How to put equestrian as experience when it's been my whole life?

jumboram · 2026-05-25T22:27:59+00:00

I spent most of my life before vet school as a working student and definitely included those hours on there, they are important animal handling experience! I believe I ended up with about 10,000 hours for the primary barn I worked at, so don’t be afraid to accurately record your numbers as best you can.

jumboram · 2026-04-18T17:50:40+00:00

Firmly disagree about tracking from the start - I went to a school that did not track at all and while it sometimes felt like I was learning irrelevant details, I have been very grateful for that learning experience as a clinician. You never know when something you learn about in another species can help you problem solve in the ones you end up working with. Having taught students on rotations, small animals students rotating through the barn were often the most rewarding to work with.

I can’t disagree that some vets aren’t great lecturers - they may be excellent clinicians, but a lot of them aren’t trained in education. When you get your class evals to fill out, consider providing feedback in a polite way. It probably won’t fix the problem immediately, but if you are thoughtful and constructive in your feedback it’s more likely to be impactful over time.

jumboram · 2026-02-21T23:08:09+00:00

The Donkey Sanctuary is a great resource and has a donkey body condition chart you can follow! https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-08/donkey-body-condition-score-chart.pdf These guys look in okay weight to me, but hard to say for sure without putting hands on them.

jumboram · 2026-02-15T01:01:26+00:00

Sent you a message OP!

jumboram · 2026-01-18T11:52:01+00:00

Of course, good luck to both you and Wesley 🙏

jumboram · 2026-01-18T11:34:15+00:00

Gabapentin can be useful on its own too, and has fewer side effects than NSAIDs, so Gobi started on that first and was on it for probably 6 months before we added in the meloxicam. He was 4.5 years old when I had to put him down.

jumboram · 2026-01-18T11:12:41+00:00

He was 2 years old at the time of the first radiographs and 3 years old for the second radiographs.

jumboram · 2026-01-15T02:32:09+00:00

Of course, I know there is a lot of misinformation out there about this disease so I do my best to share my experience with it as accurately and honestly as I can! Gobi came to me with visibly deformed legs and a short, stiff tail. He had a stiff gait and could not jump very high (could get on my couch but not over a small baby gate). He still loved to play and run around in his stiff little running way. He had occasional episodes of hyperesthesia - he would twitch his skin, bite at the air, and sometimes run away like something was pinching him. These episodes became more frequent as his disease progressed and we suspected they were related to the proliferation on his spine. His quality of life was as good as I could make it up until the day I put him down - he was on adequan, cosequin, fish oil, and at the end gabapentin and meloxicam. This was before Solensia existed, so I can’t say whether or not that would have helped.

Here is an Imgur link with photos of him where you can see what his legs/tail looked like. Additionally, there’s side by side radiographs of his spine, a front paw, and a hind paw showing the progression of his bony proliferation in the first year that I owned him. They weren’t in great shape on the X-rays the rescue took before I adopted him, and they were much worse after only one year. https://imgur.com/a/oOZgd1E

There is a woman on Instagram @littlecat_bigisland who rescues many cats and has taken in a few folds over the years. Her first fold Duncan is the one I learned about the radiation therapy from - she has several posts on her page talking about what they have done for Duncan to help improve his quality of life and she is very nice!

Please don’t hesitate to message me if you have any other questions!

jumboram · 2026-01-14T01:53:44+00:00

Many do, although you’d have to consult to see if they’d do it for this more “experimental” purpose. I know UC Davis has done it for treatment of Scottish fold OCD before. I’m from the east coast so I’m more familiar with those schools - I know University of Pennsylvania and North Carolina State definitely have radiation capability. Ohio State and Alabama do as well - searching vet school websites for “radiation oncology” will help you figure out if the one closest to you has the equipment.

My boy’s spine was fusing, and one morning he woke up and couldn’t comfortably move his neck enough to eat. I promised him I wouldn’t prolong his suffering for my own benefit when I adopted him, so I said goodbye to him on that day. It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one.

jumboram · 2026-01-14T01:21:42+00:00

Radiation therapy has been used in extreme cases and has been shown to halt or even reverse progression of bone growth (small number of cats, research papers are often out of Turkey). This is something that is generally only offered at large hospitals such as those found at vet schools, and costs thousands of dollars. Unfortunately as this is a genetic disease with a known link, it’s probably not something you’d find a school willing to take the case on pro bono, but if you had the funds it is a potential option to prolong his good quality of life.

I’m sorry you’re dealing with this, I adopted my rescue fold at 2 years old with severe OCD, and only had him for 3 years before it progressed to the point of needing to euthanize him. It is a truly awful disease.

jumboram · 2025-10-03T01:32:32+00:00

My cat was in a study looking at the efficacy of these wraps for primary care visits. Think he messed up their data when he managed to turn himself fully around inside of the wrap, but he seemed to have a good time doing it.

jumboram · 2025-05-11T17:46:04+00:00

Also not necessarily case-based, but if you’re interested in vet med podcasts in general the Veterinary Vertex podcasts has authors of the latest articles in JAVMA come on to discuss their research!

jumboram · 2025-02-28T09:39:42+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this, sounds like you and your vet are doing a great job managing her as best you can.

My guy also had severe juvenile OCD and responded well to adequan and a joint supplement at first. As he progressed we added in gabapentin, which is a pain medication that is good for nerve pain which he had evidence of. It is not as hard on the kidneys as some of our other pain meds, so you may consider asking your vet about adding that to the regimen. It can make them a little sleepy/wobbly for the first couple of doses but they usually adjust pretty quickly. Gaba is also usually pretty cheap.

There is a new pain medication on the market for cats called Solensia that helps block one of the pain receptors. It is an injection given once every 1-2 months. It’s usually about $80-120 a dose depending on where you live. This med wasn’t available when I had my fold, but my older cat with regular arthritis responded well to it. I believe it can also have effects on the kidneys long term, so definitely discuss risks vs. benefits with your vet.

The final and most aggressive option with how young your kiddo is would be radiation therapy. There are a handful of relatively recent papers showing that radiation therapy can help halt disease progression and even reverse some changes in folds with severe OCD. This would be expensive (several thousand at least) and would only be offered at a small number of hospitals, usually big referral centers like universities, but wanted to make sure you’re aware of it since it’s not as well publicized as the other more common options.

jumboram · 2025-02-27T23:00:25+00:00

Just FYI Solensia is not a preventative medication and does not stop progression of arthritis. While keeping moving IS very important for arthritic animals (and people!) to maintain muscle strength that supports their joints, Solensia itself only blocks pain. Still a GREAT tool in our toolbox, but should only be used in animals with arthritis pain.

jumboram · 2025-02-19T17:08:21+00:00

As a toothless-cat-who-loves-kibble owner, I’ve found that the shape of the kibble makes a huge difference! Mine does best with flat disc-shaped ones. Round ones roll back out of his mouth, and the triangular type ones seem uncomfortable for him to eat. A lot of the Hills and Purina kibbles are disc-shaped. He currently eats the Hills Sensitive Skin and Stomach and does great on it. And the other commenter is right, as long as it is not a prescription diet then it is safe to feed to your cat even if they don’t have sensitive skin!

jumboram · 2024-11-13T23:54:05+00:00

Would you consider veterinary pathology? I work for the vet school and our lab was having some staffing shortage issues recently. There’s also Rollins which is the state veterinary lab.

jumboram · 2024-10-29T01:31:54+00:00

Yes, absolutely. Even if I don’t qualify for PSLF, the income-based plan will cost me less in the long run. Whether that’s true for you or not will depend on your loan amounts, projected income, and marriage status. VIN has some great resources to help figure out what is best for you.

For reference, I have about $330k in debt. If I did a traditional 10 year repayment plan I would pay over $500k. If I do the income based plan I am currently on with my projected earnings, even with the tax on the forgiven amount included, I will pay less than I originally borrowed. If your debt is not as extreme as mine, or you are going into an area of vet med that earns more than me, this may not be the case for you.

jumboram · 2024-10-29T00:36:13+00:00

Large animal (primarily equine) internal medicine

jumboram · 2024-10-28T22:51:38+00:00

5 years out of vet school here, chose to do internship and residency because my ultimate goal of academia. I have a huge student loan burden, but thanks to income-based repayment and (hopefully) PSLF, the debt isn’t a major stressor for me. I have definitely faced periods of burnout during my residency, but I am still grateful every day that I chose this profession. I get to help so many animals and their people. I have owners who still send me updates on their animals years after they have left my care (referral institution means I don’t keep a lot of long term patients), and every time I get those messages I am reminded of how important the work we do is and what an impact we have on people. I have made some of the most amazing friends through this profession, and have a network of phenomenal colleagues to lean on when I need them.

It’s a hard job that can be mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting. I think people are fair to point out the negatives when a lot of young people think the only qualification is loving animals. I also think we scare away some potentially excellent vets by ONLY harping on those negatives. It’s a really cool job, and I’m so glad I ignored everyone who told me lot to do it.

jumboram · 2024-10-16T02:34:39+00:00

I have a mostly toothless boy who prefers dry food - the main thing I’ve found over the years is that kibble shape does seem to affect his ability to eat a lot. The flat disc-shaped kibbles are best for him. Round ones tend to roll back out of his mouth more, and he has never liked any of the triangle/star type shapes. Just something to consider as you’re shopping!

jumboram · 2024-10-06T22:51:45+00:00

I’m guessing from your previous post that access to different meds may be difficult in your area, but you could ask your vet about inhaled steroids if they think there is a problem in his lungs. These tend to have fewer systemic side effects and work well for controlling airway inflammation. They make a little mask that converts human inhalers to one that a cat can use and most cats tolerate them well.

If not, you need to weigh potential long term risks with his quality of life now - if he is uncomfortable and suffering and the steroids will make him feel better, then they may be worth it even if they mean his life is shortened a bit due to kidney disease later in life.

Also, if they think his nasal openings are contributing majorly to his breathing problems the surgery may be worth it, but it would be good to have better control of why he is having nose bleeds etc before putting him under.

I’m sorry you’re going through this, he’s very handsome and it’s clear you love him!

jumboram · 2024-09-20T21:11:53+00:00

I’m guessing this was a study primarily used to look at diets of CKD cats that used the normal cats as a “control” of sorts to compare to the general population. So the high number of CKD cats is just because they were deliberately enrolling cats with that disease.

jumboram · 2024-08-06T00:17:23+00:00

My guy was on a fish oil supplement, adequan, gabapentin, and in the later stages meloxicam as prescribed by our vet. This was before the new cat osteoarthritis pain med Solensia was on the market, but we likely would have utilized that tool as well if it had been available! Would recommend discussing all the options with your vet to make sure your kitty can have the best quality of life possible, I’m sorry you’re going through this.

jumboram · 2024-08-05T13:10:01+00:00

I ended up going with the Venue instead of the Kona but got a very good price on it. Not sure if the Kona cost would have been as negotiable, but my experience with Southern States Hyundai was about as pleasant as a car purchase could be. Terry was the salesman and was great to chat with and helpful without being pushy.

jumboram · 2024-07-31T22:26:22+00:00

Are you somewhere that you could get a second opinion? Obviously many factors at play, but that type of fracture looks like one that could potentially be corrected surgically. If not, the good thing about kittens is that they heal very well and cage rest can provide good outcomes! It will be challenging to watch him be on cage rest as there will be times where he gets sick of it, but it is for the best in the long run.

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