For 4 days I have been working in the Veterinary practice in Courville, a city in France. This practice focuses on dogs, cats and horses. This blog post will be a brief description of what I learned, saw and more.
When I first arrived, I was given a tour of the veterinary practice, which is a small one. I was then allowed to ask to vet any questions I had and learned a lot from the question and answer section.
For instance I knew that onions were poisonous to dogs however I now know it is due to them making red blood cells explode. Grapes and chocolates are also poisonous to dogs however the greatest danger to dogs is human paracetamol as it simply keeps circulating in the animals body.
Moreover, I learned the symptoms of cardiac problems in dogs, cats and horses. For dogs, coughing is the main symptom coughing but this is a symptom for many diseases therefore a combination of coughing, difficulty breathing, weakness, edema (swelling of body tissues) , changes in appetite and behaviour would suggest cardiac problems in dogs. In cats, it is often to late upon realisation however they include vomiting, difficulty breathing, thromboembolisms ( this is when a red blood cell clots and cuts off proper circulation and inability to use that specific body part normally), along with any signs of change in appetite/weight and behaviour. For horses it is mostly about examining the heart, counting the beats per minutes, especially after exercise. There are many different cardiac problems in horses therefore symptoms will be more specific towards a type of cardiac problem. We mainly spoke about study options about french universities and what she knew about english universities. This was a great way to find out more about the uni vet life!
The first day was a calm day with 2 dogs and 3 cats coming in, all for various vaccinations. I was able to prepare the vaccinations and this is a brief summary of how vaccines work on your pet:
1)A small dose of the bacteria is injected under the skin of the animal (usually around the neck area)
2)This exposes the immune system to the antigens of the vaccine (viral or bacterial)
3)The immune system then produces its own antibodies so that if the animal does get that disease then the body will create anti bodies in only a few hours compared to a few days or weeks.
4)This is also known as "active immunity"
Various vaccinations were needed including rabies, measles and hepatitis.
The second day a dog came in with a rather large abscess on its toe. This is a swollen area within a body tissue which as a result of an infection contains a lot of puss inside. There are different causes for an abscess but they are usually the result of an open wound becoming infected. Bacteria basically invades the skin and as the skin closes up, the bacterias stay inside, causing the swell and puss. This can be quite easily treated however some veterinarians prefer to swab the abscess to check which bacteria is present and to take a blood test to see if the infection has spread. In this case though, the veterinarian simply cut it gently open, squeezing the puss out gently as it was only a small abscess.
The third day was rather calm with a 3 dogs coming in for vaccinations and 3 cats. However we did need to move to a farm in order to vaccinate a horse too.
During this free time, as the vet brought in her dog to work I was able to get some more hands on experience. I was taught how to do a general check-up and performed a blood test.
These are the steps to a general check up, just to check the general health of the dog/cat:
(in no specific order)
1)Check the eyes, looking specifically at the white part under the eyeball.
2)Check the mouth, specifically the gums of the pet, apply pressure to the gum and see how fast colour reapers, this checks for blood circulation and more. A pink colour is preferable compared to a
light pink/whitish colour
3)Check the hearth and lungs by listening with a stethoscope. Regular hearth beats and breaths are a sign of good health and make sure you close the mouth of the dog to listen better.
4)Check ears, see how clean they are, the dirtier they are the more prone they are to ear infections, this is especially important in dogs with large, floppy ears.
Another case we had was a patient coming in sneezing constantly. The patient was a large labrador, already aged 14 and had suffered a cardiac arrest last year. Many of the symptoms, including age, pointed to a tumour in the nose, causing the snot to constantly drip out of the nose. The owner was not able to afford the treatment necessary therefore simply medication was given to try to make the dogs life easier until he could either gather up the money or we were brought to the painful decision of euthanasia.
I learned much more than this however this gave me a good idea of what being a vet involves and what the studies involve also. It was a great opportunity and it solidified my dream of becoming a vet.
When I first arrived, I was given a tour of the veterinary practice, which is a small one. I was then allowed to ask to vet any questions I had and learned a lot from the question and answer section.
For instance I knew that onions were poisonous to dogs however I now know it is due to them making red blood cells explode. Grapes and chocolates are also poisonous to dogs however the greatest danger to dogs is human paracetamol as it simply keeps circulating in the animals body.
Moreover, I learned the symptoms of cardiac problems in dogs, cats and horses. For dogs, coughing is the main symptom coughing but this is a symptom for many diseases therefore a combination of coughing, difficulty breathing, weakness, edema (swelling of body tissues) , changes in appetite and behaviour would suggest cardiac problems in dogs. In cats, it is often to late upon realisation however they include vomiting, difficulty breathing, thromboembolisms ( this is when a red blood cell clots and cuts off proper circulation and inability to use that specific body part normally), along with any signs of change in appetite/weight and behaviour. For horses it is mostly about examining the heart, counting the beats per minutes, especially after exercise. There are many different cardiac problems in horses therefore symptoms will be more specific towards a type of cardiac problem. We mainly spoke about study options about french universities and what she knew about english universities. This was a great way to find out more about the uni vet life!
The first day was a calm day with 2 dogs and 3 cats coming in, all for various vaccinations. I was able to prepare the vaccinations and this is a brief summary of how vaccines work on your pet:
1)A small dose of the bacteria is injected under the skin of the animal (usually around the neck area)
2)This exposes the immune system to the antigens of the vaccine (viral or bacterial)
3)The immune system then produces its own antibodies so that if the animal does get that disease then the body will create anti bodies in only a few hours compared to a few days or weeks.
4)This is also known as "active immunity"
Various vaccinations were needed including rabies, measles and hepatitis.
The second day a dog came in with a rather large abscess on its toe. This is a swollen area within a body tissue which as a result of an infection contains a lot of puss inside. There are different causes for an abscess but they are usually the result of an open wound becoming infected. Bacteria basically invades the skin and as the skin closes up, the bacterias stay inside, causing the swell and puss. This can be quite easily treated however some veterinarians prefer to swab the abscess to check which bacteria is present and to take a blood test to see if the infection has spread. In this case though, the veterinarian simply cut it gently open, squeezing the puss out gently as it was only a small abscess.
The third day was rather calm with a 3 dogs coming in for vaccinations and 3 cats. However we did need to move to a farm in order to vaccinate a horse too.
During this free time, as the vet brought in her dog to work I was able to get some more hands on experience. I was taught how to do a general check-up and performed a blood test.
These are the steps to a general check up, just to check the general health of the dog/cat:
(in no specific order)
1)Check the eyes, looking specifically at the white part under the eyeball.
2)Check the mouth, specifically the gums of the pet, apply pressure to the gum and see how fast colour reapers, this checks for blood circulation and more. A pink colour is preferable compared to a
light pink/whitish colour
3)Check the hearth and lungs by listening with a stethoscope. Regular hearth beats and breaths are a sign of good health and make sure you close the mouth of the dog to listen better.
4)Check ears, see how clean they are, the dirtier they are the more prone they are to ear infections, this is especially important in dogs with large, floppy ears.
Another case we had was a patient coming in sneezing constantly. The patient was a large labrador, already aged 14 and had suffered a cardiac arrest last year. Many of the symptoms, including age, pointed to a tumour in the nose, causing the snot to constantly drip out of the nose. The owner was not able to afford the treatment necessary therefore simply medication was given to try to make the dogs life easier until he could either gather up the money or we were brought to the painful decision of euthanasia.
I learned much more than this however this gave me a good idea of what being a vet involves and what the studies involve also. It was a great opportunity and it solidified my dream of becoming a vet.