Goat On A Branch

Brooke Warner, UC Davis

Creative Corner, Entry

 Sterling silver pin modeled after Ms. Warner's mother's Boer goat

UC Davis SCAAEP - EPDC Grant Award Winner

The student members of the Student Chapter of AAEP at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine (Equine Medicine Clun) biannually participate in dental days for local rescue organizations.  This fall, October 6-7, 2013, the SCAAEP (Equine Medicine Club) at UC Davis went to the Glen Ellen Vocational Academy (GEVA foundation) in Santa Rosa, CA on Saturday and Sadie’s Bright Haven Horse Rescue and Sanctuary (Sadie’s Haven) in Sebastobol, CA on Sunday.  Each day fifteen students, ranging from first year to third year veterinary students, performed wellness exams and dental exams on these rescued and retired horses. 

For the past five years the SCAAEP has participated in dental wet labs to provide dental care to local horse rescue and sanctuary groups in northern California.  Every fall and spring EMC visits GEVA foundation in Santa Rosa, CA.  The tradition was established by former EMC officer Dr. Maureen Kelleher and has been continued through today with her assistance and teaching.    GEVA is a non-profit organization that provides homes for injured, retired, and abused horses or horses that just need a home.   This fall Dr. Maureen Kelleher joined EMC for a day full of dental exams and dental floats on 17 horses. Dr. Prutton demonstrating the proper technique for using power float to correct dental malocclusions at GEVA.

This fall, we had the opportunity to work with Sadie’s Bright Haven Horse Rescue and Sanctuary in Sebastobol, CA.  This is the first time EMC has worked with Sadie’s Haven and it was a wonderful opportunity to provide routine wellness exams, dental exams, and dental floats.  The purpose of Sadie’s Haven Horse Rescue and Sanctuary is to provide safe, loving and experienced care and shelter for equines that have been neglected, abused or abandoned. It also offers educational tours and provides day camp programs for the community, with special consideration for underprivileged children and teens.   The horses at Sadie’s Haven were between the ages of 20-35 years old, which provided an excellent opportunity to review geriatric equine dental care and see a wide range of dental abnormalities.  Also, several horses had heart murmurs, lameness and Equine Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (Cushing’s disease).   Students participated in discussion and review of principles of sedation and dental care for geriatric patients. 

 The purpose of the EMC Dental Days is two fold:  One, to provide an opportunity for Equine Medicine Club members to gain hands on experience with wellness exams, routine dental care and review dental anatomy.  Second, to provide wellness and dental services to equine rescue organizations within our area. We work with local veterinarians, UC Davis residents and rescue groups to foster relationships for students, residents andStudents using a power float to correct dental abnormalities on a rescued horse at Sadie's Bright Haven. referring veterinarians.  Dr. Tere Crocker from North Coast Equine Mobile veterinary service participated in the

dental day in addition to UC Davis Large Animal Medicine Resident Dr. Elsbeth Swain at Sadie’s Bright Haven.  Dr. James Prutton and Dr. Alison Harvey from the UC Davis Equine Medicine Service joined Dr. Kelleher at GEVA.  Students have the opportunity to work with local veterinarians as well as doctors from the veterinary school. 

For each dental each group of students had several goals.  One, to review dental anatomy and routine dental technique for dental examination and floats.  Prior to beginning each wet lab, dental pathology was reviewed such that students could think about the mechanism of how an abnormality occurred and how to correct it.  Each horse had a dental chart to describe the findings and treatment.  Each horse also had a complete physical exam sheet and any additional procedures such as sheath cleaning or deworming were also noted.  Each student was required to propose sedation plans for each horse and discuss the mechanism of action for the drugs used (Detomidine, Xylazine, Butorphanol), before sedation was dispensed for each horse.   Proper equine restraint, proper use of the speculum and appropriate technique for monitoring a sedated horse was emphasized for each case.   First, second and third year veterinary students participated in all of the above activities.

Following both days of dental wet labs SCAAEP was invited back for spring dental exams, floatations and wellness days at both GEVA and Sadie’s Bright Haven.  Sadie’s Bright Haven is very excited to work with UCD veterinary students and provide learning opportunities.   SCAAEP plans on working again with Sadie’s Bright Haven in the spring in addition to the Grace Foundation and GEVA. 

Inca Trail

Entry, Creative Corner
David Kim, UC Davis

I was stumbling down the Inca Trail when I first saw the ass.  It was brown with tufts of unkempt hair that seemed to randomly sprout all over its body.  In my delirium, I thought Armando had sent it up to get me because I was taking too long to descend.  It walked towards me, stopping 20 feet away, and turned around, beckoning me to get on.  I stood there confused because I thought we were renting a horse.  Perhaps the place he had mentioned had no more for the day.  It seemed plausible since it was already late in the afternoon, only a few hours before dark.  But if it was sent up, how did it know to find me?  Did Armando tell it to look for a chinito?  As I tried to rationalize the situation, I realized I was starting to lose it and walked on.  Within a few minutes, I spotted Armando resting on the stone steps of a lone house.  Seeing me, he grinned and said, “Do you want a horse or do you want a donkey, so you can ride into town like Jesus Christ?”  He cackled uncontrollably, and I managed a weak smile as I praised the Peruvian gods that soon I’d be on a horse despite the fact that I had no idea how to ride one.

            Three days before, my sister and I landed in Cusco to hike to Machu Picchu for a much needed vacation.  I had worked all throughout summer and made the mistake of not taking a break for myself, and I was burnt out before fall quarter had even started.  We ended up choosing Peru based on the stories we had heard from my uncle, who had done several hiking treks there.  It seemed an ideal time to hike to Machu Picchu as the rainy season meant fewer tourists, and we were able to get a permit to hike the Inca Trail, booking it only 1.5 months in advance. 

            We stayed in Cusco two days to properly acclimate before the hike.  The city is 11,200 feet above sea, and shortly after landing, I started to feel the effects of soroche ie altitude sickness.  Luckily, the Peruvians have a magical plant called erythroxylum coca, which is available in a variety of forms from the dried leaf to tea to even hard candies.  Within a day, I felt much better.  Contrary to what some people may believe, ingesting coca is not like doing cocaine as the humble plant contains less than 1% of the alkaloid.  Its effects were smooth and soothing yet had a very clean buzz without the jittery effects of caffeine.  While on the trail, I was continually amazed by the porters, who seemed to be fueled solely by coca, zipping up the hills in their sandals or beat up tennis shoes.  Initially, I was unsure how to chew them, and a fellow hiker advised me to roll a bunch of leaves into a plug and chew it.  When Issac, one of our guides, heard this, he scoffed, saying that was the fancy way invented by the Spanish.  Issac was Quecha, part of the indigenous people of the Andes, and he had been an avid coca chewer since he was six.  Taking a big wad, he told me to put on the side of my mouth, chomping on it from time to time to let the material leech out.  When the mouth got numb and the leaves started to break apart, that was when to spit it out although I did have the option of swallowing it as the leaf provided fiber and other nutrients.

            The first day of the hike was challenging, but the views were amazing. 

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Hazel

Entry, Creative Corner
Andrew Chao, UC Davis

Whale Mosaic

Entry, Creative Corner
Jennifer Norman, UC Davis