Entry, Experiences
Catherine Gilabert, Colorado

This past summer I was lucky to go on my very first RAVs trip.  I was able to meet students from all over the country and one from Canada.  This was the first time that I helped out in a spay/neuter clinic and I have never worked in an under privileged community, so this was really an eye opener.

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Entry, Foot in Mouth
Jennie Zho, Colorado

This will be the ultimate test to see if I'm the only one who thinks my animals are adorable. The first is of my dog Ruka on her first birthday last year and the second is of my cat Antonio who we hand feed to minimize the mess he makes.

Some Extra Ultrasound Experience

By: Sarah Spiegelman

Colorado State University

The year before I applied for vet school, my pre-veterinary advisor informed me that my resume was lacking in the area of food animal medicine. Now, I eat meat and I have a leather jacket, but apparently she thought I should work with a live cow before I could expect veterinary school to accept me.  I went home feeling dejected and cursing the world of ruminants.  A few days later, I received an email that a local beef rancher was looking for a student worker with experience in ultrasound.  Perfect! After a semester out at the equine reproduction lab, how hard could this be? I figured that palpating a cow couldn’t be that different from a horse, so I sent back a reply and a resume.

I got to the feedlot and found where I needed to be.  The manager helped me get oriented with their ultrasound machine. The ranch hands were all ready, brought in the first cow and loaded her in the squeeze chute. Meanwhile, I had come prepared and I pulled out my long palpation glove and lubed up my arm. But when I saw the cow, something wasn’t right.  Because instead of a cow, there stood an unmistakable and very male, Angus bull. Dangling participles and all.  Now, I figured the other workers were pulling a prank on the newbie, so I laughed it off and waited for them to bring a cow in next. Five ranch hands stood staring at my gloved and lubricated arm. One of them started giggling and asked, “Where do you plan to put that?”

After much confusion, me staring at testicles and dripping lube all over the room and five grown cowboys laughing themselves into tears, I came to find out that I had been hired for meat quality ultrasounding. Apparently, feedlots ultrasound their beef cattle to determine the condition of choice meat cuts, looking for marbling and other factors.  The boss explained that they had really intended to hire someone with experience in this type of ultrasound technique, so they wouldn’t be able to keep me on.  He did however allow me to come watch over the next few weeks to learn about working with beef cattle. I got my food animal experience after all.

Alaskan Wilderness

By: Emily  Mehlman

Colorado State University, Class of 2013

For my last official summer, I wanted to gain vet experience while also seeking adventure and travel.  Alaska was the perfect place, having a paid externship opportunity in small animal emergency and miles of wilderness to explore. 

Anchorage was our base-camp of sorts and where we spent 4 weeks working at P.E.T. Emergency while hiking/running/biking around the area.  Even close to Anchorage there was much more exploration than one could do in a single month.  Every day I either ran in nearby Kincaid Park, biked to the Aleyeska (the local ski area), or found a good day hike around nearby glacier lakes.  Without having the limitations normally dictated by the nightfall, any hour was a fine time to enjoy the limitless outdoors. 

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The Toilet Blog

By: Joy Fuhrman

Class of 2012, Colorado State University 

In 2006, my husband Greg and I were fortunate to do some international travelling.  To keep our family and friends up to date with our experiences, we set up a website to which we posted pictures and wrote blogs.  This blog, written while we were in Europe, is as much fun to read as it was to write.  Hope you enjoy!

This morning I asked Greg if it would be totally inappropriate for me to post a blog discussing the European toilets.  There, I said it!  TOILET!!!  Not bathroom or restroom or powder room.  Toilet! Aseos, toilettes, servizi or simply, WC.  For those of you who disapprove of this dirty subject, please forgive me, but my own curiosity (not to mention that of many I know) has compelled me to write this analysis of the good, the bad and the ugly that Europe has to offer.

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