Reeves Elementary School Kids Learn About Veterinarians

Dear Readers,
This post is being presented today at Thomas L. Reeves Elementary School in Long Beach, Mississippi. Dr, Randolph will be in the classroom of Mrs. Jill Lipski and Mrs. Robbin VonderBruegge. as part of an annual January program to emphasize the importance of reading in the daily activities of various professions.

My name is Dr. Randolph. I am a veterinarian, a doctor for animals. Veterinarians go to college for eight years, and I have attended Ole Miss, Mississippi State University and Auburn University. I have been practicing veterinary medicine for thirty years and I practice on small animals, mostly dogs and cats. Sometimes, though, we see hamsters, rabbits, gerbils, hedgehogs and rats.

Here is a picture of our hospital, Animal General Hospital on Pineville Road, www.AnimalGeneralHospital.com .

Reading is important for veterinarians because we must be able to read medical books like these

with many hard words in them. While reading, we learn about the parts of the body called ANATOMY, how the parts work called PHYSIOLOGY, and what happens when the parts get sick, called PATHOLOGY. When we read about SURGERY we learn how to take the body apart and put it back together better than it was before they got sick.

Reading doesn’t stop for doctors when we finish school because we must have CONTINUING EDUCATION, in which we go to classes taught by teachers and read about the newest things we can do in our jobs.

Like most people, doctors like to read for fun, too, so we read the newspaper, and the comics and books that are entertaining.

When veterinarians work, most of our work is done in the Examination Room.

This steel table has a motor that lifts a big dog up for us so that we can check all of his parts, take his temperature, listen to his heart and find out why he is sick and get him the right medicine so he can get well. Since pets can’t talk, I have to be very careful in my examination to find out where he hurts or what is wrong with him. Sometimes we give shots.

Some veterinarians take care of big animals, like horses and cows. These doctors may go to a farm to work on the animals, and sometimes the animals come to him in a trailer pulled by a big truck.

Veterinarians help animals in many ways, and not always by working on the animals. Another way I help animals I never even see is by writing this blog, MyPetsDoctor.com. Six days each week I write a POST that explains about illnesses and injuries and ways that people can take better care of their animals. People can read this blog many ways: they can go to the site and read articles, they can subscribe to get an article every day in an email, or they can go to Twitter and find a link to an article.

I also write articles for the newspaper so that people can read about caring for their animals and better understand how to keep them well.  Doctors are also teachers, because we teach pet owners how to keep their animals well.

A STORY ABOUT A PUPPY

One day a man had a new puppy. She was a happy, healthy puppy who came from a good family, a healthy Mama dog and a healthy Papa dog. The man named her Catherine. He made a bed for Catherine, but the puppy didn’t like the bed. Instead, she wanted to curl up in the man’s lap to sleep.

The man loved his puppy so much he said, “Any time I am not at work you can sleep in my lap and I will pet you and stroke you and keep you safe.”

The man made fresh water for Catherine, and fed her the best food he could buy. They went for long walks and when they got back from their walks they would both get in the recliner and take another nap.

Soon it was time for Catherine’s first doctor visit. The man said, “I will take you to see Dr. Randolph and he will keep you well so you can have a long, happy life. Pets need to go to the doctor regularly just like children do!”

Catherine came to our office and we checked her thoroughly. When I got to the part where we checked her tummy I felt something that shouldn’t be there.

“Is Catherine missing any toys?” I asked the man.

“No, she has only chew toys. She chews those up and swallows them sometimes. Why do you ask?”

“I feel something in her tummy that shouldn’t be there. Catherine needs to have an X-ray to find out what it is I’m feeling.”

We took the X-ray, and this is what we found.

“WHAT IS THAT? I MEAN, WHAT ARE THOSE?” the man exclaimed?

“It looks just like rocks,” I explained. “Are you missing any rocks?”

The man had a knowing look on his face, like when you are working on a jigsaw puzzle and you figure out where a piece goes. I got the feeling he was about to solve the mystery.

“I was cooking on the barbecue grill yesterday. Steaks and chicken, and the juices were dripping out the bottom of the grill. I saw Catherine licking the rocks under the grill, but I didn’t think anything about it. I went inside to eat supper but Catherine wanted to stay outside. My wife and I watched her while we were eating, and she stayed pretty close to the barbecue grill the whole time. She must have swallowed some of the rocks she was licking.”

“Silly Catherine,” I said. “She thought the rocks were food because they tasted good. I hope she learned her lesson.”

Rocks came out in Catherine’s poop for three days. We gave her a some medicine so they wouldn’t hurt. She never ate rocks again, so I think she learned from eating them that rocks are not food.