Camelid Course with Cebra
To set the tone, you must first go listen to the Llama Song. If it has blatantly inappropriate connotations, I apologize.
Last Friday I completed two weeks of camelid medicine and surgery with Dr. Cebra and company. I've heard this is probably one of the best electives offered at the vet school, and I was certainly very impressed with it.
We had the awesome chance to practice herd health techniques like cutting fighting teeth, administering vaccines, and giving oral medication. You may recall that the last time I gave oral meds to a llama my thumb became chronically disfigured (even now it bears the mark as varied pink color under my nail). On this recent occasion I retained full use of my digits.
Cutting fighting teeth? Fighting teeth are these nasty, curved pointy teeth that male llamas use to castrate each other. You can imagine that they wouldn't be desirable in a domestic herd. There are a couple ways to deal with them -- the power tools and the fetotomy wire. My favorite is the fetotomy wire -- the power tools work better for managing incisors. You pass the fetotomy wire around the tooth, use the curve of the tooth to stabilize the wire and saw back and forth until the tooth flies off and you partially lose your balance. We had a spotter prepared to grab us in case we really took a fall (which no one did).
We did a couple labs out at VMAIL, where the college keeps a herd of llamas/alpacas and a number of other research animals. We practiced abdominocenteses, setting jugular catheters, wrangling llamas, passing stomach tubes and getting spit on. One of my classmates really took a spitting -- perhaps 30-50 % of the front of her coveralls was tainted. It was grand.
We went on a field trip to a llama farm near Eugene where they fed us llama meat sloppy joes. We practiced ultrasounding for pregnancy in llamas. When I placed the ultrasound probe on the llama I ultrasounded, the fetus was immediately in view. Dr. Cebra queried with amusement whether I could find underground water as well. It was a fluke, naturally.
We castrated llamas standing and in recumbency (one of mine was anesthetized and one the ground but still spitting). More great practical experience, and it went well for all of us. We also got to pin dead broken legs and place casts around the pins to stabilize them (a type of external fixation).
The class was a great confidence builder and a good experience in general.
Last Friday I completed two weeks of camelid medicine and surgery with Dr. Cebra and company. I've heard this is probably one of the best electives offered at the vet school, and I was certainly very impressed with it.
We had the awesome chance to practice herd health techniques like cutting fighting teeth, administering vaccines, and giving oral medication. You may recall that the last time I gave oral meds to a llama my thumb became chronically disfigured (even now it bears the mark as varied pink color under my nail). On this recent occasion I retained full use of my digits.
Cutting fighting teeth? Fighting teeth are these nasty, curved pointy teeth that male llamas use to castrate each other. You can imagine that they wouldn't be desirable in a domestic herd. There are a couple ways to deal with them -- the power tools and the fetotomy wire. My favorite is the fetotomy wire -- the power tools work better for managing incisors. You pass the fetotomy wire around the tooth, use the curve of the tooth to stabilize the wire and saw back and forth until the tooth flies off and you partially lose your balance. We had a spotter prepared to grab us in case we really took a fall (which no one did).
We did a couple labs out at VMAIL, where the college keeps a herd of llamas/alpacas and a number of other research animals. We practiced abdominocenteses, setting jugular catheters, wrangling llamas, passing stomach tubes and getting spit on. One of my classmates really took a spitting -- perhaps 30-50 % of the front of her coveralls was tainted. It was grand.
We went on a field trip to a llama farm near Eugene where they fed us llama meat sloppy joes. We practiced ultrasounding for pregnancy in llamas. When I placed the ultrasound probe on the llama I ultrasounded, the fetus was immediately in view. Dr. Cebra queried with amusement whether I could find underground water as well. It was a fluke, naturally.
We castrated llamas standing and in recumbency (one of mine was anesthetized and one the ground but still spitting). More great practical experience, and it went well for all of us. We also got to pin dead broken legs and place casts around the pins to stabilize them (a type of external fixation).
The class was a great confidence builder and a good experience in general.
posted by Claire at 17:40
2 Comments:
That was an awesome course - I think it is my favorite so far. Though I have a finger that is still healing from where an alpaca kneeled on it ;)
Ouch... did you get it radiographed?
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