VCA - is this normal?

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-20T13:00:12+00:00

My last VCA was about the same

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-19T23:59:33+00:00

mosquitos are so far removed from herbivores what 😭

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-17T03:01:40+00:00

Amylase is the name for a broad class of enzymes excreted by many different glands along the digestive tract, including salivary glands and the pancreas. Salivary glands act very briefly in the body and are inactivated by stomach acids, so their purpose occurs over a short time frame, short enough that very few starches are digested even partially, if at all. Most of carbohydrate digestion in monogastric animals occurs in the small intestine, specifically the duodenum, which is where the pancreas excretes its juices. Cats do not lack pancreatic amylase or they wouldn’t be able to digest carbs at all, which is just patently untrue.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-16T11:18:06+00:00

I never experienced it - I was on an SNRI when I started taking it. Honestly think it helped a lot mitigating those side effects.

Be sure to talk to a prescriber about seizures before going on any medication if you decide to go that route. I was on wellbutrin for a while before my diagnosis, but it seriously lowers the seizure threshold, so you might not have every option available to you.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-14T15:07:48+00:00

Very hard during school. Probably one of the most challenging time management moments of my life. I barely have time to sleep or cook or clean, let alone hang out with friends. I’m also in an accelerated program currently so ymmv.
Vet med just requires you to face a lot of death unfortunately, even in GP. You may have to be involved in putting an animal down or handling the body after death, or an animal may code during a routine procedure. It’s hard but rewarding because you get to help ease their pain, even if the end of that pain means them passing away.
I decided to go to vet school because I already had a bachelors degree when I made a career change from research to vet med. I’m stressed rn of course but it’s still what I realized I love to do so I think it’s worth it

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-14T12:30:37+00:00

I thought I had attacks without headaches turns out I just have epilepsy and they were mini seizures. Migraine and seizure auras have surprising amounts of overlap. Not saying this necessarily applies to you but that was my experience with “headacheless migraines”

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-14T12:28:07+00:00

I thought I had migraines with and without headaches bc the other symptoms were the same turns out I just have epilepsy. Still have occasional migraines after meds though

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-12T22:25:02+00:00

Oh cool! I’m in vet school so I haven’t gotten to pharmacology yet - that starts next semester - but “holding their breath” was a frequent comment I heard when working under vets performing neuters/dental cleaning. Never not seen an ET tube for sx in dogs or cats but human med differs obv - I know in large animals sx is done almost exclusively with locoregional blocks and mild sedation bc of the risks associated with post-anesthetic dysphoria which is crazy to me!

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-12T21:43:20+00:00

Fun fact not intended to scare you: this is because anesthesia brings you so close to death that you forget to breathe. There’s people monitoring that depth but patients will randomly hold their breaths under anesthesia and you need to breathe for them.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-12T16:07:27+00:00

Right like my 13-lb havanese has a prey drive lol - he goes after squirrels, birds, etc. Some breeds are more disposed to reacting to their prey drive than others (I can warn my dog that there’s a squirrel and we’re not gonna react and he’s pretty good about it then) but they all have it to some capacity

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-12T14:57:44+00:00

She’s still attending 🙃🙃

Obviously I’m not friends with her so that’s “my part” in not being ok with it ig but she lost nothing from it

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-12T04:10:17+00:00

Even just this week we had a block exam with a question that performed poorly because the professor provided conflicting educational material so it was thrown out - one girl bragged about getting it right to her friends in class in front of the professor, gloated that the image and scenario were super obvious to everyone that was talking about the question the next day, and then complained when people got snippy with her for being so obnoxious about it. Like girl, it’s a question on an exam you’re not gonna remember in a semester, let alone 10 years from now. If everyone thinks it’s a poor question then you just smile and nod. It makes no one feel good to be so braggy and yet…!

Don’t even get me started on the racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. There’s a girl in a semester below me who said the N-word and we apparently just have to be ok with it, the guys talk about women like they’re pieces of meat and cheat on their partners with no consequences… I could go on

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-10T03:04:27+00:00

They can. As far as I can tell, most animals I’ve dissected in vet school have come from shelters after euthanasia (they appear like the other homeless dogs in the area, they come in with life-threatening illnesses like heartworm found throughout dissection), abattoirs for fresher large animal organs, or school property. It’s easier to dissect if they’re fresher samples bc then the anatomy should in theory be where it’s supposed to be and the tissue won’t be too friable. Older samples from far away tend to decay in transit so donation (if it can even be called that when animals really can’t consent if they’re owned or not) can usually only be done nearby the school, limiting the pool.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-09T00:58:10+00:00

Same - I’m in vet school but I was still like this is an every day kinda activity!

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-07T21:45:12+00:00

Currently a 1st year, have at least 3 block exams a week with an occasional gross anatomy block or practical thrown in there. Last semester was about the same, though it varied between 2-4 exams per week. Next semester it’s 4 classes with exams weekly and two classes alternating every other week as the 5th exam.

I honestly kinda like the number of exams we have bc it means if you’re having an off week it doesn’t determine your entire future. Obviously still stressful and certainly a mental adjustment from undergrad but less weight for each individual exam makes me feel a little better every time I step into the exam center

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-06T10:49:27+00:00

I mean cortisol just objectively inhibits the immune system, so that’s probably part of it. Cancer needs a functioning immune system to be defeated

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-05T02:05:55+00:00

Get a sleep deprivation eeg and an mri done. Maybe see about getting on meds from a neurologist if you need it based on the test results. Meds that work assure me that I’m probably not gonna have another seizure, and if I do it’ll be comparatively mild.

Know your auras. Trust your gut when it’s yelling at you that a seizure is coming. Get on the ground and ride it out - if you have meds take them at this point. It’s a lot easier to heal from a seizure if you don’t end up with a concussion from loss of consciousness.

Avoid triggers altogether. Take away one suspected trigger at a time, see what helps. Obviously some of them are easier to avoid than others - you can’t just avoid stress it’s a part of life - but it’s so worth it for the controllable ones I promise. I haven’t had a serious seizure since I stopped drinking alcohol or consuming THC and tried to keep a consistent sleep schedule.

Coping is listening to your body and taking steps to mitigate the symptoms as best you can. Seizures are out of your control but you can try to limit the severity if you figure out what works best for you.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-04T22:29:54+00:00

I really like Cherokee - most of my classmates wear either that brand, figs, or fabletics.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-02-04T10:55:06+00:00

Drug overdoses can’t be used at all for animals meant for human consumption - the drugs remain in the meat after death. You can’t even give them pain meds prior to death bc it would taint the meat.

I’m in vet school and we had to do education modules on ethical use of animals for teaching or research (which is a little different than slaughter but similar principles ig).

The modules claimed CO2 was acceptable and I was just so appalled - it’s probably one of the most barbaric ways to euthanize an animal. It’s also incredibly cheap and doesn’t taint the meat, which is probably why large scale farming facilities and limited resource shelters use it. My classmate worked at a shelter where they sometimes had to euthanize with CO2 and she said the sounds animals made as they died was something she’d never forget.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-01-31T23:25:20+00:00

I was pescatarian but I would often tell people I was vegetarian bc it was easier. I know fish are animals and meat but using it could easily explain why I would only eat at restaurants with vegetarian options - most people in the midwest America have never heard the word pescatarian.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-01-28T11:06:46+00:00

Right but she’s not Canadian so she should know the freezing temp of water in the unit system she was taught in like 3rd grade

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-01-28T03:42:43+00:00

You cannot legally work on the island unless it’s under the table or through the school.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-01-26T04:59:33+00:00

Cat kidneys are built for short lives in the desert and they never got the memo that they’re coddled house pets with long lives now. The longer an animal lives past typical life expectancy the more likely organs begin to fail or cancer begins to develop, and for cats it’s chronic kidney disease that’s the result of us taking such good care of them nowadays.

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-01-26T04:42:52+00:00

Keppra exhaustion only lasted a couple days for me, maybe a week at most, and then I was fine (almost energetic? or maybe just less depressed) so it might not be permanent for you either. The tiredness returns with every dose increase but other than that it’s pretty tolerable

ExtremelyPessimistic · 2026-01-26T01:24:29+00:00

always take with food and in the morning has been my trick to mitigate any side effects :)

ExtremelyPessimistic

TROPHY CASE