Jordan Williams: Veterinary Science, Week One

Jordan Williams, Telluride High School

My first week at the Auburn Veterinary Large Animal Teaching Hospital as been very exciting. I have seen and taken part in many diverse veterinary procedures. However, I am not allowed to take pictures of most of the animals, but I will do my best to give you a good mental image. On my first day we had to perform a caesarean section on a Brahma cow that is valued well over $100,000 (some say she could possibly be worth one million dollars). She was diagnosed with a mummified fetus a week prior to her surgery, meaning her baby died while developing, but remained in the uterus. To prevent cosmetic scarring, we performed a ventral mid-line c-section to remove the calf. The procedure ran smoothly and she is making a full recovery. So far, this has been the highlight of my time spent on the internship.

The rest of my internship seems to be taken up by a large number of sick or injured goats. I have seen a range of problems involving goats, spanning from broken limbs to Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL). When I arrived to the hospital I encountered an inbred goat kid that had a genetic condition that didn’t allow his liver to function properly. I have also helped with the treatment of to goats that have CL, which is a chronic contagious disease that mainly occurs in goats and sheep that causes an abscess on the animals lymph nodes. I have also faced the challenge of treating two goats that have/had broken legs. The procedure on the first consisted of a simple cast, while the second, unfortunately, had injuries too extensive to repair and had to be euthanized. Although goats are not my area of interest, nor what I thought I was going to deal with on this internship, but I have enjoyed learning about them and their many problems.

The two barns on Auburn’s campus where I work

I have supplied a picture of the two barns I have been working in. The university is very beautiful and all of the staff and the students are amazing. I have enjoyed working with some of the best vets in the country and I am learning more than I would have imagined I would have. This blog post does not entail all of the things I have seen or come into contact with, but I will have more stories to tell in the many more posts that are to come.