This month flew by. This is likely because of how busy it was. At the very end of February we had our “Feline Frenzy” day – where we neutered (castrated) over 30 cats! A feline neuter surgery is a fairly quick procedure – I tried two different techniques which took under 10 minutes. On surgery days, we have to write medical records to accompany our animal – anesthetic records, surgery reports, examination reports and instructions to go home with the pet. All of our companion animal surgeries are performed on pets that get referred to us. We spay or neuter their pets for free – with the caveat that a student will be performing the surgery. It’s a great opportunity for us to help the community while learning. In addition to cat neuters, this month we also castrated horses and spayed female dogs for members of the community.

At the beginning of the month, we had our annual ‘Vet Ball’ – essentially a fancy dinner and dance with a video competition. Our theme this year was “Mas-Cow-Rade” – as in cow themed but also a masquerade. Our table decor consisted of masks in vases and silver cows. We had an awesome DJ play music, some door prizes to raise money for a local charity, and a fun photo-booth. It is a highlight for both students and staff each year.

An exciting announcement: I wrote my last-ever midterm examination this past week! I will still have 8 final examinations to do at the end of April – and two exams this upcoming final year, but no more midterms! Midterms in my opinion are worse than final examinations because you are in class trying to learn all day, then study all evening. With final examinations, you study and write tests; no more lectures to attend.

As excited as I am to be finished with the classroom learning, I am also going to deeply miss the friends I have spent nearly every day with. We all know the struggles we have gone through, and understand them. I am incredibly grateful to have the friends I do. Luckily, I will be spedning time with each of my closest friends on at least one rotation durign my final year. Who knows where we will all end up after school is finally over?

On Monday Dana will be getting her teeth cleaned. While her teeth are exceptional for a 9-year-old dog, some of her big chewing teeth are chipped. Since it is not possible to tell if the root was affected by this damage, it is really important to get x-rays done to see if the pulp is alive. If the pulp cavity looks too wide (meaning it’s dead), then the tooth has to be removed. I am hoping this won’t be the case. Extractions can take a long time to do – and as with any veterinary dental work, needs to be done under general anesthesia. I will be going to watch the procedure as a student shadowing – to learn but also be involved in her care. If you are wondering how her teeth chipped in the first place, the answer is antlers. We naively thought that antlers would be a good chew for her back before I ever entered veterinary medicine. Antlers are far too hard and caused big slabs of her teeth to chip off. There didn’t appear to be any root exposed from looking on the outside, so we didn’t do anything at the time, other than throw out the antlers. Now that I have a greater understanding about veterinary dentistry, I want to make sure that she isn’t painful in her mouth from the damaged teeth. Pets do a great job of hiding pain, so we have to be careful not to assume they are okay just because they are still eating.

Thank you for joining me on this journey! I am excited to share more about what is to come – Mexico, rotations and how Dana’s dental goes! ♥