Snake goo.

Well, my internship at the zoo is officially over. I'm a little sad that I didn't have anything else exciting to write about, but I might go back to visit before I start vet school.

Speaking of which, I'm not entirely sure that it's completely sunk in yet. I'm going to vet school in a few months. Whoa. When I told the zoo vet I got in, she hugged with me a baby kangaroo. You'd think that would be a enough to make you realize that it's actually happening. Maybe it won't hit me until I get there...

But I have one week of undergrad left. That's it. Another whoa. And as soon as my last final is over, I'm packing up and heading to camp for half the summer. So I'll have half a summer of money making, animal adopting, kid teaching, dead animal cutting, organ preserving, and flesh eating beetle feeding. More details on that awesomeness later, though. And then in July, I'm moving, and my vet school preparation will begin.

I have to get a rabies vaccination before I start school. I wonder if I get a tag for it? If so, do I have to start wearing a collar? I was freaking out about it at first because I thought the shots were in your stomach, but apparently that's only if you get bitten by something first. So it's just in my arm, and I am very relieved.

They are also having a big retreat for the incoming class the week before school starts. It's at some camp, and we are supposed to do a bunch of team-building, friend-making exercises. So that will be fun... a bunch of antisocial, awkward vet students trying to do physical activities together... I mean, it's totally necessary. It forces us to make friends, but it's going to be painful. I feel awkward just thinking about it.

Since I don't have any recent animal adventures to share, here is one of my fondest memories from last summer at camp:

Isn't this one of the coolest pictures you have ever seen?!?

 That, my friends, is a Columbian Red-Tail Boa in the process of giving birth. Boas are one of the few (but not super few) snake species that have live births, and I was fortunate enough to get to see one actually happening. It was seriously one of the most awesome things I've ever experienced in my life. She had a total of 31 baby snakes (and a slug, which is an unfertilized egg.. it's the yellowish glob next to the mom's tail). Two of the babies ended up dying after about a day (my guess is that they were underdeveloped or weren't able to get enough oxygen through all of that snake goo), but the other 29 survived, and guess whose job it was to take care of them all summer?

Yeah. That'd be me. I had to teach those things how to eat. Do you know how freaking hard that is?! Especially when there are that many of them?! I spent countless hours sweating my butt off in that 80 degree reptile room. Every single day I had to do a count to make sure they were all alive, and that was incredibly difficult because the little jerks kept escaping on me. Then I spent a good hour everyday (unless I could find some poor, unsuspecting child to do it for me) changing their paper towels and waters (because every single one had its own box to keep track of feedings).

And then. Twice a week, I spent my entire evening dangling dead baby rats in front of their stupid, little faces, trying to encourage them to eat. Some of them didn't want to eat. And I did not like those. Not one bit. So I tried everything.. from rubbing the rats in gerbil litter to poking holes in their brains. Eventually, all of the snakes started to figure out how to eat, and that was one of the happiest days of my life.

I can't even tell you how many baby snake bites I endured that summer (some of them were strikers.. big time.. luckily they were so tiny that it didn't really hurt). But I wouldn't trade it for anything, and I even kinda miss those little guys. I almost wish I could have kept one, but they get like, 8 feet long, and I don't want to be eaten by my own pet.

This is about 6 months after they were born. Little dudes grow up so fast.

And it all pays off...

I guess I'm going to have to change my blog's name from the pre-vet life to the vet life because I was just accepted into vet school!!!!

Baby roo.

Yesterday when I arrived at the zoo, I noticed a sling around the vet's neck, and I knew that momma kangaroo had died. She was starting to do better, but I guess she just deteriorated overnight and had to be euthanized. 

So in the sling around the vet's neck was baby roo. Luckily, marsupial babies aren't terribly difficult to raise (the pouch thing is pretty helpful), but they are kinda messy (the whole, pooping in the sling and rolling around in it thing). And heavy. So to give the vet a break, I was on baby roo duty all morning.

She didn't want to hold still (too busy trying to nibble on everything she could get her mouth on).

Other than that, I didn't do much. Just cleaned a few things. And I was growled at by an adorably grumpy raccoon named Dan, who was angry that I was cleaning things near his isolation cage.

Smelly days.

Yesterday I spent the day at my favorite large animal clinic. The people there are awesome (like, they provide my lunch and/or breakfast almost every time I go out there, and nothing makes me happier than free food.. you know, besides animals). I wish I could shadow there more often (I start to miss the smell of cow/horse poop), but my schedule doesn't always allow it.

Anyway, everyone was bringing their horses in for Coggins tests, vaccinations, and equine dentals (aka floating teeth). I like horses and all, and I'm grateful for the experience, but Coggins tests and teeth floating are two of my least favorite things to help with. Coggins tests suck because of the paperwork associated with them. You have to freaking draw the horses. Like, down to every single marking on every single horse. So if you get a Paint or an Appaloosa, it takes you 20 minutes just to do the paperwork for one blood test. I mean, a lot of vets use shortcuts and stuff, but it's kinda ridiculous. Some places have just started taking pictures, but a lot of clinics around here are still using computers from the 80's.. so yeah, I don't see them hopping on the technology train anytime soon.

Try drawing every detail of that. While the wind is blowing. With a few horse hairs in your mouth. And while you are trying to avoid being kicked by all of the other horses standing around. It's not easy. (Not my picture, by the way.)

Floating teeth sucks because it's so tedious. And kinda gross. Luckily, this clinic has an awesome machine for it, but some places just use hand files to grind down the sharp tooth points, and that is just.. unspeakably horrible (imagine being covered in horse hair, sweat, blood, and saliva when you're done.. not fun). But even with the machine, it takes forever. And my job is "cheek/tongue holder". I wasn't very good at it when I first had to do it. They have really muscular tongues! And they are slippery! So it's really hard to keep them from flopping around.. I've definitely gotten better (it's a great hand workout), but those first few times were not pretty.

You have to hold onto those tongues like your life depends on it.. this man has a great tongue grip. (Also not my picture.)

 And today was my zoo day! It was quite eventful. The first thing we did was flamingo physicals. The vet handed me one to hold so she could examine it, and of course, she gave me the most ugly, feather-plucked, smelly, decrepit flamingo in the bunch (their necks are super difficult to control, by the way). And what did it do as soon as I had it in my arms? Pooped all over me (as if it didn't already smell bad enough). And then I had to go to class right after that. I got some strange looks, that's for sure.

When I got back from class, we did 3 maned wolf physicals (they had to be anesthetized for theirs). Maned wolves don't really look that big when you see them in their enclosure, but up close, they are kinda huge. They look huge, anyway. They don't really weigh that much, though (the heaviest was only 50 lbs.. they are super lanky, but don't look it because they are so furry). But they smelled pretty horrible, too. It was just a day full of lovely smells.

They're kinda pretty. If only they didn't smell so bad... (Again, not my picture.)

 I mostly helped with x-ray processing for the maned wolves. I also prepared a mammary tumor for a biopsy on one of them and gave some vaccinations, but that's not too exciting.

Then. The vet gave me a packet of this powder stuff and a syringe and asked me to go to isolation to syringe feed a mother kangaroo. The poor momma had toxoplasmosis (it's a parasitic disease caused by the same parasite pregnant women are supposed to avoid by not cleaning out cat litter boxes.. even though more people get it from gardening than litter boxes), and she was so messed up that she couldn't even stand on her own. So I mixed up her food, fed her all of it, and reported back to the vet. The vet seemed pretty impressed that I was able to feed her all of it (I've had plenty of experience with that type of thing, though). She was even more impressed when the kangaroo started trying to stand up just a few minutes after I fed her. She's still in pretty bad shape, but things are looking up for momma kangaroo.

A little while later, I went back in to check on her and discovered that the joey was out of the pouch and hoping around. The vet asked me to try to stimulate the joey so it would urinate. I was able to get a few dribbles of pee out of her, but then she pooped a massive poop right into my hand. It was pretty nasty, and I decided that I had probably rubbed her genitals enough for one day. The vet was quite pleased that I was able to cause baby roo poop, so I feel like I earned a lot of her respect today (and that, my friends, is why I love veterinary medicine.. what other profession can you earn respect by gently rubbing an animal's genitals until it poops in your hand?).

My little roo friend! This is my picture, as you can probably tell by the bad quality.

The last thing I helped with was a beak trimming on a scarlet ibis. I still haven't quite gotten his nasty fish smell off my hands, and his beak was terrible. It looked like a chunk of firewood. It took us forever to get it trimmed down, and it still doesn't look completely normal. It didn't help that he was pretty feisty and tried to bite us every chance he got. This was probably the most miserable part of my day because we wore masks while we were trimming (because no one wants to inhale rotten bird beak dust), and every single time I have to wear a mask (without fail), my nose itches like crazy. And I was holding a smelly bird, so I couldn't scratch it the entire time. It was torture! Someone needs to start adding some sort of nose scratching device to those masks. I'm sure every doctor in the world would appreciate it.

They're kinda cool looking when their beaks aren't so disgusting.

Visit to my second home...

I spent my day in the company of some amazing animals...

Baby Patagonian Cavies! It's ridiculous how cute they are.

We're BFFs.

This is the most awesome bunny I have ever met!!!!! I am going to adopt her. (Not kidding. Seriously. I'm not.)

Baby lemur! The momma loved the mango I brought for her.

My camel friend using my head to rest his gigantic neck. At least he wasn't trying to eat me.

I was also going to post a video of the camel racing my friend and I (he likes to chase people), but it isn't working right now so I'll try again later. It's kind of a jumpy video, but you can see his lips flopping like crazy, and it cracks me up.

Sometimes life gets hectic...

I've been slacking a bit. I'm blaming midterms. They are evil, stressful, little things.

So I've got a lot to catch up on. I'll start with my zoo experiences...

Elephants. They're pretty cool, so I was excited to get to hang out with them a little bit. I was amazed by how well-trained they are! The zookeepers would just say, "(Name of elephant), lay down." And the elephant would do it. I know a lot of people are pretty against the whole idea of having elephants in captivity (and rightfully so in a lot of cases), but from what I saw, these elephants were treated with nothing but love and respect. You could tell how much the zookeepers genuinely cared about them, and it was incredible how strong their relationships with them were.

Anyway, we drove down to the cow barn (they also have a bull barn), and it was so weird! I felt like I was in a jail for giants! There were stalls set up inside of the barn that were basically made out of huge jail bars, but they were spaced out enough that humans could easily slip in between them. It made me feel incredibly small.

The elephant we went to see was having some kind of skin issue. She was developing hot spots on her hips, and she was super itchy, so we did a skin scrape. The vet gave her some local anesthetic, and we even used a bit of ice to numb the area, but she was still being a huge baby about it. You would think that with such thick skin, a little skin scrape wouldn't be very bothersome... I've seen chihuahuas take scrapes with more dignity.

This is not my picture, but it shows how thick an elephant's skin is, and I thought it was cool. So enjoy.

The next week, we had to go back to check her for lice (we were pretty sure it was just an allergy issue, but the vet wanted to rule it out). All the vet did was roll scotch tape around her hands, and she patted the elephant down with it, and the tape was sent off to a dermatologist. It was super simple and kinda weird.

Fun fact: A dose of Children's Benadryl for an elephant is over 1,000 mL (depending on the elephant's weight), which is roughly 11 bottles (unless you can get bigger bottles, I suppose). Our elephant friend had to have that twice a day for five days. I can't even imagine what the people at Walmart thought when the keepers went to buy them out of Benadryl...

I also got to take a bunch of x-rays of a hippo skull so the vet could figure out what settings she needed to use to take x-rays of the living hippo's jaw. So that was a fun experiment.

And of course, I spent plenty of time with birds of prey.

I helped force feed a Barred Owl (aka Hoot Owl).

He was pretty grumpy, and he kept crunching the mouse's skull when we were trying to slip it in his beak.

Then I helped dispose of a dead hawk of some sort (I'm pretty sure it was a Red-tailed). It was kinda sad.

I also helped stuff a bunch of frozen bald eagles into boxes to ship to the government (who supposedly disperses them to Native American tribes, so the feathers can be used for cultural things... pretty interesting).

Then I met a Screech Owl, and oh my god, was she cute (she lives at the zoo and is used as an education animal). We had to pluck a bunch of her feathers because she kept breaking them, which was causing feather follicle cysts to form (they are like ingrown hairs for us.. and I had to help pop them.. it was disgusting).

They are so tiny! I want one! (Not my picture either.. my fingers were covered in blood and cyst pus, so I couldn't get a picture of the one I spent time with.)

That's pretty much all of the interesting zoo stuff. Now to the sadness.....

Otto didn't pass his therapy dog evaluation. Honestly, I'm kinda bummed, but I don't feel too bad because A) it was kinda unfair and B) I might be moving soon, and I wouldn't be able to continue taking him on therapy visits anyway.

The reason it was unfair: we had a workshop last month, which was to basically familiarize us with the skills he needed to have to pass his evaluation (so there would be no surprises during the eval). Otto was awesome at it. The only thing we needed to work on was calming him down so he didn't pull on the leash so much (but he was just excited to meet all the new people). So we worked on that, and he improved (still wasn't super great at it, but better).

Well, we had a different evaluator this time (who didn't really seem like a very nice person.. I honestly thought that even before I found out she was our evaluator). Otto went through the tests like a pro. He was seriously awesome, and I was really proud of him. Then we got to the part where there was a group of people sitting in chairs. At the workshop last month, we were told that we just needed to walk our dog around to each person to greet them, which Otto did just fine. But this time, the evaluator told me I had to put Otto in each person's lap. He stayed for a second, then jumped down. Because he didn't say in their laps, she failed us. For that one tiny thing that we didn't even know we had to do (otherwise, I would have worked with him on it, and he would have been fine). I tried to explain that/rationalize with her (because I had put a lot of time into this thing), but she just said (in a really snippy/mean way), "Well, they should have had me evaluate you the first time."

She even went on to say, "It's such a shame. We need more small dogs." So I'm kinda done with that group. There were some really nice people in it.. so I guess it's a shame that one lady can ruin what could have been a great experience.

Their loss. This little guy could have made a lot of people happy.

Okay, I'll stop complaining now. More sadness:

Shaymi, my beautiful hedgehog, somehow managed to get a string wrapped around her foot so tight that it became embedded into her skin. It was so swollen that I couldn't cut the string off without cutting her, so I had to rush her to the emergency vet at 1 am (I always check on her before I go to bed, so I didn't discover it until then). I was so worried they would have to amputate her foot, but luckily, the blood flow was restored, and aside from some wounds and little swelling, she is doing fine. I've been soaking her foot in epsom salt two to three times a day and treating the wounds with antibiotic ointment, and it's looking so much better. The vet was really, really nice, too, and she only charged us for the medication she prescribed (maybe she took pity on my obvious poor, college studentness).

So it's been a pretty eventful couple of weeks. I'm so glad to be on spring break.

Kitchen Floor Discoveries.

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The Interview.

Well. I survived. My mother said I was basically one giant hive when I walked out of the interview room, but at least I was still breathing/awake/not vomiting everywhere. I'm pretty sure I worried a hole into my stomach lining, though, because I still feel queasy whenever I think about the interview/vet school.

Overall, I didn't do very well. I stumbled through questions I had practiced over and over again, and I'm still kicking myself for it. That said, it could have been much, much worse.

For those of you that will be going through this on your own someday, I am going to describe everything (that I remember... I'm pretty sure I blocked some of it out) so maybe you won't be quite as terrified as I was (so yeah... prepare for a wall of text).

When I got there, I waited in the office with the students that were interviewing before me (I got there pretty early). It was somewhat helpful to talk to them and share your "well, I heard that they ask this..." stories, but it also psychs you out a little. You have to watch them get increasingly nervous as their interview time draws near. Then you have to watch them come out, nearly in tears, doubting everything they did/said. Or there are ones that are super confident and well-spoken, and you'll think, "I have to follow that?!?" It just makes it all the more nerve-racking.

Finally, when my time came, the committee's assistant came to get me (she was also a vet, and she asked questions, but didn't get a say in the scoring). We shook hands, introduced ourselves, and she led me to the interview room. I was introduced to each committee member (there were 3; all of which were male vets). Then I took a seat and the interogation began.

Side note: The seat I was given was a freaking swiveling computer chair of all things! Why on earth would you think it's a good idea to put an incredibly nervous person in a spinning chair for an interview?!?! I know I caught myself swiveling back and forth out of nervousness at least once, but I'm sure I did it more than that. It probably made me look insane. I don't even want to think about how many points that cost me...

Basically, each committee member asked a set of questions (one question right after the other, which helped a bit with the swiveling/eye contact because you didn't have to constantly refocus your attention). The first guy seemed kinda bored/uninterested/awkward (but I can't really blame him.. I'm sure he'd had enough anxiety-ridden students to listen to for the day). The next guy was more enthusiastic and engaging, and the third seemed like he was the most interested in what I was saying. They were all really nice, though, and I never really felt like they were trying to back me into a corner or anything.

So here's a list of the questions I was asked with brief descriptions of what I said, followed by what I should have said.

I see that you’ve been involved with a couple animal welfare groups, and you’ve taken a few animal ethics classes. Tell us about that.

What I said: "I took those classes as a part of an animal related minor because I thought that they would really help to broaded my views/knowledge about issues regarding animals becuase those issues are very important for me to be aware of as a vet."

What I should have said: I think my answer was okay for the most part (even if it did come out in one long, rambley sentence), but I totally forgot to explain anything about the animal welfare groups I was a part of. I should have added something like, "Through the welfare groups I've been involved with, I have fostered dogs/cats, helped/planned fundraisers for local animal shelters/rescue groups, and spread awareness about issues of animal overpopulation."

What are your views regarding animal rights?

What I said: I don't remember exactly. I just remember that is was poorly worded and rambley. I probably blocked it out for a reason. I think I might have rambled about people involved with animal rights, which didn't really answer the question. I ended it with something like, "Although I understand and sympathesize with some of their viewpoints, I tend to lean more towards animal welfarism. Animal rights views are sometimes a little to extreme for me." Ugh.

What I should have said (and I might have said snippets of this, but probably sounded like an idiot): "Animal rights is a movement to end all human exploitation of animals. This includes using animals as food, clothing, research, and entertainment, but there are varying levels of extremism associated with the people involved in animal rights. Although I sympathesize with and understand many of the reasons behind animal rights, and I do support some of the movement's goals, overall I tend to lean more towards animal welfarism, which is more about preventing the mistreatment and suffering of animals." I feel like an answer like this would show them that you know what you are talking about, but that your own personal views are not that extreme (because they if they think you are too extreme, they think it will interfere with you becoming a vet.. for example, you are going to have to do some form of animal research in vet school, and being completely opposed to it means you aren't going to finish school).

What are the ethics regarding python ownership?

What I said: "Well, I have a pet python.. a ball python. I think that as long as snakes are given the proper enclosures, diet, and care, having one as a pet isn't really any different than having another type of pet."

What I should have said (because I completely screwed that one up): I totally did not realize what they wanted from me with this question, and therefore, I gave a completely worthless answer. I think what they were looking for was something along the lines of, "Python ownership, if carried out correctly, does not have to be an issue. Unfortunately, many people do not provide the appropriate care for such large animals, which can be veiwed as very cruel, and some even release these exotic species into environments in which they do not belong, causing huge problems in already established ecosytems, not to mention, the potential death of the snake. There is also the issue of diet for pythons. Feeding live animals to them, for example, can be seen as cruel, as the prey suffers more and injuries to the snake can occur; however, in the wild, the same thing happens, just out of human view. Another issue is the breeding of animals specifically for the purpose of feeding snakes, which can be seen as cruel, but humans do that as well (factory farming, for example)."

You own a snake? How big is it?

What I said: "Yes! He really likes to wrap around people's necks. He's only around 2 years old right now, so he's not quite 2 feet long yet." This was just in response to my butchered answer about the python ethics. They seemed to think it was kinda strange that I liked snakes so much. I don't really think I could have answer it any differently.

You mentioned a lynx declaw in your application. Why was it declawed? How do you view declawing?

What I said: "Yes, the lynx was an animal at the camp I worked at, and because he was going to be around children, his owners thought it would be best to declaw him when he was a kitten to prevent him from seriously injuring anyone. He will never be released into the wild or anything." The next part I really messed up on.. the freaking ethics questions were the ones I practiced most, yet I still stumbled on them... "I think if a cat is declawed when it is young and if the declaw is done properly, there isn't really a huge issue, and I understand why some people would want to do that. But I'm not sure if I would be willing to declaw an older cat."

What I should have said: I think the first part of the response was okay, but the second part... I was being honest, but I should have provided more explanation. For example, "If a cat is declawed properly when they are young and heal faster, I don't think it is a huge issue (assuming that the cat will be kept inside for the rest of its life). Although it is not a medically necessary procedure, I understand why many people wish to have it done to their cats, but unless very good reasons were given, I'm not sure that I would feel comfortable declawing an older cat, as many more complications and issues could arise." I mean, that's probably not the greatest answer either, but it's better than what I said.

What is the California blackworm?

What I said: (This question was based on a research project I did.) "I'm sure I learned more about it when I researched the species, but all I really remember is that it is known for and used for it's regenerative properties." And then I tried to remember more, but failed and looked stupid.

What I should have said: What I said minus the wasting time by trying to pull things I didn't remember out of thin air.

How did you feel about your comparative anatomy class?

What I said: "It was one of my favorite classes. It was definitely challenging, but I learned so much, and I completely loved it."

What I should have said: Basically what I said. I probably could have sucked up more.. especially since one of the interviewers was the anatomy professor at the school, but I didn't want to push it. Especially since I was having issues with wording things correctly..

You grew up on a farm? What kind of farm? What did you help with on the farm?

What I said: "Yes, it is a cattle farm, but we raise other types of animals as well. I have helped with the cattle ever since I was little. My job used to be just opening gates and collecting testicles when we worked cows, but as I've gotten older, I've helped with giving vaccinations, castrations, dehorning, and whatever else needs to be done. We normally don't have a vet come out to help unless we have a specific issue that needs to be dealth with."

What I should have said: I think my answer was okay, but maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the testicles thing...

What are some vaccinations that you give cattle?

What I said: "Um... I don't really know."

What I should have said: The freaking answer: blackleg, respiratory, tetanus, etc. I don't know why I said I didn't know. I do know what vaccinations we give cattle. I guess I was afraid I would say something wrong? I don't know. I'm really angry with myself about this one. Luckily the guy was cool about it. He was like, "So you kinda just give them whatever you're given to give them?" It made me feel a little less ashamed of my pretend ignorance.

You mentioned trichomoniasis on your application. What is that?

What I said: "I had no idea for quite a while, but I asked one of the vets I was working with, and she basically told me that it is a bovine STD."

What I should have said: What I said, but I should have added something about how it causes infertility and miscarriages. 

So you've had a lot of experience with horses?

What I said: "Not exactly. I have a horse, but apart from everyday care and routine health things, I haven't worked with them all that much. We don't use our horses for roping/ranching or anything."

What I should have said: The truth, which was my answer. I didn't want to pretend I knew things that I didn't (which may have prompted further questions on the matter).

What is a Coggins test?

What I said: "It's a blood test done on horses. I know that they have to have it before they travel anywhere (especially out of state or to places where other horses will be), but I'm not exactly sure what it is for. I think it is to test for some type of anemia."

What I should have said: I think my answer was okay for this one. I told him what I knew, and therefore, did not embarrass myself or look like an idiot. I knew I was right about the anemia, but that's all I knew, so I didn't want it to seem like I was super confident about the topic, which might have prompted more questions about it.

What is the most important trait that you think you possess that will help you succeed in vet school?

What I said: "Probably my determination. I know that's a pretty cliche answer, but determination and drive are what you have to have to succeed, especially in such a demanding field. As long as I have this determination, I can continue to work through whatever challenges come my way without even thinking about giving up."

What I should have said: I mean, I kinda wish I would have said something more creative, but it wasn't a horrible answer, I guess.

Name four areas in which you can become involved as a vet.

What I said: Oh god. This one was miserable. I had practiced this, but I didn't really expect to be asked about it, so the answers didn't exactly flow out of my mouth (in other words, there was a lot of "umm"ing). "Private practice, working for the USDA, working at a zoo, and working for the military/in public health."

What I should have said: What I said minus the hesitation and unsurity. I probably should have gotten a little more creative, too, but other answers just weren't coming to me. I almost started naming groups of animals vets could work with and specializations, but I'm glad I didn't because I don't think that's what they were looking for.

If you become a vet, what would you like to be doing in ten years?

What I said: "I would really like to be a mixed practice vet working near my hometown, but there are so many things I am interested in that I'm not entirely sure. I love working with all types of animals (exotics, wildlife, reptiles), so I really want to keep my options open."

What I should have said: "I would really like to be a mixed practice vet working near my hometown." I answered the question, and then I kept going, and it was probably super annoying and rambley. I should have just stopped there.

If you don't get into vet school, what are your plans?

What I said: "I will continue to attend college to finish my degree, and then I will reapply next year." Then I was asked, "What if you never get in?" I said, "I will probably try to find a job as a vet tech."

What I should have said: That. I guess I could have expanded a little bit by saying something like, "This is really the only field I think I would be happy in. If it comes down to it, I'll do what I need to do to support myself and my family, but it's going to take a lot for me to give up on my dreams." Maybe not quite so girly sounding, though.

Who is Sonia Sotomayor? Who is (some other dude whose name I don't remember)?

What I said: "I'm sorry, I honestly do not know."

What I should have said: What I said. Because I didn't know who they were. Apparently Sonia is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and I'm guessing the other guy was something related to that. Before we went in, we were warned about this (or a current events) question, but the admission's lady told us not to worry because not knowing won't cause them to count off points. I hope she was right. 

What is the camp that you worked at?

What I said: "It's a science camp for kids that has a variety of really cool activities, but it also has a small zoo that is kind of its main focus. They also have a Jr. Vet program, which is what I was most involved with. The classes are mostly taught by pre-vet students, and the kids are taught how to do some things relating to veterinary medicine (things vet techs would usually do). A vet also comes out once a week to perform surgeries, and the kids get to watch."

What I should have said: First of all, I should have worded things a little better. Then I feel like I should have talked more about the things I did when I worked there. Because I got to do a lot. And I wasn't just involved with the Jr. Vet program. I was running it and coordinating everything with the vet. I was also in charge of the entire zoo part of the camp. And I ran the adoption program. On one hand, adding those things doesn't really do anything to answer the question, but on the other hand, it was a great opportunity to talk myself up a little bit (because that's kinda what you should do in an interview) and make them aware of everything I've done. And I completely missed it.

What interesting species did you work with there?

What I said: "Well, there was the lynx. They also had a lot of primates to kind of teach kids that monkeys are not good pets. One of the most difficult ones to work with was the vervet monkey. He has just reached sexual maturity, so he's a little temperamental."

What I should have said: My answer was okay, I guess, but again, I should have expanded (and I probably should have left out the sexual maturity thing, but they seemed to think it was funny... so maybe it was a good thing?). It would have been a great opportunity to talk about Marmie, the paraplegic monkey I cared for. Because that's not something you hear everyday. I think it might have made me stick out a little more.  

What is one major issue effecting vet students today? How will you deal with it?

What I said: "I'm actually a part of a vet forum on the internet, and it seems like one of the main concerns is debt. It adds up to such a huge amount, that a lot of people have a really hard time paying it off. I think it will definitely be a struggle, and I know that a lot of people find it very discouraging, but this is what I want to do with my life, and you only have one life to live.. I want to spend mine doing what I enjoy."

What I should have said: I think my answer was okay. I probably would take out the part about the forum. I'm honestly not sure why I brought it up. I didn't really answer the second part of the question, so I guess I should have said something about searching for other types of financial aide. I also could have said something about how I have accepted that debt will be a part of my life if I pursue this career, but that isn't going to hold me back.

What is the average student loan debt of graduating vet students? How much do vets usually make starting out?

What I said: "I think it's usually between $150,00 and $250,000 of debt, and I think the average yearly income of a vet starting out used to be around $80,000, but now it is lower (around $50,000, I think.. depending on where you live)."

What I should have said: That. Except the $50,000 is actually closer to $60,000. My bad. 

Name a famous Veterinarian. What did he/she do?

What I said: "I am actually reading a book by a veterinarian right now... James Herriot." (This prompted the question, "Oh really? Which one?) "I'm reading the first one he wrote, 'All Creatures Great and Small'."

What I should have said: That. I'm actually a little impressed that I didn't completely forget about it in my nervousness. That would have been a very easy question to blank out on. (By the way, thanks aunt Cathy for letting me borrow those books! You saved me on this one!)

Is the forum you are on the Student Doctor Network? (This was asked because I mentioned being part of a forum in another question, and apparently the committee goes on this one to read what students say about them.)

What I said: "No, it's actually just a small subgroup of a larger site." I said the site's name, and I wish I hadn't. If any of them know what it is, they might judge me (not that it's a bad site.. it's just known for being biased and super liberal... not the vet subgroup... just the other parts of it). 

What I should have said: "No, but I have heard of that one, too." 

Why should you be chosen for acceptance into vet school?

What I said: "This is what I want to do with my life. I have the determination, and I'm ready to devote my life to this career." Except super flustered/rambley sounding (I probably had other stupidly placed words in there somewhere). I thought I was done, and I was seriously about to get up before this question was asked, so it took me by surprise a little.

What I should have said: Something more elegant and profound. I mean, it's an okay answer, I guess, but super cliche, and that would have been my chance to really win them over. Buuuut I blew it.

Do you have anything that needs to be updated on your application?

What I said: "Yes, I've continued to job shadow, and I've gotten an additional...." (I named off my extra hours in each category.) "I've also started an internship at the zoo with the vet there, I was invited to apply to an honor society (they haven't processed applications yet), and I have begun doing pet therapy with my dog, but he's still in training right now."

What I should have said: I guess that, but I probably gave them more information than necessary. I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.

Do you have any questions for us?

What I said: "I don't think so." I said it far too cheerfully because I was ready to get the hell out of there.

What I should have said: I was sooooooo mad at myself for not asking them anything!! And I had thought about how to respond to this question over and over again, and I had what I thought to be a fairly good question to ask them. But I didn't ask it. After all that time I spent rehearsing it over and over again. I guess I was just so ready to leave that it completely slipped my mind. Anyway, I was going to ask, "Regardless of whether or not I get into vet school this year, what are some things I should do to help better prepare myself for vet school and this career (or re-application)?" Because it's kinda suck-upish, but would also be very helpful to know the answer to.

So there it is. The story of the most horrifying day of my life. It might not sound that bad, but trust me, the amount of stuttering, "um"ing, poor word choices/explanations, and dumb mistakes I made are cringe-worthy. 

And now I have a full month (at least) to brood over all of that before I get my letter of acceptance or rejection. It's going to be a long month.

Babies. They're so good at being distractions.

I didn't get to do anything interesting at the zoo this week, but the zoo itself had some interesting things happen. First, a baby giraffe was born (yay!), but then, it's mom had to be euthanized (no!). From what I gathered, she was suffering from heart failure (along with some other things that I didn't quite get the details about), and the stress of labor was too much for her. It's pretty sad. I was really hoping I would get to see the baby giraffe that the zoo is bottle feeding now, but no such luck. Maybe next week?

Speaking of next week..... AHHHHHHHHHH! MY VET SCHOOL INTERVIEW!!!! It's on Wednesday. Just a few more days. It's all I can do to not freak out every time I think about it. Which is a lot, by the way. I'll be in the middle of class, and it will cross my mind, and I will start frantically quizzing myself in my head. Or start quivering with fear and nervousness. Or panicking. Yeah, that happens, too. 

It shouldn't be this bad, I know. Honestly, I'm fairly prepared for it. I just don't feel that way sometimes (okay, a lot of times). Sometimes, I'm like, "Dude, it's just an interview. You've got this. And if you choke, there's always next year." But other times I'm like, "Oh my god. This is the biggest, most important interview of my life. I can't screw this up. I've worked too hard. I'll be so devastated if I don't get in this year that I'll probably be too depressed to even apply next year. This is going to be bad. So, so bad."

So to distract myself, I'm going to tell you about babies. Babies are cute and cool and happy, right? In general? I mean, I think so. Especially the animal kind. Buuut, I'll warn you now; not everyone thinks that about these particular babies...

Meet Loopy:

Oh god. Yeah... sometimes I forget how ugly he was...

Loop is a starling that was brought to me over the summer by some kids at camp. I tried to put him back in his nest, but I'm pretty sure he had some brain damage (hence the name) because his balance was a little off, and he couldn't quite stay where he was supposed to. So we (myself, the camp's nurse, and some of my bird loving friends) adopted him.

Getting prettier. This was during his awkward teenager phase. He was a little butt-heavy.

I made him some special baby starling food (a mixture of cat food, baby food, avian vitamins, bugs, eggs, and applesauce... yumm), and he thrived on the stuff. Much better than any of us expected (this was mostly due to the awesomeness of the camp's nurse.. she has a way with birds). He even started to become a little less loopy after he learned to fly (though he did enjoy pooping on people's head every chance he got).

And now look at him! He's beautiful! And living the most spoiled bird life possible with the camp's nurse.

I also helped raise quite a few of these guys:

Wow.. I'm starting to wonder how I loved those things...

Unfortunately, their eggs were mistakenly put in the incubator, so we raised them from the day they hatched, which was no easy task. Normally, they are left with their mom's for two weeks, and then we pull them from the nest to make them friendlier.

What are they?

Cockatiels. Who would have thought that mutant-looking creature above could turn into this?

And then there was Meningi, my favorite Silky Chicken chick (short for Meningicoccal.. that's my favorite word):

Isn't he adorable? His brothers were: Meningitis, Ecoli, Salmonella, and Streptococcus.

I'm going to stop there. If I were to post a picture of every baby bird I hatched out/raised last summer, I would be up all night. Seriously. It was close to (if not over) 200 birds. Probably half of which were guinea fowl. We also hatched out quite a few peafowl, a couple turkeys, and some other chicken varieties. And an awesome Red Rump Parakeet that was one of my favorites, but I couldn't find a picture of him. :( We used to cuddle. He was sweet.

And now I have this love/appreciation for birds that I never had before. I get super nostalgic about it all the time. Especially when I'm sitting in the Walmart parking lot, and all those adorable birds are flitting about, eating people's pollution sludge. It almost makes me want to take them home so they can eat and poop on everything in the safety of my apartment. Almost.

Well. I hope you've enjoyed my adorably ugly baby birds. Now I think I'll go back to panicking about my interview...

Roses are red, and hearts are, too...

This is my obligatory Valentine's Day post. So.. happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

I (llama) heart all of my readers!

Since today is all about love and hearts and stuff, I thought it would be a good day to post about one of my favorite llamas in the world. I love(d) him so much. His name was Gandhi (because he "sat in protest" every time someone tried to walk him). Gandhi was a screwed up, old llama. Probably pretty inbred, but he was such a nice fellow that it was pretty easy to ignore his hideousness.

Gandhi had been having some health issues for quite some time (lump on his jaw, trouble eating, etc). He was checked out by the vet multiple times, and we always gave him all of the special treatment he needed (which is why I got attached to him).

Before the summer started to get too hot last year, the llama shearers came to give all of the camelids haircuts, and I guess the stress was too much for Gandhi. The next day, we found his body in the pasture.

Being the gore-fascinated freak that I am, I requested to do a necropsy on him (I was also curious about why he had died, but I'm not a vet so I couldn't exactly make the diagnosis). I had never cut open such a large animal, so I set out with some friends, and we found a few tools we thought might be useful: a box cutter and a broken pair of branch trimmers.

The old, rusty scalpel I found wasn't going to cut through anything, so I sliced through Gandhi's muscles with that handy-dandy box cutter, and when I got to the ribs, I chopped through them with the branch trimmers. Our makeshift necropsy kit turned out to be surprisingly useful.

I look way too happy. I was sad that my friend died, I was dripping with sweat, and I was elbows deep in llama guts. Why am I smiling?!?

After exploring Gandhi's insides, I couldn't really say for sure how he died, but he did have a decent about of food debris in his trachea.. and that's not exactly a good thing.

To commemorate him, I dissected out Gandhi's big, beautiful, loving, llama heart and preserved it in an pickle jar (because a llama heart in a pickle jar is pretty hard to forget).

Apes and Eagles. "What a creative title!" Yeah, I know.

My hedgehog was supposed to have babies this week. I don't think it's going to happen, and I'm pretty bummed.

But. Otto is well on his way to becoming a therapy dog! All we need to work on is walking on the leash (he thinks he can pull me.. I think he has short man/dog syndrome), so I'm pretty excited. He was honestly one of the most well-behaved dogs at the pet therapy workshop (for a Yorkie, that's pretty impressive). I'm so proud of him. He didn't even poop in front of everyone (which he likes to do when we go to new places.. especially pet stores.. the other day, he took a gigantic poo at Alex's work, and some lady was gushing, yes, gushing about the amount of poop he produced.. it was awkward and embarrassing and horrible.. just horrible).

And today was awesome. So I guess the good things outweigh the lack of hedgie babies.

Today, I assisted with a physical exam on a Siamang, which is a lesser ape (a type of Gibbon, actually). And Siamangs are awesome. When I go to the zoo as a visitor, they are one of my favorite animals to see. They're so acrobatic and fun to watch!

I love them! I could seriously watch them flipping around like that for hours. I wish I was one of them... I was really hoping they would be super tame, but sadly, they were not (not the male that was examined, anyway). So the zookeeper got the male into a crate, and then we had to sedate him. He didn't exactly go down easy either.. he was pretty chill after he had a sedative shot, but when we tried to gas him, he woke up a little and fought the keeper that was trying to hold him (he was really strong, too.. I'm glad I wasn't the one holding him).  We did basically every test that could possibly be needed while he was out, so I was frantically running around, processing his x-rays, handing things off to the vet, helping hold his limp head up, cleaning up nervous poop squirts, drawing up vaccinations, and doing whatever else the vet needed me to do. It was pretty hectic.

After all that work, we basically just confirmed that he was very healthy (except for his teeth.. they were kinda messed up, but it wasn't anything serious).

I was given one of his hand prints for helping. When the animals are out, they make prints like this to give to the keepers and to sell to people. Since I'm just an intern, I got one of the kinda messed up ones, but I'm totally okay with that (I honestly didn't expect to get one at all).

After our Siamang friend had recovered from anesthesia, we began preparing for surgery. On a bald eagle. I was so excited.

The eagle had a broken wing (likely the result of getting hit by a car), and we were going to attempt to pin the bones back into place so they could heal properly. I didn't actually get to catch this bird, but I'm kinda glad. It was freaking huge. And strong. And it had a giant beak.. that was kinda dripping blood because it had just ripped the head off of a rat before we went in to get it. So I just opened doors and put a towel over its head.

It looks so elegant even when it's all doped up. That can't be said for many species (humans included).

Unfortunately, when we cut the wing open to make sure that necrosis hadn't set in, we discovered that the bird's entire humerus was completely shattered, which basically meant that there was no way to pin it. The bird would never be able to fly again, and it would be in a lot of pain (physically, but probably mentally, too) for the rest of its life. Therefore, the vet decided that euthanasia would be the most humane option. So yeah... we killed this country's symbol animal. I've never felt so un-American. I hate that a broken bone can completely destroy an animal's life. It's so sad.

On a happier note, the zoo's mountain lion is getting a new friend! It's going to be a while because the mountain lion coming in is still a cub (and was just rescued), so it will be hanging out with people for a bit before being introduced to the other guy, who seemed kinda lonely last time I visited him. I'm really happy he's getting a companion.

Hungry, hungry hippo.

So hippos are supposed to be one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.

(For more info about the horribleness of hippos, check out this interesting question/answer thing: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1862/are-hippos-the-most-dangerous-animal).

Look at those ferocious beasts. (Picture credit: sodahead.com)

 But today, I met a hippo. A hippo named Henry. And he was the most adorable, calm, well-behaved animal I have met in a long while (apart from my dogs, that is).

I was working with the vet, and we were called down to check on a mass in Henry's mouth. I was expecting him to be sedated or something when we got there, but nope. He was wide awake, swimming around in his pond. When we went into his enclosure, he swam right up to us and opened his mouth (much like the hippo in the picture below). And he kept it open. For like, 5 minutes straight.

Those teeth.... (Picture credit: huntercourse.com)

I guess he's been trained to do that for treats, which makes it very easy to look inside his mouth (luckily for us). But then the vet stuck her arm inside his mouth to poke around on his teeth, and I was like, "Dude, what the heck are you doing? He's going to snap that mouth shut, and you're going to lose an arm." But he didn't. He was actually quite accommodating and really sweet. So much so that I worked up the courage to pet his wet, bristly nose. And then.... I, too, stuck my hand in his mouth.

Yeah. I stuck my hand in a hippo's mouth. It was amazing. I'm pretty sure people in Africa would think I'm like a god or something (or maybe they would just think I'm crazy...).  

But anyway, Henry's mouth was basically okay. He had a big lump where a tooth had fractured, but it wasn't causing him any pain, so they're just going to keep an eye on it for now.

Other than this, my day was uneventful. But I'm pretty sure I have a new favorite animal.

:)   (Picture credit: fanpop.com)

Tails and Toes.

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