Finally finished my room

So it's taken a good few days but I've finally finished painting my room and unpacked!

Decided to paint it all white + grey which looks a lot better than the orange it used to be!

I bought a "European Double" duvet which annoyingly is far too small and turns out I need a Super King size!? 

Bit annoying but I'll just put up with it for now.

I should probably introduce you to my roommates - they arrived on Friday before I'd even unpacked and bought my duvet...

Officially a Vet Student!

I've officially registered as a student of UVMP Košice!

We've had a hectic few days getting settled.

When we arrived at the airport on Tuesday there were some students on the same flight from years above and they sorted out our taxis to dorms for us. They've all been amazing help settling us in, taking us out for drinks and telling us where to buy paint, which shops to go to etc.

Me, Sian and Roxie who all went to Aberystwyth together all have rooms next to each other and we've spent the last 3 days decorating our rooms - when we arrived they were bright orange and yellow!

It's now white and grey but I need to unpack and get photos tomorrow as it looks like a building site at the moment!

I have the most amazing view from my room on the eighth floor...

...and I can't wait to see it in the Autumn and Winter.

We've been into town and to Tesco a couple times and as it was Roxie's birthday yesterday we went for a nice meal together at Napoli's which was really nice and really cheap!

Moving to Vet School!

So, today is the day we start our journey at Vet School.

We're flying from Luton to Kosice and sorting out dorms etc when we arrive...

See you on the other side!

Think I'm ready to move to Slovakia?

Last day seeing practice before Vet School!

Today was my last day at Pype Hayes and my last day in a vets before I head off to Uni.

It's been really beneficial to see practice before going to vet school and has given me more confidence about going and about the job.

I mentioned before that I loved spending a week at Willows Referral centre but the work they do is so specialist it's taken the vets years of experience to get where they are.

The vets and nurses have really involved me this week even little things like drawing up booster vaccinations for vets while they talk to clients.

We've had lots of rabbits in this week and had two rabbit speys in today as well as a rabbit dental.

This is the new Docsinmovent v-gel intubation tube they use for the rabbits which sits just over larynx and rests on the epiglottis.

The thinking is that is doesn't touch the trachea so doesn't reduce the airway and doesn't cause any trauma.

They come with a water based lubricant and enzymatic cleaner which they soak in for 15 minutes and then sit in a cradle for autoclave.

There were also a few feral cat speys and the vets got me to draw up and give intramuscular Antisedan to reverse the sedative and wake them up.

They have said I'm welcome to go back so hopefully I'll fit a week in over Christmas or Easter!

Puppies and Poultry!

Crazy busy day at Pype Hayes today!

Chris was operating today so I watched a couple of dog castrates and a dental then at 11am a French bulldog came in for a caesarean. Everyone was ready to help the puppies and it was Chris' first caesarean so Stacey one of the other vets was there to guide him through it, meaning there were 8 people in theatre.

It was getting a bit too busy so we came out for 2 minutes to wait for the vets to hand over puppies for us to rub and get then breathing.

They came our one by one and we vigorously rubbed them in towels to stimulate their breathing, a bit like we do with lambs - a couple had drops put under their tongues and had an oxygen mask ready to support them.

She had 7 puppies, 5 girls and 2 boys, of which 6 were healthy but one was born with it's eyes open and developmental problems who didn't get breathing.

6 healthy puppies is great though! 

Her uterus looked like it was about to rupture so the owner was rang and as it was her second caesarean the decision was made to spay her at the same time.

This afternoon I was in consults with Stacey one of the Locum vets - she was really nice and explained what she was doing as she went. 

Two Ayredale puppies came in with colitis so she checked them all over, weighed them to see if they'd grown since they were last in 2 weeks ago. They seemed ok so have been put on a low fat diet to see how they go and sent home with a faeces sample pot should they get any worse.

We had a cat in with suspected flea allergy or lice so I helped Stacey do a skin scrape and hair pluck to have a look at under the microscope.

Last thing we had someone bring in a limping duck with a bubbly eye. It didn't look like Mycoplasma and no other respiratory problems so not sure what the eye was about but the leg was warm and inflamed and because it had been a few days they took the decision to have her PTS.

It was quite nice talking to the owner about her other chickens and ducks, that they could live together happily and I told her how to sex her ducks. Apparently they get chickens in but rarely see ducks, especially domestics and not wild mallards so was nice to see that!

Puppy Party

It's been a busy week of operations as they have a £99 Dental Offer on at the moment so they've had lots of cats and dogs booked in.

There were two 4-month old rabbits in for castrate earlier which were really cute and well behaved.

The nurses used a local anaesthetic on their ears (the rabbits ears!) 10 minutes before sedating them intravenously so the boys didn't feel anything and they they have a special intubation tube which sits over the larynx for anaesthesia.

Charlotte operated on a cat with Entropion which is where the bottom eyelid was rolled in against the cornea of the eye.

I've seen it done in Sharpei and a British Bulldog before but apparently it can happen in older cats as they lose weight and the fat pad behind the eye reduces, causing the eye to sink in a little and the eyelid rolls inward. The cat had a ulcer forming on the cornea so Charlotte simply cut an elliptical piece of tissue under the eye and sutured it together pulling the eyelid down and away from the cornea.

The Vicryl suture material was soo tiny it was about as thin as a hair and only just visible, the needle must have only been about 4mm in length.

We used to get entropion quite a lot in the lambs so would often have to inject a couple mls of thick antibiotic (penicillin of engemycin) subcutaneously into the eyelids to pull them eyelashes away from the cornea.

Later on I popped outside to help a client bring her pets in - a group of Irish Setter puppies in for their first vaccinations at 8 weeks old! The bitch had 8 puppies, 4 boys and 4 girls.

They do actually do Puppy Parties at the practice to socialise young dogs with other dogs, owners and get them used to various situations so I'll have to see if I can go to the next one!

This week has been wildlife heavy with 4 wood pigeons and a squirrel being bought in with various ailments and broken bones.

Reflection...

It's A Level results week so I've seen lots of anxious, upset and elated posts on Twitter and Facebook with people heading off to Uni in September or some who didn't get the results they expected, wanted or thought they deserved and it got me thinking about where I was 5 years ago.

My friend George asked earlier in the week if doing these work experience placements before I head off have helped confirm I still want to be a vet and I guess they have. Obviously its something I've always wanted to do and I wouldn't have come this far if I wasn't sure, but I could have decided after seeing practice to become a Vet Nurse, Practice Manager, RSPCA Inspector etc.
I know I can do the physical job, its just the exams which might hold me back!

I've always loved the practical side of working with animals and started this blog 7 years ago, when I was 15, but have never been a high achiever academically so think I'm going to have to put some work in once I get to Kosice to make it work for the 4 years...

At school I cruised along putting the minimal amount of work in and got decent GCSE's with not much work but then A Levels came along and not putting the work in really showed!
Looking back at it I chose completely the wrong subjects - Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths and General Studies - because I wanted to get into Vet School, or uni, and not the subjects I liked or wanted to do.
Consequently I ended up failing most of my AS Levels and finished Lower Sixth/Year 12 with BEDUU.

At the time it felt like everyone was against me telling me to drop down a year, drop out of school completely and go to college but I'm a stubborn character and made my own choices; I got myself into the mess so had to sort myself out!

I didn't get on with my Business Studies teacher for GCSE but I liked the subject and was actually good at it, thought it would be useful afterwards and so picked it up for AS alongside my other A2 subjects.
I ended up really liking it and got an A without doing too much work - it has actually been really useful since and has helped with getting a job too.

I started working hard over Christmas of Year 12 because I really wanted to go to Uni and but then I got a Merit Award for Aberystwyth, which basically meant I had two Unconditional offers to study Animal Science or Zoology - I didn't have to finish my A Levels and they'd give me £1,000 for going to Uni; so I did just that!

I finished Year 13 with CCA, so I like to say that over my two years I finished with EDUCA - half an education ;)

Looking back it was a stupid thing to do and I wish I hadn't have found out until after I'd sat my exams but at the time I thought it was great.

The only reason I got those offers was on the back of my work experience placements because I wrote two essays in my entrance exam about the changing face of agriculture in the UK and another on Orf, a disease in sheep - all what I'd picked up on placement, not from textbooks, and it got me into Uni.

Again, when I was in Aberystwyth doing my Animal Science degree I didn't put enough work in and got an average grade. In third year when I should have been doing my Dissertation, I was stupidly busy working 24/7 lambing a research flock on the Uni farm.


All the vets, nurses and clients have asked which uni I'm going to and even though Slovakia is far from the answer they expected to come out of my mouth, everyone has been really positive about it.
Nowadays more and more students are going abroad to study so I don't think I'll have a problem finding a job in a few years time.

I guess the point of my random waffling is even though I haven't got in to Vet School the most conventional way straight after A Levels I'm still going but now I have a degree behind me that I can always fall back on, I guess I have some life experience and I've had a pretty good journey getting this far!
There are always other options or routes to take it might just take a bit longer than you first expected!

First week at Pype Hayes

I've had a great week seeing practice at Pype Hayes.

After a week at Willows the referral centre I was amazed at all the work they did, the fantastic modern facilities they had and the costs involved with all the work but it was also really daunting to think that it would be me doing some of that work in 4 years time.
This week has been really good to see a some more 'normal' small animal surgery rather than specialist Osteo and Neuro operations. The vets and nurses have all explained what they've been doing and answered loads of questions.

Someone bought a Seagull in with a broken wing and as the nurses knew I'm into birds they pulled me out of a consult to have a look and hold it whole Stephen had a look. It had to be PTS as he's broken a wing and lost lots of blood but was interesting to see either way.

I think because I'm 22 and not a 16 year old school student on work experience people take me more seriously but also assume I know more, which sometimes isn't the case... I've never had a dog or a cat so while I'm fine with them, one of the nurses showed me how properly restrain a cat while the vet placed a cannula.
I've started learning where things are kept in the practice so could be a bit more useful towards the end of the week, grabbing things as and when needed rather than just standing around feeling like I'm getting in the way. They've had brand new IDEXX blood machines this week so they've all been learning how to run samples through them - I'll never need to know how but they still took the time to show me how to run the tests, explain what the machine does and what results we can get from them.
They usually do pre-general anaesthetic bloods, especially on older animals, so they can keep a closer eye on them and put them on fluids during surgery if necessary.

Chris the newly qualified vet started this week so its also good to see how well he did in his first week and how Uni does prepare you, not just throw you in the deep end!

I made brownies to say thanks and Stephen the Practice Partner came in to theatre to say were the nicest brownies he'd ever had and that I'd be welcome back! haha
I have a month before I head off to vet school so I've booked another week with them mid-August and really looking forward to it!

Dozens of Dentals

Lots of cats and dentals in today.

They have a dental offer on for £99 throughout the month of August so lots of people have been taking advantage of that, meaning lots of dentals for me to see!

We had this cat in for castrate - not sure what he was but he had major attitude and really did not like the nurses!

To make up for it we had this cat brought in with 3 kittens, all who had been abandoned so they're staying in for a while to check they're all doing well and until someone can take them on.

Not the best photo but was trying not to disturb her.

Pype Hayes Veterinary Centre

I've been seeing practice at Pype Hayes Veterinary Centre this week and having a really good time.
I emailed the practice manager and dropped a letter in, back in June and arranged to go this week after I'd finished work.

Chris who was in the year above me at school graduated from RVC a few weeks ago and started work at the practice today which is pretty cool.
It's mad to think if I'd gone in straight from A-Levels I could be going in to my final year but as it stands I'm only just starting out!

I've mainly been watching surgery and sitting in consults. I've washed a few surgery kits ready for the autoclave, got a few prescriptions ready (counting tablets out and finding stuff on the shelves) and cleaned a few kennels out.

We had a Spur Thighed Tortoise come in today for X-Rays to see if she was egg bound as she was behaving oddly. The x-rays didn't show anything so we think it was just a hormonal thing as she'd been with a male.

A lady dropped off two kittens which had been abandoned and were only a day old. They were covered in maggots so we cleaned them all up and they've been bottle fed and snuggled into a heat pad.

I also expressed my first anal glands of a dog too ...sure there will be plenty more over the next few years!

The Pet Show 2014

I've been working at The Pet Show in Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire this weekend, with PoultryTalk.

We took along our ChickenWall with photos and information of 60 Pure Breeds of Chicken in the UK, as beautifully modelled here by Flower the Chamois Thuringian hen.

We were at the show to promote keeping chickens as pets and rare breed poultry at the show and took along a selection of day old chicks as well as adult birds to show children (and adults) the massive variety of breeds available.
It's amazing how many people have never seen a chicken up close and personal, let alone get them mealworms:

We had of interest in the chicks with all the children wanting to hold them so while they were doing that it gave us a chance to talk to their parents about keeping chickens and the work involved should they wish to keep poultry in the future.


The show was fantastic and much improved on last year's show.
It was held in the massive indoor hall (where we were) as well as outdoor areas leading to more buildings housing the dogs and horses and the courtyard with food stands and picnic benches. They also had a doggy day care for people who didn't want to leave their dogs at home, so they could be kept safely while owners walked around the show which was a really nice touch.
A few family friends were there with their kids and they all said they'd had a great time.

I fell in love with this guy, Sunny the Senegal parrot on the Problem Parrots stand...

I've always loved birds and would be really keen to rehome a Senegal from them but need to do a lot of research first!
Parrots are really intelligent so it's like having a toddler around the house, meaning they need a lot of space and environmental enrichment with about 4 hours flying out of his cage each day.
I was reading that they should get new toys every week, so rotate through various toys, so they never get bored of the same things. Even moving perches around, adding new toys which make sounds and new feeds to their diet make a big difference to the bird.

He'd be awesome if he was in Slovakia but I'd have to get him a passport to come home at the end of my degree!

I spent about an hour each day talking to the Tamworth and Leicester Tortoise Society who had these 8 week old hatchlings on their stand...

Not sure which are cuter, our day old chicks or these hatchlings!

I spoke to Paul from the society and they meet not far from me so I'll see if I can go along to some of their meetings.

Anyway, its been a mad weekend rushing around sorting things out but we had a great time and can't wait to be back next year.

For more information visit www.thepetshow.co.uk or check out #ThePetShow on Twitter and Instagram!

Unemployed again!

When I graduated last summer I had no idea what job I wanted to do so spent most of the summer travelling around Europe and working with the chickens and horses at the yard.

I applied for a job with Premier Nutrition which would have been awesome, got to the final two candidates at second interview but missed out on that.

I then got a call from Fujitsu who I worked for during the summer after my GCSE's as they needed staff at short notice and knew I was looking for a job.
We started on a 12 week temporary contract as they'd just started a new project and everything had gone wrong so they needed people to help sort out some of the issues. My team started with 20 people, went up to 150 in just a few weeks. They extended our contracts one month at a time and then since Christmas they've stopped extending contracts so more recently we're down to 11 people, so I was really lucky to be kept on for so long - 12 weeks turned in to 12 months!

At the end of last year when the problems were at their worst a few of us were working 8am-8pm, 5 days a week with some weekends just to get the volumes down. I needed the money to save for vet school and they needed the overtime hours so I was happy to put the work in and they gave me a promotion so I've been a mini Team Leader and deputize for our TL when she's out the office.

Anyway, I handed my notice in when I got my offer and finished work on Thursday; they got me a Sheep cake and we ordered £75 worth of Dominos - best day ever!

I even got a card from the client we've been working with in Leeds signed by all the people in the office, which really surprised me as 140 people other people have left over the last few months and no-one else has had anything. Definitely going to miss working with them!

Although an office job was something I never wanted to do I've had a really good year and worked with some really nice people. They're arranging a night out over Christmas with Birmingham and Leeds offices which should be good fun.
They've even said if I ever need work when I'm back for Christmas, Easter and next Summer that they'd be happy to have me which is really nice and if I can, I'll be back!

What is this furry lionheaded creature?

The new chickens met Watson the rabbit earlier and seemed really interested in him!

He wasn't bothered and just scootled off

One year ago today

Exactly one year ago today I graduated from Aberystwyth University with a BSc in Animal Science.

2 months today I move to Slovakia to become a Vet Student...

Vet Selfie!

Plenty of puppies at Willows

Had another great day at Willows Referrals today - lots of puppies!

We had a Shih Tzu type dog come in earlier who had a pregnancy scan 2 weeks ago and the vet could see what had started as a foetus but had stopped developing - the owners were really upset as they'd been to a champion stud so were hoping for a puppy for themselves.
Emma the vet said to bring her back in 2 weeks (today) to see how she was getting on and it sounded like the bitch had been carrying on with a phantom pregnancy.

They decided to do a quick ultrasound to check she'd reabsorbed the foetus and to Paul's surprise there was a live and healthy developing puppy!
It seems like she had 2, one of which was being absorbed, and they could only see the one last week. We saw the heart beating and the owners went away delighted; even though they've just got a puppy as they didn't think they'd be having their own.

We saw the cutest little Sheltie puppy come in for his first vaccines today who was only just over 1kg.
He was really shy but was brave and didn't react to his injections.

Then bounding in came a Dogue de Bordeaux jumping up all over me. His owner said straight away that he was harmless and not to worry even though he's massive and he was really nice, just covered me in slobber!


It's been a really good week and I'm amazed at the facilities and work they can do.
At first it was a bit overwhelming at how specialist some of the work is but then they are a referral centre so they will see all the specialist cases.

Willows Veterinary Centre & Referral Service

I've been on placement at Willows Referral vets this week in Solihull and it's been a great placement so far.

The centre was built in 2009 so everything is purpose built and brand new, designed with the animals and staff in mind. They have 15 consult rooms, 100 kennels and cat wards and the facilities are unreal.

(We're not allowed to take pictures of clients so I stole these off their website) 

Yesterday I sat and watched several MRI and CT scans on dogs which gave amazing diagnostic results and Paul the vet operating them had such an amazing knowledge he could see exactly what the problem was and diagnose in real time as the scans were taking place.

I've been mainly with the Primary team doing consults - things like puppy vaccinations, first opinion consults, operations follow ups etc which has been really good so I can learn the basics again.
4 years ago before I went to Uni I knew exactly what vaccines kittens and puppies have, what age they have them and what they cover but at the start of this week I'd forgotten it all.

Today I was in surgery for most of the day; there are 5 operating theatres and 4 theatre prep tables so always lots going on down there!

First thing I saw a dog come in for a primary consult who cut his front paw pad on something in the park yesterday and it was still bleeding. We admitted him and I followed him down to theatre to see the pad get sutured back together.

Next we had a dog with migratory foreign bodies, presenting as swellings under the skin.

They did ultrasound to find the object (as it was migratory) and marked it with a needle and he was then taken to theatre to have the object taken out, which turned out to be a 2-3cm grass seed! They did the same with the other lump which when opened up and investigated was another 2 grass seeds!

I then watched an Osteo operation on a cat with a completely fractured femur which they reset into the correct position and fixed with metal plates.
Another Neuro/Osteo operation I saw was on a dog with a slipped disk which was impinging on the spinal cord and so obviously massively specialised surgery. It was a really long operation and so not very exciting to watch but James the vet was really nice and explained what he was doing as he went through the operation and would pause at each step so I could see what he was doing, he explained the anatomical features as he went thorough so it was amazing to be able to see!

The staff were all really nice and treat the animals as if they were their own pets which was really nice considering how big the centre is.
I've never had a cat or a dog and not got much Small Animal experience so when they were asking me to hold dogs and cats to place a cannula for injections and things I was a bit out of my comfort zone so it was good to see how to deal with them really.
I'd love to go back in 4 years time once I've (hopefully!) qualified and experience it all again.

Acceptance Letter

It's all becoming very real now...

BBC Gardeners' World Live 2014

I've attended BBC Gardeners' World Live this week at the NEC with PoultryTalk and had a great show.

We were there to educate the public about pure breeds of poultry, the massive variation in size, shape and colour, as well as promoting chicken keeping in the back garden enviroment.

There are many advantages to having chickens in the garden such as free manure for vegetables and the compost heap, fresh eggs every morning, a free weeding and slug control service and most of all, they make great pets with massive personalities.

The main feature of our stand was ChickenWall, a giant display showing photographs of 60 Pure Breed Chickens in the UK.

We also took along some day old chicks and a selection of adult birds to show the variation of breeds and to allow people to interact with them.

So many people came over to the stand throughout the week to say they didn't realise chickens were so big or that they thought chickens only came in the bog standard red hybrid variety people associate with battery hens.

It was also lovely to hear the older generations come over to the stand to tell us about how they used to keep a flock of Rhode Island Reds or Light Sussex when they were growing up.

The PoultryTalk.com team have spent the last few months working hard to publish a new book, The Poultry Handbook and after launching at the start of the week we had copies of the book at the show for people to see in the flesh; and it had an amazing response.

I gave a few talks throughout the week in the VIP Lounge followed by a Q&A session.

I took along a few Belgian Bantams with me who stole the show and were definitely centre of attention!

He even got to meet Monty Don and Carol Klein...

Looking forward to next year already!

Welsh Poultry Dispatch Course

I've been back to Aber this weekend to run another poultry dispatch course.

The weather was a bit miserable on the drive up but as soon as I hit Wales the sun came out and I wished I'd never left...

We had 5 people on the course which was a good number - enough so people were able to chat amongst themselves while I helped others and they could all ask questions as we went along.

We dispatched and plucked in Angela's next goat shed which was really bright and airy. Ideal for the goats and ideal for the course!

Then after cake and a break we moved into The Tavern for the gutting.

I'll spare you all the gorey dissection pictures but I did take loads to help people gut at home.

Looks pretty good considering he was running around a field this morning, even if I so say so myself!

I went into Aber on the way home and drove down seafront.

It's all changed following the storms earlier in the year but they've done really well to get it back to how it was. Obviously the band stand is gone and a few walls have yet to be rebuilt but I felt at home being back in Aber and can't wait for my next visit!

Notary and Apostille of A Levels

Studying abroad means that I'll have to get my A Level certificates certified and translated for the Slovak government.

The first step is to get them notarised by a Solicitor or Notary Public - they copy the document then stamp, sign and seal it to show they certify it as a true copy of the original.

The notarised document is then sent to the FCO (Foreign & Commonwealth Office) to apostillise it as legal and certified.

THEN I will take that document to Slovakia to be translated and sent to the Slovak government.

It's taken me a while to get my head around it but that's how I understand the process works at the moment.

Prices to get this done vary massively so I emailed a few solicitors asking for quotes before I got it done.

The solicitor I went to charged me £40 for the notary and I'm sorting the apostille myself; the FCO charge £30 plus postage but if I'd have asked the solicitor to post it off their handling fee was £57!

Other people I got quotes from charged £55 for the notary, £60 to verify the copy and £70 for the apostille so it is definitely worth searching online first.

University of Veterinary Medicine in Kosice, Slovakia

I guess that now I've been accepted I should probably post a bit more about the vet school I could be spending the next 4 years of my life at!

The University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy is in in Kosice, the second biggest city in Slovakia - behind Bratislava, the capital.
I was born and raised in Birmingham, England's second city but Kosice is ever so slightly different!

They offer a 6 year course for A-level leavers who have to do an entrance exam as well as a graduate entry 4 year post-BSc course for animal or science related degree schemes. The courses are ran in either Slovak or English so I'll be with lots of other English speaking international students from all over the world.

At the end of it we end up with a DVM qualification; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
The course is fully accredited and allows you to register with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the same as all the UK universities, which means I can practice in the UK and the EU.
It's also accredited by EAEVE, European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education, which Martin from the Uni explained when we visited, the same as the UK vet schools.

Tuition fees are €7,500 a year (around £6,100 with current exchange rate) compared with £9,000-£26,500 per year studying in the UK.
Taking the cheaper UK universities at £9,000 for 5 years would mean £45,000 compared with ~£24,400 for 4 years in Kosice; if I was to compare with £26,500 its a difference of £108,100...

Accommodation in dorms is €120 a month during term time and half price during summer months which averages out at €100 a month over the year and equates to £80 a month. I paid £80 a week to live in Aberystwyth and have friends who pay £140 a week in Manchester and London!
The cost of living is comparable with food being a lot cheaper but other items like toiletries being slightly more expensive than the UK.

I was worried about potential employment after studying abroad but having spoken to a few vets, they don't see it as an issue. One of the vets where I saw practice in Aberystwyth studied in Budapest and the more senior vets I spoke to said they were impressed with how practical the course seemed to be. As long as the course is accredited I will be fine and as more and more students are looking abroad for their studies, the prospects can only get better.

The way I see it is living and studying abroad can only be a good thing and rounds you as a person. When else may I get the opportunity to move away and live in another country without ties of a mortgage or family?

Been accepted into Vet School

I didn't mention it before but I applied to UMV Kosice vet school in Slovakia a few weeks ago and have been accepted onto the 4 year post-BSc course!

I'm obviously really excited but also quite daunted at the prospect; since graduating I've settled at home, have a full-time job and the money that comes with it, a new car, friends and family all around me and hadn't got my head around moving away again, especially not to Eastern Europe!
But its been a few weeks now since I applied and got accepted and visiting both uni's definitely answered a lot of questions I had and I'm looking forward to it.

Since we visited I've put myself off studying in Budapest mainly due to the extra 3 years it will take me and the extra €30,000 fees (not including living costs) that goes with that.

I really really loved the city of Budapest and could really see myself living there and would love to study there but Kosice is winning at the moment.

It also costs a lot more to apply to Budapest, €200 application plus €250 entrance exam, which isn't much in the grand scheme of things but a lot of money to waste applying if I can't see myself there.

Before I go I want to get some more placements seeing practice in vets and have sent emails to all the local practices - so far I've had 1 rejection and 1 email saying its been forwarded to the practice manager.

I've asked my office job if I can go down to 4 days a week (either part time or do 4 longer days) which they were reluctant to do but they know its for my career and if I can't do 4 days I'll hand my notice in to get work experience...
I've worked 8am-8pm four days a week and 8-4 on a Friday for a good few months now, so one day a week off seeing practice would be ideal.

Visiting Budapest and Kosice Vet Schools

We've been saying for literally years that we need to visit the vet schools in Budapest and Slovakia but have never got round to arranging it 'cos people always had something in the way or couldn't do a certain date, so a couple months ago I looked at when the cheapest flights were and just booked it.

I put on Facebook that I was going with an open invite to come with and 3 other friends booked, so at least I wasn't going on my own.

We arrived in Budapest on Sunday evening and spent most of the week there - I love the city! It has a cool, trendy vibe was really clean and reminded me a lot of Berlin.

It's really easy to get around and nearly everything is in English which I didn't expect.

We went to have a look at the Uni and for a quick self-guided tour as there was noone from the uni to show us around. I didn't realise they didn't offer a shorter post-BSc course so minimum is 5.5 years and speaking to students, on average it takes 7.5 years!! The campus was great with pretty modern facilities but it was tiny (much smaller than my secondary school) and there were no animals on campus.
Apparently they have a really high fail rate so people end up doing retakes, taking inactive semesters to revise or retaking semesters if they failed it previously.
It was really good to speak to some 5th year Norwegian girls who were (a bit too) critical but told it how it is so we're prepared for what the course is like.

On Thursday we hired a car and drove 250km to Košice in Slovakia - I drove and we survived!

Kosice was completely different to Budapest; very little English in the town and much less touristy.

We met up with Louise, a friend from my undergrad BSc, who is now a 1st year in Kosice and went for dinner. We went to Piano bar and ordered pizzas in English and the waitress understoon us fine, even if we had to do a bit of pointing at the menu!
I guess if I move out there I'll pick up some of the language and will get to know the places to go, though that said, they have a McDonalds, two 24hr Tesco's and a Marks & Spencer!

The next morning we went to visit UVMP Kosice (University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy) which was a quick tram ride away and pretty easy to find.

The Uni seemed to have good facilities, we met Martin and Denisa from the Foreign Office who gave us a tour of campus and answered lots of questions for us.

Anatomy Museum & Library:

 Lots of the buildings are older but they're obviously spending a lot of money developing it and building new facilities all the time which I was really impressed with. I guess as more international students are going out there to study it is building up the reputation and facilities so things can only get better.

A new Equine clinic with stables was built last year with cameras for 24/7 observation: 

Every stable has a separate yard so the horses can go outside if they want to. There was even a lecture room which looked onto a horse operating theatre which was a neat idea!

The only thing that really put me off was the dorms accommodation, but in saying that, it's only €120 a month which is silly cheap compared to home! We had a look at adverts for private apartments which were about €420 a month for 2 people so still pretty cheap and about half of what I paid in Aberystwyth.

They're both completely different universities and vet schools and not at all what I expected so I'm really glad we came. I've made a list of Pro's and Con's... If I could put Kosice University in the city of Budapest that would be perfect!

I now have some thinking to do and life decisions to make!