Little-ones need love too

Happy Thanksgiving!

By: Alicia Agnew

Class of 2013, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

Max and Alex were two hamsters who came into the clinic.  When I first came into the room I saw a pleasant woman with two children fussing over a video game.  Alex was rolling around in a little hamster ball.  When setting him out on the blue towel on the examining table I could see that his arms were filled with pus.  His illness was put in the shade when Max was revealed.  Max was rolled out of a small carrying cage.  Rolls of fat hit the ground.  A huge puffy face waddled across the table.  Never in my life have I seen an animal so disproportionally fat.  My first impression was that a genetic defect had his legs stuck inside his body.  Q-tips revealed that the rolls of fat had fallen around his paws so he was unable to touch the ground, instead moving against his skin giving the appearance that he had no legs.  His cheeks were solid masses that extended beyond his width.  My diagnosis of a tumor was incorrect, as the vet was able to push out a rotten mass of half-chewed foods.  Stinky smelling sunflower seeds scattered on the table’s surface.  Max went home on a diet while Alex received some antibiotics.  They came back a week later for a recheck where both were doing much better.   Even little guys need love and care too!

Bringing new meaning to the word, "s***head"

By: Dana Cannon

Class of 2013, Ross University

While I was on a VIDA trip in Nicaragua, this Brahman calf was behind his mom in the stocks and his mom just couldn't hold it in!  How unfortunate, but a very good laugh!

 

South Africa Field Experience

y: Michael Lovasz

Class of 2012, Ross University

Did you know that Echinococcus is commonly found in the fur of the leopard?  I do now. This is just one of the many interesting facts that I learned while doing a two week externship in South Africa last April. A group of four of us were about to start our third year of Veterinary School and we were very eager to apply what we already knew, or believed we knew, to the field.

In our first week we had the rare opportunity to assist in Cape buffalo herd management in the Red Zone. These animals were either infected or acting as a buffer zone to animals infected with Foot and Mouth Disease, Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, and Corridor Disease (Theileria parva). Tuberculosis is a huge concern in South Africa because it affects populations throughout the ecosystem. It effects the immunocompromised humans, which is an immediate concern, and tuberculosis has also decimated the lion population.  The value of a disease-free buffalo is about ten times greater than an infected one. While the story of tuberculosis in buffalo, lions and man is interesting, this article is going to focus on my time with leopards, and their story is an unfortunate and sad one.

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Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Internship at the Mote Marine Laboratory

By: Madoka McAllister

Class of 2014, University of Illinois

In January 2010, I had the distinct pleasure of taking part in a marine animal rehabilitation internship at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida.  I had had some previous rehabilitation experience but never with marine animals so it was a very new, exciting opportunity for me.  Although the Rehabilitation Hospital at Mote takes in sea turtles, dolphins and whales, our patients were exclusively sea turtles during my time there.  Having gone into the internship knowing little about sea turtles, I was amazed to discover how intelligent and graceful they are.  Many had distinct personalities and over the duration of my internship, I became very fond of them.  

Florida experienced a sudden cold snap this past winter, with water temperatures dropping 5-8 degrees below average, resulting in the second coldest winter on record in many areas.  Most wildlife and plant life was severely impacted, including thousands of sea turtles that were cold-stunned as a result of the unusual weather.  Cold-stunned turtles are extremely weak and were unable to swim properly, often floating at the ocean's surface or washing up on shore.  I arrived at the Mote just in time to help out with the inflow of cold-stunned sea turtles. 

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Hermit Crab Papers

By: Alicia Agnew

Class of 2013, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

Working at a small animal clinic, a client came in with an unusual request; “May I have international health papers for my hermit crab?”  The attending veterinarian then went through a checklist, “Have you seen any sneezing?  Any coughing?  Any signs of infectious disease?......”