#vetmed

tl;dr: im fine, school is a lot, and something awesome is happening and if you would donate here that would mean the world to me

So I would like to add some personal experiences that could make for comedy gold on a show like this:

Excited pig monch to butt/knee cap/boots (see this post)

Surgery/necropsy where something full of liquid that is not blood erupts all over the doc/tech/student (like a giant cyst or abscess)

Bird escaping a kennel and techs having to wander around a dark room with nets trying to catch it OR bird escapes kennel, lands on a tech’s foot and attacks shoe while tech has to carefully scoot across room to get a net to catch the amgry birb

Farm call where a group of amgry geese/swans/turkeys are between vet and patient

Yearling colt doesn’t want vaccines so badly that he bolts from the restrainer by managing to tear the ring the lead rope attaches to off his halter

Absurd hamster death

Vet goes home to visit family farm for holidays and ends up providing impromptu wound care to family horse that did something stupid to get through the night

Sassy bunny steals something out of your hands, runs under something, and growls at you while you’re trying to get it

Being trapped in a room with a client for half an hour trying to get a yes or no on CPR/DNR on a patient (could be side plot of a whole episode)

Tech/student not scrubbed into a surgery freezing in the OR and cuddling with a freshly autoclaved surgical pack for warmth

Rat just hanging out on someone’s shoulder for a whole episode while they go about their duties

If you feed it the wrong diet you can cause it's bones to break or other diseases associated with mineral imbalances. If you feed it too much you could cause issues associated with obesity including excessive fat stores.

If you aren't a trained wildlife rehabilitator you won't understand the importance of preventing imprinting or humanising. So you'll cuddle it, play with it, and let your pets play with it. So it will think it can only get food from humans, and that humans and domestic pets are part of its family.

If you take it while it's still young it won't learn the necessary foraging and social skills from its parents to survive in the wild. You might joke you don't even need a cage for it, but it isn't able to go anywhere because you've made it dependant on you.

If you aren't a wildlife carer or in the animal health industry you might not realise it's injured and needs treatment. This could lead to broken bones setting in ways that the animal can't perform normal functions and suffering from a life of chronic pain. Or it could lead to it suffering a slow and agonising death.

You might also not be aware that wildlife can contain diseases that can make you sick or even kill you. You could put yourself and your loved ones at risk of serious zoonotic diseases by bringing it home.

And, if you are found to be illegally holding a wild animal without the intention of rehabilitating and releasing it, the authorities are stuck. They can't release the animal because it thinks humans and domestic pets are friends. It can't forage for itself. It can't socialise with its own kind. It could have injuries or diet associated diseases that mean it can't perform normal functions, or is suffering from chronic pain. If they released it, it would die.

Is it fair for that animal that your choices have led to it not being able to experience its life in the wild as it should?

If you take something from the wild and intend to keep it, I hope this makes you think twice.

These kinds of stories are all over social media now, but none of them tell this side. They normalise putting a wild animal though an incredibly stressful experience purely for likes and engagement.

If you want to be a hero, get accredited to be a wildlife rehabilitator. Join an amazing network of compassionate humans just like you who understand that wild things should be wild, and do everything they can to get them back there.

Chocolate is a well known toxin for both dogs and cats, but did you know that lilies can be dangerous too?

If you own a cat, save yourself the money and the stress of an emergency vet visit. Keep these plant species out of your home.