VMDiva

Is your local pharmacy advertising free antibiotics? Many in my area are. While I condone the judicious use of antibiotics, I am alarmed when seeing advertisements for prescription medications equating them to 5 for a $1 lemons and buy one get one crackers.  Offering a product for free removes any intrinsic value from it.  Antibiotic use should be taken very seriously.  With the emergence of Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) and Multidrug Resistant bacterias (MDR), the medical community should only prescribe antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. Animals and humans must complete a course of antibiotics as prescribed. Finally, medical professionals must convey the seriousness of antibiotic use.

Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work

Veterinary medicine has long been limiting antibiotic use. There are only 5 antibiotics used in food animal production and high level broad spectrum antibiotics are reserved for humans only.  Precautions are taken to ensure any food animal treated with antibiotics has no trace left in the system before it is taken to market. Small animal veterinarians should prescribe antibiotics only when warranted. I, for one, will NEVER give away antibiotics.

It will take the entire medical community to slow the development of bacterial resistance.

Congratulations on making the decision to pursue a career in veterinary medicine! May you find it rewarding and challenging. The decision to become a veterinarian is the first in many steps to actually receiving a degree. Being a veterinarian carries great responsibility and necessitates a life long commitment to learning. The most important thing to remember: Loving animals is not enough of a reason for becoming a veterinarian. VETERINARY MEDICINE IS FIRST ABOUT LOVE OF MEDICINE AND SECOND ABOUT LOVE OF ANIMALS. Once you are sure veterinary medicine is the career for you, read below for a few tips to improve your odds of getting into veterinary school.

1. Do Your Research

There are only 28 veterinary schools in the United States.  The average number of new veterinary students admitted to school nationwide is only 2,100. On average, about 43% of applicants are accepted to veterinary school yearly. Certain schools are more difficult to gain acceptance into than others. Your chances of getting into one of these schools sometimes depends on the state in which you reside. For example, the University of Pennsylvania typically accepts a high percentage of in state students. However, every year the state of New Jersey (with no veterinary school) purchases several seats for New Jersey residents. Other states may have similar contracts. Knowing your chances at different schools can help you narrow down the application process.

2. …More Research

Most veterinary schools prefer students to have their bachelor’s degrees prior to matriculation. Other schools will allow students with a certain number of credits, typically junior undergraduates,  apply and matriculate prior to undergraduate graduation. Know the undergraduate course requirements and GPA requirements prior to application. Preveterinary programs can tailor your undergraduate education to ensure all of the prerequisite courses are completed but does no guarantee admittance. Make sure your undergraduate institution has a network to assist with the application process.

3. Get Experience

You should have in depth experience in at least one field of veterinary medicine prior to application. Some schools, like Cornell University, emphasize breadth of experience over depth of experience. That means the admissions committee seeks applicants with experience in small/large animal medicine, research, shelter medicine, and even human medicine. Most schools recommend at least 1000hrs of hands-on veterinary experience: equivalent to 2-3 summers of full-time work. Cleaning kennels or mucking stalls shows you aren’t afraid of hard work. Of course, the more technical experience the better.

4. Emphasize Other Relevant Experiences

Have a few bad grades but salvaged your GPA? Dealt with the public as a waiter/cashier/fast food provider? Use your non-veterinary experiences to emphasize highly desirable traits like perservereance and social aptitude. Good communication skills are a MUST. Any previous occupations or volunteer efforts that extoll your interpersonal skills need special attention.

5. Be a Man

Sorry ladies. This one is out of your control. Only 25% of veterinary school students are male. Schools are actively seeking men to try to even the field.

6. Pursue a Career in an Under Served Area

Recent updates reveal critical shortages of large animals veterinarians, public health veterinarians, and governement veterinarians. Don’t limit yourself to private practice! Check out this article at AVMA.org!

7. Visit Veterinary Schools

Visit veterinary schools you are interested in at least 6 months to a year prior to application. You will most likely meet with an admissions officer. This is a chance to show initiative and interest in a particular school. This is your first chance go make an impression: ALWAYS DRESS WELL! Take copies of your transcripts and be prepared to discuss any grades under a “B”.

8. Be Persistent

Even if you don’t get accepted to veterinary school your first try, don’t give up on your dream! I know of veterinarians who were accepted on their 3rd attempts. In the interim, strengthen your application with more veterinary experience, a master’s degree, or research.

With proper preparation you can greatly increase your chances of acceptance to veterinary school.

I’m the first to admit I find chubby cat bellies irresistible.  Magical, squishy, gooey. As a veterinarian, however, I see a dangerous epidemic. Obesity in our pets runs rampant. Among other diseases, overweight/obese cats are predisposed to diabetes, heart disease, hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease), and osteoarthritis. Maintaining your cat’s weight in the ideal range can potentially add years to his life. I grade both dogs and cats using a Body Condition Score system on a scale of 1 to 9: 1 is emaciated, 5 is healthy, 9 is morbidly obese. Cats with a healthy weight have a tucked in waist and easily palpable ribs covered by a thin layer of fat. The area over the ribs should feel like the back of your hand. Your cat should be able to groom easily.

Your cat has a body condition score ranging from 6 to 9. Now what? First, consult your veterinarian prior to instituting a weight loss plan. Too little food can cause big problems for big cats. Your veterinarian can suggest changes right for your cat and will prescribe the appropriate rate and amount of weight loss. The most important thing to remember is you control your cat’s diet.

Diet

The basics to weight loss are always diet and exercise.  These are never easy feats. Here are some general guidelines for dietary change:

• Eliminate table scraps. Small pieces of cheese and meat seem like a treat but can provide a large percentage of your cat’s daily caloric need.
• Feed your cat set meals with exactly measured volumes of food. Free choice feeding, where a full bowl of food is left out and allows cats to graze, allows overeaters to pack on the pounds.
• Know exactly how much you are feeding your cat. A cup can mean many things to many people: a coffee cup, a measuring cup, a styrofoam cup. I recommend scoops/cups with volume markers.
• In most cases it is acceptable to simply decrease the volume of food you feed your cat.  A reasonable start is decreasing the total volume of food by 1/4. Example: You feed your cat 1 cup of dry food daily. Decrease that to 3/4 cup and watch for changes in body condition over the next couple of months.
• Remember: Dry food has many more calories than wet food. If you change the ratio of wet to dry food, be sure you are NOT removing too many calories.
• Ask your veterinarian if a prescription weight loss food is right for your cat.
• Monitor your cat’s weight AND body condition.
• Be strong! You control your cat’s food consumption. Tolerate begging. Don’t give in.

Exercise

Now I know what you’re thinking: Dr. K, you want me to take my cat for a walk? Not exactly.

• Give your cat plenty of toys to promote physical activity.
• Play with your cat! It will certainly benefit both of you.
• Try a laser pointer. Some cats can’t get enough of the little red light.
• Incite their predatory instinct. Take a small amount of dry food from a meal. Throw one piece at a time in different directions across the floor. Your cat loves chasing food and you secretly enjoy watching him exercise.

Work closely with your veterinarian and remember an ideal weight is attainable!

ANIMAL RIGHTS

The push for Animal Rights by such extreme organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is one of my greatest concerns for veterinary medicine’s future. A common misunderstanding circulating publicly is animal rights are designed merely for the protection of animals from cruelty and neglect. These are, of course, admirable aspirations. Alarming ideas emerge among PETA’s relatively reasonable mission statement, pro population control position, and pictures of abused pit bulls. The agenda is much larger. They believe no animal should be involved in the food, fiber, labor, or research arena. Animal rights activists place animal life equivalent to human life. From PETA’s website: “Only prejudice allows us to deny others the rights that we expect to have for ourselves. Whether it’s based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or species, prejudice is morally unacceptable.” In addition, extreme animal rights activists believe imposing pet status on our domestic friends is a violation of their rights.

No meat, no wool, no service animals, crippled medical research. These add up to a weakened economy, revoked freedom of handicapped people, and stunted medical research for many animal models of disease resulting in continued loss of human quality and quantity of life. Let’s get it straight: I hate animal suffering. I hate seeing livestock mistreated. I eagerly await better computer simulated models for medical research. However, I also hate human suffering. And if I had to choose between the two, I always have to side with human life. Rational people would save mom from a burning building before Fluffy.

NOTE: PETA does not condemn pet ownership.

GUARDIANSHIP

More concerning still, animal rights activists (the ones who don’t completely abhor pet status) seek to elevate pet owners to pet guardians. On the surface, the idea of gaurdianship seems like a step in the right direction in imposing harsher penalties on animal abusers. However, guardianship would place animals at the same LEGAL status as a child.

Hypothetical headache: Fluffy is dying from congestive heart failure. She’s now developed kidney failure. She’s on every medication possible for the treatment of her diseases but her condition is worsening. She arrives at the vet in severe respiratory distress because her lungs have filled with fluid. The normal treatment of diuretics won’t work because Fluffy has compromised kidney function. Present day common sense says this is a time to euthanize Fluffy. With gaurdianship, euthanasia is no longer an option. You can’t euthanize a child; You can’t euthanize a pet.

Worsening the hypothetical headache: Now let’s say there is a legal loophole in the definition of gaurdianship allowing for euthanasia. Who gets to make a decision? The guardian wants to keep trying to treat Fluffy but the veterinarian believes continuing treatment will result in unnecessary suffering. The guardian now faces accusations of cruelty.  As with children, a third party animal services agency becomes involved to determine what course of action is in the best interest in the animal. Fluffy drowns in pulmonary edema during mediation.

ANIMAL WELFARE

The idea of animal welfare instead of animal rights provides a middle ground for responsible use and care of animals. The AVMA states, “Animal welfare is the ethical responsibility of ensuring animal well-being. Animal well-being is the condition in which animals experience good health, are able to effectively cope with their environment, and are able to express a diversity of species-typical behaviors. Protecting an animal’s welfare means providing for its physical and mental needs.”  Check out the rest of AVMA‘s definition and stance.