Vet Times

Author: Kele Harris

  • A high-risk profession

    A high-risk profession

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    by

    Kele Harris

    Currently nursing a bruised tailbone after being propelled twice from a four-legged fiend I had a disagreement with regarding a small upright jump, I can’t help but wonder why we do these stupid things. Horses can be hazardous enough when you’re on top of them, but they’re not all angels at ground level either. The…

  • Finding the words

    Finding the words

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    Kele Harris

    I enjoy writing about my experiences, but I also enjoy reading about others. I’m also a bit (or a lot) of a grammar Nazi, so getting involved in editing over the past couple of years at university has been a lot of fun. I started by subediting the University of Glasgow’s student newspaper and proofreading…

  • The wrong end of the telephone

    The wrong end of the telephone

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    by

    Kele Harris

    A couple of weeks ago, I received the phone call I’ve been dreading since moving away to university. My horse had had an accident in the field, hurt her leg, and the vet was on the way. That’s all the information I received until the next call, with the vet on the other end. “Communication…

  • Flank approach to the bitch spay

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    Kele Harris

    Having finally settled in one place in Jaipur, India, my friend and I were able to relax a little, safe in the knowledge we had two weeks of neutering for population control ahead of us. Being in an unfamiliar environment, and with our patients mainly being strays, we were prepared for very different methods of…

  • Indian adventure taught me to embrace the madness

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    Kele Harris

    One of the many non-academic challenges of becoming a vet is learning to cope with things not going to plan – to expect, or at least accept, the unexpected. It may seem cliché to say travelling opens your eyes to different ways of life and changes you as a person, but the truth is it does prepare…

  • The great veterinary bake off

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    Kele Harris

    There is an unwritten rule that, at the end of each clinical placement (or, in some cases, every Friday), veterinary students are expected to produce some sort of edible creation for staff at the practice that so kindly opened its doors to them. The cop out (and to be quite honest, more expensive) option is a box of chocolates,…

  • Prognosis not diagnosis

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    Kele Harris

    “Prognose, prognose, prognose” is a phrase uttered regularly by a vet I’ve spent a lot of EMS and pre-uni work experience with. Anyone would think he’s trying to drive the point home. But it makes a lot of sense: although we have myriad diagnostic tests available to us, they won’t always give us a definitive…

  • The camelid conundrum

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    Kele Harris

    Despite expecting a purely equine placement, I’ve had a bit of a crash course in camelids over the past two weeks. As alpacas and llamas continue to increase in popularity throughout the UK, more and more first opinion vets are having to apply their knowledge from other species to these slightly odd creatures. Having had…

  • Out of Africa: two weeks in the wild

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    Kele Harris

    Wildlife veterinary medicine is more than being a good shot with a dart gun and knowing what anaesthetics to fill the darts with. I know this because I was part of a group from Glasgow vet school that visited the Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa to find out exactly what wildlife medicine entails. Minimal intervention…

  • Why does the ‘P’ word send shivers down a vet’s neck?

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    Kele Harris

    Having a pig farm in the family gives me a bit of a distorted view on the world. For example, I’m a complete pork snob and would rather go without then eat crap sausages. However, I find it bizarre vets start panicking and fervently flicking through dusty textbooks on the practice shelf before going out…