If a veterinarian's day is a busy one, then a rural veterinarian’s day must be considered overloaded. A normal day at your local vet’s office will include house pets and farm animals, lots of coffee and short breaks if any. The old joke about veterinarians says medical doctors are veterinarians that can only take care of one species. When you’re a rural vet, you’ve got to know multiple species and you’ve got to know your community, which makes for an interesting day. Morning Routine Dr. Stroupe starts her day with some coffee, hoping that it doesn’t get cold. If she’s on call, she may have had a long night with emergency calls or OB calls (delivering calves). On this particular day, Dr. Stroupe was home from an emergency call just in time for bed the night before, but up early to field calls as she’s getting ready for work. She usually arrives at the clinic between 7:15 and 7:30 to get some things done before the clinic opens at 8:00, but since she’s been on the phone with an emergency call, she arrives earlier to squeeze in one more appointment. Her coffee will get cold. She says, “It's a shame because I'm much more peppy and pleasant after a couple of cups of Joe,” with a smile on her face. Appointments The appointments start fast and furious, on this day, even before opening hours. The first patient is a puppy that is quickly diagnosed with parvovirus, most commonly just referred to as parvo. Parvo is a virus contracted when a dog comes in contact with another dog’s infected feces. The most problematic symptoms of parvo are vomiting and diarrhea, which can lead to severe dehydration. Parvo pups can usually be saved if they are treated early. While Dr. Stroupe is checking out this puppy, two little boys roam the clinic, checking out their surroundings and their mom is with Dr. Stroupe in the examining room. Occasionally, they wander back in to check on their pet with sad little faces. This usually lively lab is lying down on the examination table, eyes and ears drooping. Dr. Stroupe discusses the treatment, which includes IV fluids and several nights in isolation with other parvo puppies, then they discuss a payment plan. She explains to the owner, “We’re seeing a lot of these cases, it comes in waves.” Thankfully for this puppy, the owner, and the two little boys, this puppy is being treated early, and is expected to make a full recovery. During this time, the vet techs that work with Dr. Stroupe have been in and out, helping with the patient, but also asking questions from phone calls that have been coming in steadily. They have worked with her for a long time and know what she needs, and when she needs it. Dr. Stroupe says, “All of our techs are crucial to what we do and when one of them is gone sick or has a day off, we realize just how much they do.” They can take over explaining treatments and completing tests when she starts on a new patient. The cow bell above the front door rings. Before this first appointment is even over, one of the vet techs comes in after a tense conversation with another pet owner that has dropped by with an emergency. They are adamant to get in because their pet has quit eating. The vet tech is unsure what to do because the appointments are booked solid throughout the day, but Dr. Stroupe agrees to see their dog. They’ll have to wait because other owners are there already, but she is going to squeeze them in while tests are being run on another patient. Dr. Stroupe then shaves a spot on the puppy, inserts an IV catheter, and quickly moves on to the next patient after carefully cleaning up while the vet techs take over. Extra caution is needed because parvo is a highly contagious disease. The techs have also already set up everything Dr. Stroupe needs and the patient, a dog named Beryl, is waiting. Beryl is there for a wellness exam, heartworm medication, and his vaccinations. His owner quickly adds that Dr. Stroupe is the “best vet ever” giving her a warm smile. She has built a rapport with her clients and knows them well. As she works on Beryl, she asks the client how a recent trip went. When asked how she remembers all the little details, she attributes it to detailed records on the computer, a good memory, and seeing her patients frequently. Like a child, Beryl is moving around a lot and whimpering as his owner puts him at ease. Dr. Stroupe goes on about the exam quickly and efficiently. When it comes to the rectal exam to check Beryl’s temperature and for worms, Beryl whimpers. “There’s no dignity, huh, Beryl,” Dr. Stroupe jokes. She knows her patient well, prescribes a heartworm medication, and moves on to the next patient. After answering a few questions from the vet techs, who have been seamlessly taking care of things up front, cleaning up exams rooms, and setting up patients for Dr. Stroupe, she goes to the next exam room where she finds Oscarette, a cat that has been losing weight and is lethargic, even though it’s been eating and drinking lots of water. Dr. Stroupe explains that it might be diabetes, kidney disease, or hyperthyroidism, and she’ll have to run some tests to rule out these conditions and make a diagnosis. The owner explains that it used to be a feral cat, but they started feeding it, and it slowly became a pet, as he explains that the cat, “turned out to be a pretty good cat.” As they try to clip Oscarette’s nails before they run the test, the cat acts out and scratches the vet tech, so they decide to sedate the cat since they’ll be running other tests too, to make it easier on everyone and to relax the cat. To sedate her, Dr. Stroupe puts the cat in what she calls “a kitty burrito” with a towel. With the towel snug around the cat, Dr. Stroupe is able to sedate her. While she waits for the sedative to kick in, she goes to the other examination room to check out the emergency from that morning. The first thing the dog owner does is apologize for being so forceful earlier. It’s obvious the owners are truly concerned for their pet because he’s not only stopped eating, he’s coughing, and they think he might have a temperature. Dr. Stroupe checks and he has a very high temperature of 105. For a dog, 101.5 is normal. She thinks it is a complicated case of kennel cough and prescribes an antibiotic. Crisis averted with relieved owners. Dr. Stroupe says one of the things she enjoys is, “ You not only help the pet but you can help the whole family.” Dr. Stroupe quickly goes back to check on Oscarette. She is sedated now, and the vet techs have already taken care of her nails, so Dr. Stroupe draws blood. A vet tech takes the sample to run the tests, which will take 15 minutes. Dr. Stroupe goes to the other examination room to start on the most difficult case of the day. The next case is a dog and a cat. The owner has two concerns with the dog. He has fleas, in particular, what Dr. Stroupe calls a “hot spot” on his back just above his tail from the fleas. They discuss the treatments they’ve used in the past and what medicines are available for this dog. The dog has epilepsy, so some medications shouldn’t be used. They narrow down what he should use. Then Dr. Stroupe examines the second problem - a large growth on the dog’s tail. It could be a tumor or some sort of infection. She checks for fluids in the tail to rule out a tumor. Using a needle, she aspirates or pulls some blood from the mass , then tries to squeeze it to see what type of fluid comes out. It appears to be an infection or cyst, so she prescribes an antibiotic and a topical cream. She instructs the owner that if the mass returns or doesn’t go away, to bring the dog back in for re-evaluation and possibly a biopsy. The owner then lifts the cat carrier and gently takes out an older yellow cat, lays her gently on the examination table, and waits for Dr. Stroupe to finish entering some information about the dog in the computer. The owner is quiet now, and Dr. Stroupe explains what will take place next. She will shave a spot on the cat’s leg and administer a euthanasia solution. Humane euthanasia is a service provided by most veterinarians in order to eliminate suffering of their patients, often from incurable or painful diseases. This is why the room has grown quiet. The owner is visibly upset, but Dr. Stroupe works gently and quickly to save the owner from further anguish. After the solution is administered, she leaves the owner to spend some final moments with her pet with a sincere apology. The rest of Dr. Stroupe’s morning is fast and furious. She continues with other examinations for wellness, vaccinations, and flea treatments. She grabs a quick lunch, and her afternoon is spent on a farm call. Farm Call Dr. Stroupe spends her afternoon on a farm call, preg checking 129 cows. It is a quick process if everything goes right and they have a good corral and chute to work with. Her vet tech gets them in the chute, while the owners move them through the corral. Dr. Stroupe checks them, yells open or bred, the vet tech swipes them with pour-on dewormer, and they’re moving on to the next cow as Dr. Stroupe changes gloves. She jokes about the supply company sending ladylike pink gloves, since they ordered small gloves. Luckily for these cows, she has small hands. She’s only slowed down when something needs further examination, such as a cow with pink eye or a prolapse. Dr. Stroupe spent time in Montana for a preceptorship during college. While there, she worked cattle on a very large ranch, much larger than the groups that she checks here in Howard County, so it helped a lot with technique and speed. While working these cows, a few times the cows aren’t cooperating. One turns around in the alley, so they have to be backed up and led back in. Two try to enter the chute at the same time, and it takes a few minutes of cajoling to get one out. Other than that, it moves quickly, and they spend the rest of the afternoon working 110 calves, red tagging them for the Missouri Stocker Feeder Quality Assurance Program. They arrive back at the office just before closing time. Dr. Stroupe works in her office until 5:30. You’ve probably seen her around town after the office closes, as she tries to get in a long run, all the while checking her phone for the emergency calls that will be forwarded to her. On her way home she stops back by the office to check on the patients, specifically the parvo puppies that are staying overnight for IV fluids. She’ll return to the office before she goes to bed and once in the middle of the night since some of the patients are critical and need extra attention. It’s a long day for our local veterinarians. They are veterinarians for both small and large animals, they are business owners, they are involved in the community to a great extent, and they are working long hours and taking emergency calls at any time. Rural vets are truly dedicated to their patients, the owners, and the community, but according to Dr. Stroupe, it is an enjoyable and rewarding job. |
Jessica Stroupe, DVM
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August 2017
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