C-c-c-clinical extra mural studies (is c-c-c-cold!!)

My first week of clinical ems has begun and I'm in the large animal practice at the University, following the vets on call around Lothian. I started by fertility testing some aberdeen angus bulls, which involved getting an, ahem, 'sample' and assessing all sorts of parameters from both the bull and their sample. It was all very interesting and it turned out both were very good on the fertility front.


In and amongst the usual calls, there was an emergency call out to a cow, which was having trouble giving birth. She was quite a small cow, with quite a big calf, so after a bit of manipulation and pulling it was clear the calf just wasn't going to get through the regular back route. We therefore approached from the side, and to cut a long story short we got the calf out happy and healthy and the mother stitched up and a lot skinnier than she was when we started!
It was a very interesting case, having never done calving or seen a caeser. I got to cut the calf out of the uterus, so I did a good job of midwife for a bit.

Apart from that, i have had a lot of horse visits, everything from more boys' bits to very sore feet. All good stuff but by george it's bloomin' freezing! Thank goodness for the Great British cup of tea :-)