Slacking off of posting

Sorry I've been slacking in the post department, I just keep forgeting to and remembering too late. Anywho it's been relatively busy and I've gotten to see some new things! Yesterday we vasectomized 6 tups which was pretty cool. I should have taken pictures of them in the holder they were in, they looked a bit ridiculous and some were fairly sedated so they were a little out of it. I also got to go on a special fertility visit with one of the partners yesterday so that was fun! It wasn't special in that it was unusual but the vet stopped by the flat the day before to tell me about it so that was nice of him to let me tag along! We also did a bull fertility exam which I haven't done in a while. We did a bunch of dehorning the other day and I got to inject the local since the vet was busy trying to restrain them, though either they were crazy, we didn't put in enough local, or I messed them up or some combination of all of that because they were pretty fractious and now I have a fair amount of bruises! But it doesn't really help that the crush is too big for them, and calves are insane. We saw a colicing horse last night, and I've done some bloods off of calves and did an IV injection. Nothing much else to report!

I'm running out of blog post titles

Today was a pretty chill day. I went out in the morning and listened to some cows and did 2 PDs, and I was right! The vet said I seemed pretty comfortable with doing them and the farmer said I could come back any time! Then we went and took bloods off some calves. I've never done bloods on calves, but since its basically the same as sheep but better behaved I picked it up pretty quickly! Then we came back to the practice for a while. Then we went out and did some more PDs and I cleaned out a freshly calved coos uterus, which was pretty gross but it was something new! Then later we went to go see some sick cows and I got the correct diagnosis! The days have been going by so quickly its crazy that its almost friday! I'm really bummed I cant be at the beach this year though! Everyone better have some artichokes for me!

Also this is what a crush looks like for people who think they sound like medieval torture devices!

Let lose

Today was a pretty slow day, but it still went by fairly quickly. We mostly just sat in the office and read most of the day, but then I went with the other vet student to take some bloods of a bunch of sheep. It was really great because the vet did what my job normally is, handing us blood tubes and writing down numbers. But me and the other student took all of the bloods! And we went really fast, I'm definitely getting much better at it, despite almost getting kicked in the face. Then I went with the vet to see the coo that had had the LDA on monday. She was ketotic and ended up having pneumonia. She didn't look to poorly though, so I think she'll do well. After that on the way home we were driving and a hawk flew into the car! It was quite a surprise and we went back to make sure that it was actually dead. Certainly an interesting way to end the day!

Acting vets!

Today was a good day! First I went with the vet to do a bunch of PDs and I'm getting a lot better at my rectal pregnancy diagnosis and it was great to get my hand in some coos. Then we went to go get some special medium to grow Campylobacter because this farm has a bull that is a real pain so they are looking to cull him but after they collect his semen to sell. But the lab cultured some campylobacter form him but it died before they could speciate it, so we went back to take the sample in this stuff so hopefully they will get some answers! Then the other vet student here and I went to a farm BY OURSELVES and did a full lameness assessment on the whole herd! It was cool that we were there by ourselves doing some work, granted not very difficult work, and it did get a bit tedious so we could see why they stuck us with the job, but it was still great that they let us go off on our own. Plus while we were waiting for them to come and get us we pet some calves. Though very carefully as they were riddled with ringworm. Though there was some lag time it was still a good day!

Back to the coos!

Today was my first day of work in Ayr and it was pretty busy! I went out with a vet from Ireland, though sometimes I have a bit of trouble with the accent still.  First we went to a dairy (so nice to be back on a dairy!) and did a PD, and I was right that she was in calf! So I'm slowly getting better at it! Then we went to another dairy to get a 'pea' out of a teat. I should have taken pictures of the tools that the vet used, they looked like torture devices, but we got it out! Bascally it was a bit of milk that had clotted and wouldn't come out. Then while we were there we saw a castration that the farmer had missed with his rubber ring, so it was only 1 testicle that needed doing. Then we swung by another farm where another vet was doing a LDA, but by the time we got there she was getting stitched up so we didn't really do much. Then we went to a farm that had had 4 abortions in the last month 2 of which were yesterday, so we went to go get some samples to send off and the vet let me take the bloods! So that was cool, and it came out right away so I didn't look like a complete arse.  Then it was time for lunch back at the surgery. After lunch we went out to see a down cow and gave her a bottle of Ca. Afterwards me and the other student here went to go see a calving. The calf was dead but it was really hard to get out because its head was back. Eventually they were able to crank it out with the jack, but it took a lot of time and a LOT of lube. After that the day was pretty much finished so we headed to the co-op and then home~

Made it to Ayr!

Well it's not like it was far away! But after a night to FINALLY get to sleep in my own bed (which was glorious) I re packed all my washing and headed here. Andy was nice enough to drive me, which was great since getting here would have been a real chore with the games ending today. So it was smooth sailing and that meant I had the whole day to relax before coming. I also got the room with the eat internet apparently, woo! Hopefully I'll have some good stories to share from these upcoming two weeks!

Last day!

Today was my last day up here in Orkney. It's crazy how fast time has gone and it's been such a great experience! I waited a bit in the office for ops to finish up and then hit the road to go to a routine dairy visit where we scanned 18 coos and I followed up and rectaled them! I got to see the foetuses on the ultrasound screen too, so it was great! Plus it was nice to get back to a dairy! Then we went back to the surgery for lunch. Later I went to go see a heifer that was felling off and it seemed like she had photo sensitivity which apparently is fairly common here. Then we went to go re bandage a horse leg, which was a typical horse visit. That being said the leg was looking great! When we got back to the surgery I saw pictures of what it looked like initially and it's gotten so much better it's insane. Then we just hung around the surgery for a bit and it was time to leave! I also made them all snickerdoodles, and they were gone by the time I left, so that was good! Now I'm all packed and ready to head back to Glasgow to do some washing and finally sleep in my own bed!!!