5 AM Surprises

I leave the window open at night because I like to sleep in the cold and burrow under blankets. This also normally means I wake up with the sun and Big Red's non-stop greeting of it.

This morning I woke up to a different type of chicken noise; a strangled squawking. This noise awoke me abruptly, and it sounded like it was receding into the distance by the time my fuzzy brain recognized it. I threw on my robe and flip flops, turned on the floodlights and went outside. My hens were in the pen, huddled in a corner of the coop, while Big Red was still sound asleep in the house. My two juvenile roosters were nowhere to be seen. I searched around their coop, and checked their house. They weren't in their usual perching spot. There were also no feathers that I could see. My best guess was one of the boys had gotten nabbed by a passerby fox, and the other had run into the corn field across the lane, or was hiding under some bushes. It was still pitch black outside and I wasn't about to go tramping through the corn calling for a chicken that may or may not be there and may or may not come to me.

So I shrugged and went back into the house. Once the sun came up and I had eaten my breakfast, I went back out to investigate. Standing in my backyard were both roosters, who came running up to me looking for food. The white one looked as if he was missing some tail feathers, and he had a strange burr on his belly, but had not a mark on him. There was a trail of white underfeathers spread around the coops and some in the front yard, but how much of it was there beforehand is impossible to determine.

I put an ad on my school digest this morning to try to find them a home. I guess I'm a sucker for a friendly chicken and some pretty tailfeathers. If no one wants them I suppose I'll get up the gumption to eat 'em one of these days but...I was almost hopeful the foxes had taken that decision out of my hands. Guess not. So there they sit, basking in the sunlight beneath the pine trees in my backyard, freely reining the yard since they refuse to stay in their pen and I'm too lazy to figure out a better way to keep them in.

~Melissa

Study, study, study

I think this is my life motto! Really!

Well it looks like I spoke (wrote?) too soon the other day. As of now, there are 7 students signed up for Friday, so that is very exciting! I guess I need to learn some patience...

Things haven't been too exciting here on the home front lately. I do have 15 eggs in the incubator set to hatch this weekend, tagged to go to my aunt. I'm hoping for a good hatch rate; this is the first time I have tried an automatic egg turner, so we shall see how it works compared to my lovingly hand-turned eggs. All the animals are doing fine, and the two juvenile roosters are driving me nuts escaping every day! They may hit the freezer sometime soon... I don't know what else to do with them! They aren't bothering anyone but I also couldn't find a home for them, and they are food hogs. We will see if I have the heart to do it...

Just wanted to shoot a little update :)

Back to studying!

~Melissa

This semester has been a little rough so far. Getting back into the swing of things has just taken it's time I suppose. I have mainly been getting B's on assignments, and the few A's have been scrapes. This Friday is my first biochemistry exam, and I am studying every way I know how, and a few ways that I have never tried before. It's never too late to learn better methods!

I have a presentation today, and I also have a seminar to attend. Then I get to get back to working on my endless piles of homework and reading. There literally are not enough hours in the day to do it all. I am in class from 9-5 on M/W and 1-4 on T/Th, with my Fridays being the shortest days, only having two classes. But then I have a 2 hr chunk of time for research, so really it equals the same thing. This is, really, the best prep for vet school I could ever ask for (if I get in!). Talk about time management skills...

We have the first real trip with the pre-vet club this Friday, and I'm getting disheartened already this semester. The first meeting, a wet lab to set up our Dermestid colony, had two officers come to it, my best friend and one first year. No returning members, not even all of the officers. The upcoming trip is to the farm that I work at, where we will be teaching them how to handle sheep, poultry, and piglets, and giving an intro to all the animals on the farm. There will even be a piglet castration demo. But so far only 3 people signed up, two of them being first years. I am happy that even 3 people will go though, and will be benefited (hopefully) by what they learn.

All of the events this year I conferred with the other officers about before scheduling, and received enthusiastic input about them being good ideas. The end of year survey to all club members (filled out by almost 20 people in the club) last year showed that everyone was satisfied with the events and meetings and felt that they had helped them to figure out a career or enhanced their knowledge of the profession. Last year we had a really good core group who came to meetings and trips; about 10 people or so. This year even the other officers don't seem to want to go to things. I advertise via our email and our facebook group, always emphasizing that getting experience in different fields is good even if someone is only interested in small animal medicine.

I know I have wrote about this before, but it seems to be a continual problem here...

Do any of you reading this have any ideas? Are you part of a similar club, or do you know how to get people motivated? I think I need advice...

~Melissa

Just A Little Hectic

These first few weeks are always a bit of a mess. It takes time to get back into studying habits and time-balance, and it seems like the meetings and planning for other things never stops. I have really been enjoying my classes though. A friend who is in vet school suggested I take A&P, and even though it is the human version, I find it very fascinating and extremely applicable. I have a whole ton of printouts of other animals and their systems which I have been using for species comparison. It makes lots of things that I have seen or just learned on the surface make a whole lot more sense. Since it is not a Biology class, the bio they teach you is rather shallow, but that in itself makes me appreciate Cell Biology last semester even more.

I applied and was chosen to lead an alternate Spring break in TN this year, so I have been going through training for that as well. Between the initial pre-vet club meting and training, I haven't been getting home before 7 each night. It makes things a little rough; especially when I need to still make and eat dinner, as well as do homework and take care of the animals/house. Jared is very helpful, but there are many nights where he gets home just as late.

It will work itself out though....

The PVC schedule this semester I think is pretty good... hopefully others think so too! We are starting with a "wet lab" where we will be setting up a dermestid colony. The club will be maintaining it and once it is mature, putting in specimens for cleaning. Then next semester we will have a lab where we will put the skeletons back together, identifying the bones and the specimens as we go. We are taking a trip out to my farm to give everyone some experience with sheep, poultry and hogs, as well as going to a variety of animal shows and rescues in the area. Speaker-wise we have in the works a small animal vet who does some alternative medicine (acupuncture, muscle maneuvering), a board-certified surgeon, an advisor for Penn Vet program and a current vet student. We are also doing a wet lab with tumors (fixing, staining, ID) and a dissection of some deer parts (we do hardly any dissections at my college).

We have about 15 first-years interested in the club, probably 7 of which are seriously interested in veterinary medicine. I am hoping many of our past members return as well... but we will see!

~Melissa

Back to the Grind

I've been back to school a little over a week now, and it is already hectic! My semester consists of taking biochemistry, comparative animal physiology, human anatomy and physiology and native american studies.

 I also found out last week that I will definitely be doing research this semester! While unfortunately it is too late to actually help me with vet school applications, I am very excited to have the opportunity to see what it is like to conduct a behavioral research experiment! Even better, my dear friend Gael will be doing it with me, as well as my VP for Pre-vet club, and an ex-pre-vetter who is a hoot. We are going to be studying dog communication and trying to determine whether dogs can distinguish barks in a certain way; testing two hypothesis about the purpose of barking. I'm still a little fuzzy on the details (I have a reading list a mile long to take care of this week), but it seems like it will definitely be a good experience! I will probably be adding it on as a fifth "class," Bio 460, which will show up on my transcript and give me credit (not that I need it :P).

The last few weeks have been rather eventful. I worked my butt off at the farm right up to the last day before school. We had a lot of changes with farmhands and staff, and so I was training away, as well as finishing all the little things that needed to be done before I went back. I helped ear tag and deworm this years lambs, and we had two more litters of piglets born, which all had to get teeth clipped and iron shots. I will still be working there on Saturdays, and covering when they need me to (like this Thursday morning before class), but so far my schedule has been a bit interrupted.

This past Saturday we had a funeral for my great uncle Frank, who was tragically killed when someone ran a stop sign and literally plowed him and his motorscooter over. While it was very nice to see all of my extended family, it was sad to be attending a funeral rather than the party that had been planned. But, in true fashion of my large Polish family, there was far more laughter than tears, people spending all day telling their favorite stories of Frank, and they even ended up having a small party after all. Grief mixed with healing.

I also have a whole new pile of fluffballs in the garage, which are for my aunt (with a few to replace ours which were eaten). My neighbor's dog came into the garage and disemboweled five of my day old chicks before I dragged her butt out of the box, leaving me with fourteen and a really, really bad attitude.... I don't even want to talk about that because it still pisses me off. So we have another dozen in the incubator; this time trying an egg turner.

I will be getting back into posting regularly now; at least once a week if not more! While I am sure plenty of it will be rather boring, we are doing some pretty neat stuff this semester with the PVC (can you say dermestids??), and I have a good bit going on at the homefront. So stay tuned!

~Melissa

Don't You Just Hate Those Times When...

... you call three vets, schedule appointments with all of them and then forget who you called, when you scheduled them for, or what their names are?

Yesterday was spent out with Doc (first time in awhile!), and our first client sure was interesting. We headed out on the road for the half hour trip to a new client's house. Ms. S. (the vet tech) called ahead to let them know we were coming, reaching a voicemail that did not contain the client's name and seemed to be for a business. Using 411 and a 4G hotspot, we got a home number and called again, to no avail. With a shrug, we continued on our way, hoping that someone would be there to greet us. We pulled up to a decent-sized farm with some tractor trailers parked in the yard, as well as a pretty bay gelding grazing freely on the lawn. Pulling up to the barn, a pirate greeted us.

Well not really a pirate but...his ensemble was a torn shirt and pants, red bandana covering his hair, and a bandage across one eye. A ruddy complexion, jowls and a 10 o'clock shadow of white bristle completed the look. Doc rolled down a window and inquired if he was the owner of the horse we were looking for. Indeed, he seemed to be. He also seemed very confused. We had come with x-ray equipment in tow, planning on taking a look at a hoof which had abscessed, healed and was still bothering the horse. The owner explained that both of Doc's competing vets in the area, Dr. O (who used to work for Doc) and Dr. T, had been out to see the horse. Dr. T had taken x-rays last week. Both vets had said that nothing was wrong with the horse, and he simply needed shoes.

Doc took this in with good humor and simply asked if he still wished for us to take a look at the horse. The pirate shrugged and said "I could always use a third opinion." We parked, and got out. The grazing bay was our patient, and as his owner pulled him off the grass and towards the barn, it was clear that this horse was really not okay. He staggered in, appearing to be lame on not just one foot, but both front feet.

After an examination of the foot with the  pastabscess turned up little results besides a soft sole, Doc checked out the other hoof and found white line disease, a fungal infection that results in separation of the hoof wall. The horse also had a very soft sole on this hoof, yielding to thumb pressure. The owner's insight of trail boots upon turnout had saved him from more bruising. Taking a look at the x-rays confirmed some inflammation and no serious further problems. Our pirate friend was jubilant that he had not listened to the first two vets and had instead listened to his farrier, who had cautioned him against shoes. Had he shoed the horse, serious hoof problems could have ensued.

The bay was truly his baby. This was his favorite horse of all time, and he diligently copied down directions, medications and names, took cards and magnets, and set up an appointment for next week. Throughout the appointment, he asked us multiple times the name of the practice and Doc's name, seeming to forget them once the names left his ear drums.

As we drove away, I think we were all wondering if he would be pursuing a fourth opinion; however, I think he may have been out of vets. Perhaps he will become a regular client... then again, more likely, he will return to his original vet, and the check-up appointment will be canceled.

If nothing else, it certainly made the day interesting.

~Melissa

Neglect

Sorry it's been so long. When the school year starts back up, I am sure I will have more to post about! It's been kinda crazy around here, with barely time to draw breath. My applications for vet school are officially submitted, and all I still need is one letter of recommendation to be submitted. Everything has been verified by VMCAS and so my application will be on it's way to the schools this week! Hopefully that means I have a greater chance of being seen and considered and will be on top of the pile, much like the sheep below.

I found a huge scholarship that I applied for for the upcoming school year, and I am sorely hoping that it comes through. I just got back from a fantastic vacation in LBI (long beach island) with some of my best friends from college. We had a wonderful time- I don't think I have laughed that much in years.

I have a week back home, in which I am working as much as I can, and then am heading down to Florida with Jared's family for my second vacation this Summer (boy am I spoiled!). I am a little worried about my animals, since I have been trying to find people to watch them and make sure they are well taken care of when we are gone. Remi is hard since she gets worn out very easily due to her double hip displasia.

I am also farm-sitting this week, and shadowing two days. In between which I have to get Jared and myself packed for Florida, and work on various projects that need to be done before we leave.