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WHEN YOUR AGGRESSIVE PATIENT SUDDENLY WAKES UP FROM SEDATION

[bored-vet-student]

Pros of job with lots of driving: cool wildlife stop overs

Cons of job with lots of driving: back pain

But recent highlights:

#found feral goats today #but im lying on the floor to stop *pain* #8hrs driving for 1hr vet visit 😮‍💨 #vet facts #goats #red squirrels #wildlife

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Sketching a heron from the local river

#wildlife #watercolor #heron

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Best boxing day gift was this beautiful kingfisher

She is a lovely female which you can tell from her orange bottom beak. She sat just in front of me for a couple minutes before flitting off down the river

#kingfisher #wildlife #nature #photography #scottish #bird photography

[bored-vet-student]

Sparrowhawk in the garden!

Poor pigeon but so cool to watch the sparrowhawk pluck it. We watched each other for a while then it got right back at it

#nature #sparrowhawk #animal death #wildlife

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Best photographs I've ever taken 👌

#puffins #they get an impressive range distance #i moved from under the cliff after this 😂

[bored-vet-student]

One of the hardest things about working in a veterinary ER is delivering bad news. I feel like at least once a shift someone is blindsided by their pet being diagnosed with a condition they’ve never heard of before. In many cases this is unavoidable but I really feel that some of the most common critical emergencies I see would be easier for owners to process if they had prior knowledge about the illness.

The following infographic is far from a comprehensive list and truthfully I have a LOT more to say about diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of each of these conditions. However, this image shows just a few of the major points that I wish owners had been able to prepare for prior to hearing about them in the ER. Some of these conditions are preventable and some are not but they all require an owner to make difficult decisions in a crisis situation. If your pet fits into one of these categories, please just do a quick google about the condition, and maybe discuss with your vet signs that you can watch for at home.

#This is fantastic

[bored-vet-student]

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.01.538918v1.full

I first heard about if from a talk with someone at the Scottish sea bird centre who was involved, and I think this is the paper they talked about

It's interesting to read the methodology and results. They took 19 chick rearing adult birds - saying "Where possible, birds with chicks were caught preferentially to guarantee that they had been present throughout the HPAIV outbreak." gannets only start breeding when 3-4 years old and these black eyes have only appeared this year. Bird flu has only really been see in gannets since 2022, I don't think there is a report of a H5N infected gannet before last year. This would suggest that the eye colour change is a result of infection and not a selection pressure genetic change - bizarre! Currently the two just seem to be linked but nothing further so far in how and why.

Bird flu survivor

Really interested to see black eye gannets in Orkney. Researchers at the Bass Rock think it's linked to bird flu survival post HPAIV infection. Black iris gannets had antibodies for HPAIV showing they had previously been infected and survived! Nothing out yet about how and why their eyes change like that, but very intersting

Blue eyed gannet for comparison

#gannets #bird flu

[bored-vet-student]

Bird flu survivor

Really interested to see black eye gannets in Orkney. Researchers at the Bass Rock think it's linked to bird flu survival post HPAIV infection. Black iris gannets had antibodies for HPAIV showing they had previously been infected and survived! Nothing out yet about how and why their eyes change like that, but very intersting

Blue eyed gannet for comparison

#gannets #orkney #wildlife #bird flu #vet med #vetblr #my photo #Noup head

[bored-vet-student]

Link to rspb article on it

Bird flu survivor

Really interested to see black eye gannets in Orkney. Researchers at the Bass Rock think it's linked to bird flu survival post HPAIV infection. Black iris gannets had antibodies for HPAIV showing they had previously been infected and survived! Nothing out yet about how and why their eyes change like that, but very intersting

Blue eyed gannet for comparison

[bored-vet-student]

Bird flu survivor

Really interested to see black eye gannets in Orkney. Researchers at the Bass Rock think it's linked to bird flu survival post HPAIV infection. Black iris gannets had antibodies for HPAIV showing they had previously been infected and survived! Nothing out yet about how and why their eyes change like that, but very intersting

Blue eyed gannet for comparison

#gannets #wildlife #my photo #bird flu #nature #scotland #vetblr

[bored-vet-student]

i can't NOT gif this

(source first / second)

[bored-vet-student]

Visited the third largest uk puffin colony today for a birthday treat, and it was sand eel season!

Good birbs working hard

One of the best times to see puffins

They currently have pufflings hidden away in their burrows, and we watched the puffins race down their burrows with sand eels before black back gulls could steal them. The chicks need a lot of feeding before they'll fledge early-mid July

#Puffins #wildlife #good birbs #nature #Best day out #scotland #my photo

[bored-vet-student]

Pheasant chick today did such a great job at demonstration how cool birds vestibular systems are, look at how stable and still it keeps it's head!

#Star student #vet med #Birds vestibular systems are awesome #I just love seeing it happen #fascinating

[bored-vet-student]

Why are staff at the shelter anxious about handling rabbits? I'd be much more wary of a cat or dog who can inflict real damage.

Because if you don't restrain a rabbit correctly it will break its own spine while struggling, and they can easily panic themselves to death and their favorite hobby under anesthesia is dying.

[bored-vet-student]

Might seem like a weird question but do you think it's wrong for a vet to specialize in a single species? I told a friend I wanted to specialize in cats and they called me rude for "not thinking about all the other small animals" :/

Not at all! This is a hot topic for me, so prepare for a long reply ;)

For context: A veterinarian can work on multiple species (everything, mixed small & exotics, mixed small & large, mixed equine & livestock, etc.), single species (equine only, dairy cow only, feline only etc.), industry (FDA, research, agriculture, department of health, etc.), a single specialty (neurology, soft tissue surgery, emergency medicine, cardiology, internal medicine, radiology, etc.), or they can do some blend over their life time. There's a million ways to work with a DVM. Some people specialize in one species or field and some don't.

The reason people specialize is because they are more comfortable or confident in one species versus another, or they have a strong interest in that species or field. That makes them better at the job they want to do in our field. They have decided to fill a particular need and be the best they can in that aspect of veterinary medicine.

I wouldn't see a small animal GP for my horses and vice versa. In the same way, cats are complicated. If you can become an excellent doctor working on cats and really developing your knowledge in that area? You are an asset to cat owners everywhere.

Along those lines: What about doctors who go on to specialize in neurology or surgery? What about the doctor who decides to specialize in large animal medicine instead of totally mixed practice?

Personally, I'm planning on working almost exclusively on horses with some small ruminant. I like cats, but dogs scare me. What good does it do for me to work on a species that declines my health to be with everyday? I have the potential to be an excellent equine doctor, but if someone told me I was required to work on dogs because I had to think of all of the species? I wouldn't enjoy my work and I wouldn't be as effective as a doctor. I'm better at equine medicine than I am at canine medicine. I know this, so I'm planning to work where I excel and can do best by people and their animals.

We learn a lot about diversifying our interests and keeping our options open in school, and I would recommend doing that. You never know if your mind will change, and having the basics to go off of for the major species is good to have. It will especially help for taking the NAVLE in fourth year. A broad basis will make you a better doctor in the long run outside of school just because it gives you more knowledge to work with.

But that being said, play to your strengths. If you love cats and want to work on them? Do that. If I love horses and want to be an equine practioner? Then that's what I should do. This profession is full of options and directions and niches. You will serve animals just as well in one place as another so long as you do work that fulfills you. There's a need for veterinarians everywhere, there's aspects of every species that are hard, and there's nothing wrong with picking one and getting really good at it.

Only you can decide what it is about veterinary medicine that fulfills your calling. We're all made different for a reason. Pigeon holing ourselves into someone else's idea of what it means to be a veterinarian will only ever make us upset and uncomfortable in our own lives. I'd rather be in this profession for 40 years than burn-out after 4, you know?

If you want to be a feline only vet and strive for excellence in that area? Go for it! You will not be any less of a doctor, I promise.

#Totally agree #Its important to learn it all at vet school #But let yourself be passionate #And it'll help you be a better vet #I just do poultry #And i love it