An Exotic Getaway--Winter Break 2011-2012

Everything has been pretty routine and uneventful here at home. I have enjoyed my break time. I leave Sunday to head back to Augie, but I want to record one very important Winter Break adventure before I dive again into my studies. I was very fortunate to be able to shadow an exotic vet on Wednesday (January 4th...happy New Year, by the way). The cool thing is that she was once a student at Augustana College! If I can accomplish my dream of becoming a veterinarian and then work in Minnesota, I won't be the first Augie grad to find employment as a vet in the Twin Cities. Her name is Dr. B. She was really a cool person. I admire her passion for her field and also her intelligence. I was privileged to be party to an appointment with a guinea pig and another appointment with a bearded dragon. They are both really cool animals that I don't see when I shadow with Dr. J. Dr. B taught me a lot about exotic animal medicine, informing me that these species tend to be more sensitive than dogs and cats and that it is important to learn how to treat them effectively because they often come into the clinic very sick (it's hard to get the husbandry right, even with an abundance of resources available to pet owners; as such, the owners often don't realize that their animals have any problems until those problems are far advanced). I did not see any surgery while I was there because as a city clinic, the hospital sees a lot of patients who were adopted from the Animal Humane Society and thus have already been spayed or neutered by the shelter vet. The majority of veterinary clinics' daily surgeries consist of routine procedures such as spays and neuters. Cedar Animal Hospital, like St. Francis Vet Clinic, has a clinic cat. Her name is Rosie, and it was hilarious to watch her reaction to all of the animals that came in. Cedar Animal Hospital is interesting because the animals are taken back into a treatment area behind the examination rooms, even for minor procedures like vaccination and blood draws (this differs a bit from St. Francis, where those procedures occur right in the owner's presence). Of course, the clinic understands if the client would prefer to remain with his or her pet, but the clinic has found that the animals behave a little better out of sight of their owners (kind of like the kids that mysteriously behave for every adult but their parents). I actually really like the set up because it allows the veterinarians to examine the charts of their patients out of sight of the owners (at St. Francis, the reception area is within sight of the area where the veterinarians receive their charts, so it might--to some people--look as though the vets were milling through the charts and deciding which cases they would prefer to take. Not so good for client relations.) This setup also seems to provide a relatively quiet working space for the veterinarians and vet techs, away from the hustle and bustle up front. I was also lucky to meet Dr. B's dogs, Lucy and Ginger. Both were very friendly. Most of my day was consumed with appointments for dogs and cats, but I was so glad that I got to see even a couple of exotic species. You will probably laugh at me, but now I think exotic medicine might be a great choice for me. However, I still like the idea of large animal or wildlife medicine, so I will keep my options open. Besides, I have a little bit of time (even in vet school) to decide which field I would rather prefer. I just like the idea of the variety that comes with treating exotic species.

Please enjoy these pictures from the hospital website (vcahospitals.com/cedar).

Rosie the Clinic Cat.

A front view of the clinic.

One of the examination rooms.

The reception area.

So, now I look forward to returning to school and starting fresh. It had been a tough four months before I went on break, but now I think I am recharged enough to refocus my efforts and really excel the way I expect myself to. Until next post!