the start of my lil mini seeing practice
seeing that my lao ban won't be around for some time. I took the opportunity to tag along with the resident and consultant over here at the Large Animal Medicine section. the rest of the peeps are over at ACVIM conference in LA so only left a handful of ppl.
The students here have rounds every morning and the consultants really grill them kau kau. hahaha... quite in depth they go. not unlike the way UPM does rounds for their SA students. It's great tho to see the lecturers going in detail regarding cases like cattle and horses instead of it being brushed off lightly like wat happens sometimes back home. A real eye opener that such things are taken seriously and should be taken seriously too.
Students here are pretty initiative and quite enthusiastic. Their level of knowledge here is quite good and sometimes they too know things in depth. Can put a lot of our final yr students to shame. But the best of our DVM lot is on par with them I can say:)
They've gotta fight for their cases as there are limited cases. Like a fren said - much like Grey's Anatomy. haha, sounds like it alright! back home, students would be like - takpe lah. u ambik lah... hahaha... pushing it around... hahaha...
lots of horse cases in the wards as they are the more expensive ones and the clients are willing to pay for them. So have been in contact with quite a no of them. It's refreshing tho cos it's been ages since I last saw a horse case:) started reading up a bit on horse stuff again. haha...
I met Dr Mark Hilton on Tues and also a whole bunch of the other Therio peeps. It's awesome to meet like minded ppl and to know that they have the passion (maybe even more!) for food animals i.e. cattle:) truly truly awesome. and to see them so enthusiastic about it also just adds to its awesomeness:)
Mark invited me out for some farm calls to day and to tell the truth, it reminded me once more how I felt when I saw practice in NZ 3 yrs ago (tho in this situation it was much warmer as it was autumn nearing winter in NZ). The drives thru the winding country roads, the vast open fields, the feel of the sun's rays hitting on ur skin, the smell of hay and grass and manure:P, the feel of the wind in ur hair. It's an amazing feeling to be a farm vet going on calls. and I hope to cont to appreciate it as long as I possibly can. and not be complacent nor lazy about it. cos as I know, it will all end when I get back to Msia after this.
so I gotta learn as much as possible and to appreciate as much as possible this opportunity offered to me.
I can't THANK the ALMIGHTY GOD enough for granting me this wonderful opportunity. will not disappoint!
Btw, the boots that they lent me were cool as I did not have to remove my shoes. just slip my shoes right into it:) takes some time to put in and remove tho:P
The first case were 2 lame cows at Darren and Warren's. One heifer and one matured cow around 5 yrs of age. Mark taught the students how to tie the legs up - inside out, then outside in and thru the loop. the longer end goes up over a bar at the top, back down and thru the metal loop thingy, then back up over the bar again. Then u start pulling on the free end while giving the occasional tug to the rope that is just coming out of the metal latch thingy.
not as secure as the tie that Bram did the last time. but is definitely a technique that I have never seen used before... gotta find the name for that one:P
then it was to pare down with a hoof knife and also a huge hoof cutter.
The dx? The first one - not too sure on dx cos the hoof was ok while the 2nd one suspected stifle prob cos Mark felt a pop when she kicked and at the same time his hand was on the stifle.
It was cool cos they brought their own chute from the hosp along, and I find that real nifty for working in places that have no restraining chutes.
tip from working there:
1. try to stay out of shit and pee's way.
2. ur safety is imptt.
3. think about ur hx taking and ddx even before reaching the farm
4. imptt to explain conditions in lay man terms. could not emphasize this more!
5. patience is the key! and Mark was the epitome of that. do you want us to do a fast job or a quick job? of course farmers want a good job done! good question to be asked!
Next up was Jake's farm to check for 2 cows that were suspected to be on heat. The students did and epidural on the first one - one poke dapat. talk about hebat man... could hear the little hiss. pumped in the lidocaine and few min later - voila! limp tail! hahaha...
took a pic with a 52-yr-old tractor that looked super hebat and sounded even more hebat. haha!
in the afternoon, bumped in Mark again and this time they were going for a castration. Mentioned that it would be the first time I saw one and he told me I could do one side. the students (both farm girls, they grew up in farms - which is really cool) were ok with it. Kelly taught me how to castrate the calf. she did one side and I did the other. she was super patient also and it was really humbling to be a student again and to learn stuff. but I'm willing to learn as long as anyone is willing to teach. we can learn from our students too:) the amazing part was that the lecturer also got himself dirty and helped with the calf restraint which I think in my opinion is fantastic.
so ok. how to castrate a calf.
1. touch perineum so that he knows u're there.
2. palpate scrotum and feel for 2 testicles.
3. pinch distal portion of scrotum laterally and using a cutter (I need to find out the name of it - Newberry knife!) clamp and quickly make a left right movement. this cuts open the scrotum.
4. grab one testicle - since I did the left, I'll describe the left. and separate the fascia from the testicle. push up as high as you can go. once that's done the testicle will be free to move.
5. grab testicle in one hand (left) while the other hand goes more proximal(right) (like holding a double back hand in tennis).
6. we need to separate/ release the cremaster muscle. the right hand goes as close to the ventrum of the animal as possible while the other hand slowly applies traction laterally. this positioning is applied to prevent the snapping of any blood vessels. the muscle will slowly give way and you can feel the testicle to be freer.
7. next, separate the vas deferens with the blood vessels digitally and extend it as far cranial as possible.
8. use the cutting thingy's sharp part and cut the vas deferens as proximal as possible. be careful not to severe the blood vessels!!!
9. using hemostats clamp the blood vessels roughly around the halfway mark.
10. this time, hold the hemostat with right hand with ur fingers anchored to the hemostat and left hand goes proximal.
10. in the same fashion that the cremaster muscle was released pull on the testicle again and this time try to make sure you get as much of the blood vessel proximally as possible. so remember! it's hand as close to the ventrum as possible and pull laterally!
11. and voila! you have just castrated a bull calf! and made him an it!
*things to note:
- don't squat or put head near perineum as calves can kick and it can really hurt. so always do a half kneel with ur head out of the way.
- when calf struggles, release the testicle. cos if cont pulling u might just snap the blood vessels and there's gonna be lots of bleeding!
hope not much bleeding:)
*so I got a comment on how not to be so excited about doing stuff to animals that they didn't ask for. point noted. castration is more of a mgm thing and it helps decrease chances of ppl getting hurt and also of improving meat quality.
*animals that are sick also do not ask to be treated nor do they wanna go thru things like post-operative pain. so does that mean we shouldn't do things that they did NOT ask for?
*if castration and stuff became a morale issue, there would certainly be a better more improved platform than to discuss it over soceial media networks. but point still noted tho.
*oh how I dislike wet blankets sometimes...
so it was a great day indeed today as I learnt a lot! gotta start reading up on castrations and beef breeds and expected progeny differences!
The students here have rounds every morning and the consultants really grill them kau kau. hahaha... quite in depth they go. not unlike the way UPM does rounds for their SA students. It's great tho to see the lecturers going in detail regarding cases like cattle and horses instead of it being brushed off lightly like wat happens sometimes back home. A real eye opener that such things are taken seriously and should be taken seriously too.
Students here are pretty initiative and quite enthusiastic. Their level of knowledge here is quite good and sometimes they too know things in depth. Can put a lot of our final yr students to shame. But the best of our DVM lot is on par with them I can say:)
They've gotta fight for their cases as there are limited cases. Like a fren said - much like Grey's Anatomy. haha, sounds like it alright! back home, students would be like - takpe lah. u ambik lah... hahaha... pushing it around... hahaha...
lots of horse cases in the wards as they are the more expensive ones and the clients are willing to pay for them. So have been in contact with quite a no of them. It's refreshing tho cos it's been ages since I last saw a horse case:) started reading up a bit on horse stuff again. haha...
I met Dr Mark Hilton on Tues and also a whole bunch of the other Therio peeps. It's awesome to meet like minded ppl and to know that they have the passion (maybe even more!) for food animals i.e. cattle:) truly truly awesome. and to see them so enthusiastic about it also just adds to its awesomeness:)
Mark invited me out for some farm calls to day and to tell the truth, it reminded me once more how I felt when I saw practice in NZ 3 yrs ago (tho in this situation it was much warmer as it was autumn nearing winter in NZ). The drives thru the winding country roads, the vast open fields, the feel of the sun's rays hitting on ur skin, the smell of hay and grass and manure:P, the feel of the wind in ur hair. It's an amazing feeling to be a farm vet going on calls. and I hope to cont to appreciate it as long as I possibly can. and not be complacent nor lazy about it. cos as I know, it will all end when I get back to Msia after this.
so I gotta learn as much as possible and to appreciate as much as possible this opportunity offered to me.
I can't THANK the ALMIGHTY GOD enough for granting me this wonderful opportunity. will not disappoint!
Btw, the boots that they lent me were cool as I did not have to remove my shoes. just slip my shoes right into it:) takes some time to put in and remove tho:P
The first case were 2 lame cows at Darren and Warren's. One heifer and one matured cow around 5 yrs of age. Mark taught the students how to tie the legs up - inside out, then outside in and thru the loop. the longer end goes up over a bar at the top, back down and thru the metal loop thingy, then back up over the bar again. Then u start pulling on the free end while giving the occasional tug to the rope that is just coming out of the metal latch thingy.
not as secure as the tie that Bram did the last time. but is definitely a technique that I have never seen used before... gotta find the name for that one:P
then it was to pare down with a hoof knife and also a huge hoof cutter.
The dx? The first one - not too sure on dx cos the hoof was ok while the 2nd one suspected stifle prob cos Mark felt a pop when she kicked and at the same time his hand was on the stifle.
It was cool cos they brought their own chute from the hosp along, and I find that real nifty for working in places that have no restraining chutes.
tip from working there:
1. try to stay out of shit and pee's way.
2. ur safety is imptt.
3. think about ur hx taking and ddx even before reaching the farm
4. imptt to explain conditions in lay man terms. could not emphasize this more!
5. patience is the key! and Mark was the epitome of that. do you want us to do a fast job or a quick job? of course farmers want a good job done! good question to be asked!
Next up was Jake's farm to check for 2 cows that were suspected to be on heat. The students did and epidural on the first one - one poke dapat. talk about hebat man... could hear the little hiss. pumped in the lidocaine and few min later - voila! limp tail! hahaha...
took a pic with a 52-yr-old tractor that looked super hebat and sounded even more hebat. haha!
in the afternoon, bumped in Mark again and this time they were going for a castration. Mentioned that it would be the first time I saw one and he told me I could do one side. the students (both farm girls, they grew up in farms - which is really cool) were ok with it. Kelly taught me how to castrate the calf. she did one side and I did the other. she was super patient also and it was really humbling to be a student again and to learn stuff. but I'm willing to learn as long as anyone is willing to teach. we can learn from our students too:) the amazing part was that the lecturer also got himself dirty and helped with the calf restraint which I think in my opinion is fantastic.
so ok. how to castrate a calf.
1. touch perineum so that he knows u're there.
2. palpate scrotum and feel for 2 testicles.
3. pinch distal portion of scrotum laterally and using a cutter (I need to find out the name of it - Newberry knife!) clamp and quickly make a left right movement. this cuts open the scrotum.
4. grab one testicle - since I did the left, I'll describe the left. and separate the fascia from the testicle. push up as high as you can go. once that's done the testicle will be free to move.
5. grab testicle in one hand (left) while the other hand goes more proximal(right) (like holding a double back hand in tennis).
6. we need to separate/ release the cremaster muscle. the right hand goes as close to the ventrum of the animal as possible while the other hand slowly applies traction laterally. this positioning is applied to prevent the snapping of any blood vessels. the muscle will slowly give way and you can feel the testicle to be freer.
7. next, separate the vas deferens with the blood vessels digitally and extend it as far cranial as possible.
8. use the cutting thingy's sharp part and cut the vas deferens as proximal as possible. be careful not to severe the blood vessels!!!
9. using hemostats clamp the blood vessels roughly around the halfway mark.
10. this time, hold the hemostat with right hand with ur fingers anchored to the hemostat and left hand goes proximal.
10. in the same fashion that the cremaster muscle was released pull on the testicle again and this time try to make sure you get as much of the blood vessel proximally as possible. so remember! it's hand as close to the ventrum as possible and pull laterally!
11. and voila! you have just castrated a bull calf! and made him an it!
*things to note:
- don't squat or put head near perineum as calves can kick and it can really hurt. so always do a half kneel with ur head out of the way.
- when calf struggles, release the testicle. cos if cont pulling u might just snap the blood vessels and there's gonna be lots of bleeding!
hope not much bleeding:)
*so I got a comment on how not to be so excited about doing stuff to animals that they didn't ask for. point noted. castration is more of a mgm thing and it helps decrease chances of ppl getting hurt and also of improving meat quality.
*animals that are sick also do not ask to be treated nor do they wanna go thru things like post-operative pain. so does that mean we shouldn't do things that they did NOT ask for?
*if castration and stuff became a morale issue, there would certainly be a better more improved platform than to discuss it over soceial media networks. but point still noted tho.
*oh how I dislike wet blankets sometimes...
so it was a great day indeed today as I learnt a lot! gotta start reading up on castrations and beef breeds and expected progeny differences!
Mark made his mark @ 10:43 PM
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