Trust me, I'm (going to be) a Vet

Cell Mediated Irony?

2007-06-26T21:21:00.000+10:00

I have a Microbiology Exam tommorow and i have contracted Orthomyxovirus!!!!!!! Well, i can only guess i have the flu from the feeling-like- im-on-my-death-bed and the-world-is-freezing-today symptoms. ARGH!!! DAMN YOU MICROBES!!! wgr8yh2t87syej278ejy829yjem912~!!!! When will stuvac/exams end?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Cold and Wet

2007-06-16T10:33:00.000+10:00

Stuvac this week has been rather dismal. Poor Matisse. My parents still wont let him sleep in the laundry. I think i need to get him one of those swing-pet-beds like this one:

Bits of cardboard on concrete cant be too fun.

Just not quite Matisse's style..

I think this one is pushing it...

Peachface

2007-06-10T19:53:00.000+10:00

Birdie here is a 17 year old (yes, 17!!!!) Green Peachface who is quite old-he's losing feathers where he cant reach, so hes not feather picking

I googled peachfaces up and they apprently are from the Arizona Desert! How cute is this photo!

Its nearing to the end of semester, can you tell?

2007-05-29T20:55:00.000+10:00

Old man

Volleys

Lice

Ticks

Wildlife Health Centre Open Day

2007-05-05T21:52:00.000+10:00

Beardies

Green Tree Frogs (Ive forgotten what the speckled one is, i think its a "Special Green Tree frog" or something similar)

Bad hair day?

Rosella X

Princess Parrot

Eclectus

Whatcha looking at?

Peepo

2007-05-02T17:59:00.000+10:00

Im sure that this possum wasnt at all interested in what i was doing
inside the room he was peering into.. damn pathology

1 vs 100

2007-04-21T09:29:00.000+10:00

Spirometra erinacei

Dipylidum caninum

Anoplocephala perfoliata

vs.

Bundeena

Verandah out the front...

2007-04-15T19:24:00.000+10:00

Places id rather be than at uni..... (which starts tommorow)

Camden Park Chicken Farm #2

2007-03-26T21:46:00.000+10:00

Its been a long while since i was on this propety with J. It was a last minute decision to squeeze in one more prac before uni starts and seeing as though poultry is for two days, i couldnt pass off the opportunity. Extra bonus points as it was near my house!

Camden Park Chicken farm # 2 is a propety based in Camden on the Elizabeth Macarthur Agriculture Institue. F tells us that the direct decendents of the original John and Elizabeth Macarthur, where John was the "Father of the Australian Wool Industry", lived in the mansion that we drove past.

H and F were very warming to us. Their dogs, Glennis and Lulu were lovely too of course. The days were short as the chickens were only 3/4 weeks old. There wasnt much to do except checking waters, feed hoppers and signs of "ill thrift" in the chicks. I took a fair amount of Lulu portraits because she just sat still. Shes the calmest Jack Russel ive ever met! Kinda strange really. Shes only a year old and thinks shes a working dog. I wouldnt mind having a dog like her-but then again i wouldnt mind having all the dogs ive met :p

Glennis - Shes pretty old and has some dingo in her!

On the quad bike to "The pit" with Lulu protecting us from those drasted dairy cows that grazed along the way. It had just rained two days before hence the greenery

Lots of chickens!

Lulu herding chickens better than two vet students put together

"Whatcha looking at?"

One of my favourite shots!

Flat out

Its a tough job being cute...

Being a dog - My other favourite one!

Leppington Pastoral Company

2007-02-25T09:37:00.000+11:00

The week between Mulawa and Leppington Pastoral i took off. Strangely, lots of things seemed to pop up that week.

We didnt have the 7am start at the dairy which was good (4am also for that matter), plus M and I dont live far away. The propety itself is huge! Apprently it being the largest dairy in the Southern Hemisiphere, where there is about 2,000 cows milked 24 hours a day. Calving occurs constantly where we would pick up anything from 7-20 calves per day. It was good the dairy prac and i must say it went alot faster than the horse prac-i guess because we were *gasp* having fun.

We did alot of AI and herd health/reproduction monitoring and not much milking. The golf buggy was used for N's AI rounds. We got to drive it through the all-terrain of cow-pat and from pen to pen. I bet you anything that our Golf Buggy does more 4WD/Off roading than any other Cabramatta-4WD, and it doesnt bust your pocket in fuel costs. One battery charge lasts you 4/5 days and gives you speeds of up to 40kmph (So N says).

Oh what?!

Out of all the heifers, i particulalry noticed one:

The vet came in to attend to some cows. A fair amount of them had LHS Displaced Abomasum. The corrective measure for this is to suture the abomasum securely on the LHS and then pass it down on the RHS above the milk vein via the threads passed through on the RHS. Of course you got the occaisional mole-cow and everytime you went to do something it would thrash around. We gave a fair few injections as well which was good. The vet, B, was terrific bloke and taught us alot.

We saw some dystocia including a calf coming out in non-diving position but in the position below on the top LHS. Correction just invovled us simply manouvering the leg forward. They said they dont get too many other strange ones depicted, well at least usually by then the calf would be in great condition because of the prolonged and intense labour.

Calvings are very interesting to watch and listen to. I think my photos are a bit too graphic to put on the internet. I guess you can use your imagination. But here is what happens after calving (not following a particular calf) :D

While M and I were watching a calving, this cow in the same pen gave me the "Whatcha Looking At" expression.

The calf shed is pretty much inaccessible by foot so we had to be driven there. We spent a morning there and we didnt realise we were going to be there until lunch. It was pretty hot too and R and D said theyd pick us up later but didnt! We had to be driven back to the dairy by L. We hand fed the calves, gave them their injections and made sure they got their feed. Each pen had their own austomatic feeder where the calf goes into the feeding stall and its ear tag is picked up. The computer checks to see if its had its quota of milk for the day and if it hasnt, then the hatch opens up for it to feed. If it has, the hatch remains closed.

The calves are so funny, they suck your fingers! I saw the physio the week before for a basketball injury and i figured, hey, i dont need to pay to see him anymore, i can just get a calf to massage them for me =p

The cats got to be fed too. Theres a whole bunch of them running around drinking and sleeping:

I didnt drink it! I SWEAR!

Lets not forget a muzzle shot eh?

Mulawa, Berowra

2007-02-10T09:54:00.000+11:00

Its been almost a week since I've left for Mulawa but the week off has been certainly filled with catching up sleep from 5:50 am wake-ups.
Mulawa is an arab horse stud situated in Berilee, Berowra. M and i went for our 5 day prac to which the day started at 7 am and finishing at 4pm. The predominanlty to halter showing but also have an eventing team, do studwork, agist, race horses, riding and your normal pony club horses. The team who work there were dedicated and were absolutely lovely to us.
Each morning/afternoon, we would negotiate the windy road through Berowra to meet the Ferry. Ive never been on a car ferry before so it was rather novelty at first. I realised felt sick if i didnt look out the side rather than forward. M was fine.

We didnt get any wet weather until Wednesday

The ferry was rather annoying. My car is rather low, and depending on the tides, the off ramp would be steep (hence having a sharper dip) or not. Eventually i got better at negotiating the incline but i did suffer a good two scrapes =/

The horse stud here predominantly trains Arabs. They do have the occaisional TB and SB as surrogates.

Halter training

Nosey horses

We, as students, do the usual daily job of cleaning and washing of quarters and equipment and feeding. That damn grassy hay got to me. At this rate, i'll probably be one of those vets who live on anti-histamines. Again, M was fine but claims that she has a lagging immune response.

In addition to this, the vet came pretty much every day to do Semen collection and storage, treated a foot abcess, embryo flushing, pregnancy and follicular testing, AI and foal conformational defects. He also brought along his dog Lily. She had to be tied up when we did semen collection-she goes nuts for some reason. Otherwise, she is a very lovely dog. Ive never seen a BC before with such a light coat.

One of the riders brings Bruno along to watch. Hes a Pug X Jack Russel. Hes funny looking but very sweet.

We got to see how bit the propety was and it was HUGE. It goes all the way down to the river where we crossed with the ferry and across into the national park for many kilometres. Mind you this is the propety on other side of the road where we were based which is also theirs.

On the back of the Gator in which M got to drive

I did get scared when i had to lead a particular horse who was pushing me up against the fence/thrashing/being difficult. One of the workers, M, ended up havign to lead two horses instead, and i just wrode on the gator. Goes to show you again (go back to Orange Horse Post) that horses, despite being around people all the time, are dangerous and unpredictable.

But you know, you will get quite often a nice one like this one who will let you groom it and take its portrait.

Or let you scratch it all day.
You forget all the bad things and remember why you love them in the first place =)

Allain's Piggery, Yass

2007-01-25T19:40:00.000+11:00

I came home from Yass yesterday for Animal Husbandry Placement, where it is about 2.5 hours drive from my place and about 1/2 and hour from Canberra. A and i went to Allain's Piggery in Blakney Creek. We left Sydney on Sunday with the temperature at high 30s to mid 40s at about 2pm. We arrived at Goulburn (about halfway) to be greeted with nice 25 degree coolness. When we got to Yass it was about 25 degrees too. I called T later that night at about 5pm and he told me in Sydney it was still mid-high 30s. We were hoping it wasnt going to get cold as we didnt pack a suitcase suited for it.
We stopped by the Big Merino and had a look around.

You can actually go in and climb up to the eyes of the ram. On the way up, it was a wool history museum. You can feel the temperature rise 5 degrees as you go up each level. By the time you were are the top, we reached the temperature we left behind in Sydney.

View from the right eye

View from the left eye

It looked like it was going to rain on the way there. I think there was too much wishful thinking there-it blew straight past Yass.

Most of the ham spanking good times were spent with the pressure hose cleaning out pens and giving the pigs a cool down. We also did alot of feeding, saw matings, did AI, learned about management, moved pigs around and asked lots of questions.

This is Rupert, the fat pet sheep that hangs around the propety. He was hand reared hence is a big sook. He is usually found under the silos sticking his nose in and eating grains all day or found in doorways of the piggery looking out for someone to give him a pat on his head.

The main street in Yass isnt any different from that to Orange. Except that Orange has more main streets and lots more coming off it to residentials. Oh andtheres alot more shops.

Whatcha looking at?

Nothing like relaxing in the pool and watching the beautiful sunset-and to take out the smell from your hair

Overall, the prac was good. I dont know if i couldve spent another 2 days in the smell but if it wasnt for that then id be more than happy to stay for 2 more days to make the prac 5 days and to see how the farm is managed on a weekly roster. So i wouldve seen alot more if i stayed for Thursday and Friday-and smelt alot more too =/

Just Plain Sleepy

2007-01-09T09:45:00.000+11:00

Just a few pictures i took of Matisse while spying on him from my window. This is what he gets up to all day:

Yes, he's sleeping here....

This was taken by M at a recent BBQ. I absolutely love it !

Wiser and Older

2007-01-07T21:25:00.000+11:00

I went for a check up the other day for my wisdoms. I got them surgically removed on the 20th of December, which sucked because i was living on congee and was housebound for a week THROUGH CHRISTMAS. The last thing i remembered before waking up with the oxyygen mask was lying on the bed looking at the surgrical light. I asked the doctor whether or not i shifted across from the bed to the table myself and he excitingly claims yes. Anywhoo, studying a medical-related degree doesnt really help your situation. After watching many veterinary procedures, you just become uneasy and funny thoughts come in and out of your mind when you're about to go under for the first time. The IV catheter hurts alot. You get this cold wave when they pump the relaxants up your arm and across your neck-it feels very freaky. When i woke up the bottom half of my face was numb and I couldnt talk/laugh/smile. In recovery, when the other dental patients woke up, we tried to crack jokes to see if any of us could do the above. Obviuosly it was unsuccessful. I couldnt do any of the above until the next day.
What i am thankful of is i never experienced any pain. I only had pain when i opened my mouth too wide and i never touched the prescribed painkillers-an applause to the surgeon! Because the mouth is full of microflora, oral hygiene is vital post-op. One of the things Principles of Diseases/Work has taught me is Chlorhexidine is used for hand washing pre-surgery, but this time i learnt that it is also used as a mouthwash but the hard way. I guess you can tell it was horrible tasting right? Extremely i say.

Good riddance i say.

Shouldnt it be Snowy?

2007-01-03T08:52:00.000+11:00

Heres evidence that i rode bareback.
I have enough trouble as it is riding with a saddle =/

TinTin! Tintin was a puppy from the RSPCA when S and D picked him up. Like all border collie Xs, hes a smart cookie! And of course VERY adorable and is pick-up-able! His tricks invovle running very fast and as you can see, he is anatomically adapted to be streamline and aerodynamically advantageous. He also sits when you have food. We had dinner outside and D threw mussel shells on the floor and Tintin proceeded to lick and eventually chew them. Of course this behaviour isnt allowed.

Hey, get that red light out of my face!

Xmas Cheer

2006-12-25T13:01:00.000+11:00

Milo

Matisse This time last year- He doesnt have his weird winter coat
and he destroyed the antlers =/

Horses

2006-12-16T13:59:00.000+11:00

The 5 days spent doing the course was rather good for basics. As i've probably mentioned before, the course is rather pricey. A few things such as riding and foal handling were taught to us and were emphasised and is just a build up of all the skills we got during our week at Camden at the end of first year. The horse unit itself is adjacent to the main CSU gates and has about 30 horses. During peak production (a decade or so ago) they had 120 working horses in which the students took care of. Because of course changes and university exchanges, alot has changed in terms of management and student enrolment/capacity. Rather sad. They have excellent support staff who are leaders in their industry where they have their own businesses external to teaching here. Its rather obvious they needed more staff.

In house cat

Each pair of students were allocated a horse to "take care of". B, T and I were in charge of the stud which involved numerous horses that resulted us always finishing last because we needed to be supervised.

I've never seen dog collars on horses before

We got to see preg testing. In the photo below you can just make out a ball small circle at the centre of it-thats the heart and yes, the miracle of life! After this we saw a caslick (http://en.mimi.hu/horse/caslick.html) to which i wont post pictures of

We saw alot of heat detection which should eventually lead to semen collection using Snowy (poor dude, never gets a chance) and variuos mares. Apprently he won Best Teaser at the Sydney Royal easter Show. Go figure.

Only for Bayo to do the job.

The Arena used to be an equipment shed, i mean ad BIG a
equipment shed before they turned it into this

We used it for Lunging and riding

Our horse, Arti goes for a spraying after having to put up with
4 students who dont know what theyre doing on the back of a horse

Foal handling was something new to us, nonetheless fun. The foals were lanky things and some of them were rather difficult. We all had a go with this guy. He was too easy so they put us on the alpha mare's foal. No photos there because it invovled us running around the yard numerous times, lots of struglling, foot stepping and kicking. It makes you appreciate that foals ARE NOT cuddly and cute as depicted below.

This is our second attempt at semen collection. The first time above wasnt so successful. Im glad someone is impressed because the demonstrators werent.

This is the first time i've seen flehmen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flehmen_response) in real life. Its rather funny to hear. I couldnt get a good shot of it-maybe at next prac =/

The uni horses as anyone would gather, is used to having n00b students poking them and doing odd things that normal horses wouldnt. Below are two forms of restraints. Once we were showed how to put the restraints on, we had to try them out ourslves. V and I had to do the second restraint on a different horse and it just flipped. Literally. We got the ropes in the places where we wanted it but when it came to pulling the leg, he started to twitch but i managed to tie it in time before he lashed out. Scary stuff. Standing in a small roundhouse with 500kg thrashing around. All we could do was stand back as far as possible, and as i said the roundhouse is rather small, so this was rather hard. He ended up snapping the buckle-thing around his hind foot =/

The most amazing experience was swimming with the horses. Yes, we swam with them but not like how they depict in the movies. You lead the horse into the water and have to stay in front of them. Once they can no longer walk on the floor and start swimming, you place your feet and stand on their pectoral muscles so you are being pushed with their movement. Your face is literally under their head and if you were lucky enough to already be swimming in the dam with turd from previous horses, you would get a nice nasal shower from yours.
The difficult thing is trying to steer the horse. You're trying to keep your head up to breathe, so the natural reaction is to pull the bridle to keep you up, especially when the horse is wet your feet start to slip. If you pull the bridle down, you pull the horses head down = horse drowns you first then drowns all 500kg on top of you.

Classy - Boots and Boardies

View from the back of the ute to the dam

Me leading the horse in

Swimming with the horse - you can just make out my head in front of the horse

We found this littel dude on the banks of the dam. He wont make it =/

The were are odd few things we saw on a daily basis:

Stink beetles having sex everywhere

The toilets - which one do you go to?

The plants adjacent to the toilet that smelt like wet-dog

The course overall is excellent. I reccomend it to anyone who hasnt had enough horse exposure. The only thing bad i have to say about it is the price and lack of staff. Orange is a lovely country town and i see myself coming back at some point in the future working here on a temporary basis. I would like to thank and congratulate the staff for putting in a trumendous effort in running the course and having to put up with weird questions from clueless vet students.

Orange Flours

2006-12-11T18:15:00.000+11:00

The second important thing about Orange is Roberts Bakery. Its been given the title of "Bakery of the Year for 05/05" by the NSW Baking Association and you can definitely smell/see/taste why. Theyve also won "Meat pie of the year" with a trophy cupboard stack full of awards from various shows. Sign me up to be a judge of any show! We went there twice before prac so we could load our tummies with bakery goodness. All the food items were of reasonable price with the meat pies at about $3/4 dollars and the sweets cabinet made you feel like a kid in a candy store. They have a sandwich bar to which you can buy your lunch, coffee facilities, normal savoury bread, birthday cakes, cookies etc. Its such a pitty we couldnt go every morning and try everything, but then again for the sake of our wallets and my hips, i'll wait till next time im around.

I think they need a bigger trophy cabinet

Breakfast Pastie - the most popular choice by us

Vanilla Slice and Cuppaccino

Bacon pie

Plain meat pie

Latte

Apple Pie

Bee Sting - the second most bought choice

Berry and Rhubarb Strudel

I also bought for T and A, a Date and Walnut log, which was a bit dry. I also bought a Christmas pudding and am waiting on the verdict.

Roberts Bakery
184 Peisley Street
Orange NSW

Tel: 02 63621245

A week in an Orange and Cherries

2006-12-09T10:00:00.001+11:00

I have officially made it to third year! yeay! I spent my time kinda celebrating/relaxing in Orange for a week doing the Horse Course which is now run by CSU and as a result have uppity the price compared to previous years.
The week was jam packed full of horse handling and we were all buggered by the end of each day. Orange is a nice town and i have concluded that one of the two important things there are Cherries (provided you go at this time).
Arriving on Sunday afternoon to our shoe box cabin, we went to Mount Canobalas to oogle at the views. Pretty neat stuff, its a 360 degree view with some radio towers in your way. Becasue of the exceptional reception, it provided us a chance to call our mums :p

On the way down the mountain A took us to Borrodell on the Mt. A has been to Orange before and has made a trip to purchase Cherry Wines for her family and friends in Sydney. Just on the outskirts of Orange, there are lots of vineyards and orchards and the green life looks rather odd among the rest of the dry and lifeless land. Nonetheless i couldnt resist myself to taking a picture of the juicy cherries on the tree.

Cherry Orchards

We couldnt help ourselves but to help ourselves :$

Wine tasting is a pretty fun experience. Especially if you go with friends who dont normally drink, so bring me! My understanding of wines is that they are very strong in smell, flavour and alcohol. Ive only ever had tasted red wine once because Sangria doesnt count. We tried three wines: Wine Makers Daughter, Cabernet Sauvignon 'Opus' and Cherry Liqueur. I bought their two bottles of their specialty for a gift for T and one for myself for when i can handle the strength better.

Views outside

The tasting facilities seconded as an art gallery with pieces going for a good $200 minimum. It also had views of the mountains and land below.

On the way home to Sydney, we picked up a box of Cherries at $5 a kilo. Bargain!!!!! Before i left Sydney, the cheapest i saw them in the super markets were $12 a kilo and the asian grocery stores were at $8 a kilo. It came in a 5kg box and as much as i would love to sit here all day and eat it, 5 kgs is a bit too much. Some of the girls we know got one box and split it among 5, but a split among 3 is good enough for me.

Borrodell on the Mount

Lake Canobolas Rd
Orange NSW

Tel: 02 6365 3425
URL: www.borrodell.com.au

Lawnmower man XXXposed

2006-11-15T02:27:00.000+11:00

With exams and all, its really hard not to right? (I'm talking about procrastination fyi) This is what we came across looking on domain.com.au Something to flower up my day i guess...

Haha i also came across this. Can you beleive that this picture was found on a Vet's website? I dont know what theyre trying to encourage here...

Rocket Lady

2006-11-11T23:51:00.000+11:00

According to http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/specialties/Home.cfm, if i were to do Medicine this would me my "Suited" specialtly. Where do i have to sign for Aerospace med? Can someone tell me if theres even such branch? Only in America you say? By jove you're right!

	Specialty	Score
1	aerospace med	46
2	nuclear med	45
3	physical med & rehabilitation	45
4	dermatology	45
5	rheumatology	43
6	nephrology	43
7	med oncology	43
8	radiology	43
9	psychiatry	43
10	pediatrics	42
11	pathology	42
12	obstetrics/gynecology	42
13	hematology	42
14	general internal med	42
15	emergency med	42
16	family practice	41
17	cardiology	41
18	occupational med	41
19	plastic surgery	41
20	urology	41
21	thoracic surgery	40
22	orthopaedic surgery	40
23	ophthalmology	40
24	neurology	40
25	neurosurgery	40
26	endocrinology	40
27	infectious disease	40
28	colon & rectal surgery	40
29	allergy & immunology	40
30	radiation oncology	40
31	anesthesiology	39
32	pulmonology	39
33	gastroenterology	39
34	preventive med	39
35	otolaryngology	37
36	general surgery	34

TETRAPARESIS

2006-11-03T22:57:00.000+11:00


One of my Fav videos from BBGROG =D

Cow toe?

2006-10-09T19:20:00.000+10:00

Anatomy 2B is dubbed the freak show

Equine Anatomy Exam

2006-09-29T15:59:00.000+10:00

Yes, this is what i think of it.....................

Kankles

2006-09-21T14:11:00.000+10:00

Just when i've gotten into the rythym of sport again, i injure myself. I must be pretty unlucky. Maybe i should take up another sport that doesnt potentially invovle me sacrificing my mobility. I now officially have two bad ankles that will never be the same again. Im homebound for a week until i can place pressure on it, which is good because we're heading in to midsem break-i guess i could study for that exam right after the break?

Trying to keep a positive eye, as i was walking to my car before the game, i came across this chap sleeping in the shade. Extremely friendly might i say. SO friendly he let me pat him and look at his tag. Everyone, meet Oscar!

Live and breathe

2006-09-11T22:55:00.000+10:00

Three Amigos

My hairy "Son"

Mimi here was abandoned by her owners. She has been adopted by one of

my workmates and has been given a second chance at racing. Shes so elegant!

I absolutely love shots of dogs running on green grass

BBGROG06

2006-09-10T19:31:00.000+10:00

Yeay !

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4778774665162239197

I was hanging upside down from the overpass...

2006-09-02T16:48:00.000+10:00

SFK were playing at The Forum (Opposite the Horden) last night. I was very happy with the venue but disapointed when the support acts as they played for 2 hours and giving only about 1.5 for SFK to play. Im even more disapointed they didnt play my favourite SFK song: Monsters. Did you know that the band got its name from Paul Dempsey's shopping list, where Kate is his Jack Russel?

Dog!

2006-08-24T22:01:00.000+10:00

Im not working this week so ive decided to post recent pictures of Matisse. These were taken after we went for a walk.

Pictures like this make me want a digital SLR :(

When the halti comes off, he got to the grassy areas and rubs his face in it. But this time he decided to go the full monty buy using rubbing his whole body in the grass.

He looks cross-eyed

Hes a bit shaggy/furry at the moment. This next week he's going in for a
bit of a hair cut and his yearly injections. Will post pictures of before and after.

Ewe!

2006-08-17T21:36:00.000+10:00

Huzzah! 'Tis lambing season very soon!

Snow in Sydney!

2006-08-15T20:53:00.000+10:00

The 8-5 day ended with Sydney being snowed under-well not really, just hailed over. After an agonising day, and two hours under the dissection lab's tin roof, we walked out to see a beatiful blanket of white on our lawns. Molly seemed to like it especially after being succumbed to the bone room during prac.

Weekend!

2006-08-13T13:21:00.000+10:00

Yesterday was a nice sunny day and all the better reason to bring a camera along to work!

A snippet into Uni...

2006-08-08T21:11:00.000+10:00

Guess Who! :p

L in Horse Anatomy - No photshop invovled!

Time Killing

2006-07-30T16:08:00.000+10:00

Officeworks on corner of Ross St. and Parramatta Rd, is extremely convenient for us vets to be. If so your highlighter runs out during a lecture, just run across the road then you will be presented with other things you never knew you needed on top of that highlighter. Because we're found on the other side of campus, places for us to kill time are extremely limited. So what better way than to enter officeworks?
Theres something about stationary shopping that tickles me and even more so when theyre found under the words "Clearance". This particular officeworks have their clearance sections up to date and filled with good and decent things. Such as: 20c scissors, 10c metal sharpeners, 10c glue, liquid paper, $2 spiraled A4 notebooks, $1 bic 4-colour pens, 10c bus pass holders and the list goes on. I found this liquid paper for 50c the other week. Its absolutely tiny and so i can prove to you so, my super duper forensic skills illustrate that its just slightly bigger than a 50c coin!

Also, warmest welcomes to the newest addtion to my shoe collection (i only have 4 pairs of shoes ):

Too white you say? I know... but seeing as though basketball shoes DONT come in female sizes, i have to either settle for Mens or Kids sizes. Also, im very picky with my shoes, hence why i only have 4 pairs. These were the only basketball shoes which had my size, had the high sides (for the ankle support) and looked remotely okay. I might colour them up with some grey/black laces when i find some. Apprently they will introduce 2 womens styles in a few months which is a bit too late for me to wait around. Im assuming, like all womens sports shoes, theyre going to look horrendus.

Now for a picture of Matisse after a walk:

The penis is mightier than the sword

2006-07-29T18:38:00.000+10:00

Uni has started for a week now-and by jove is it full on. My usual routine of microsleeping in lectures started on the third day vs. 7/8 weeks into the semester. This semesters subjects include:
+Anatomy and Physiology 2B
+Conservation Biology
+Equine Anatomy
+Principles of Disease
All subjects keep you on your toes in terms of preparing and making sure that you are up to date. For some reason this semester, the lecturers have been providing us "statistics" of the pass/fail bands and i dont like them very much. Nonetheless, in anatomy, we're learning about the genital and reproductive system. I have never heard the word "penis" so many times in one hour. The lecturer enlightened us that a few years back he had a student come to him at the end of a lecture asking him what was going on because throughout that lecture they sat there counting the number of times he said the word penis in the hour. It came to a grand total of 120! Which is equivalent to twice a minute. I must say, people look at you funny on the train because when you're reading your notes, theres phallic images drawn around your page to comprehend the anatomy of it all.

When we laugh indoors, the blissful tones bounce off the walls...

2006-07-17T10:52:00.000+10:00

Yes! None other than Death Cab for Cutie! Who i saw last night !!! This is was my first ever live concert and i absolutely loved it! They were absolutely terrific live! They initially had one show in sydney but that sold out so they decided to do another. We managed to get into the second show and even that was a month booked out! Anyway i noticed i didnt quite fit into the crowd and wasnt quite emo enough. So note to self, dress more emo.

Winnar! X 2

2006-07-15T20:28:00.000+10:00

Not only did i survive Vet II-Sem I but i won this while back from greenies (www.greenies.com.au). Submit your lovley photos of your dog eating a greenies stick and win $50 worth of useless junk! Well i wouldnt say the actual greenies sticks are useless seeing as though theyre quite expensive, but the little packets of "greenies bits" (the numerous square packets) are quote silly-just shavings off the real thing.

Post Exam Relief?

2006-07-11T18:53:00.000+10:00

I couldnt beleive how many resources i needed for my 2 hour theory + 40 min practical anatomy and physiology exam. There are a whole lot more written notes to where that came from. This time next year no anatomy! Wooo! Oh, provided i pass that is :/

Exams = Kim very sad

2006-06-15T11:17:00.000+10:00

Meanwhile, heres a recent picture of my lovely dog =D

Doggy Roundup

2006-05-21T09:52:00.001+10:00

A good excuse to round up a bunch of vet students and stuff them with delicious food. O'dea Reserve is a park provided by Marrickville Council as a leash-free area for dogs. Matisse came and was the biggest dog (so far) in the group that came along. He behaved very nicely so i must commend him for coming back to me when called and not picking fights. He did sort-of terrorise the little dogs by walking up to them, sniffing and ignoring them flaring their teeth. But eh, Goldies for you.

Matisse, Billie, Some random bull dog, Sienna

Gidgy, Matisse, Sheba

BoMatisse, Osmond, Sienna

Matisse, Toby

Scotty, Matisse

Gidgy (haha ive never seen a dog sit like that before), Sheba

We're going to the zoo !

2006-04-08T20:33:00.000+10:00

I was back at the zoo today (yeay!) and i wasnt working (yeay!). It was a good chance to see the zoo at my own lesuirely pace and to look at other things apart from reptiles for a change. These are the best two photos of animals today. In particular, im quite proud of the dingo image. This is now on my desktop replacing the New Cal Gecko.

All in a days work

2006-04-02T16:46:00.000+10:00

I are teh winnar!

2006-03-31T21:44:00.000+11:00

My dog needs a wash-quite badly actually. This reminds me, in the holidays i entered a series of competitions in a free pet magazine, Buddy. They had a few prizes up for grabs and to enter, you had to email a code, your details and if relevant, the size of your pet. The logical thing was that if you had a dog, youd enter for the doggy prizes and so forth for a cat. Being the uni student i am, i entered every single category which invovled me sending about 20 emails cutting and pasting details but changing codes. In the end i won one of them. I won a free dog wash, hurrah! The last time i washed my dog, i:
+couldnt get my back out of the "leaning-over" position for 10 minutes
+get soaking wet
+get excessive amounts of dog hair all over me to the point i have hives (yes theres that much)
Nonetheless, the dogwashing service doesnt service my area so they decided to send me a hamper to the same value:The contents included:
+Lots of shredded paper
+The maroon bucket
+Dog deoderant
+Calcium treats
+A sample of the "pork liver treats"
+A gift voucher for a free dog wash that doesnt service my area, hence defeating the whole purpose of the hamper
+Two (obviuosly cheap) squeaky toys-my dog ripped it to bits within an hour
+Two sample packets of geriatric dog food
+Two sample packets of hairball control cat food

I sound a bit too unappreciative of the goods? Sarcasm too much for you? Actually, i appreciated the feeling of winnning-it should happen more often, except this time, i want to win taronga zoo.

More than words

2006-03-10T20:09:00.000+11:00

Uni has just started and the work is quite overwhelming. This semester will result in a decrease amount of 'animal' pracwork thus decreasing the overall post number. On top of this, I've decided to take a temporary leave from the Zoo until things ease a bit (who knows when it will). I have taken up a temporary job as a kennel hand/nurse closer to home that saves me alot of time (and money!). Of course, the camera will follow as much as it can but i cant guarantee it making an appearance often. I've been off call for WIRES for about a month (but am back on now) because i didnt have a car accessible as transport. One of the members was called out to this. Its quite self-explanatory

Pharmacy?

2006-02-01T17:47:00.000+11:00

You know you're a vet student when.....

2006-01-24T23:02:00.000+11:00

You start writing letters home in abbreviations.
You look deep into your lover's eyes and pull out a pen light.
Natural light makes you squint.
You walk away from dishwashing with your hands in the air
You find yourself doing one handed ties on your shoe laces.
You wait for the grocery store clerk to grade your check.
While in a crowded elevator you start pondering the pathological agents associated with aerosol transmission.
Noodles remind you of Dirofilaria imitis.
You get a blood test and they diagnose caffeninemia.
Rather than being “close” and “far,” everything becomes “proximal” and “distal.”
You tell other people you’re having problems “thermoregulating.”
Eating and sleeping are unnecessary luxuries.
You have sawed through the head of an animal.
Pimples become suppurative exudates.
You start picking out which zoonotic disease you would rather die from.
You get up at 3AM to check the spelling of oogonia. At 4 AM you get up to see what it means.
Grocery shopping consists of trips to snack machines.
You say you have pain in your gastrocnemius instead of saying your leg hurts.
Someone asks you your name and you think it is a trick question.
There's such a thing as a 'real neat' lesion.
Gross lab makes you hungry. Even though the dean has sent e-mail's to you telling you eating in the anatomy lab while dissecting is not allowed.
You have ever brought home your laundry from Anatomy in a biohazard bag.
You study at stop lights.
You have ever looked up the definition of the title of the course you are enrolled in because you have no idea what it is
You have accidentally emptied the contents of a horse’s intestines on the floor
You go from wanting D's to worry about getting P's to praying that you
will pass, to wondering if the Marines still need a few good men!

Nice cats! (LIKE OMG)

2006-01-24T22:23:00.000+11:00

Introducing Alex's cats. He's got three but we couldnt really take a picture of the third one, Scooter, because he's a b. Theyre the NICEST cats i have EVER met and their lovely nature reminds me that not all cats are stroppy/hissy/teethbaring/scratching cats. I guess the ones at the vet in the catteries have something to complain about. I mean, imagine having beeing cooped up in one ALL day some random person comes along who has had a shit of a day (i.e. me) because of all the other stroppy cats, takes your food/litter tray/water/newspaper and replaces it with new food/litter tray/water/newspaper then leaves you alone.

Sylvester - He was jealouse because all the attention was on this dude below

This is Milo, their new kitten ! Hes so cute and tiny!!!!!!!

If only ALL cats were like this. A Vet's and a nurses job would be SO much more easier and enjoyable...

Ain't I A Pretty Boy

2006-01-15T10:36:00.000+11:00

Of course you are Tuka a.k.a. Mr Komodie !

I could get used to this...

2006-01-11T21:50:00.000+11:00

For those who know me (yes, all 0 of you) i used to have braces. I recently went back to my dentist (also orthodontist) because i had some sort of cavity in two of my molars. I havent seen him since my braces came off which is about 6 years ago and ALOT has changed since then. He didnt even recognise me but only remembered me by "the girl that does vet" from variuos gossiping family friends. He shows me all the procedures he does with the aid of a mirror (yes, it was rather freaky watching drills and sharp objects float in my mouth). He told me that it wasnt a cavity but some chipped away glue from my braces 6 years ago and got his drill and seared it off my teeth. He then got his pointy-hooky- thingy to poke around on the crowns of my teeth to make sure they werent 'soft'. The procedure probably didnt take 5 minutes but everyone knows how much dentists costs and how long ahead you have to book into to see them (especially cheap asian ones). We then go into an interesting conversation:

Kim: Thanks heaps!
Dentist: No problem! Theres no charge for today
Kim: *shocked* Thanks! Are you sure? Since youre very busy and i did take up 5 minutes of your time and you did a thorough check, let me pay you something for your help *thinks of the BMW 5 Series in his driveway while walking in*
Dentist: Wer'e both Doctors, thus we're colleagues!
Kim: *laughs*
Dentist: When I need something for my dogs, you can return the favour!
Kim: *laughter turns fake*

For those of you playing at home, refer to my profile

The Lion from the witch and the wardrobe

2006-01-06T19:15:00.000+11:00

For the last four days, i did 'work experience' at a mixed rural vet nearby. There were so many things i learnt not only about the practice and how it runs, but the people and the animals. One dog i regrettably didnt take a photo of, continued to amused me while my time there. A Chow-chow with a lion-cut just like the one below. The one i saw was a caramel colour so it looked very much like a lion. Looks like dog-groomers should start a new trend. Also i think The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe have some extra advertising :)

Pee-Wee

2006-01-02T18:16:00.000+11:00

After last nights storms, I got called out to pick this little guy up. Hes a bit nasty and will have a go at you if you try to feed him. He's going to be transfered to another WIRES member since i dont have the time and rescources and also gigantic puppy roaming the premises.

NYE 2005

2005-12-31T20:32:00.000+11:00

What better way to spend a sweltering hot NYE in Sydney than to soak up the extra humidity in Serpentaria.

This Boa Constrictor didnt want to part from its branch so I put all of it in the bin to clean the gigantic turd it left

Green Python - !

Burton's Snake-Lizard* - Why couldnt they just name it "Burton's Lizard" ?
*For those who are wondering, this creature IS a lizard even though he hasnt got legs to scurry on-to find out more attend the reptile keeper talk @ 11am every day at Taronga!

The first hatchling of the clutch! Neat way to finish off the year isnt it? =D

Paging Dr. Panda..

2005-12-30T16:47:00.000+11:00

Easy like Sunday Morning

2005-12-18T09:32:00.000+11:00

I woke up to this:
Theres really only one answer:

I went to a nudist beach today...

2005-12-17T19:14:00.000+11:00

but didnt swim, thus kept my clothes on. Actually, we were cutting some grass for the hoppers off at the National Park nearby work and the keeper showed showed us a nudist beach behind it. Lots of male couples were entering/exiting the beach-i can see why, the water and the view is absolutley beautiful. We only stood at the end of the path so no one could see us (incase people thought we were perves-speaking of which, we saw a few yachts and boats anchored right on the sand of the beach with people sitting on the deck subtly looking at the naked bodies). We've decided in a fortnight we shall go there to do some snorkelling, WITH our swimming costumes on of course.

Esmerelda, Lance and Ace

The kookaburra that sits and waits for mice outside the bughouse

Diamond Python

Chameleon (this one is a boy) - My hand makes it look like Rotisserie Chameleon

Victorian Crowned Pigeon - Biggest Pigeon in the world (its as big as a very large domestic cat)

I wouldnt mind taking him home ...

2005-12-08T08:36:00.000+11:00

The fornightly rush

2005-12-03T21:32:00.000+11:00

Today i was again late to work. The views are beautiful so its worth it. I also iremembered Geoff's birthday and brought in cake so all was good :) For those who dont know, i vounteer at Serpentaria fortnightly at Taronga. I have more photos i took prior to starting this blog but its just nice to start off with some of the ones i took today.

Winter morning at 6am - I took this earlier in the year

This was taken at 4pm today (obviuosly at a different location)

She likes the rubber gumboots for some reason

New Caledonian Giant Gecko gets a manicure/pedicure -Those things are nasty

Isnt he cute ? =D

You can milk anything with nipples!

2005-12-01T21:12:00.000+11:00

I'm not kidding. We milked sheep today. Its rather interesting actually-a whole lot different to cow milking but still involves making an "O" with your index finger and thumb and using the rest of the fingers to squeeze. Sheep have two teats to milke from, not four. They protrude out at an angle as opposed to dangling (one at 8 o'clock and the other at 5 o'clock) which makes them a tad difficult to milk. You had to use one hand to milke while the other hand lifts up the other side of the udder so that the milk can run into your milking hand.

Pye Farm is about 20 minutes away and i was VERY glad i brought my gumboots along. It had rained alot last night so the grounds were very muddy (its really a homogenous mixture of cow defecate and mud) and each step you took, you literally sank into it. Before you realise it, you're stuck and the level of mud is so deep that the part of the gumboot that covers your feet have disappeared. Mustering the "meat cows" is scary. The demonstrators inform us quite well of all the dangers invovled with handling them and you cant help but to think that the only thing saving you from a charging 500kg cow is how fast you can scale a 2m fence with your boots covered in a mud-defecate lubricant. On the way out, i saw a turtle on the path and we again "rescued it". The demonstrator told me theyre a pest out here and that he usually runs over them. We drove down the road and saw another one and again "rescued" it but only this time but putting it out of car's way. Sure i got a few beeps/honks of anger from upcoming cars, but i saved a life :)

Median lane

2005-11-30T19:29:00.000+11:00

The horse assessment went fine. Tail bandages kind of sucked, but it sucked more if the horse farted on your hand. It was rather pedantic the assessing: no creases in the bandage, no folds, not too tight, had to be proportionate-all in good measure though. I wouldn't want to screw over a $500,000 racing horse's foot just because I didn't bandage it propely-its the dole straight away for me. Picking up feet and rugging the horse up was cool. We listened to heart auscultations and I learnt that you had to twist the head of the stethoscope so that it clicks to the right side you're listening to. Tommy had an abnormal heart rhythm and Squirt had a soft LUB and a loud DUB (ivy forgotten all of my anatomy so I cant really tell you why).

We moved onto Mayfarm to more husbandry. Crutching sheep is not as easy as it looks, let alone shearing. My job as a shearer during the holidays (to not only earn money, learn some husbandry skills and to lose a hell of a lot of weight) is probably not going to work. The sheep are heavy and maintaining a posture so that you and the sheep are comfortable is one thing, being able to see the groin area, reach for the shears and shear with confidence is another.
The swap over saw us mustering sheep into the "sheep handler" (a conveyer belt in the form of a V shape so the sheep are moved individually at our own pace), flipping them over and trimming their hooves. Fly treatment was then sprayed on their crotch area and then it was feeding time for the little lambs :) Tomorrow we come back to Mayfarm to milk sheep then off to Pyefarm for some heiffers.

Farm Week!

2005-11-29T20:35:00.000+11:00

Yes thats right boys and girls, i have a week out at the University farms doing "intense" and "advanced" animal procedures. When i say "advanced" i reall do mean advanced. I was to tired to write about what we did yesterday, which means i have two lots of stories to talk about. Lests start off with Monday shall we? BE WARNED: Some of these procedures may upset people, so if you're not into blood/guts/mulesing(PETA will beat me with a stick)/cruel practices/etc. then i suggest strongly you leave

Group F (thats the group i'm in) starts first on porcine and poultry. The pig prac started off with the usual 'piglet marking' which involves teeth clipping to prevent the piglets mutilating each other, tail clipping for the same reasons, ear notching for identification, and an iron injection because pigs milk is low in iron (which predisposes the animal to anaemia). I took blood for the first time on ANY animal on the weaners and suprisingly, theyre very co-operative. I couldnt help but to think of how the nurse takes my blood for tests and what she would do if she didnt over/under shot my vein. We did an ultrasound of a pregnant sow and it is one of the most intimate and special moments in life. You look at the small screen in front of you and awe over the miracle of life/ves. In some of the sows that were longer in gestation you can see the spine and the outline of a skull in the uterus (you can tell i havent done reproduction yet). The demonstrator asked us to move a sow to a different shed and can you beleive it, it took about 8 vet students, two pig boards and a bucket to achieve this? I guess we were lucky in a way that the sow was a maiden (i.e. this is her first pregnancy and we move pregnant sows into a different shed they were mated in) and we were the first to give assist in her walking to a comfy place for her to pride and joys to grow.

Poultry was interesting actually. Alot more hands on and gruesome as well. We identified birds with Coccidiosis in freshly euthanased birds-by jove were they warm. Those with the colostridial disease exhibited small red dots or lesisions in their caecum (i think). We then went on to examine incubated eggs that have not hatched for whatever reason. We found alot of the eggs had developed into a distinguishable chick but were not fully developed i.e. its gut content/yolk is external to the body. The demonstrator had told us about "bombs" which are eggs that have been infested with a bacterial infection causing the embryo to never grow but a medium for the bacteria to thrive in. When these were cracked open, a black runny consistency was observed. Before you visually see the black liquid, your olfactory senses identify the egg in your hands is a bomb and trust me, the olfactory neurons in my sinuses (ha ha ! respiratory anatomy!) cringed at the pungent/disgusting/make-you-vomit-like smell.
The rest of poultry events are rather R18+ so i'll euphemise them as much as i can. We learnt about the various methods of vaccinating the animal and tried it. The needles are short and the methods of vaccination are so quick you dont even notice that it even occured. One method of vaccination my partner and i found cute was the eye drop one. The chook blinks really quickly and the liquid just seeps in and appears into the mouth (for those who are non-meds, the eyes, nose and ears open up into your mouth (eventually)). Loob was drawn out of the jugular and wing vein (they have beautiful and juciy veins which make them so easy to draw from!) and finally the green dream.

Today, group F ventured to the Horse unit where we spend the day standing around, then having morning tea, stand around some more, lunch, stand around a bit more then go home. Seriously, this is what we did today. We knew this last semester from our Friday pracs, where we thought the horse pracs were very laid back. I got stepped on by a horse and by jove, they do not move their hoof once its planted firmly on the ground. The stupid steel caps that OH&S tells us to wear DO NOT cover the side of the centre of the foot, which could very easily be smashed to bits, but the toes only. I was fortunate enough to not have ANY bruising on the side and middle of my right and left foot respectively, let alone any breakage. The usual was carried out: catch a horse, restrain it, headstall on, walk and make it trot. A new skill we learnt today was how to lead a horse into a float and leading the horse around crushes and tight spaces. After that we revisited bandaging and picking up feet, we watched the demonstrator give Squirt and Tommy an oral Bute-paste (the horse version of panadol). Tommorow involves assessing what we did today, which calls for a good nights rest :)

Now, introducing a new segment....

2005-11-27T15:17:00.000+11:00

Lets try something new. This is where the "things-that-kim-has-learnt" will be posted and will be updated/posted on a regular basis. It will consist of weirdo moments and stupid things i have learnt throughout the JOURNEY (hahah no pun intended) of my day.

Lesson #1:
Lesson #1 goes way back, but because lesson #3 occured today, i may as well talk about it.

Never buy presents when you're hungry. Why you ask? Because when you're hungry, you don't concentrate on what you're doing i.e. looking for a present, and you end up going "f*ck this, i'll just grab the $500 Gucci handbag1" and then realising 120 hours later that it wasnt worth it.

1 used for representational purposes only

Lesson #2:

Know your alcohol. Saves you from wandering around the bottle-o trying looking lost. Not only will you look lost, but you will look like an idiot when the attendent asks you what type of alcohol you want. I dont know the difference between bourbon, whisky, bacardi, cowboy, shots, cocktails etc. SOMEONE TELL ME!

Lesson #3:

Never buy make-up when you're hungry. For those who know me, i dont wear make-up on a daily/regulay/weekely/monthly/yearly basis so i am absolutely clueless about whats out there: how to put it on, what "brand" is better, which will suit my skin type, what goes on first, whether i want my eyelashes to be "volumninous" or "extended", whether or not i want my lips to look "volumnious" or "extended" and so on. I again went, "f*ck this" but opted for the cheaper option as opposed to the Gucci one, and bought mascara. I spent 30 mins standing in the aisle only to realise when i got home and unpeeld the mass security seals that i bought blue mascara. Who the hell uses blue mascara? As Andrew said "People like you who have no idea"

Tell me what you dont like about yourself ...

2005-11-25T17:03:00.000+11:00

Nip tuck is incredibly addictive. Theres something about medical drama (Scrubs, Greys Anatomy) that I can always relate to, even though im in first year. Ive watched bits and pieces of it in the third season last summer holiday and loved it to bits! Catching up by renting out the first season has killed the boredom factor so far. I cant wait 'till i get my hands on second season.

Jolly Good!

2005-11-24T22:48:00.000+11:00

Holidays have come. This is just a test posting. I've been rather bored at home and spending alot of time looking at medico blogs and realised there arent many (or none!) Vet blogs out there, so what better way to pass the holidays than to start one!