Iditarod: 55 veterinarians tend to canine athletes
Six-hundred-eighty-two sled dogs on 49 teams lined up to start the 50th running of the Iditarod. In preparation for the race, over 79,000 pounds of food were delivered across the trail to ensure that these elite athletes could get their needed 10,000 to 12,000 calories a day. Making sure that each and every one of these sled dogs makes it across the trail safely is Iditarod Chief Veterinarian Stu Nelson and his team of veterinarians.
On any given year, it is Nelson’s goal to have around 55 veterinarians on the trail, which doesn’t include the additional 15 or so vet techs who conduct pre-race screenings. Finding 55 qualified veterinarians to volunteer was not a difficult task. Nelson receives around that many inquiries from people wanting to volunteer each year, on top of the 120 invitations to veteran veterinarians, who make up about 80 percent of the team. One veterinarian said they had been trying for years to volunteer before they were first introduced by a colleague.
In order to take the best care possible of these elite athletes, Nelson requires that any volunteer has at least five years of experience in a veterinary practice and experience working with sled dogs. He also looks for vets with a critical care or emergency background, because they are used to long, hard hours and are quick on their feet. Nelson also asks that vets be fluent in English, because in the midst of the race, he said, there isn’t time to have communication issues, especially when it comes to animal health. This doesn’t limit applicants, however, and this year, there were two veterinarians from Spain and one from Portugal, who all met working as race vets in Norway.
Of the 55 or so vets, around 45 of those are trail vets, who are assigned to checkpoints. These vets will conduct around 10,000 routine exams at the checkpoints. Then there are an additional eight or so vets who focus on return dogs. Finally, there are a number of consultants who specialize in things such as ECGs, toxicology and pathology. This year, as part of his COVID contingency plan, 59 veterinarians were brought onboard. Seven tested positive in Anchorage before the start, and only worked after they came out of isolation.
All along the trail, the vets repeatedly mentioned two things: how much they loved to volunteer, and how much the dogs loved to run. Asked what makes the experience so addicting, Nelson – who was a trail veterinarian for nine years before being asked to be Chief Veterinarian 27 races ago – said it is a combination of the adventure, the beauty of the land, the history, the family of volunteers and the sport of mushing. Most important, he said, was the dogs. “These are really cool dogs. They’re fun to work with.”
Attitude is one of the many things that the vets and mushers look for when checking out each dog. Nelson explained an acronym the vets use in their checks: HAW/L, coming from the mushing term haw, meaning left. Heart, hydration, attitude, appetite, weight, and lungs are all checked.
But it isn’t just the vets who are taking care of the dogs, of course. “Never underestimate the knowledge and expertise of the mushers. They have a tremendous amount of dog knowledge,” he said. Nelson estimated that around 80 percent of the time that a dog gets pulled, it’s because a musher comes in and says, “I want to return this dog.”
Nelson has run many studies over the years to learn more about the sled dogs and help further their care. “To me,” he said, “the gastric ulcer research was the biggest, because way back, when I was as trail vet, I said if we can get a handle on it we can have zero dog death races, consistently. That research has taken us a long way.” They ran a pilot study in 1996, and major researchers joined in 2000, and they worked for about ten years on the issue which was primary or secondary cause of death in many cases. “We do have preventative protocols that are highly effective,” Nelson said.
This year, a study was conducted how body condition scoring correlates with health. Body condition scores are based on observations of fat in several places on the animal. Ranging from 1, the skinniest, to 9, the fattest, the scores are also marked in the Vet Book the mushers must carry across the finish line. The book is unique to the musher and their team, with a roster, body condition scoring guide and checkpoint records. At a checkpoint, when a vet checks a dog, they make note of the checkpoint, the vet, the date, the tag, the body condition score, and any additional notes. This way, the condition of the dogs over the course of the race can be tracked. Nelson said there will be a lot more research into nutrition, as an example of something that might be studied going forward.
Fifty-five vets but only one human doctor on the trail shows the priorities of the race officials.