The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold... medicine.

Elizabeth Woodworth - Michigan State

V:50 I:4 Foot in Mouth Disease

The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep you ever got with a cold... medicine.  

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na.....

Crossing the Road

Entry, Creative Corner
Emily McConnelly, Michigan State University

Sand Dunes and Lyme Disease

Entry, Experiences
Jennifer Sidge, Michigan State

Manitou Islands, Michigan

Everyone loves watching the sunrise, but when you watch it ascend over Lake Michigan sand dunes, you just know it is going to be a wonderful day.  After racing up 117 steps to reach the top of a historic lighthouse that overlooks the Manitou Passage and South Manitou Island, your breath is taken away and you know it is not just from the climb up!  While enjoying a summer evening swim in South Manitou’s bay with the stars and shimmer from the nearby lighthouse reflecting off of the tranquil water, you know that the individual who told you, “If you enjoy what you do every day, then you will never have to work a day in your life,” is absolutely correct.   

 

I am a third year veterinary student at Michigan State’s College of Veterinary Medicine currently taking a year off from the veterinary curriculum in order to work on an additional graduate degree with the NIH Predoctoral T32 Training Program.  For my Master’s, I am focusing on Lyme disease ecology in Michigan-specifically along the west coast.  

Figure 1. Captured birds were searched for the presence of ticks.

A very interesting question is presented by two of our Lake Michigan islands, which illustrates the importance of deer for the Lyme disease cycle.  Deer play a critical role within this system, as they help to complete the lifecycle of the tick by serving as a host for the adult stage.  North Manitou Island is the home to a small population of white-tailed deer unlike South Manitou Island, which is 5km from North, but does not have any deer.  North and South Manitou Islands are part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and this three way collaborative study involving Michigan State University, Michigan Department of Community Health, and National Park Service was the first time that Lyme disease risk has been assessed on the islands. Field days out on the islands, typically are all-day events.  We mist-net for birds, which allows us to search migratory and resident birds for the presence of ticks (Figure 1).

Click to read more ...

Hunter's Story

Honorable Mention, Experiences
Stephanie Halley, Michigan State University

It started with an “alternate” letter to Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.  I was so close, yet so far from vet school I could taste it.  To beef up my application, I wanted more clinical experience and spent a year working at Clare Animal Hospital.  Before work on a snowy in December of 2010 my dog, a 13 year old golden retriever named Hunter, became weak, tired, and had tacky gums.  I took him to work where my boss, Dr. Paul McNeilly, palpated his abdomen and said it didn’t look too promising.  We shaved him for an ultrasound to get a better look at what was going on.  The diagnosis: splenic hemangiosarcoma.  The prognosis was grave and Dr. McNeilly didn’t anticipate him lasting too much longer.  The reason he was so pale and weak was because he was bleeding internally.

I had fully accepted his fate, vowed to make Hunter comfortable in my home, and was overwhelmed with haunting thoughts that if I had gotten into vet school I may have been able to help him sooner.  Days later I received a letter from Michigan State.  On my second application I was accepted but the feeling was bittersweet with my dog still sick.  Five months later, in May of 2011, Hunter was still alive and in good spirits.  The doctors at the practice couldn’t believe it and thought he might be strong enough for surgery if the mass hadn’t metastasized.  After taking radiographs, checking his blood, and getting a second look with the ultrasound Dr. McNeilly made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse and set the stage for my veterinary career.

Click to read more ...

How to round the right way

Honorable Mention, Foot in Mouth
Erica Ward, Michigan State University

To brighten the spirits of my peers on our large animal medicine and surgery rotation, I decided to rap my rounds presentation....

Listen up fellas, I'll tell you the mostest

About a condition called Arthrogryposis.

The calf is born with stiff joints

My rhyme will go over the main points.

It can be caused by many things- from something the cow ate,

To the calf taking up too much real estate.

If you ever see a curly calf

You better move the flag to half staff.

There is no use in fixin' the feet,

We've gotta cut our losses- can't even sell the meat.

This is a bigger problem at beef barns,

A bull can be the culprit at those farms.

The genetic condition is from a recessive mutation,

To solve the problem there should be no hesitation.

It's a 3-point mutation on a single chromosome,

There are many tests to choose from- to each his own,

You see, in Bovine land all the marriages are arranged,

and it would be a pity if calves were born deranged.

So test your heifers and test your bull, 

If they come back positive, it's best to cull.

Now all you Dairy farmers listen up,

This is vital if you want there to be milk for that cup.

Don't let you cows eat Lupine flower,

Keep Bluetonge and Arboviruses away with all your power.

You better pray the calf has enough room,

Or I'll be sending him right to his tomb.

And that's all there is to Arthrogryposis,

Thank you for your attention, I love you the mostest.