Diary of a Dick Vet

I’m doing two weeks of EMS at a dairy farm right now, which has been pretty decent so far. The dairy is owned by the vet school and is therefore closely affiliated with the hospital, so this afternoon a vet came out to ‘borrow’ some blood from a cow for a blood transfusion.

My friend and I were allowed to watch the procedure, which was very, very simple. I was under the impression that something as complicated as a blood transfusion would not be attempted on a farm animal, due to cost and risk. Actually, I was completely wrong: the procedure isn’t very complicated at all (although perhaps a bit daring) and used only simple tools, so that a vet would mostly charge the farmer for their time. All she used was: a large bucket, some sodium citrate as an anti-coagulant, a local anaesthetic, a few plastic screw-top containers, a scalpel, gauze, and some suture material. And a cow! Regardless of their simplicity, blood transfusions remain uncommon, mostly because, as you’ll see, you gotta have some guts to try it.

First, after the cow was secure in the crush, the vet raised the jugular vein using pressure from a piece of string and some gauze. She gave the anaesthetic, clipped the hair, poured a bit of alcohol, and then sliced a large hole into the vein. The blood flowed directly out of the vein and was caught by the bucket, where it was whisked together with the anticoagulant. We collected about a litre, which isn’t very much, considering that most dairy cows have about 60 litres in them! Pressure was removed and blood flow slowed down considerably, and the vet sutured up the cut. There is a small risk of infection, but cows are notoriously hardy animals and she should heal smoothly.

Next, we poured the blood into the small screw-top containers. Normally, a bag would be used, but since the blood was being transported by car to the hospital, containers were a safer method. We scrubbed up, then the vet asked my friend and I to go with her to the hospital to help with the actual transfusion.

The most common reason for a blood transfusion in a cow would be during birth, when blood loss by a vaginal artery might be fatal. Usually the artery can be cauterised, but heavy blood loss may require a transfusion. We were delivering this blood to a calf, because he was haemorrhaging internally due to a disorder affecting production of blood cells involved in blood clotting. The vet explained that the cause of this disease was unknown and under investigation, and so far the only known successful method of recovery was blood transfusion, which restores some number of clotting factors.

(Just in case you were wondering, bovines also have blood types. However, unlike with humans, they don’t produce antibodies against foreign blood types until after exposure. So, this calf could receive a single transfusion, but next time he would need to be blood-typed, and receive blood from an appropriate donor.)

The calf, while lively, had blood coming from its nose, and was breathing heavily - because of decreased red blood cell levels and therefore decreased ability to provide adequate oxygen for tissues. Upon post-mortem exam, calves with these symptoms often show heavy internal bruising, so we had to be firm in handling him so that he would stay still, but also needed to avoid accidentally giving him any knocks ourselves! We placed a catheter in his neck, sutured it so that it wouldn’t fall out easily, attached him to a drip line of a bag full of the collected blood, and let the little man go.

So far, only one calf has survived this disease, and while the calf we saw was alert, the vet said already his condition was deteriorating from the morning. Prognosis wasn’t good at all, but at least he was given a chance.

For my friend and I, it was nice to get a litte reminder of why we must keep shoveling cow poop: because someday we’ll be the ones collecting and transfusing blood. Well, maybe….

I’ve had a busy few weeks: a few days North on the Orkney Islands, a day in Aviemore, and now a cattle placement in Ednburgh.

The cattle work reminds me a lot of my time lambing. Once again I find myself walking up and down hills and rounding up herds. I’m absolutely exhausted, and since weather has been warm (mid 70’s F) and I’m out in the sun all day, I’m very sweaty and thirsty. I feel worse for the cows, who are basically heaters on four legs anyway. They must be very, very hot right now.

The herd I’m working with gets handled by humans a lot more than most beef cattle, so they’re far more tame than I expected. However, they also have 6 bulls, which are TERRIFYING. Handling them is definitely a learned skill, and it takes a bit of courage - so right now I just stand behind the gate and watch! If I do end up working with cattle in the future, I hope I will have mastered the art of reading the bull. Luckily, you usually have stockmen who are familiar with the beast and are better equiped at working with him.

I’ve only been at the placement for two days, but I’ve seen a fair amount already. They’re been artificially inseminating most of the herd, so I’ve helped with that, and today the vet came out to examine some sick bulls. Because of both of these events, we’ve been shifting a lot of cattle, and since the farm is spread out over some 500 hectares, we have a lot of ground to cover. Inevitably, every herd is at the very top of the field, about a million mile hike from the bottom, and once you reach them of course they wouldn’t dare walk in a straight line to the intended gate. Oh, cattle. You are so, so much fun.

I passed all of my exams. Barring a few EMS forms to turn in throughout the summer, I’m officially a 3rd year. Holy cow! All the hard work paid off!

To future GEPers: it’s honestly gonna suck for about 9 months, but you’ll make it through, even if it means resitting in August - and you’ll be insanely proud of yourself. I feel more proud about surviving this last year than my entire four years for my last degree.

I’m doing my final week of horse EMS right now, and it couldn’t be more different from my first horse EMS experience. Rather than working at a small stud, with expensive, delicate thoroughbreds in a small, tidy yard, I am now at a large, slightly sloppy, very lovable riding school full of teenagers and chubby school ponys.

Yesterday we took some of those ponys to Dirleton, near Berwick, to a charity event for disabled kids. We gave pony rides, back and forth across the little lawn. It was quite the surreal experience, to spend an hour in the back of a lorry with complete strangers, to be plopped into the Scottish countryside to lead ponies loaded with all sorts of kids. I am still overwhelmed by the fact that I’m in a foreign country and living a far, far more unpredictable life that I did back in California. These weeks of EMS I’ve completed so far are eventful, not simply because of the things I’ve learned about animal care, but because there was always some unexpected twist. Rarely does the job comply to the ‘9 to 5′ description that it presents with.

Today, as a bit of a reward for hard work, I mounted a horse for the first time in 5 years (after a fairly bad riding experience), and went on a trek with a few other riders. We rode mostly alongside the road, but we were hidden from the highway by the walls of grasses and wildflowers surrounding the path. Oh, and the gorse, of course. Something about those fluorescent yellow flowers and brutal spines makes me perk up. Today my leg brushed against a big branch of the stuff, stabbing my leg and reminding me of lambing in Galloway: I chased a runaway ewe through a cave of gorse, and managed to coax her out of her hideaway and into the pasture nearby. When the fog rolled over the hilside and the sheep were hidden from view, I could still see bundles of gorse dotting the fields. Gorse is integral to my story in Scotland.

Sorry to get so sentimental. These past 10 months have been so terribly bizarre and exciting and exhausting and beautiful, and only now that I’ve finished my first year in school is everything sinking in. How the hell did I get here? Regardless, it’s a good place to be.

Exams are done. I’m still trying to convince myself that I no longer have to run around like a chicken with its head cut off, that I can sleep in a little bit and that doesn’t mean I’ve lost some precious minutes of the day.

I’ve had some trouble setting up the internet in my new flat. Actually, we were very lucky, because we didn’t get a phone line connected until the 1st and internet activated until the 5th, after exams, so we had precious few distractions when we were studying. I’m hoping it was enough to help me pass everything. However, the router we plugged in yesterday doesn’t seem to work, so now my flatmate and I have plenty of time and no internet to waste all hours of the day browsing. The new router should come on Monday, when I start a week of horse EMS. Oh well. The nice thing about no internet is that I’ve gotten loads of laundry done, we’ve officially organised the kitchen, and I threw out loads of miscellaneous paper that I didn’t get a chance to sort through when I moved. I passed my Animal Husbandry course, so those flashcards and notes have been recycled. What a relief! Although, those poor trees! It takes a lot of resources, both physical and mental, to study vet.

I’m not terribly keen to do another week of horses, but at least it’s a Monday-Friday, 9 to 5 sort of EMS placement. Hope the weather stays warm!