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!