This week was interesting due to the fact that I transitioned from Equine to Food Animal midway through the week. I am still loving the large animal rotations and slowly realizing that it might be a particular interest of mine. I loved small animal, but if possible, I might just love large animal more.
The beginning part of my week was relatively slow, due to the fact that we didn’t receive a lot of inpatients during my last days on Equine. I did, however, get a chance to show off something I had learned on small animal and also do a training exercise with some of the vet students.
Centrifuge, Blood Tubes, and Critocaps Sheet
On Tuesday, I came into contact with something relatively familiar in my world: a centrifuge. But not just any centrifuge, the same type of centrifuge found in the self help lab in small animal. During my time on small animal, I was taught to use this type of centrifuge to spin down tiny, glass tubes of blood to separate plasma from red blood cells. Then, using a Critocaps sheet and another tool, you can take microhematocrit readings that tell you PCV (Packed Cell Volume) and TP (total protein).
One of the students, after taking blood and starting up the centrifuge, left me to keep an eye on the spinning blood while she checked on another patient. When she returned, the spinning-down process was completed and I had already pulled out one of the tubes and had begun reading it.
We compared results and my reading was correct. We then completed the rest of the testing. I was even able to later report our readings to the clinician.
Me and Beyoncé
Before I left the Equine rotation, I was also introduced to Beyoncé. Sadly, not the Beyoncé you’re thinking of, but almost as fantastic. Beyoncé, as they call her, is a plastic teaching horse with inflatable organs. Her purpose in life is to teach students how to do simple procedures like splints, abdominal fluid taps, artificial insemination, and rectal exams (yep you read that right). Her back opens up so the clinicians and residents can help you to decipher Beyoncé’s realistic feeling insides. Through an exam, I was able to locate and palpate Beyoncé’s reproductive system, spleen, cecum, colon, and left kidney. I also got to practice a tap of her abdominal fluid (which was just water poured into the rubber midline area of the plastic horse’s abdomen that we then stuck with needles). Beyoncé is a fabulous tool and she gives great practice to students without having to poke and prod at a real animal.
Placing Rubber Calf in Plastic Cow
It must have been my week for plastic animals, because on Thursday I joined the Food Animal Rotation (sometimes called Agriculture or Livestock Service because technically not all the animals we see on Food Animal are used for food) and one of my first activities was learning to check for pregnancies in cows and calf pulling. I learned to feel and use an ultrasound to gauge developmental stages of a fetus (so much more difficult than it sounds) and get a stuck calf unstuck (scientific right?).
Me Ultrasounding Fetus
The plastic cow we used to practice calf pulling has a velcro uterus that the clinicians put a weighted rubber calf inside. The students then check to make sure the calf is in the correct position to come out properly and attach chains to the calf’s legs to pull it out. There are very few rules to calf pulling, but they are rules that I will never forget – 1. Lube 2. Lube 3. Lube (no joke these are the first three rules to calf pulling) 4. Check for spares (twins) and tears (uterine tears…that’s what the lube is for) 5. Don’t hurt the baby 6. Don’t hurt the momma – Pretty simple right?
I was also walked through the stages of development in a cow fetus from start to finish. I even got to practice ultrasounding with a fetus in a glove full of warm water and then covered by a sheet. The students played a guessing game to see how far along they thought the fetuses were.
This week has been amazing and I am still loving large animal and all the people who are helping me to learn. I am having so much fun and I cannot wait to see what my last week will bring!
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