Vet Student at Košice

This year, we have to do 30 hours in the ruminant clinic this year. We were all assigned a specific week where we have to do all our hours.  One of the patients We pre-arranged days to meet the vet to get our hours. We'd come in and do TPRs on the patients, and throughout the week there would be specific treatments and things we needed to do, like coprological examinations. We were then assigned a specific patient to write a report about - I chose Izabela the goat.  My goat was scheduled for a mastectomy on Thursday - I got to monitor the anaesthesia for it, which is something that I really enjoy. I only had my stethoscope and a watch to measure everything though. In an ideal world, I'd have all sorts of monitoring equipment, but that's not always practical. We sedated her with Xylazine, then used Ketamine to induce anaesthesia. Both were given IM, and throughout the procedure I would periodically top up the doses. We also gave her ketoprofen. She was given an epidural, usi...

Just a small update on two of the cases from the exotics clinic yesterday that I wrote about yesterday . Chameleon: The chameleon had metabolic bone disease (MBD) from poor husbandry. This is from a calcium deficiency in the diet, and excess phosphorus - she was fed almost exclusively crickets. She had pathological fractures in all her limbs, and was unable to lay eggs, leading to her being egg-bound.  She was euthanised.  Rabbit: She died on 26/10, after a sudden seizure. When palpating her abdomen, several masses were present. The vet is going to call the owner and ask for a post-mortem examination. It seems likely that she had sepsis or maybe enterotoxemia (from overgrowth of "bad" bacteria after oral administration of antibiotics that wiped out the physiological flora).  I don't think the vet had a treatment plan for her past treating the abscesses. Since the abscess started at the root of a molar tooth and spread, most of the mandible was destroyed. The teeth couldn...

As part of 5th year, I've got to complete a number of hours in the small animal clinic (internal diseases), and in the clinic of exotics. The sign up book for the whole year was released a week ago and it's already completely full so I had to take any day I could get! Today, I spent 12 hours in the small animal clinic, on my 26th birthday! When I got in in the morning, there was already a dog in the hospital - a suspected tetanus case. This was really interesting because I've never seen tetanus before, and by this point it was quite far progressed. Unfortunately the dog was non-ambulatory, and was not interested in eating or drinking. Throughout the day, her neurological function declined (no menace response, no palpebral reflex, pupils did not respond to light). At the end of the day, her pupils were different sizes ( anisocoria ), the owners were called and she was euthanised. It was a difficult situation because the owners had refused all other diagnostics, so the vets w...

Today I observed my first two surgeries at school - this is a requirement for my general surgery and anaesthesia course. We were there to learn about anaesthesia, and observe the procedures. I was so nervous this morning, I couldn't say why, but I was worried I'd have to call and cancel because I felt so sick.  The first surgery was a left eye enucleation in an 11 year old, entire male Yorkshire terrier. He had a history of glaucoma, which was left untreated and developed into uveitis (inflammation of the middle layer of the eye). Several courses of treatment later, the eye was ulcerated and painful, so the owner agreed to take it out.  The surgery was incredibly fast (about 20 minutes, using the transconjunctival approach). It was very interesting to see a retrobulbar block used, as I have very little experience with opthalmology. The dog recovered well, and was sent home with NSAIDs and antibiotic eye drops. At the end, the surgeon mentioned that there was a splenectomy happ...

A dog attack victim came in as an emergency today - a lab cross attacked by 3 bully type dogs. The back of the dog was partially degloved, and the throat was ripped to shreds. It was amazing to visualise the trachea and the jugular. The wound spans 180 degrees of the patient's torso The ventral neck wound, showing the jugular and the hole in the trachea. First the wounds were flushed and cleaned with sterile saline and swabs. The surgeon sutured up the hole in the trachea (I was in charge of moving the ET tube to ensure it hadn't been accidentally sewn to the dog). Then, the wounds were packed with saline-soaked sterile swabs, and the wound was approximated with 0PDS. The plan is to redo this every day for the next few days before going in surgically and removing the expected necrotic tissue. I'm excited to follow this case through, and I really hope this poor dog makes it. 

I saw my first ever tracheotomy today. Fortunately it was a non-emergent situation, and the surgeon doing it took his time to slowly dissect each layer. When they removed the endo-tracheal tube I got to inject a bit of propofol to keep the dog asleep (under the direct and constant supervision of a vet!) because the trach tube wasn't cuffed, and we couldn't use isoflurane. A dog came in yesterday because the owners thought he had a testicular tumour. Turns out, it wasn't a tumour. He just has one very small testicle and one regular sized one.

A rabbit came into work today for a CT and possible forelimb amputation. Unfortunately, the CT showed extensive metastatic disease, so the surgery was aborted. Still, it was very interesting to watch a rabbit anasthesia as this is not something I get to see very often! Last Friday, an emergency came in - a dog with pericardial effusion. We drained 200ml from around his heart, and immediately we noticed an improvement in his vitals and demeanor. Today, he came back in for a recheck and he was the brightest, happiest and cuddliest dog. It's likely he has a poor prognosis as we don't know for sure what caused the initial effusion, but I'm glad that he's happy in the time he has. 

I recently applied for the 4 year post BSc General Veterinary Medicine course at the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmac y in  Košice. I have yet to hear back and I am a bundle of nerves and anxiety.  I have wanted to be a vet ever since I was a wee babby. I sort of lost my way academically after GCSE's and ended up leaving 6th form with less than ideal results. I still got into university, where I studied Biology. I wasn't particularly dedicated, and again ended up with results I'm not particularly happy with. In my second year, I did a work based learning placement at a dog rescue shelter which really cemented in my mind that I wanted to work with animals.  After graduation I landed a fantastically engaging, fast paced job at a referral veterinary practice in Surrey. In the year and a half I've worked there, I have learnt an incredible amount and I am so thankful for that. In my opinion, best bit of the job is being on call, and getting to watch surgerie...