Class at the clinic
Grade 5 students from A.G. Baillie Memorial School met furry friends from guinea pigs to a baby goat on a tour of the East River Animal Hospital on Tuesday.
Veterinarian Kathryn Finlayson also showed children what can go wrong with animals, from bladder stones and matted cat fur to a 10-inch benign tumour recently removed from a dog’s armpit.
“I get to see surgery,” said student Beth Anderson, Finlayson’s daughter.
She joined other students in a tour of the operating theatre, which has two beds for pets needing surgery.
Inspired by her mother, Anderson also wants to be a vet when she is older, but it’s the type of job that often needs a strong stomach.
As well as the dog tumour, Finlayson and her team showed students vials of worms removed from cats.
These parasitic worms are spread by flea bites and enter a cat’s bloodstream where they cause illness. A cat with a dull fur and suffering vomiting diarrhea, bloody stools and coughing likely has fleas.
Repeated worm infections mean that a cat is infested with fleas and must have its fur treated.
But gross diseases will not be the only thing that Anderson must handle if she wants to become a vet, as she will have to study hard before she can qualify.
“I would say that they need to be very well-rounded, they need to be involved in a lot of different things and they have to study very hard at school, because it’s very competitive to get into,” said Finlayson.
From high school up, students must not only focus on getting top marks, but also gain experience caring for animals in different settings.
When Finlayson was younger, she worked on several different farms, as well as animal shelters and vet clinics. Volunteering and clinics is vital for any prospective vet.
She said that a good vet is a good communicator and also empathetic to the needs of both people and their pets.
“You need good people skills because it’s not just working with animals,” said Finlayson.
For now, however, Anderson and her classmates enjoyed petting the animals, lining up to stroke guinea pigs, a hedgehog and others.
Anderson said the best thing about animals was that “they’re fluffy.”
“I can help animals feel better,” Anderson said.
Her mother typically does one or two tours per year with schoolchildren visiting East River Animal Hospital.
The clinic itself offers a range of services from complex surgery to more routine procedures such as vaccination and trimming excess fur.