Sex Change Operation?

By: Jennifer Blewitt

University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2013

The bulk of my experience before applying to veterinary school was working as an emergency and critical care technician at a near-by specialty and referral hospital. Some of the roles of a CC/ER technician include acquiring radiographs, running various in-house laboratory tests, performing in-patient treatments, venipuncture, and assessing triages.

At my particular clinic, the number of technicians working on a shift are split into either in-patient or out-patient care. On one particular day I was assigned to out-patients which meant I handled the incoming triages. One triage I will never forget was a roughly six-year-old male neutered cat that presented for a gunshot wound. I assessed the patient fairly quickly to make sure it was stable before asking the owner too many questions. The cat’s vitals were WNL so I began to examine the patient for the wound. The owner mentioned that it was located in the cat’s “hind area” so I searched for a minute or so before I asked the owner to physically point out where he had seen the wound. At such time, the owner leaned in and pointed to a specific spot on the patient. I stood for a moment and tried my best not to laugh as I told him, “Um, sir, that is not a gunshot wound…that is your cat’s vagina, and ‘he’ is in fact a she.” We awkwardly starred at each other for a few seconds before I said, “would you still like your pet to be seen?” He picked up the cat and then walked out of the hospital.