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Post by Solana on Feb 19, 2022 9:10:35 GMT -5
On our side of campus, we have cats for breeding. We newbie vet techs were invited to come help with something incredibly cool- an X-ray of one of our pregnant queens. (Too bad the ultrasound wasn't charged up.)
We got Artemis on a table, gently stretched her out and held her legs, and took an X-ray of her belly. On the X-ray could be seen four little skulls and spinal cords of kittens inside Mama's belly.
It. Was. Awesome!!!
Her due date is between March 1st and 8th, and I was thinking of setting up a betting pool. (Though I heard that it would be against the rules with money. Nuts.)
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Post by Rune Lai on Feb 19, 2022 22:44:18 GMT -5
That's pretty neat!
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Post by Solana on Feb 21, 2022 17:02:16 GMT -5
We have a master list of kitten name suggestions. Since mom is Artemis and dad is Archie, they want 'A' names. In keeping with the goddess theme, I wrote in 'Althena'. Worth a shot.  |
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Post by Rune Lai on Feb 22, 2022 15:04:13 GMT -5
Seems like someone might "correct" it to Athena.
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Post by Solana on Feb 22, 2022 16:28:50 GMT -5
Or the other way around. Nah, Athena is already on there, and I also wrote in 'Aang' and 'Azula' from Avatar: The Last Airbender. |
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Post by northlander on Feb 23, 2022 9:50:10 GMT -5
I suggest (President) Aria.
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Post by Solana on Feb 23, 2022 16:37:21 GMT -5
Ooh, thanks for the suggestion! I love that manga!
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Post by Solana on Mar 2, 2022 17:31:38 GMT -5
A lot of the cats are escape artists, and our lovely Artemis has only gotten worse with pregnancy. Since she's so close to 'queening' (the cat term for giving birth) she's alone in a room and is given socializing to help her out.
Two days ago I had some extra time, so I brought my cat-loving buddy Rowan up to see if there were kittens yet. There were not, so we both went in and spent some time snuggling and petting our soon-to-be mama.
When it was time to go (Rowan's break was over and I had to call my supervisor) we had a hard time getting out the door and over the baby gate without Artemis following. She tried to squeeze through the bars, but her big belly didn't let her.
Then she managed to jump over it.
And where does she run? Why, right to the procedure room where a lab person was getting ready to weigh a few dozen mice or baby rats. She was shocked to see a pregnant cat come running into the room and obviously expected her to grab a snack.
I caught up to Artemis and scooped her into my arms, then draped her against my chest to protect her pregnant belly. We did finally manage to get her back into her room.
And I thought I wouldn't get enough exercise as a vet tech.
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Post by Solana on Jul 2, 2022 11:45:06 GMT -5
Apparently one of the investigators was wooed to my university for wanting to start up a gnotobiotic study. (Gnotobiotic means 'known life' in Greek. Instead of being completely germ-free which causes a lot of problems, there are only certain ones.) You have to set up isolators with the gloves built in for doing things. Due to my reign as queen of biohazard, I was asked if I wanted to be the vet tech for it. HELL YEAH!!! The issues are that we did not have a room ready. The vet in charge had never even seen a setup. Our second in command of the department worked with them... in the eighties. And they want it done as soon as possible. Our management at work. One of our supervisors sent me a chapter on Gnotobiotics from a vet medicine textbook, and I have a chapter to study for the next certification. I mentioned to our supervisor that they must want to keep me (my probationary period ends this month) and she told me not to worry about that.  Which also means I'll get the sign-on bonus. |
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Post by Rune Lai on Jul 2, 2022 18:04:50 GMT -5
Grats! It's always nice to be wanted at your job, and to be made permanent staff!
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Post by Solana on Aug 3, 2022 15:30:03 GMT -5
Monday was tuberculosis testing of the monkeys. I had to inject the tuberculin into an eyelid (no pressure or anything) do blood draws (tough when you can't see where you're aiming and need some hand strength), clip claws and clean teeth and take vitals. Yes, we sedate the monkeys, but they started waking up, and it's tough to trim claws when they're gripping your hand.
We have to be so careful around them with B virus and TB that I'm amazed at tourists getting close to monkeys in Bali. I'm not a huge fan, so didn't go to the monkey temple in Ubud or stop to take a picture in Candidasa. Oh, well...
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Post by Rune Lai on Aug 3, 2022 18:15:40 GMT -5
Yeah, I'd be careful around monkeys. Even if they're in a controlled setting like a lab and the problematic ones weeded out, they're still not domesticated animals. I wouldn't try getting near them in the wild.
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Post by Solana on Aug 4, 2022 15:20:30 GMT -5
Nope, my motto is that I have enough medical problems. In the lab, they're handled when knocked out, and we wear even more PPE than in biohazard. Many of them have B virus in addition to being susceptible to tuberculosis. At the time in Bali, I didn't want my food stolen because I needed to keep up my protein, and meat is either pricey or just a garnish there.
I learned that one captain in Florida about a hundred years ago brought five macaques to an island to increase interest in his boat trips. He didn't know that monkeys can swim, and now there's a feral tribe of them living in the area.
My aunt learned in India that they can get pissed off with just a photo- one charged her when she tried.
Honestly, I prefer my mice.
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Post by Rune Lai on Aug 9, 2022 0:58:28 GMT -5
Ah yes, the good old "Let's bring some new wildlife to this island because it'll be cool!"
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Post by skylark on Aug 10, 2022 20:59:25 GMT -5
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we get Jurassic Park shenanigans. :3
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Which also means I'll get the sign-on bonus. 
