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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1978)
5 Animal clinic —human hospital THE BATTALION MONDAY, MARCH 27. 1978 Page 5 By DAVID WHITE Irii'Hi my name is Duke. I like to Vat anything — apples, oranges. I’m J with children. I’m nine years and I’m spoiled.” Tom jngdale, a client of Texas A&M’s iall Animal Clinic, is speaking for small dog, a Chinese pug. You can hardly call them dogs,” s Aringdale. “You get so attached them, isn’t that right Duke? Stay [ay from him — he has those big iwn boots and he doesn’t want stepping all over them. Sit n and rest your bones, boy.” ke is just one of the “special” mals treated by Texas A&M’s all Animal Clinic; there were 1,920 in 1977. The clinic is a popu- ) place for pet owners to bring eeDi jfeir animals because of its veteri- |ary specialists and its special ilities. The small animal clinic has a - parity for 225 in-patients and six ^ pnajor surgeries simultaneously. It is tup much like a human hospital, e intensive care unit, instead of is, has 12 cages, some with in- ttaveneous feeders leading into the ik occupants of the cages, ere is a surgical preparation where the animals are shaved d anesthetized, just as humans , and the surgical rooms are all tup with equivalent facilities and r Piirfequipment as are found in a human Webfcpital. on. (] | Dr. W.F. JulifFs students are in ime the surgical preparation room shav- the right front leg of a female Jack cat. On the table Wiggles, a dy-colored female terrier, is hav- her chest and abdomen shaved, th animals have been anes- ictized. The cat had been shot with a shotgun and David Nelson, a vet erinary student, is going to set the cat’s leg which had been shattered by the buckshot. Wiggles is going to be spayed and have a small breast tumor removed by Jerry Wendel, another veterinary student. Both animals are rubbed down with two different yellow-brown iodine solutions in the area to be operated on. This along with the shaving makes sure the area is sterile. Once the animals are under the influence of the anesthesia their tongues are exposed so that the anesthesiologist can determine by the color of the tongue if the animal is getting sufficient oxygen and breathing properly. He can also check the animal’s pulse using the lingual artery in the tongue. The animals once they are ready are wheeled down the hall on a cart to surgery. In surgery Nelson puts on a cap and mask and carefully scrubs his hands. After washing he is helped into the green surgeon’s ' gown so that his sterile hands do not touch anything. Nelson then puts on a pair of plastic gloves which cling tightly to his hands. All of this is done to keep the conditions of the operation as sterile as possible. Nelson lays a “drape” — a green cloth with a hole in it — over the cat and situates the hole of the cloth over the area to be operated on; furthur measures to keep the surgery sterile. Nelson makes an incisions down the cat’s leg. He removes a ball of black hair from the wound — forced into the cat’s leg by the penetration of the shot. Nelson cuts away the layers of muscle tissue until a jagged bone is revealed. “Boy it’s ragged in there,” Nelson says when he sees the bone. He removes three small fragments of a shot pellet. For a minute the students argue over whether the the cat was shot with a .22 rifle or a shotgun. “We’ll send it down to ballistics for a test,” Nelson jokingly says. The bone has been shattered by the pellet and Nelson removes some tiny bone fragments. He takes a de vice that looks like a hand drill and inserts a surgical pin into it. Nelson slowly inserts the pin up the bone marrow. “How’s kitty doing?” Nel son asks the student anes thesiologist, David Rundell. “Good,” is Rundell’s reply as he checks the cat’s tongue. Nelson wires the Done fragments back to the bone with a thin steel wire. “You twist the wire until a quarter of a turn before it breaks,” Nelson says. How do you know when a quarter of turn before it breaks is? “That’s why you go to vet school,” he answers. One of the wires breaks. “That was a quarter turn too much,” Nel son explains. He removes the bro ken wire and starts again. At the next table Jerry Wendel, who has spayed Wiggles and re moved a small cyst on her chest, drops a pair of clamps on the floor. “Take it easy, Jerry,” Nelson jok ingly says. Nelson is finished and starts to close the cat’s leg. The “needle” is curved and looks like a fish-hook. The “thread” is thin steel. The rea son for this non-irritating steel is to discourage the animal from chewing w » v,<//f//v tUEER TEAMS dyfoj ifliiu'HUftll \ V Applications: '“"(March 20-29 jnMSC, 'IW ■ nl-. COMMONS, SBISA tO ti; f $5 per teams All proceeds donated Pizza inn. HAVE YOU TRIED OUR PARTY ROOM? Our Greenfield Plaza location has a party room for 25 to 150 people. Call 846-1784 for details. 1803 GREENFIELD PLAZA (Next to Bryan High) rtzzA 'or ^ MY AM 1 i H1ZZA INM A- TtXAS AVC or c.s ^ Political Forum presents Senator William Proxmire on to Iti II ne« rof® lOiP ind® 1 jnve' 5 lon'ii 1 “Reasons to Limit the DEFENSE BUDGET” Waste in the State Department Monday - March 27 8:00 p.m. Rudder Auditorium m/ci/tep Into the m/c Non - Students - $1.00 Students - 50* on the stiching and to hold the inci sion closed. Once the suturing is done the cat is wheeled on a cart down to radiol ogy. X-rays are taken to make sure the leg has been set properly and all the bone fragments are removed. The X-rays show that the leg has been set well and the pin is in posi tion. “You only get a B+ because of the poor suturing job,” anes thesiologist Rundell teases. As the cat is wheeled back down the hall to its cage other students ask Nelson, “How did it go?” “Fan tastic,” Nelson answers as he hur ries the cat back down the corridor. By the time the cat is in the re covery room it is waking up. It shakes with cold caused by its metabolism being slowed by the anesthesia. The cat meows as it starts to feel again and looks around in a daze. “She is not quite with us,” says Nelson as he puts her in her cage. “I’ll check back with her later to make sure everything is okay.” The small animal clinic performed 2,414 surgeries last year using many of the same techniques and equip ment used in hospitals for humans. This special treatment pleases clients of the clinic like Aringdale who says, “Animals get to be like people. They are pretty special.” Or as one bio-medical science student said, “They are people.” (A&M first in med/denh Texas A&M University is a leading supplier of the state’s medical and dentistry students. Since 1953, more than 65 per cent of Texas A&M students ap plying to Texas dental schools have been selected and more than 60 percent of those applying to the state’s medical schools have been admitted, said pre- med and pre-dentistry adviser Dr. Gil Schroeter. The acceptance rate and total of 1,087 students are among the best in the state, he notes. “I think it reflects well on the quality of our students,” said Schroeter. Applications originating from Texas A&M have increased in both professions since 1972, but now appear to be leveling off. Both developments reflect na tional trends. Last year, Texas A&M sent its first applicant ever to the Har vard School of Medicine. Another landmark in pre-med and pre-dentistry history was 1956, when 27 of 33 medical school applicants were accepted and all seven dental school hope fuls were admitted. Presently, about 1,000 stu dents are studying pre-med courses and 300-400 are pursuing pre-dentistry curricula, notes Schroeter. to build a diamond earring wardrobe with your diamond ear studs and versatile 14 karat gold ear jackets from Zales! a. Flower jackets, pair, $35 b. Satin-finish round jackets, pair, $27.50 c. Cut-out flower jackets, pair, $27.50 4-Prong diamond ear studs available from $50 to $1,000 and more. Charge it! Open a Zales account or use one of five national credit plans. Zales Revolving Charge • Zales Custom Charge • VISA Master Charge • American Express • Diners Club • Carte Blanche • Layaway Illustrations enlarged. The Diamond Store AASC AR.T5 CO/Vl/yUTTCEg M FRESHMEN If you are a freshman interested in becoming Involved in Texas A&M and Its student programming, the Memorial Student Center Council and Directorate is opening applications for Council Assistantships. Council Assistants aid Council officers in the areas of administration, finance, programs, projects operations, and public relations. Any freshman in any field of study that is interested in the above areas is urged to apply. Talented people are needed in all areas, so don’t be afraid to drop this application by Room 216, Student Programs Office, MSC. Applications close Tuesday, March 28, 1978, at 5:00 p.m. TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY MEMORIAL STUDENT CENTER COUNCIL & DIRECTORATE Application for MSC Council Assistant (Please Print) Classification Name Major. .GPR Last Semester Telephone Are you on (Conduct, Scholastic) Probation? Mailing Address Yes No Activities and Honors in High School (use back if needed) Experience with MSC Activities Other Campus Activities Other Time-Consuming Activities Next Year Magazines and Newspapers Read Regularly Books Read in Last Year Why are You Interested in Becoming Involved in Campus Activities (especially as a Council Assistant) Your Concept of a College Education