...in which I finally have a reason to care about politics

Last week a bill was introduced into Congress that piqued my interest. It's not every day that an Act is proposed that directly relates to my life in an intimate and potentially immediate way, but here it is: the Wildlife and Zoological Veterinary Medicine Enhancement Act.

This proposal has two basic foundations... First, that veterinary schools and other facilities do not provide adequate training in zoo and wildlife medicine. I was lucky that my school not only had a dedicated and fully-staffed Wildlife Clinic, but also an entire zoo & exotic medicine course. Many schools do not, and students interested in zoo and wildlife medicine must travel, often across the country, to get the experience they need. Part of the proposed Act introduces a grant program for schools, zoos and wildlife facilities to provide training in zoo and wildlife medicine. This is not only for veterinary student programs, but also for post-graduate internships and residencies. So basically, my zoo could apply for a grant to cover the intern's salary, conference and coursework expenses, and other training materials, freeing up money to actually treat animals.

The second foundation the proposal is built upon is that there are not enough zoo and wildlife veterinary jobs for the demand, those that do exist do not pay enough, and those of us that want the jobs are too in debt to actually take them. Representative Hastings (the sponsor of the bill) lists the average veterinary student loan debt as $130,000, not including interest. I can assure you mine is much higher. So another part of the Act (and the part that interests me the most) is a loan repayment program. It's similar to enlisting in the military... if they pay 4 years worth of student loans, they expect you to work in the field for at least 4 years. There's also a proposed scholarship program for veterinary students which basically works the same way. The idea of cutting my student loan debt by 99% makes me slightly queasy with joy.

An emergency medicine veterinarian fresh out of school makes almost twice what many experienced zoo vets make a year. And on average, there are less than 10 zoo and wildlife jobs available each year. Across the entire country. Another part of the bill is a grant program for zoo and wildlife associations to create veterinary positions. So the large zoo that would like to add another vet to their staff but can't afford to, or the small zoo that wants to hire a full-time permanent vet, could apply for a grant and hire someone. Like me. For instance.

Programs like this already exist for rural and food animal veterinarians, and the military recruitment process has some similar qualities, but this one is different. It affects me. This is the first time I've ever been actively excited about an act of Congress. That's because of course it quite literally has the potential to change my life. If you'd like to read more details, the full document is here. Please spread the word to any vets or Congress members you know.

Zoo Medicine

Ever wonder what it's like to be a zoo vet? Today I can sum it up in one word: frustrating. Frustrating as hell.

I spent most of today trying to find causes of diarrhea in adult pigs. We have a 7 year old pot-bellied pig who's had mild diarrhea for over a month, and no treatment I've tried has really helped. Luckily she's fine otherwise. Anyway, so I thought I'd look up some possible causes, in case I missed something. Most of the swine resources are angled toward production medicine. Which means diseases are approached from a herd perspective rather than individual animals, and pigs generally don't live as long. Most of the books and articles I found focused on piglets, infectious disease, and diagnoses made at necropsy. I'd rather not kill our pig to find out what's wrong with her. Also, most of the books discuss how to prevent the problem from spreading, rather than how to treat an individual. I'm sure these books are very useful if I should have a complete personality change and decide to switch to a swine production practice, but they're not helping me out right now. And all the wildlife and exotic books deal with exotic suids such as warthogs. Again, not so helpful with my case. So, for me today zoo medicine is frustrating.

It's not only cases like this that I have trouble with. How do you treat a cat in renal failure? Intravenous fluids until they feel better. How do you treat an ocelot in renal failure, who would really love to rip off your face? Very carefully. We're giving subcutaneous fluids once or twice a week, but the vets in the audience will agree with me when I say that's a drop in the bucket. What do you do with a snow leopard who chews on her tail when someone looks at her during the winter? How do you give a venomous snake that won't eat an antibiotic that only comes as a pill? How do you diagnose hypothyroidism in a Red Panda when no one else has ever measured normal thyroid levels in them? These are the sorts of things I deal with every day. I love my job, I really do. I'd prefer these sorts of problems to convincing people to part with their money for their pets. Is it weird that I'd rather deal with animals that could kill me than clients at a private practice? Maybe. But it's the truth. Zoo medicine is frustrating on many levels, but I would rather be a zoo vet than anything else.