Dr. Micah Kohles, director of technical services at Oxbow Animal Health, will visit CVM on Monday, April 30th to speak on small herbivore (guinea pigs, rabbits, etc.) nutrition. Come get the latest news on food for pocket pets in Magruder 298, 12:00 – 1:00 pm! Lunch will be provided by Oxbow if you RSVP. Brought to you by the CVM Zoo, Wildlife, and Exotics Club.
Jason Wiest, a CT technician at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, helps scientist Gerald Conlogue ready the mummy for her CT scan.
When a Portland woman inherited a creepy old mummy, she wasn’t sure who or what it was. That changed when she put it up for sale on E-bay. Two scientists from Quinnipiac University saw it and contacted her. Ron Beckett and Gerald Conlogue — former hosts of the National Geographic program “Mummy Road Show” — were so intrigued by the mummy, they arranged to have it x-rayed at the OSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
Last week Beckett and Conlogue, plus several cameramen from Portland television stations, accompanied the mummy to Corvallis to run it through the vet hospital’s CT scanner. It turned out the mummy was a dummy. The scanner revealed a largely empty wooden shell wrapped in layers of bandage. Beckett said the fake mummy most likely travelled with P.T. Barnum’s circus as a sideshow hoax.
At the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association Conference last month, four OSU professors were invited to give presentations. Dr. Erica McKenzie talked about the use of a high-speed treadmill to assess a horse’s tolerance for exercise and Dr. John Schlipf addressed the role of practitioners in making referrals. But on Friday, March 16th it was all about puppies and kittens.
The auditorium at the LaSells Stewart Center was packed for first-day presentations on young companion animals. The popularity of the topic may be due to a lack of readily available information on their care. “Puppies and kittens have different chemical and metabolic needs but it is hard to find good literature on them,” says Dr. Christiane Loehr. Her presentation on postmortem exams of young companion animals, complete with graphic illustrations, drew a big crowd despite being scheduled just before dinner.
Loehr appreciates the OVMA’s effort to include clinical and anatomical pathology in this year’s program. “People use it but don’t think about it very much,” she says. “We need good communication between the submitter and the pathologist. It helps everyone when they are well-informed.”
You can win this vest by wearing the oldest Pet Day T-shirt to the alumni open house.
CVM alumni are invited to celebrate the 25th Anniversay of Pet Day at an Open House in Magruder Hall on May 5, 2102, 1:30 – 2:30 pm.
Bring your family to enjoy all the fun Pet Day events then stop by the Magruder library for refreshments. You can visit with Sue Tornquist, Patrick Kamins, faculty, current students, and fellow alums. Be sure to wear your Pet Day T-shirt and compete for prizes! An awesome down vest will go to the wearer of the oldest Pet Day T-shirt!
By: Ashley Galen
Oregon State University, Class of 2013
Last summer I participated in an externship at a local equine practice where I met Dr. Shannon Findley, a recent graduate of UC Davis with a lot of enthusiasm for equine emergency response. During veterinary school she took courses in large animal rescue and participated in their Veterinary Emergency Response Team (VERT). Her drive to spread awareness to clients and fellow aid workers, veterinarians and firemen alike, showed me how important it is to be prepared for emergency situations.
This drove me to set up an SC-AAEP workshop at Oregon State on equine emergency response, focusing on what can be done in an average practice to be prepared for a disaster of any magnitude. Students at Oregon State are not trained in the field of disaster preparedness and this workshop was instrumental in filling that void in our curriculum.
The talk covered many different aspects of equine emergency response including: where we can go to take courses in large animal rescue, basic supplies necessary and examples of various types of rescues, complete with case studies. Dr. Findley also stressed the importance of having a relationship with your local fire department and/or first responders so that they can help you in times of an emergency.
One of the more interesting and practical cases Dr. Findley presented was about a duo who had been riding in Eastern Oregon when the trail collapsed beneath them, sending the horse and rider down a steep hill. The horse became lodged against a tree unable to get up. When Dr. Findley arrived many firefighters were already onsite and unsure of the appropriate course of action. Through some swift maneuvering, she was able to free the horse (using a front assist and a tail tie) and slide him down the hill to a flat area. Here the horse was able to stand and rider and horse were reunited. While this is not how all the stories end, it is encouraging to hear that even without a helicopter and thousands of dollars worth of rescue equipment you can still save many horses from precarious situations.
The Small Animal Clinic at the OSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital treats cats and dogs only. But when a national symbol of freedom needs help, it’s hard not to make an exception.
Last week the Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (CWC) north of Corvallis, brought a bald eagle with a badly injured wing to the hospital. Small animal surgeon Dr. Jennifer Warnock consulted with CWC director Jeff Picton on how best to repair the delicate bones. “It was a nasty, comminuted fracture that could not be anatomically reconstructed,” says Warnock. “Bird bone is particularly thin and brittle, making implant placement a delicate affair: pins placed in bird bone can easily strip out or further fracture the bone.” The team decided to use a minimally invasive procedure with the C-arm fluoroscope to place a pin and external fixator through tiny incisions. “By not disturbing the soft tissues we use the principle of biological osteosynthesis to assist in fracture healing,” says Warnock.
The damaged wing also created challenges for anesthesiologist Dr. Ron Mandsager. “The avian humerus is pneumatic, meaning it is connected with the respiratory system making the bird lighter for flight and keeping them cool,” says Warnock. This caused air to leak out of the injured wing and Mandsager kept loosing pressure on the anesthetic machine causing it to indicate the bird wasn’t breathing when they could see it taking breaths on the bag.
The two-hour surgery went well and the eagle came out of anesthesia feisty as ever. In fact, immediately upon waking, he bit Picton and drew blood. “We were all saying, “Oh great, he’s fast! That is a good sign,” laughs Claire Peterson, a third-year veterinary student and regular volunteer at CWC.
In a couple of weeks, the external fixator on the wing can be removed so that physical therapy can begin. The sooner he can begin using his injured wing, the greater the chance of successful return to function.
The jury is still out on whether the bald eagle will recover well enough to be released. According to Peterson, he has a better chance of returning to the wild than other raptors. “If it were a falcon, it would be unlikely,” says Peterson. “They are the athletes of the bird world. They are hunting ducks and songbirds so they need to be able to fly really well. Eagles can scavenge and they can catch fish. He doesn’t need to be an athlete; he just needs to be able to get along. We’re hoping that it’s enough.”
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