Vet on call...

This story really started last week when the school got 3 new additions from our farm to provide more hands-on opportunities for the Ag students. Last Wednesday, my parents brought over 2 goats (1 due to kid in a few weeks), and a pony named Misty. All seemed to go well the first day; however, I soon realized that
Misty wasn't drinking water. She would eat her grain and hay, but refused to touch her water... ok... chlorinated water... I'll bring her fresh water... still wouldn't drink water... I checked in on her several times on Saturday and decided that it was time to call the vet. He recommended that I give her a saturated salt solution IV, which usually causes them to drink. Monday came and she still hadn't drank. While I did bring her over to the school for teaching purposes, this wasn't exactly the type of teaching purposes that I had planned for within my unit; however, when there is the opportunity to create a good lesson that has a clear need and purpose it would be a waste to let it pass by without attention.

The above situation meant that my Animal/Vet Science students were going to start the new unit with a hands-on real-life situation. I started the lesson out by explaining the situation, we reviewed maintenance and replacement fluid recommendations for various dehydration levels in horses, and then went to the barn to further assess the situation. I started out by showing my students how to do a physical exam on the pony and how to check for signs of dehydration... sunken eyes, skin pinch test, increased heart rate at rest, capillary refill time, etc. After evaluating and discussing the results of the physical exam, we clipped her neck and gave her 75-100mL of a saturated salt solution IV. Although the situation was not ideal for the pony, it made for an exceptional lesson for my students.



My unit for my Animal/Vet Science class did have plans for some anatomy and physiology along with animal diseases, so I made some changes to fit the situation and make it more relevant. Why not?  The next day I built on the previous day's class by  transitioning to an overview of the circulatory system and blood pressure... why would her heart rate be increased when she was dehydrated? What controls blood pressure?

Early Wednesday morning ended up bringing the vet out for another IV - this time a much larger dose which had the desired result, and the pony started drinking. The following day I once again demonstrated how to use the stethoscope and thermometer to determine pulse and respiration rates and body temperature. The students then practiced listening to and recording the heart and respiration rates on various animals including the pony, goats, pig, and a beef heifer.

Transitioning to the functions of the kidneys and liver was easy as we
discussed their role in cleaning the blood and maintaining proper electrolyte balance. We also discussed the importance of these systems in other diseases such as diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Urinary Tract infections and kidney stones, and copper toxicity. Oh... and how does your body process and excrete antibiotics and other medications?

Friday we discussed the basic parts and functions of the respiratory system and it's role in oxygenating blood. The students spent the last few minutes of class practicing listening to the lungs with a stethoscope.

So my biggest take-away/reflection... be flexible and use these types of opportunities whenever possible to provide students with meaningful experiences... No doubt my Pre-Vet degree and experience definitely was a benefit in this situation, but through this strength I was able to provide my students with some high quality learning experiences that they will no doubt remember for years to come... The students were awed this week with these experiences and asked if I was a doctor or veterinarian... :) This week was like the icing on the cake in my Animal-Vet class, and I hope to keep it building as I plan to move on to other animal diseases over the next few weeks... #keepingitrealandrelevant