Summer 2012--VCA Cedar Animal Hospital Visit #1: Bird Brains

The clever title of this post refers to the fact that I saw quite a few birds yesterday when I was shadowing Dr. B at the VCA clinic. First, it was a cockatoo, then a cockatiel whose name escapes me at the moment. Later came two male parrots. Some parrot species are also called eclectuses, sexually dimorphic species of birds in which the male and female look physically different. Males are typically green with orange-and-yellow beaks (like candy corn) while females are typically red and purple or red and blue with black beaks. I learned a lot about how to properly handle birds. For instance, they are often wrapped in a towel that matches their feather color closely because it helps them feel less stressed out. Birds also have complete rings of cartilage around their trachea, so it is permissible to hold them at their necks when restraining them. It is very hard to suffocate them. Humans and other mammal species have C-shaped rings of cartilage, open at the back of the trachea. This gap in the cartilage allows the esophagus to expand and press against the trachea so that we can swallow effectively and pain-free. I also learned the signs of stress in birds: heavy breathing, closed eyes, and a decreased ability to grip things with the talons. Birds are much different from mammals because they are exothermic or "cold-blooded," meaning that their environment must be kept at a temperature close to their ideal body temperature. Being wrapped in a towel puts them at risk for overheating because they do not have mechanisms for keeping a stable body temperature on their own. As such, I noticed that when restraining the birds, the doctors and techs kept a firm grip on the birds' necks but kept the towel open at the front to regulate the temperature. Finally, I saw a green macaw. She was very pretty but didn't seem too keen on any of us. I really enjoyed getting to see all of these different bird species on the same day.

I also saw a rabbit yesterday. She was in because she had recently begun to put up a fight when she was given her antibiotics. Her normal behavior was to lie quietly while being given her medicine, but her owners had to start restraining her pretty strongly in order to administer the medicine. Her mom and dad were not happy about this because they saw how upset she was. We took her back into the treatment area with us and gave her some subcutaneous fluids--about 150 mL. It looked really funny on the rabbit because she was so small. The bulge from the fluid draped over her side and made her look almost grotesque. I learned that subcutaneous fluids treat not only dehydration but also high fevers, such as the rabbit had. Since the fluid is at room temperature and the body at a much higher temperature (sometimes as much as 30-33 degrees higher), introducing fluid below the skin can help dissipate some of the heat and return the body to a more normal level.

I was a bit more of an active participant yesterday than I have been at VCA in the past. I acted as a sort of gofer and retrieved various items as needed by the doctors or techs. At one point, Dr. B drew some blood from a parrot's leg, and he pulled away from her so quickly that the hole left by the needle started bleeding. Dr. B let me apply hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball to the site and clean it up a little bit.

I was also introduced to a new breed of dog of which I had never heard before. It's called a Cane Corso, which is from Italy (yay). Cane Corsos (Cani Corsi?) are very large, about the size of Great Danes but with more bulk to their frames. As you can imagine, they are quite intimidating and are known to have aggressive tendencies. This makes sense given their use as cattle herders and boar hunters. The Cane Corsos I met yesterday were black and mixed with Mastiff, so I'm guessing that's where they got their amiable natures (the Mastiff, not the coat color). They were also a brother-sister pair, which I thought was cute and touching (family is the greatest).

All in all, I had a very satisfying day of new experiences and lots of learning about different animal species. I see now that it's good to shadow at two different places each week because I get different views of veterinary medicine from each. St. Francis gets me hands-on learning, while VCA gets me more of the "book" learning about exotic species that I used to get at St. Francis when small-animal medicine was all new and unfamiliar to me.

Stay tuned for my post about tomorrow's St. Francis shadowing. I'm sure it will be active and exciting as always.