Veterinary Observation: Feral Cats

I have wanted to be a veterinarian for as long as I can remember. Since I was eight years old, I have spent time observing at my local veterinary office, Anville Cleona Veterinary Associates. Mornings normally begin with dairy cow herd checks and routine office surgeries, while the afternoons consist of small animal appointment. Just recently, I was in the office watching the morning surgeries. There were a couple spays, a mass removal, and a case that stood out the most: a feral cat neuter.

Black Feral Cat Credit

The cat was brought in by the veterinarian from her neighborhood. She had caught it in trap and planned to release it after neutering it. It was a large black male cat who had a distinct stench to him that I might never forget! The procedure was carried out quickly with minimal stress to the animal and everyone was wary even though the cat was under anesthesia.

It was interesting to see a surgery on a male feral cat. Different precautions had to be taken compared to a normal feline neuter to protect the doctors and veterinary technicians. It was kind of the veterinarian to give back to society by neutering the cat free of cost, but class material enlightened me to some of the potential downsides of this method.

Credit

In class during our "Feral Cat Control" lecture, we learned of the various methods of colony control as well as their benefits and downsides. The method performed for the male cat in the office is an example of Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR). We learned that the positives of this method include preventing cat overpopulation, providing better quality of life, and controlling rat and other pest problems in some areas. However, this method of control is resource intensive and the cat may have a difficult time defending itself after being released right after surgery. Furthermore, released cats will still kill wildlife in areas.

In conclusion, seeing a method of feral cat control that we learned about in class allowed me to first hand evaluate the negatives and positives of this method. I appreciate that the veterinarian gave back by performing the surgery for free. When I am a veterinarian someday, I hope to contribute in the same way to society!

Susquehanna Service Dogs

I have always wanted to raise a service dog puppy to make difference in someone's life. It is a cause that I could see myself volunteering for for the rest of my life. Maybe once I retire, it will be a hobby that I take up full time, but that is at least 50 years down the road! To start the process, I attended a puppy class and a clicker/orientation class for Susquehanna Service Dogs.

Credit

Puppy Class at Penn State Credit

At the puppy class, raisers brought their four month old puppies to practice their newly learned skills and to discuss any concerns that the owners might have. Activites included sit, stay, recall, and follow through. I thrououghly enjoyed meeting all of the raisers and seeing what a class is like. It made me super excited to one day raise a puppy!

At the clicker/orientation class, I learned about the background of Susquehanna Service Dogs and how the organization is run from breeding the puppies to placing them with their partners. During the clicker portion of the class, we practiced appropriate clicker timing and learned more about the process in which service dogs are trained. The three hour class flew by and only felt like a couple minutes.

A Service Dog in Action Credit

In Pets in Society class, we had a guest lecturer, Susan Tyson, from SSD, where we also learned about the organization and how service dogs are trained. Additionally, we had a class lecture about "Working Dogs." Service dogs are used as guide dogs, assistance animals, hearing dogs, seizure alert dogs, and function in dual roles, in specific health related aspects as well as companions. In this class I learned about the importance of service animals. Increased safety, independence, and reduced stress are only a few examples of benefits from service animals.

I loved attending the puppy class and clicker/orientation class and truly cannot wait until I can raise a puppy one day. It was neat to see how these experiences tied directly into our course material. Specifically, when we met with the guest lecturer and learned about service animals in class.

Petsmart: Pet Consumerism

This week I visited Petsmart, a store that sells small reptiles, fish, birds, and small mammals. The store also sells dog and cat food, supplies, toys, and basically everything else one might need to take care of a typical American pet.

My friend and the ferret

When I walked in, I immediately met a nice lady who had five ferrets in her cart. To the right is picture of my friend hold one. These pets were like her children and she was buying food, toys, and litter for the animals that she considered family.

Around the rest of the store there were new puppy owners and families with young kids picking out quite possibly their first pet. There were also people looking at the cats in the back on display for adoption from an animal shelter.

Baby bearded dragon in Petsmart

Another animal I saw was a bearded dragon. Growing up I had two bearded dragons, Spike and Kiwi, who both lived to be over ten years old. It was fun to see some baby bearded dragons in Petsmart because it reminded me of when I was younger.

This experience relates directly to our "Pet Economics" class. It is estimated that in 2016, the US Pet Industry Expenditures were 62.75 Billion dollars! That is an unfathomable amount of money that is spent at places like Petsmart.  The majority of pet care sales goes to food, which I found lining the shelves of the store. Pet products is another area where money is spent and includes everything from "needs" to luxuries. Objects such as leashes, collars, toys, beds, and clothes were all for sale. Grooming is another aspect of the pet industry that is offered at Petsmart.

Overall, Petsmart is a prime example of our society's focus on pets and how much we are willing to spend on them. It was fun to walk around the store and meet people with their pets while connecting what we learned in the classroom to the commercial world.

Pre-Veterinary Symposium

Another animal related event I attended was the Penn State Pre-Vet Symposium. As the Symposium Chair for Pre-Vet Club at Penn State, my role was to plan an event for high school students to be exposed to the field of veterinary medicine. This day event hosted over 130 high school students from all across the country and included lectures from veterinarians and wet labs.

One aspect of the day that related directly to our class was a lecture entitled Government Practice by Bridget Urrita. Her talk focused the government's role in controlling zoonotic diseases. The starting activity had the students exchange fluid in vials that turned pink when "infected." This allowed students to follow the spread of disease. A second task involved putting on biosecure suits that minimize contamination. During an outbreak, officials wear these suits to prevent spread. Each student then walked under UV light to see if they had allowed any of the "disease" to come in contact with their suit. Almost every student had a least one point of contamination, illustration how fast zoonotic diseases can spread.


Above are pictures from the lecture. The first picture shows all of the students in their suits. The second picture is me holding the UV light looking for contamination. The third picture also shows the biosecurity suits.

This event was a lot of fun! Everyone seemed to truly enjoy it and the students all learned valuable information. The exercises proved to show how easy it was to spread diseases and all of the steps that officials take to try and prevent contamination.

This lecture related to our class on the risks of pets on human health. Zoonotic disease are diseases and infections naturally transmitted between vertebrates and man. Examples include rabies, parasites, and salmonella.  Salmonella is a common bacterial disease in which 40,000 cases are reported each year!  When the feces of infected animals contaminates food like chicken, eggs, and byproduct treats, people and animals can get sick. The lecture in the Pre-Vet Symposium illustraties how easy it is for this contamination to occur. Overall, this animal related event directly relates to our class material.

Centre County PAWS Animal Shelter

The first pet related activity of the semester that I participated in was as a volunteer at PAWS Centre Country Animal Shelter. As a volunteer, my role was in dog care. I walked the different in-house dogs, played with them, and fed them. The shelter can accommodate about 25 in-house dogs and relies on volunteers to run the organization. At PAWS,  there is a specific schedule to be followed for each volunteer shift. First, the dogs are taken on "first walks" which last between 10 and 15 minutes. Then they are fed dinner. After a short break, the dogs are taken on longer 25 minute walks. Once all dogs in the kennel are walked, some are taken out individually to play pens and others are taken to meet-and-greet rooms for individual attention.

Liono

The dog I spent a lot of time with was named Liono. (See picture to right of him!) It is surprising that this guy did not have a home at the time because he is so sweet and loving. He jumped right up on to my lap even though he is like a giant meatball! Liono was so happy to have some affection that it seemed like he was smiling!

Another dog I walked, named Luca, was a little spitfire!  She was only a couple months old and had tons of energy. She loved using her puppy teeth on my hands and was quite the trouble maker. Puppies in PAWS are quickly adopted.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time volunteering at the shelter. It felt good to feel like I was making a difference in the dogs' lives. The shelter was organized, well run, and took great care of the animals. Volunteering at PAWS was a great way to destress from the fast paced life of college and I definitely would like to do it again!

This experience relates directly to what we learned about in Pets in Society. One of our topics discussed in class was animal shelters. There are two main types of animal shelters: open-admissions and "no- kill." An open admission shelter is a traditional shelter that accepts any and all dogs regardless of health, behavior, or temperament.  In this type of shelter, animals are euthanized if they are unable to find a home. The other type of shelter, "no-kill" is what PAWS Animal Shelter is.  This means saving all healthy and "treatable animals" and only euthanizing those that cannot be rehabilitated.

In class we also learned about why dogs are surrendered to shelters. The number one reason is behavior problems, followed by the fact that the animal requires too much time, and thirdly that the owner is moving. Although I do not know the reason Liono or Luca were surrendered, I could imagine that not having time for a rambunctious puppy might be the case.

In conclusion, I loved volunteering at PAWS and would love to do it again! It was interesting to see how what we learned in class applied to shelters in society.