This week has flown by...

This week seems to have flown by!

I spent most of the weekend revising Anatomy and went to Self Study on Tues and Weds so I was more confident on Thursday after I freaked out last week and felt like I worked really hard for 5 days.

I volunteered to go first and get my oral exam over with this week and although I was still a bit nervous I didn't freak out and stayed calm!

She handed me a Lumbar vertebrae so I started explaining this is Lumbar vertebrae of a horse and this is the caput as the processus spinosus point caudally... she looked at me confused and I pointed towards my head... cranially! I knew what I meant but got my words mixed up.

Anyway, carried on and explained all the points of it and didn't miss any out. She asked me how many Thoracic vertebrae are in each animal (18 in horses, 13 in ruminants, 14 in pigs and 13 in carnivores - which was fine) then lumbar which threw me but I eventually got there after an awkward silence; 6 in all, 7 in carnivores.

She then handed me a bone and asked what it was, I said 6th cervical as it had foramen transversarium and (what I thought were) lamina ventralis which are absent in the 7th cervical; she interrupted with "it's a C".

I was relieved to have passed but a bit disappointed that I'd worked hard for 5 days and only got a C which is about 75% - I'm now thinking it could have been a wierd looking 3rd, 4th or 5th cervical - we'll never know!

English teaching went well last night and much better than a Wednesday night, we had a lie in til 8:30am this morning, getting up to go Falconry.
Was soo tired but Brigid and Lucy showed us how to do Faecal Worm Egg Counts (FWEC) and luckily after a week of treatment they were all clear!

We have Latin and Physiology practical this afternoon then going back to Falconry tonight to try and get Clarence the kestrel flying Glove to Glove!

Long week of Vet School!

This week has been quite hard and think we deserve a decent weekend!

I passed my Histology exam which we had on Monday, I got 72% which is a C and also had an anatomy credit on Wednesday...
I thought I'd revised it well and went tested ourselves the night before and I was ok but when I got in there I freaked out. She asked me to pick up a Tibia from a pile of bones which I did but when I got a quarter of the way through naming parts of it, I just went blank. She tried to help me through it by asking questions but I just couldn't think straight.
Next she handed me a small bone and asked me to name it and I had no idea what it was called! I knew all the parts of it basis phalangis mediae, corpus phalangis mediae, caput phalanges mediae, tuberositas extensorius, fovea articularis but was completely plank on the name of the bone... the Medial Phalanx! Still, I managed to get a D which is about 65% and most importantly enough to pass!

I've been doing my adults English lessons on a Wednesday but was finding it too hard with Anatomy credit test on Thursday morning so have moved them to a Thursday. It worked really well this week 'cos I went straight from Uni to Didacticus for the kids lessons at 2 and my adults lessons don't start til 5 so I had an hour to kill in the middle to managed to get some anatomy notes written up for next week.
It means I was out the house 6.45am-7.30pm but when I got home there was a packet of M&S chocolate digestives waiting in my room as a present from Sian!

The girls stayed in last night but I went out with Niall and some of the older years to Jazz Club and had a really good night. Anthony is in second year and went to Leeds Uni with George my best friend from home - small world!

Sian and I spent 3 hours down at Falconry club today working with Clarence the Kestrel.
We flew him from his perch to a glove with a creance (long cord) which he was really good and and then tried glove to glove which was less successful - think he was getting confused with why 2 people were working him and probably getting a bit full up too!

Then tonight we've been out for Niamh's birthday; we went to Passage to India for a curry and the food was decent but we waited ages!
We got there at 7 and out food came out at 8.45, there was a big group of us but still it was getting ridiculous. The food was really tasty but the curry was tiny considering it was €7!

Meet Gizmo...

Meet Gizmo, my new roommate...

He was on the streets yesterday but a local lady took him to a charity so I'm fostering him until Christmas or a home can be found for him... whichever comes first.

The clinic checked him over, wormed him and tester for FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) and FeLV (Feline Leukaemia Virus).

He's amazing well behaved considering he's come straight off the streets and has taken to the litter tray straight away.

This is him and Simba, Roxie's foster kitten, who is a few weeks older - they only met each other for the first time today!

Things that you see from a window at vet school...

PASSED ANATOMY

I've never been so relieved to have an exam over and done with - I passed with a C (just under 80%) so am pretty pleased with that!

We had a pointless Latin lesson this afternoon - the teacher tried telling us how all English words are either Masculine, Feminine or Neuter like they are in Latin and didn't understand why we said they weren't.

She also tried telling us the English translation of Skeleton was Skelet...

Got the bus straight into town from Uni to go and teach my Didacticus kids lesson.

They were so much better behaved this week compared to last and most of them participated in the lesson really well.

Now to start Anatomy all again ready for the Pelvic Limb next week...

Revising bones of the Thoracic Limb

We have Anatomy credit tests at the start of our practical every week and this week our topic is Bones of the Thoracic (fore) Limb.

There's enough detail to remember as it is and then they throw in the added complication of having to know all the names in Latin!

I drew and labeled all the bones up over the weekend and have been trying to learn them and not really got anywhere.

I managed to get some actual bones to have a look at and it made it SO much easier to learn!

Really not looking forward to the oral exam tomorrow - I'll be happy if I just pass!

Full day of Uni plus Falcons

It's been a 12 hour day on campus for me today!

We started with our Slovak lesson at 7am, a 2 hour Microbiology lecture, 2 hour Microb practical, hours gap, 2 hour Genetics lecture and then finished with Anatomy self-study at 7pm!

Had a really good day though and its nice to keep busy and actually feel like I'm learning (and remembering) stuff!

Sian and I did pop down to Falconry and Raptor club in our break before Genetics.

Meet Duckie the Peregrine Falcon:

and Frantiska, the Harris Hawk:

Life of a Vet Student

Revising bones of the Thoracic Limb...

Falconry & Raptor Rehabilitation Club

I went down to Falconry & Raptor Club with Michelle who's in charge of the club this morning and got a chance to meet the birds.

She quickly showed me how they do the Falconers knot but I think it'll take quite a bit of practice to get the hang of it!

I got to hold Duckie the Peregrine Falcon - he got his name 'cos he's always chatting and quacking away!

They also have two Kestrels, a partially blind Gyr/Gyr-Saker hybrid called Bear and two new additions they're working with are a Harris Hawk and a Goshawk.

They aren't actively looking for new people to the club this year but Michelle said I should be able to shadow people for a few weeks to learn the basics, see if I like it and then I can think about joining! :)

Early start

We were up in the middle of the night again this morning for a Slovak lecture starting at 7am!
The lesson went surprisingly well as the teacher was really nice and had perfect English - we were surprised at how many words we'd picked up in just a few weeks of being here.
Favourite word so far is Pivo ...beer.

It's gotten considerably colder over the last week and everyone's gone from wearing tshirts and shorts to trousers and hoodies!
We went down to try and find out if we can help out with the uni's horses in the stables attached to the large animal clinic but couldn't find anyone to speak to, let alone someone who speaks English.

I'm going down to tag along with the president of Falconry Club on Sunday to see what they get up to and if its something I'd like to join.
Really looking forward to going and meeting the birds so hope I like it!

I've still not managed to find out about Breeders Club which was mentioned in the prospectus who breed Pigeons, Quail and Chickens for exhibitions but that sounds like something right up my street!
I was planning on bringing my little Brinsea incubator over after Christmas and hatching some chicks in my room like we did in Aber but it doesn't seem like its needed!

Extracurricular Activities

Today, I made hoummous and it was amazing! My breath stinks of garlic, my room stinks of garlic and my hands probably stink of garlic but it was so worth it!

I devoured a mountain of it with a pile of salad + balsamic vinegar :)

I've spent the last hour doing my Latin homework for this week which wasn't difficult, it just took a long time sorting it all out.

I get bored if I have nothing to do so we joined a gym in town last week and I've been looking at 'Interest Clubs' today - the equivalent of societies in UK Uni's - to get some extracurricular hobbies and meet new people.
The Falconry and Raptor Rehabilitation Club sounds really interesting but they aren't looking for any new members this semester - I sent one of the girls a message on Facebook just asking on the off chance and they're happy for me to tag along, see what its all about and if it's something I'd like to join!
A friend has falcons and raptors and used to post lots of pictures on facebook of them out flying and hunting - the bond she had with them looks amazing and something I've always wanted to try. At the moment she has a Goshawk which needs working every day otherwise apparently they go back to their wild state!

Uni have an stable yard next the equine clinic so we're going to see if we can help out there too as I know some people do down and groom the horses, turn them out to pasture and stuff so would be good to get more confidence with loads more horses.
Apparently there's also a 'Breeders Club' who breed chickens, quail, pigeons and guinea pigs for exhibiting and a 'Beekeepers Club' but I've not spoken to or heard anyone talk about those yet.

I also had an interview last weekend with a guy who runs an English teaching school here and was looking for native speakers.
He's offered me 5 classes this week and I can choose to take them all or just take the ones I want - the classes are an 18 year old boy, 21 yo girl, adult female, adult couple and a class of 7-9 year olds.
I think the adults can already speak basic English and are just looking for conversational English which would be fine but not sure about the children. I've said I'll go along and try one lessons and I can always change my mind if the workload gets too much.
At the moment 5 hours a week doesn't sound too much and every penny (or euro) helps when you're a student!

Dorm Crawl weekend

Today was pretty much a complete write off 'cos we had a Dorm Crawl party last night, starting on 9th floor and making our way down the building visiting various rooms.

A bottle of Vodka is €3 so you can guess how eventful the night was...

We went to Club Ibiza at about 1am and I don't really remember much apart from it being rammed full of people and full of cigarette smoke as they smoke indoors here - maybe somewhere to avoid in future.

This afternoon we went into town to get Subway and to try and find a few bits and came back with nothing we went for.

I want an Academic Planner/man diary and have been one on Amazon for £5 but they want £7.50 to deliver it to Slovakia.

Roxie wants a plug for her sink and nowhere seems to sell them - same with Mosquito nets for our windows, lots of places have them on their windows but we want to buy them and they just don't exist in the shops?!

We've only been in Slovakia for 2 weeks and I'm already missing things from home - all the shops have amazing bakery sections with wierd and wonderful breads, right angled pain au chocolat but they don't do cookies, also houmous doesn't exist in Slovakia so I've bought chickpeas, garlic and lemon to make my own.

We did go into Marks & Spencer in town and they have an M&S Food shop! We stocked up on all the essentials; Breakfast tea bags, Percy Pigs, chicken soup and chocolate digestives.

About 6 months ago and before I knew I was coming, I bought tickets to see Sam Smith in October for me and the brothers but now I'm here I don't know if I'll be able to get home for it.
It's on a Tuesday so would mean missing a couple lectures, flying into London and then getting the train up to Nottingham then getting back to London and flying back to Kosice - apart from the long journey it's also money I don't have to waste on flights at the moment so might have to miss out this time :/

First week at Vet School

The first week at vet school has flown by and although it wasn't what I expected, I think it was better.

I can't get over or express how nice the years above have been in looking after us, getting us settled in and sharing stories.
When we were at the airport they sorted out taxi's for us, they've shown us cclassrooms, where to go for cheap printing/photocopying and every few hours on the UVM Facebook there's offers of books, notes and revision material being given away for various modules.
So many people have invited us in for a chat, brew, to give us notes on a memory stick - someone even gave me a set of laptop speakers for free so we can watch films 'cos they had 2 pairs!

It's strange going back to the classroom environment after a year out and lectures are all 2 hours but apart from having to get up for 7am lectures twice a week I'm enjoying it!

 Our Genetics lecturer is German so quite heavily accented and speaks quietly so we had to concentrate on hearing him as well as understanding what he was trying to get across but all other lecturers have been really good.

The Anatomy lecturer has great spoken English and really knows her subject so that was interesting and that lecture flew past - it helped that we have a 2 hour Anatomy practical straight after the lecture so it's all fresh in our minds and we can apply it to real bones etc and anything we didn't understand in the lecture we can recap in the practical.

We've put in for Exemptions in 3 subjects, Anatomy, Physiology and Immunology, as we covered those quite a lot in Animal Science - it basically means that we still go to all lectures, practicals and do mid-term Credit tests but instead of having 120 topics we'll be examined on in the Final Exam, we could have those cut down to a dozen topics that we'll be examined on.

The requests are submitted to professors/heads of department along with the syllabus from our previous modules and our results and can take a few weeks to hear back but here's hoping!

Early start!

Day 3 of Vet School and this morning we were up at 6.30 for a 7.15am Anatomy lecture!

Once we'd got over the fact that we were up and in Uni during the middle of the night it was actually alright. The lecturers English was really good and she was really knowledgable so it was interesting listening to her and the 2 hour lecture went really quickly.

Straight after the lecture we had an Anatomy practical where we recapped what we'd gone through in the lecture using bones and pictures:

The Anatomy practical finished half an hour early so we had a break before Latin which was completely different to the 3 years of Latin I've done before.

I guess at school we just learnt to say "The man is in the hall", "The woman is in the kitchen" etc to learn cases where was now we're learning medical terms and how to structure words to say "Regions of the body" etc.

New arrivals

Sian and I walked to HyperTesco and I bought the Guppies a couple new additions; a plant, a Dwarf Gourami and a Catfish to keep their tank clean!

The walk was actually really nice, took about 25 minutes via a reservoir, along the train track and past a few fields so better than walking along boring streets!

I also spent a few hours this afternoon putting photos up around my room to make it a bit more homely...

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.