The Parent and the Mishap

Honorable Mention - Life as a Vet Student
Sally Moseley, St. Matthew's University

I have always thought of myself as a good pet owner.

That being said, how many discredited parents have told a similar tale?

How I think most pet owners (and many parents, as well) get into trouble is not by lack of caring but lack of knowing.  I have been a huge advocate for client education before I even knew what client education was; I spoke to youth groups about the importance of realizing the responsibility of taking care of a pet before they got a pet, and I also spoke to them about common dangers  pets may face.

I honestly did not inform them of very much, just some basic ideas.  I mostly wanted to encourage those kids to follow the adage “look before you leap” so that they might get the most out of having a pet. 

Somewhere along the line, I must have forgotten my own advice.  I certainly cared, I just did not know.  And I did not learn until the incident, which may be considered the point at which it was “too late”.

For ten years, I had two beautiful female leopard geckos: Fintsy and Coraco.  When I first set up their tank, overjoyed with the thrill of the exotic experience, I had a stack of books about leopard geckos.  I would have told you that I read every single word.  I would have told you, and I would have believed it myself.

Ten years after first pouring sand into that tank, on a cold morning before the sun cared to join us, I woke up to a gargled shriek.  It was a moment where I had no idea what was happening, but I did know that one of my geckos was in pain.  (Later, my vet would try to comfort me by saying reptiles did not feel pain, but I changed his mind that day.)  I jumped out of bed and lifted up my geckos’ favorite cave to find a strange site. 

Fintsy was not only missing a foot, but she was biting her own leg.  Maybe sometime in my veterinary career I will make up some plausible explanation for her biting her own leg.  I wish I could give an explanation now, but all I can come up with at the moment is that it was in response to Coraco biting off her foot. 

I am not sure how many people know about leopard geckos.  Maybe to some people this incident does not look like my fault.

But I have not exactly given the full story yet.  A couple of years before the incident, Coraco bit off Fintsy’s tail.  Why didn’t I separate them after that?  Two reasons: I had my suspicions that Coraco was partially blind, and leopard gecko tails grow back. 

It was not until years later that the incident occurred, and in a panic of Googling I discovered that you are not supposed to let two female leopard geckos live in the same tank.  They fight.  I thought ten years was a long time to go with one “fight” that might have been a blind gecko’s attempt at catching a cricket.  But then I read that everyone said they had geckos for three years or five years or even ten years before they fought. 

If this had happened to everyone, how did I not discover this before?

Needless to say, I felt extremely foolish. 

Click to read more ...

Getting the word out: How practitioners can integrate

Honorable Mention, Experiences
Sally Moseley, St. Matthew's University

“Okay,” a fellow vet student sighed in relief after her kitten slipped off the stairs and landed with an unpleasant thud onto the hard floor.  “I think she’s okay; she doesn’t seem as though she’s bleeding internally or anything.”

“Does that happen to animals?”

Our glares told the outnumbered med student that, yes, animals can have internal bleeding just as humans can.

The medical community has many divisions; some physicians are divided by specialty, some by species, and some by geography.  It is easy for us to get wrapped up in our own experiences and forget to open our mind to other possibilities.  However, this is a modern age that is only growing more modern, and I believe that this will aid the medical community in combating any prejudices resulting from ignorance; the modern age has opportunities for communication that have never been accessed before.

I am sorry that I had to pick on the aforementioned med student.  I find it disconcerting that it is so easy to pick on people for saying similar things.  My schoolmates and I have often discussed instances of people’s ignorance of animals.  Med students are easy targets because, let’s face it, there is a small rivalry between human physicians and multi-species physicians.

Instead of rivalries, why not use the modern age of communication to foster…communication?

 At a South African seabird rehabilitation center, I had the opportunity to help give African Penguin #234 (AP 234) a bath.  This was no ordinary, fun-loving procedure; the rehabilitation center often treated victims of oil spills.  Oiled-birds were typically weak and, to put it simply, sad-looking.  Animal-lovers are no strangers to the look of an animal who just does not look “right”.  They are not strangers to the apprehensive feeling in their guts that tells them that, darn it, that animal is in pain. 

AP 234 stood in the pen with his fellow sad-looking oiled-birds.  I took my charge and prepared myself for the next delicate task.  If the oiled-birds come in sad-looking, the bathing process can be even worse; the task is stressful for birds who have no idea of the humans’ good intentions.

Click to read more ...

Powerhouse

Entry, Creative Corner
Ana Maria Cepeda, St. Matthews University

"You ain't nothin' but a hound dog"

Entry, Foot in Mouth
Cambria McCabe, St. Matthew's University

I took this photo a couple weeks ago of a dog I was fostering at the time (she now has a wonderful new home!). She was eating her kibbles and I was able to capture this photo of her Elvis Presley impersonation!

Cow and Calf Roundup

Honorable Mention, Creative Corner Category
Cynthia Fichtner, St. Matthews University

 "This picture was taken in Montana, USA. I was on a Bovine externship with Parks Veterinary Clinic in Harlowton, MT. We were on horseback bringing in the cows and calves for spring."