Helping America's Unwanted Horses

What is Christmas break for, spending time with your friends and loved ones, catching up on some lost relation time? For me it's that and writing essays for Vet School. I am writing a paper for my veterinary ethics and law class in addition to writing several scholarship essays. One of my scholarship essay prompts is "Concisely describe your activities related to decreasing animal overpopulation. Include the specific activity, your role and date(s) of the activity." As I began writing, I thought deeply about what had really encouraged me to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. It was because I realized I had a deep passion for helping animals. I have always wanted to take part in decreasing unwanted animal population in this world. With the economy the way it is, people are forced to feed their children or their pets, they are forced to seek cheaper veterinary care, and in the worst case scenario, people are forced to give up their pets. This issue extends not only to small animals, primarily dogs and cats, but also to horses. The equine industry was hit fiercely by the end of horse slaughter in America. Horse rescue organizations began filling fast as America's economy sloped downwards. People have been letting their horses free in hopes to give them at least a chance for survival. One of my dad's friends even found strange horses waiting in his trailer after returning from a trail ride. People are dumping their horses because they have no other choice. 


During my vet school interview, I was asked what I would do with the current overpopulation of horses. It is a difficult question that our society, and especially people entering the equine veterinary profession are currently faced with. I answered that I believed horse slaughter was a necessary evil, but should not be the sole option for unwanted horses. Some horses ought to be rescued and found new loving homes, but unfortunately not every horse can. One of the main reasons America needs horse slaughter is because the current situation makes it more difficult for horses bound for slaughter. They are trucked long distances to Mexico or Canada and face conditions at slaughter facilities that are out of our control and regulations. 


Rescue organizations can only handle about 13,400 horses a year, but with an unwanted horse population of roughly 100,000 horses, we have a major issue. So what do we do about this growing problem? I think the only thing we can do until horse slaughter returns to the US is educate horse owners and try to reduce the number of America's unwanted horses. If people are educated on what it takes to own and care for a horse, maybe there will be less people having to relinquish them. 


As an emerging veterinarian, I hope to become involved in combating this growing problem in the equine industry. I hope to volunteer my time with equine rescue organizations like the Grace Foundation of Northern California. In addition to helping horses, I volunteer at spay and neuter clinics to reduce dog/cat populations. I feel one of the best things I can do is to focus on educating the public on these problems.

 Watch Thistle's Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4xkBgv8WTA 

LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.horsewelfare.ca/horse-welfare-resources/206-equine-rescue-facilities-cant-handle-influx-of-unwanted-horses

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/59251/unwanted-horses-rescue-and-sanctuary-organizations-unable-to-keep-up

http://jas.fass.org/cgi/content/full/88/12/4142?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=holcomb&fulltext=equine&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT

Writing My Letter of Intent: The American Fondouk

Summer 2012, I am traveling to Fez, Morocco to volunteer at the American Fondouk. I have just written my letter of intent to come to Fez to help animals and the people of Morocco. I can't believe I'm really going, this will be such a unique opportunity and will greatly benefit my veterinary knowledge and skill set.

In November, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture on equine aid in third world countries by Dr. Derek Knottenbelt. He spoke of the need of helping animals, especially the workhorses in third world countries as a major contributor to helping the people whose lives depend on them. I realized the growing need to educate these people on proper nutrition, care, and management strategies as well as compassion for their animals. I realized that I wanted to do something to change the lives for the animals as well as the people. Shortly after Dr. Knottenbelt’s presentation, I attended a presentation at UC Davis put on by the International Veterinary Student Association, where I saw Kate Ferrell’s presentation on her trip to the American Fondouk. She spoke of how much she learned from the staff at the American Fondouk while helping animals in need. I was greatly moved and inspired from her presentation. I came to the conclusion that the American Fondouk would be an ideal place for me to expand my veterinary skills and help people and animals in need.

I plan on spending a month with the American Fondouk (last week of June, first 3 weeks of July) during the summer of 2012. At that time, I will be entering my third year of veterinary school at UC Davis and will have completed many of my essential core classes. Since I have only ever been as far east as Tennessee, I plan on traveling Europe after my time at the American Fondouk. I have always loved traveling and I believe that seeing the world is increasingly important in American society. Traveling gives you the chance to experience other cultures and ways of life. Americans - especially our youth - have a tendency to think that our way is the only way, and travel is a chance to find out that that is just not true. Other countries do things differently than we do - whether or not they do them better than we do is up to the individual assessing the situation.

I am greatly impressed and inspired by the work at the American Fondouk. I hope to be able to participate in such a great organization and make a difference in the lives of animals and their people in Fez.

 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyesbQ9RV5k

http://www.mspca.org/americanfondouk/

http://www.mspca.org/americanfondouk/veterinary-students-traveling.html

http://www.theoctagononline.com/news/2010/08/23/kate-farrell-03-treats-hamsters-sheep-mules-in-morocco%E2%80%94but-no-hippos-or-cows/

Externship At Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center

After finishing my last final, I packed my bags and headed to my boyfriend's house for winter break. He lives close by my family, which is great, cause I haven't seen them much since I've been in vet school. Three weeks of freedom from Vet School, but not at all a break from veterinary medicine. My boyfriend lives close to Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center (LBEMC) serving Placer county, surrounding communities, and the foothills. I spent the first week of my winter break as an extern at Loomis Basin Equine. Externships are experiential learning opportunities, similar to internships, designed to give students short-term practical experiences in the field. They are typically one to two weeks in duration and are designed to give the student a chance to "job-shadow" and apply what they are learning in classes. After just finishing my first quarter of vet school, I feel like I have just learned a drop in the bucket, but I figured some hands on experience would be well worth while.

Informational Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP9RQdaBrOU

At LBEMC, December is Dental Special month where clients can get two Dentals for the price of one. This was a very popular special among LBEMC clients, giving me the chance to see lots of dentals the week I was there. It is important to have your horse's teeth at least checked once a year to make sure they don't have any loose or rotten teeth and that their occluding surfaces are smooth and the mouth and tongue are not ulcerated from rough edges. One may wonder how horse dentals are performed? Well, for sure, they are first sedated, then a speculum is inserted into their mouth to hold it open. First they use a probe and a mirror to examine each tooth for decay. Then they use the "power float" to smooth the edges of the teeth. I got to see a few tooth extractions, two where the tooth broke on it's way out and they had to punch a hole through the horse's sinus to push the tooth root out. It looked painful, but is fairly routine in equine dentistry because it can sometimes be difficult to pull rotten teeth that crumble.

Informational Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utcFpfxno5w

On one day during my externship, we had a gelding come in for emergency colic surgery, the grooms had found him down in his stall that morning and he was showing typical sings of colic and discomfort. Any delay in the treatment of a surgical colic can reduce the chances of success. Colic surgery can be very expensive, roughly $6,000-$8,000 without additional complications. There are also many forms of colic, generically it is abdominal pain, but it can have a number of causes. The incidence of colic in the general horse population has been estimated between 10 and 11 percent on an annual basis. The horse that was on the table that day turned out to have Epiploic Foramen Entrapment, which is where a piece of small intestine can become trapped through the epiploic foramen, immediately occluding the blood supply to that piece of intestine. The intestine becomes trapped and surgery is the only available treatment.

I really enjoyed my time at LBEMC, working with their skilled veterinarians. I learned a lot and got a lot of hands on experience. If my summer plans allow it, I will return to LBEMC over summer break. Now I have about two weeks left of my winter break and I have to write my Veterinary Ethics and Law paper and finish my scholarship applications. Can't wait for Christmas! 

http://lbemc.com/

Review of My Fall Courses

This quarter went by so fast! I can't believe I'm already 1/3 done with my first year of veterinary school. I think I had a long period of adjusting at first and am still learning how to survive in veterinary school, but overall, it was a great quarter. I became involved in some clubs, attending "rounds" where they have residents go over unique and cool cases that they see in the clinic here at Davis. They are always fun and suspenseful, because they test your knowledge and let you feel as though you are working up the case yourself. My favorite club functions were the Equine Medicine Club meetings. I also went to the Wildlife medicine club meetings and rounds.

In Vet school, there is such a thing as a "free lunch". We were swamped with lunch talks that always provide us with hot food, mostly pizza, but occasionally burritos and Chinese food! On top of the food, the lunch talks are always interesting.

Freshman Doctoring (400A): This class started during orientation and taught us how to be a good veterinary students. It gave us a chance to meet one another (the class we'll be with for four years!) and learn how to interact in groups. It was taught by the famous Dr. Jim Clark and Cheryl and Dr. Baine. They were all upbeat professors with valuable knowledge to offer. 
Animal Behavior (406): I really enjoyed this class, I didn't learn a lot of new material, since I have a lot of experience understanding animal behavior already, but I did learn that it is really important for a veterinarian to understand animal behaviors and educate owners on proper and polite animal behavior, for your safety and theirs. I often think about horses that walk all over people and are "pushy" this is not a desired behavior in the horse, owners need to be the "lead mare" of the herd (owner and horse) and make sure that their 1,000 pound horse is not going to trample them. Behavior is an ever emerging field because one of the main reasons for animal relinquishment is because of behavior issues that could easily be resolved with a little basic knowledge about animal behavior and how to deal with it.
Epidemiology (409): Epidemiology is the study of disease flow through populations. It is very important in studies of Malaria, HIV, the e. Coli spinach outbreak. I think this class really drove it home how important good research is to human and animal health. Not my favorite course, but it was over quickly. I do enjoy learning more about research and how it is conducted, but honestly, I'm really not sure what to take from this class. I'm left wondering how I could have done better in the course and how I could better wrap my head around the professor's questions. I did get a B+ though, much better than I thought I would do!
Physical Chemistry (403): This course was very clinically relevant. I really enjoyed the periodic case discussions that pertained to the course material. The case discussions were presented to us and we had to figure out a differential list of diagnosis and treatments. Each case was then presented by a faculty member that had actually seen and treated the case. It was great to see real cases that related to the material we covered in class. 
Veterinary Ethics&Law (436): We had some very opinionated people in this course. We talked about very heated issues in veterinary medicine and the realm of animal welfare. The professor wrote the book on veterinary medical ethics and was very opinionated himself. We had several guest speakers in the course that drove home the realities of these issues. I still have to write my essay over Christmas break which is our grade for the course.
Radiology (430): It was hard to pay attention in this class because they always turned out the lights! How are you supposed to stay awake at 9am in the morning with no light? It was really cool learning how radio graphs are generated, and how Ultrasound, MRI, and CT works. Many of the professors in this course were really great lecturers and had a great sense of humor. We got to hear several physics jokes throughout the quarter.
Anatomy: Canine Locomotor System (401A): One of my favorite classes. This course really made up the bulk of my study time.We began by learning all the bones, all the points, foramen, and fossa's of the bones. We learned all the muscles, veins, arteries, nerves and cutaneous test sites of the canine forelimbs and hind limbs in addition to the epaxial and apaxial musculature of the back. We also learned about variations between species (horse, dog, cat, bovine). A lot of hours spent studying with friends in the anatomy lab. This course was not cumulative, but we had four exams!
Histology (427): We learned exactly what makes up an entire organism (or animal so to speak). We looked at slides during laboratories and learned to differentiate different tissues. 
Cardio Anatomy (402A): This class started two weeks before finals week. It was kind of a abrupt introduction to the anatomy of the heart.
Animal Nursing (415): We had several animal handling labs where we got to work with real animals! The first one was small animal handling followed by cat/dog handling, then equine handling and last but not least, food animal handling. Some of my memorable experiences were practicing making a "kitty burrito" and drawing blood from the tail vein of a cow as well as from the jugular from a goat. This course continues the whole first year of veterinary school. This quarter, I had my small animal nursing shifts which introduced me to the VMTH and how they conduct their patients. We also learned how to monitor fluids and find the doctor's orders. It was fun actually getting some hands on with the animals.

Finals Are Here

I've been waiting all quarter to be done with the quarter. I love vet school, but I am ready for a break. I've been working my butt off this quarter trying to keep up in classes and balance a life outside of vet school. I've tried to keep my stress down by spending time with family and friends, riding, yoga and working out (not as much as I would like). Vet school does grow on you and I feel that I have developed adequate study skills needed to do well in my courses. I have made adjustments to my life and spent more time focusing on vet school instead of working (like I did in undergrad). It's been kind of relaxing not having to worry about a job and just focus on my studies. Vet school is my job!

I am preparing myself for this week, four exams, one each day. My schedule is great in regards to only one exam each day, but it seems that it will all happen so fast and they will leap frog on top of one another. Life is full of trade-offs. We must make decisions on how we conduct ourselves every day in order to complete tasks and run our lives. I'm procrastinating as we speak by writing this blog, but frankly if I don't take study breaks, I feel as though my brain might explode. When I can turn my attention to something else for just a minute or two, it really gives me a refresher that allows me to get my full attention back to my studies. Wish me luck on finals, all four of them!

Monday: Physical Chemistry

Tuesday: Cardiology Anatomy

Wednesday: Canine Locomoter Anatomy

Thursday: Histology

NAVLE

NAVLE stands for North American Veterinary Licensing Exam. While us first year veterinary students are getting ready for our first quarter of finals and our last day of class to be over, the senior veterinary students, class of 2011, are beginning to take the Veterinary Licensing Exam. 

The NAVLE is a 360 item computer based multiple choice examination, administered during two testing windows per year.  The NAVLE is a requirement for licensure to practice veterinary medicine in all licensing jurisdictions in North America. The fee to take the NAVLE exam is $550 plus a $50 "board approval fee". To become a licensed veterinarian in California, you must also complete the state licensing exam. The cost of the California state board is $150 with an additional $100 "application review fee". This is a grand total of $850 if you pass both exams the first time (they give you a second chance if you don't pass the first time, but of course, not free of charge). All of this money is supposed to be raised by each veterinary school class during their time at Davis. We hold fund raising events like the Turkey Roast, or other holiday parties.

In 2010, the average debt for graduating senior veterinary students was $121,400 which does not include undergraduate loans <http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/studentprograms/subpages/admission_info/debt.html>. The main reason for such high debt amounts is because UC Davis has had to turn to raising tuition to evade many of the state's budget cuts. UC-Davis relies on state funding for about one third of its budget and has endured $5 million in cuts over the last three years. The university is planning a tuition increase of about 12 percent — from $27,045 to $30,246 — for the 2010-2011 school year. <DVM360>. 

"Oh great, fresh out of vet school"

Not Enough Time!!!

I'm sure every first year is feeling the pressure right now, this week is packed full of review sessions and laboratory activities, from Cardiology, Anatomy to Histology, we're living in our scrubs! I myself also have my small animal nursing shifts this week.

In Small Animal nursing, we get an introduction to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital we will be spending the next four years in. We also learn a little bit of how it is ran, how patients are checked in and housed. We went on a huge tour of the small animal (dog and cat) clinic which is located on the second floor of the VMTH. We also learned where the Pharmacy, Central Service, and Diagnostic Laboratories were. I've had experience with all of these during my equine internships and foal team shifts at the VMTH. We were introduced (or re-introduced) to urinary catheters and all their various components as well as how to read fluid bags and calculate fluid doses. The vet tech that taught us all this was fun, up-beat and very concerned with us learning something from our shift. I go in tonight for my second shift where we will hopefully be applying a little bit of what we learned on Monday's shift as well as reviewing that material.

As for me, I have no time to study! I did go riding yesterday, I ride Tina, on of my professor's horses. She is a gorgeous Morgan mare (who never acts like a mare) and I adore her. It was great spending time out at the barn, but when I got home, I immediately got back to studying. Finals are next week and I have four days until they begin. I don't feel behind in my classes, I haven't missed one all quarter, but I do feel like I don't have enough time to study for each of them.

Tomorrow, we have an exam in Radiology, only one exam for this quarter, but we won't get a final grade. The course spans the entire first year and has a cumulative exam each quarter. Yep, that's right cumulative! Pretty much from here out (i.e. when you start vet school) everything is cumulative! You need to remember this stuff because you will be using part of it at least in your everyday career. It feels overwhelming at times, but I try to take it one day at a time and remember what I can, and review what I don't know when I'm faced with it again.

I was up for my 8am Cardiology lab this morning where we explored our fresh pig heart. It was great to see the real thing and hold it in my hands, it is so complex! I saved my heart so I can go back and study it again over the next few days.

Can't wait for tonight's nursing shift, can't wait, can't wait...until this quarter is over.