Well, my first week on large animal was a whirlwind! I spent some time shadowing the large animal vets throughout my undergrad degree, and it was really nice to get back on the road this week and visit some farms that I remember visiting years ago, as well as seeing some new ones! In the past five days I have seen everything from pregnancy checks in horses, to meat inspection, and everything in between. One of our dairy clients had a cow that had been down for an abnormal amount of time because she had an energy and electrolyte imbalance, but with some TLC and time out on the farm lawn in a shady spot under a tree, she got up and has been fine since! It is moments like these that remind me how amazing animals can be at healing, and how cool it is to be part of a profession that works to help that happen. Kelsey and I also had the opportunity to spay a farm dog this week, and it went really well!  

One thing I noticed during my week on small animal was that I started to get seriously antsy being in the clinic all day. I have discovered that I need more than brief glimpses of the outdoors in order to get through the day! On the small animal side of things, it is nice to get to see so many clients in a day and there are some advantages to working in the same environment every day; you always have what you need because you are in the clinic (as opposed to working out of a truck where you may run out of stock because you can only carry so much equipment in your vehicle), you can step out of the exam room for a moment and consult colleagues and textbooks which is harder to do at a large animal call, and it is climate-controlled – not to be underestimated! However, for me personally, I have found that I prefer the advantages that come with working on the road as a large animal veterinarian: being outside every day, being able to talk to clients and patients in their home environment where they are more comfortable, and I also enjoy the time in the truck between appointments as we drive to the next call. It is nice to have some time to decompress between appointments, talk over cases, and prepare for the next appointment. Also, not knowing what type of farm or situation you may walk into next definitely keeps things interesting!

Overall it has been a great two weeks. I have seen the small animal side of things as well as the large, and I’m looking forward to getting more experience in both areas! Until next time!