VIN Topic Rounds

Are you missing out on clinical rotations because of COVID-19? The VIN Student Team has you covered with Tuesday Topic Rounds.  During the month of May, join Amanda Guthrie, DVM, MRCVS, DACZM, DECZM for 30 minute, case-based sessions on Zoo Medicine every Tuesday at 12ET. Everyone and all levels of experience are welcome. There will be time for Q&A and discussion following. The next session is Zoo Medicine: Mammal Cases on May 4, 2021 at 12 ET.

In this rounds:

• Recognize and understand a few of the most common diseases of zoo mammals.
• Learn how to work up zoo mammal cases in a systematic manner.
• Discuss zoo mammal diagnostics and treatment options.
• Consider zoo mammal disease prevention and the wider significance to the herd or collection, emphasizing the individual vs. the group.

TO JOIN THE SESSION, LOG INTO THE VIN STUDENT CENTER AND CLICK THE GREEN BUTTON IN THE TOP RIGHT

The Veterinary Information Network (VIN) is here to help you as a vet student – especially during this worldwide pandemic. Membership is always free as a student!

Scholarship Winner: Singapore Zoo

Congratulations to Thia Yu Han, a winner from this past cycle of the International Veterinary Experience Scholarship!  Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us!

Axis Deer recovering from anesthesia post-vasectomy2020 was a difficult year, especially for final year vet students like myself whom had multiple placement cancellations due to COVID guidelines. However, I was one of the lucky few who managed to secure a 5 week placement with Singapore Zoo and it was one of the best placements I’ve completed thus far. Set in a rainforest environment, Singapore Zoo is world renowned for its “open concept” enclosure design and has a strong reputation for conservation efforts and breeding programmes. It is also a designated wildlife rescue centre and frequently works with local authorities to process displaced and/or injured wildlife. In order to better address the healthcare requirements of the zoo animals and for research purposes, the Wildlife Healthcare and

Click to read more ...

Fall 2019 EPDC Extracurricular Grant Awardees - Day 2

The WAZE (Wildlife, Aquatics, Zoo, Exotics) Organization at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine planned the WAZE Symposium: a day full of wet-labs and talks given by incredible speakers! Check out some of the pictures from their symposium below.

Belize Zoo

Lily Thorsen, Ross University

My trip to the Belize Zoo was one of the most informative and exciting trips of my life. I got to apply so much of the information I learned during the previous five semesters of vet schools, but I got to apply the information to zoo animals instead of your typical dog or cat. This made it even more exciting and really drove the message home that the information we learn in school provides us with ability to navigate through most situations, regardless of the type of animal. 

During my internship, I was able to anesthetize a female howler monkey that was in poor condition. She had a luxated lens and several broken teeth due to head trauma, mastitis and a urinary tract infection. I was able to do an ultrasound guided cystocentesis on the anesthetized monkey, which was super exciting. 

We also sedated a jaguar, a four-eyed opossum, three peccaries, and 2 tapirs for routine physical exam, blood draw, fecal collection, parasite treatment, and treatment of any ailments. The blood draws really reinforced a lot of anatomy since we had to remember potential places where we could draw blood on all of these animals based on the domestic species to which they are similar. Sedating these animals required me to remember everything I had learned in pharmacology and anesthesia and required that I do a little research into what drugs are safe to use in each species. Running the blood work made me remember much of what I learned in clinical pathology. One of the peccaries had a red blood cell parasite that has yet to be identified, but it was very cool to see for many of us students.

 

Finally, we worked with crocodiles and birds. I had very limited experience with reptiles and birds prior to this experience, so this was initially very intimidating. One of the crocodiles had a wounded tail that we examined and rebandaged. I learned that crocodiles heal much slower than most mammalian species and that treating a wound on a crocodile is a constant balancing act of providing them with access to water but trying to keep their bandage dry at the same time. The other crocodile simply needed a physical exam and a blood draw, but this was still exciting since we had to draw blood from the basilar artery right above the spinal cord. The birds we cared for included ornate hawk eagles, harpy eagles, and a scarlet macaw, and they needed a blood draw and exam. Performing these tasks required that I remember what I learned during anatomy in second semester about properly restraining birds and where we can draw blood. This experience helped me get over much of my fear of handling bird and reptiles. 

I am very grateful for my experience at the Belize Zoo. It reinforced much of what I had previously learned and taught me much more about veterinary medicine and all of its vast fields. The trip also taught me a lot about the Belize culture, and I firmly believe that exposure to new cultures is always beneficial to becoming a well rounded person.

Belize Zoo Experience

Laci Taylor, Cornell University

This summer I had the opportunity to participate in a one-week experience at the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center through a course at Cornell called International Experience in Wildlife Health and Conservation. The course is a partnership with Cornell and the Belize Zoo in Central America. As an aspiring wildlife veterinarian, I found the course to be highly rewarding as it was unlike any other offered in the core veterinary curriculum. 

The Belize Zoo was started in 1983 by Sharon Matola to educate the people of Belize and tourists alike. One of the most interesting aspects of the Belize Zoo is that the entirety of its animals arrive as orphans or rescues and all of its animals are native species, many of which are at risk for extinction. Through educational programming, the zoo aims to dispel some of the negative stereotypes and myths engrained in Belizean culture that cause the public to intentionally harm or kill animals. One such myth is that the sighting of certain species of owls means that death is coming for someone close. The educational component of the zoo ultimately contributes to the preservation of many local endangered species populations.

While at the zoo, I worked with a wide variety of species ranging from spider monkeys to jaguars. Alongside some of Cornell’s veterinary faculty and the Belizean zookeepers, I was able to attend lectures, practice physical exam and clinical skills, take and analyze lab samples, as well as observe and assist in anesthesia and dentistry procedures. In just one week, I learned to insert my first catheter, participated in a dental extraction and gave preventative vaccines to a jaguar, ran diagnostic testing and bloodwork on a howler monkey and performed an ultrasound on a puma, amongst many other wonderful clinical experiences! One of my most memorable experiences was assisting in the dental procedure on one of the zoo’s jaguars. Before I wanted to be a veterinarian, I wanted to be a dentist, so this was an especially impactful opportunity. As a rising second year, I hadn’t yet learned about dentistry in the curriculum so assisting was a great hands-on introduction. During the procedure I learned about simple vs surgical extraction. The extraction on the jaguar was a surgical extraction which meant that the removal of the tooth required creation and elevation of a flap, and removal of bone. I watched the dentistry resident use many different dental surgery tools to remove the periodontal ligament from the tooth and I was able to loosen the last bit of periodontal ligament, ultimately “delivering”, or removing, the tooth!

When we weren’t working in the Belize Zoo Veterinary Clinic, the team immersed itself in the history, culture and traditions of Belize. One such experience was a trip to Xunantunich, an ancient Maya archeological site in Western Belize consisting of four major architectural groups. Additionally, we traveled to San Ignacio, Belize to a marketplace where farmers, traders and vendors from all walks of Belizean life gather. 

My desire to make a global impact as a wildlife veterinarian drew me to this opportunity and participating only reaffirmed this desire. The course at the Belize Zoo allowed both students and faculty to broaden their veterinary experiences by providing veterinary care to zoo animals all while learning about Belize’s conservation efforts. It is a course I highly recommend!