Practically a surgeon

Today was a busy busy day, but also sunny and lovely so it was great to be working outside in the country! Before we left we did some PMs on some lambs and think that they probably had pulpy kidney, so the farmer needs to boost his herd. Then we went to see a cow that had prolapsed her uterus and we stitched her up, and apparently she'd prolapsed with every calf, so who knows if she'll make it to be in calf next year. Then we gave IV fluids to a scoury calf, but there was probably something else wrong with it, perhaps some sort of septicaemia, but we were unsure so gave some fluids and B vits and and some other stuff and hopefully it'll do better! Then we were off to another farm to take some blood samples to check for BVD since the farmer wanted to sell these as beef calves. Then we went back to the hospital and had a quick lunch and then headed out to do a bunch of dehorning and castrations which took up most of the afternoon. Then we went back to the hospital and got a call about a fish hook stuck in a cows mouth, random! But we went and sure enough there was a fish hook dangling out of this cows mouth! The vet tried to get it out and when she couldn't she went to get the pliers but while she was away I was messing with it and popped it out! So it was a surprisingly easy call! Since we were done "early" read: on time, I got a ride to the train station and got an early train home! I can't believe it's already been a week! I'm having such a great time, but am excited to sleep in tomorrow!

Finally a sunny day!

Today was a really nice day weather wise! Which is good for the grass to grow so the farmer can start turning the cows out onto it, so that's good for them! We started the morning with a bullock laying flat out, so we went to see what was wrong with him. So far as we could tell (and by we I mean the vet) there was either some sort of gut tortion, or some sort of slipped disc in the night, ether way he wasn't getting up again, so we called the people who come and captive bolt down cows and send him to the slaughter house.
After lunch I went out for another round of dehornings. These went a lot smoother than the first one since they were a bit older than the other so the dehorner was able to scoop out all of the bud and all the vet had to do was pull out the cornual artery to stop the bleeding. And we have them jabs for Se, Cu and I boluses, and a jab for deworming. Afterwards the farmer invited us in for a cup of tea and we had a lovely chat!
When we got back I got grabbed up to go to a diary to do some P/D and some had some illnesses so we assessed that. There was a possibly RDA so that was cool to listen to, or it could have been gas. I practised doing a clinical exam and gave an IV injection so that was fun! Can't believe it's already thurs! How time flies!

Slow day

Today was a pretty slow day. I started out the day going to a farm and pregnancy diagnosing about 56 cows with the scanner to see if they were pregnant or needed to go back to the bull. It was nice to see some dairy cows for a change since so far I've been seeing mostly beef, and it was cool to look into the goggles of the scanner! Ones that were cycling well but weren't in valve got stickers on their hips so the farmer could tell later if they were actually pregnant but not enough to detect or the bull gets them again. If the bull goes to them then the silver bit of the sticker gets rubbed off and you can see if easily from far away and know that she wasn't pregnant and if it doesn't then you can assume that she was pregnant this time and gets re-scanned. I went on this call with a more senior vet and he was asking me a bunch of questions about repro phys, scary, but he said I knew more than he thought I would, since I haven't done any clinical work yet so that's good hopefully!
Then we went back and I went on another call to do fertility testing in some bulls again. This time I got to rectal the bull and feel the seminal vesicles and the prostate and the base of the penis, so that was co! And I set up for the first set of slides, so I was nice to reinforce all that. Then I looked at the slides in the lab to look at te sperm to see if there are any developmental problems with them so we can tell the farmer how we think his bulls will perform. Also on the farm we treated A few cows for matritis. Basically you examine the uterus by putting your ark in to see what kind of stuff is in there. One had some puss in it, but wasn't too bad and the others weren't bad either. Then you get a long tube like a straw that you feed in through the cervix and then push in a tube of cephalosporin into the uterus to kill any bacteria causing the problem. Then we made a quick pit stop at a farm
To re-measure some bull testicles to make sure the farmer could insure his bull. They were up to breed standard! Other than that pretty slow day, but it happens, hopefully tomorrow will be busy!

How many ball have you felt in your life?

So I started my large animal clinical EMS yesterday and it's amazing! Sorry in advance I didn't post yesterday but as I got up at 445 and got home at 730 I was quite tired. So here's what's happened.
Yesterday I got to the practise after having a wee breakfast at a local cafe since I got in super early (just in case something went wrong) and started my day by going to see a calf who's leg had been broken so we could remove the cast. It seems to be healing well so that's good! Then at the same farm we put rings in a few bulls noses since they were going to market probably next week sometime. Think a really big nose piercing. Why these are used I learned later that day. . Also at this farm there was a calf that had pneumonia so we listened to his lungs and gave some injections and hopefully he'll feel all better soon! There was also a calf that seemed to have some upper respiratory infection so we have him some jabs as well.
Then we went to another farm and dehorned some 20 odd calves. That's certainly an experience. First you inject then with a anaesthetic, which I got to do! Then you cut their horns off with a dehorner, which kind of scoops them out, then you cauterise the area with red hot metal to stop the bleeding and stop horn regrowth. It took a long time and was pretty bloody, but definitely interesting to see!
Then we went to another farm, this time I was with a different vet, to go to fertility testing on a group of newly purchased bulls. An older vet was there and he was surprised to find that I was only a 3rd year, but was impressed that I new all te beef breeds we were working on so yay he thinks I know stuff! So if you've never seen electro-ejaculation, and neither had I, it basically this giant think that looks like a rocket ship that you insert into the bulls rectum that lets off alternating waves of current on the accessory sex glands and causes the bull the ejaculate so you can collect the semen for analysis. For the analysis you put 2 drops on a slide that has a heated stage and look at it's movement. If it moves a lot it's good, of it doesn't that's not so great. Then you do a 1:9 dilution in ringers and look at that under the scope at a higher magnification, looking for sperm motility and amount of sperm moving. Then you stain a slide and look at them later in the lab. Also for assessing fertility you palpate the testicles and do a rectal to check the prostate and seminal vesicles. It was really cool to do, except toward the end when the bulls were being a pain and not wanted to go down to the crush, so the older vet had to try to pull them down the run via their nose ring and head halter, but if a bull doesn't want to move, it's not gonna!
Today I got to sleep in later since I knew where I was going and it wasn't a stupid bank holiday and the buses were running. When I got in I went out and we did some pregnancy diagnoses on a group of bull cows, all very positive. And it was great practice for me to get used to rectal exams and how a later pregnancy feel once the foetus has passed over the pelvic brim. So cool! Then we went out to see about a calf that needed fluids and a cow that was off her food, supposedly. I got to see how you IV catheter a calf and then it turned out that the cow had matritis, but ate the concentrates we fed her with gusto, so there may have been silage problems there as well, but who knows. Then we got called to a calving, potential Caesarian, which ended up being a Caesarian! Even though it kind of sucks for the farmer, I was quite excited! It was so cool and the calf we pulled out was a monster bull! He had a bit of trouble getting going but by the time we were done he was standing! Now I'm on the train home, where I will eat and sleep to start afresh tomorrow!

and here it is

my flatmate found the link i'm at the end!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22541802
side note i ate that whole tomato and it was glorious

Newsworthy

Today we went shopping, as I needed jeans to wear the EMS that aren't fancy jeans, and just wandered around town. Then I went to the gym and we went out to dinner since everyone is leaving soon. I also found out that apparently I was on the 6 o'clock news from the farmers market on Sat, so that happened, a friend of mine told me! I have no idea what the context was, but I guess me buying a tomato is enough to make the news in Scotland!

Making Sure the Couches Don't Escape

Today my flatmate and I went to the farmers market. It was really fun, despite the rain, and I may or may not be on some TV channel talking about tomatoes at some point, but who knows. They had a lot of great stuff and it was nice to get there early so all of the tents were there. After than we pretty much stayed on the couches all day chatting and watched That Thing You Do. All in all a relaxing day, really enjoying this whole I have nothing to do business!

And Today I Did

Nothing! Well not actually nothing, I woke up and went to the gym for a few hours, now I"m cleaning my room because even I think it's messy, and that's saying something! Tonight is my friends surprise party so we're going to dinner for that. And I saw Star Trek last night, and it was amazing! Benedict Cumerbatch in a trench coat, need I say more. So no real plans, life is good :)

DONE!

Finally after 3 weeks and 10 exams I'm done! It feels so good to be done! Now fingers crossed for no resits!