A Day With The Vet

I was priveleged with the ability to shadow a veterinarian who does horses. His name is Dr. Esterline and we spent the day together doing various farm calls. Above you can see that Dr. Esterline has got a big tool in the horse's mouth which is being held open by a metal speculum. The tool is a filer that he used to file down a few sharp teeth. Dr. Esterline has a 'head band' on with a light so he could see all the way into Harvey's mouth. I was shown two teeth that are in the beginning stages of rotting and allowed to feel two teeth. One that was very worn down and smooth as glass and the other was sharp not really worn at all. Dr. Esterline explained that when a tooth is as worn down as what the first tooth was, it doesn't wear the other teeth down. When a tooth is too high it'll begin to push another tooth forward which can cause discomfort and prevent eating. A horse's teeth should be checked every month and filed as well. I also found out that teeth that are rotten get fillings. Horses get fillings like people too. How cool.

 

We did another horse's teeth at a different farm. That horse hadn't what his teeth floated for two years almost but it wasn't affecting his eating, however he was very uncomfortable with a bit in his mouth. While there were no rotten teeth he did have some towards the back that were sharper and a bit high and I believe crooked. Dr. Esterline filed them all down and called it good. When we finished Ringo's teeth we moved on to a mare named Mata Hari who needed an ultrasound on her leg. 

Her superficial flexory tendon was swolen and sore making it painful to wall and work on. Because it was a tendon Xrays wouldn't work as they show bone and not muscle, fat, or tendon. So Dr. Esterline used an ultrasound machine, pictured above, to look at her leg. Her right front leg when examined looked fine and like normal. Her left front leg however was bowled out and clearly swollen. Dr. Esterline then went to his truck and came back with that black machine above. This would provide laser therapy to her leg. He held the small tube like structure(first picture) to her leg and it made a series of popping noises as he moved up and down where her leg was sore. Mata Hari will need to be walked daily and will not be able to be shown this year, but her leg will get better. 

Before I went on the road with Dr. Esterline I had to stay at the clinic for a while. So I watched them spay a young dog named Elsa. The first picture is her uterous when removed. It's in a folded mess but picture a small, pink, Y shaped structure. I was surpised when I saw how small it was I figured it would be bigger than what Dr. Beach pulled out. After she got the uterous out Dr. Beach brought her bladder up and showed me how full of urine it was. She applied steady pressure which cause Elsa to involuntarily pee while under anesthesia. Elsa's colon was also filled with poop but Dr. Beach didn't squeeze that out. When she finished draining her bladder Dr. Beach began sewing her up. There were three layers to sew. The abdominal wall needed to be sutured. The fat wall came next and lastly the skin needed to be sutured. Dr. Beach put a surgical glue over top to make sure the stitches didn't come out should Elsa lick at them. The sutures inside will eventually dissolve into nothing. I also got to see the technicians perform an Xray on a dog and Dr. Hermann explained to me what I was looking at, some, much to her delight, I identified on my own. 

It was a very fun and educating day. 

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into veterinary life, hopefully I'll shadow again and get better pictures and more experiences to share with you guys!