placed before him. They sat around chit chatting about random things and memories and I took the time to marvel at Uncle Val's house. Pictures of every size, event, and location covered the walls. Horses, wildlife, hunting, scenic views--all of these were hung throughout the house. One wall of their kitchen held hundreds of rusty bits on display from simple snaffles to wicked curb bits to fancy spades. Uncle Val was officially one of the coolest people I've ever met. He was straight out of Lonesome Dove. Dr. Mel and I finally took our leave after Uncle Val had offered to let me park at his ranch to go hiking over the weekend. Cedar Mountain was located right behind his house and, as I was told, provided an unobstructed view of the basin. Our next call was a checkup on a 30 year old horse with a sinus infection. The large black and white paint draft Arizona pranced around the large pasture, snorting and kicking up his heels as we tried in vain to catch him. After about 20 minutes, we were able to chase him into the corral and corner him. He received his treatment IV and soon we were ready to leave. Dr. Mel climbed into the passenger's seat and said "You're driving home." And before we were even out of the driveway, he was fast asleep, hat down over his eyes. While I had been paying more attention to the scenery than the road, I knew we had only taken a couple turns to get here so with some luck and gut instinct, I was able to find my way back to the clinic. And so ended another successful day in Cody, Wyoming.

5 days ago (Monday)

On Monday, I got to meet Dr. Melvin Fillerup, the veterinarian that I am doing a two week externship with in Cody, WY. From previous conversations, I had an inkling that Dr. Mel was a bit on the ornery side--and he didn't disappoint. We looked at a dog that morning and then euthanized a 16 year old cat for an elderly lady. My heart broke a little, watching her clutch the yellow cat to her chest as she tried to keep the tears at bay. She'd had Clyde since he was a 6 week old kitten. As we got ready to leave for a farm call, I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman whom everyone referred to as Uncle Val. He had worked horses all of his life and had a special interest in mustangs. He needed a health certificate for several mustangs he was taking down to Texas for a documentary on how well mustangs can turn out if people take the time to work with them. That already gave me respect for Uncle Val. Before he left, he gave everyone in the clinic a hug, including me. Dr. Mel and I then headed out to look at a pregnant ewe who wasn't doing so well. The owners were not sure when she was bred and her due date was unknown. My gut instinct when we arrived was that she had pregnancy toxemia, but she proved both Dr. Mel and me wrong. Her udder was large and swollen, nearly dragging the ground, but she had an otherwise normal physical exam. Her hind legs were beginning to break down from the weight she was carrying. We did a vaginal exam and sure enough, she was due to lamb anyday. We gave her a dose of furosemide to help decrease the swelling in her udder and then headed on to our next call. We'd only made it five minutes down the road when the owners of the ewe called us to say she'd fallen down and was convulsing. We quickly turned back around, puzzled as to the cause of her seizures. I had never heard of a reaction to furosemide and in all of his years of practice, Dr. Mel had never seen a reaction. Upon further investigation, it was noted on the label that if an animal already had low calcium that furosemide could rarely cause them to have tetany, which is repeated muscle contractions. When we returned, Dr. Mel asked me what would become one of his favorite questions "If you were the empress, what would you do?" After some discussion, the ewe received some electrolytes in a vein and we got her comfortably settled before taking off again. Our next stop was at the local dairy--one of two in the area. They had a cow die abruptly and were concerned as to the cause. We performed a necropsy in the dimming light and found ulcerations in her abomasum and presumed that she was septic. Samples were taken to send off to the lab for confirmation. As we backed the truck into the garage, the phone rang again. This time, it was a beef cow who was having problems calving. We took off and drove several miles out of town. The weather during the day had been pleasant enough, but I was shuddering at the thought of doing a c-section in the dark in the cold if that's what we had to do. We pulled in, grabbed what we needed, and then headed to the corral. A black angus cow was lying flat out on her side with one tiny hoof sticking out of her vulva. She lay quiet but as soon as Dr. Mel reached out to touch her she came to life. The rancher had one rope around her head and one around her left hind leg which were tied to opposite ends of the small pen, but the slackness in the ropes almost made them futile. She bellered and tried her best to run around the pen as Dr. Mel struggled to palpate her. He finished and then asked me the question I had been hesitantly waiting for.
"Do you want to go ahead and palpate her?" Taking a deep breath, I shed my nice, warm, oh so comfy coat, rolled up my sleeves, and splashed my arms with icy cold water before reaching into the cow and feeling two hooves, then two hocks, and then a tail. The calf was coming backwards. But as I continued to feel around, I was puzzled as to why this large cow was having problems delivering, even if the calf was backwards. Dr. Mel answered my unspoken question as he spoke to the rancher.
"Its right hind leg was caught on the pelvis. I straightened it out and we should be able to pull it without a problem. Do you have a calf jack?" They quickly attached the straps to the calf's legs and Dr. Mel asked me to bring the chain and handles. I reached into the box and momentarily froze in panic as the metal handles clung firmly to my wet hands. Instinctively, I pulled the handle off of my left hand and it fell back into the box. Wiping my fingers on my coveralls, I picked them up again, slightly reassured that they weren't going to be part of me permanently. We hooked the calf up to the calf jack and a few cranks and several minutes later a healthy bull calf was on the ground. I went to work cleaning out his nose and mouth and thumping on his chest to keep him breathing while Dr. Mel continued to take care of the mama cow. Finally satisfied that both mom and baby were ok, we headed back to the clinic. My fingers were so numb I could barely open the truck door. And so concluded day one in Cody, WY.

Catch up

So I was previously on my Food Animal Medicine and Surgery rotation. I learned a lot and got to see a lot of cases. Unfortunately, my partner Beth and I were plaugued with lots of death on our rotation. One baby calf whose septic hock we fixed ended up perforation her abomasum and had to be euthanized. Our down cow with toxic mastitis was also euthanized. But overall the rotation was a lot of fun and we got to do several C-sections (YAY!!!) and treat septic joints, an ornery smelly Boer buck with pneumonia, and a cow with a hairball, among other things. And the best part was I never felt like I was watching the clock or waiting until I could go home. Food animal is so much fun :)

The Knee Bone Is Connected To The Thigh Bone

So I'm on Radiology right now, which means that I spend my day taking x-rays of whatever patients need them from dogs and cats to horses to cows and yesterday, a sheep. Poor Roadrunner came in for a bandage change for his broken leg and I have to admit that animals being itchy under their casts never occurred to me before yesterday. That ram just stretched out on the ground, lips quivering, as they scrubbed and scratched his leg after the cast was off.

The rotation that I had before this one was Oncology and it was by far the most depressing rotation I've been on. It seems like every other patient you saw received a death sentence. It is definitely not the field for me. I learned a lot from it though and the clinicians I worked with were great.

One month later...

So a lot has happened in the past month. It's a new year filled with new opportunities and new experiences. I recently received the results that I passed my boards test, so when I graduate in May I will officially be licensed. Yay!

The rotation that I'm finishing up is Orthopedic Surgery. It's pretty intense with long, long hours. I get to school at 7:00 am and don't leave until 7:00 pm or 8:00 pm on most days. 11:00 pm on one occasion. But I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would and I learned a lot. The clinicians that I was on with were great to work with and very patient. And at the end of the rotation I got to put one of the screws in a dog's leg. Pretty neat! My next rotation is Oncology, which I'm not exactly looking forward to. But I will get though it and will move on to happier things. To everything there is a season.