I can't even make this stuff up!

So being on call one night, I get a message from the local animal control officer with something involving a bat and a monkey and a lady. I return his call and he proceeded to explain the following:

A lady in a nearby town was bitten (what i thought was bat) by a neighbor's pet monkey. He was calling for a professional opinion about what to recommend to the lady. She had initial refused to get medical attention. I did my duty and stressed the fact that she NEEDED to be seen ASAP by a doctor. Not only can monkey's have things like rabies, but they also carry tons of other nasty diseases they can transmit to humans = NOT COOL.

The best part of the conversation was when he proceeded to tell me that the owner of the monkey had taken the monkey and hidden it from him. He then proceeded to tell the animal control officer that he could go f*(#& himself and he would never find his G@*(! D&^!@ monkey. Needless to say there is a warrant out on the monkey and it's owner right now :)

Somedays- its the simple things in life

Oh the simple joy of a bloated cow! One moment it's walking around looking like a baloon with 4 legs, and with the simple passage of a tube- WHOOSH!!! Back to normal. :) Somedays I actually feel like I get to preform small little miracles....

October Fun

To start off, a small pick me up for everyone out there....
I just got back from picking up the pizza I had ordered for supper. I pull up to the drive through window, gave them my name, and then go to hand them my credit card to pay. The young man shuts the window, walks over the credit card machine, stops..... smiles, and then comes back to the window. At that point I realized I handed him my walmart gift card.... not my VISA card which lives in the same slot of my wallet. We both had a good laugh and I soon left with my pizza in hand. So don't worry- it happens to us all!!!!!!!!!

The last few weeks haven't been very memorable. The routine seems to be busy busy morning, then dead afternoon. I've been enjoying the fall.... which means calf pulls, retained placentas, and processing calves. I never hesitate when I have a chance to escape out to the barn.

My large animal clients come from every spectrum of the rainbow. Just this week, I trimmed feet for a large Angus farm who does lots of embryo transfer work. Followed by a guy who has about a dozen cows that stay in with the bull all year long. Oh- and did I mention they are longhorn cattle??? Latest challenging project has been getting a group of young Angus bulls ready to go to a sale in Oklahoma. Call here and there, and then try to coordinate everyone's schedule to get everything done right. STILL working on the paperwork for that one..... And finally one of my favorite clients- who raises Brahman cattle. Never fails to have a small rodeo when he brings in one of his cows :)

A day never goes by with out seeing a vomiting/diarrhea dog. I love asking the question "What did the vomit look like??" Sometimes I get a play by play description, complete with picturesque visual comparisons. While others just say "It was gross!" Oh how I love metronidazole, cerenia, endosorb, and sucralfate!!!

One of my techs has a annual Halloween party at her house. Apparently it's a BIG deal. They work on it for over a month in advance. Lots of decorations, food, and even a DJ. Since it is a Halloween party, that means I need a costume. After lots of thoughts, research, and careful deliberation Matt and I came up with a fun idea. (Only to be revealed later.... maybe even with a picture). I've spent the last few nights working on them. Finished them all up on my afternoon off yesterday. Hopefully they are a hit!

I've decided to leave my next blog story up to you! Below are 3 stories I could tell.... Pick your favorite and leave me a comment on what you would like to hear next!

1- The sneaky tree
2- A true backwoods Arkansas adventure
3- The lowly bottle calf

Can't help but share this....

My favorite quesiton I was asked today:

Can cows have allergies???

All in 24 hours

First real post.... Yippee Skippy!

Started Friday off with a bunny. Yes, a bunny. I walk in the room expecting a pet rabbit, like 5 pounds, white, fluffy, maybe spotted, ect.... Open the cage and a tiny cottontail that could fit in the palm of your hand jumps out, off the counter, and starts scrambling around the room. The small bunny had caught itself on a nail in the house earlier that morning and had a skin laceration on its back. After anesthetizing it and preforming a good exam, I discovered that the small rabbit had created a degloving injury that covered most of its back (aka it had peeled off most of the skin covering its back). I removed the skin, clipped around the edges, and applied a cream. After the exam, pain meds, antibiotics, probiotics, and almost $100 later I sent the small rabbit home. In any other situation involving myself in a rabbit, I would have been skinning it..... not trying to repair the damage.



That was followed by many vaccinations and I'm sure a vomiting dog or two. The end of the day I was called out to a colicing horse. I grabbed my gear and jumped in the truck and headed out. Get to the horse farm and the 18 YR Arab Gelding is lying in the middle of the sand arena rolling. YES, rolling.... The only thought in my head- B... A... D. According to the barn manager, the horse was fine at noon and colicing at 3pm. Lots of pain medication, sedation, tubing, and placing a IV cathetar I was finally able to get the horse standing and walking for about 10 minutes. Just as we were about to load him in the trailer and send him down the road for surgery, he went down again. He never got up after that. After many phone conversations with the owner and exhausting my options for the horse, the decision was made to euthanized the horse.

I arrived home at 8 pm just in time to grab something to eat and shower before my next emergency was arriving. Smokey the weimaraner got hit by a car and was on his way in. On arrival he was laying on his side unable to walk. After stabilizing him and taking some radiographs (x-rays) I was able to determine he had a fracture of the T13 vertebra- aka a broken back. Very serious and not something you see every day.

One more emergency call (a seizing chihuahua puppy) and I finally got home for the night. The phone didn't stay quiet for long though. One phone call at 3:30 and another ~5am and I had about had enough.......... Enough that is to shut off my alarm the next morning and not remember it. :)

The Begining

Well, thanks to encouragement from numerous people (you know who you are!) Welcome to the first edition of "The Backwoods Arkanasas Veterinary Times." I hope you all can enjoy a few of my stories- laugh and even cry- over what my life looks like. My goal is to post once every 1-2 weeks with a good story or two. I would love to hear what you all think about my "musing" so feel free to leave your thoughts as well!

Blessings-
Jackie