Second week came along… all the hours spent in books and lectures are starting to become more real. All the hard work is starting to pay off. I knew that achieving my “ideal destination” was going to take a lot of time and effort, and I won't lie to you, I had moments of self-doubt… but those moments are fading away. I never doubted this is the career I wanted to follow and the more hours I spend at the clinic, the more I solidify my love for this profession! And this week was very special! I did surgery on my own cat “Teagan” (well… my son’s cat to be more precise).

Let me give you a bit of medical background about Teagan.

Three months ago she started having peeing accidents around the house, but we had just moved to a different house so I attributed the accidents to the changes in environment...after all cats can be pretty sensitive! Then one day I noticed she had blood in her urine, “oh no, urinary tract infection” I thought. Off we went to see the vet and it turned out she had bladder stones! There are different types, the most common being struvite and calcium oxalate. The first one can be treated and dissolved with diet, the latter one requires a cystotomy, a surgery that involves going into the bladder to remove the stones. Well…. you can probably guess by now which type of stone Teagan had!!

So I'm talking to Dr. Paula Dupuy one day about the need to have Teagan come for surgery and she turns to me and says “you can do it”. Four words that had a huge impact on me that day! She had confidence on me, she knew I was ready to move from my books to the surgery table. I can do it, I thought, it's time to put knowledge into practice.

Surgery day came and Dr. Marlah Magalas guided me through the surgery; she also believed in me! She was amazing at guiding me and giving me the confidence to complete it. And Sherri was monitoring Teagan’s anesthesia, so I had no worries there, my kitty was in excellent hands!

So what I’ve learned this week (besides so many other interesting veterinary cases) is that “you can do it”. Believe in yourself, you can do more than you think, don't let your own fears stop you from living your dreams, take risks because only then you can reach your “ideal destination”. And be grateful to those that have believed in you, that have told you “YOU CAN DO IT” because those are 4 powerful words!

Calcium oxalate stones removed from Teagan’s bladder

Teagan’s surgery went well and she's recovering well, she had no need to use any of her 9 lives ;)