Reader’s Digest Australia & New Zealand – May 2019

May• 2019 | 77

popsuptoremindyouof

howmuchyoustillhave

tolearn.

Itissoberingtoreflect

thatmychosenprofession

consistentlyranksamong

thosewiththehighestsuiciderates,

andwhich,contrarytopublicper-

ception,generallypaysitsemployees

lessthantheminimumwagewhen

calculatedagainsthoursworked.I

havea plethoraofscarsandinjuries

frombeingbitten,kicked,scratched,

stabbed,cut,stitchedup,stoodon,

squashed,stampedandcharged.I’ve

beencoveredineverypossiblebodi-

lyfluid:blood,pus,urine,diarrhoea,

amnioticfluid,rumencontents,anal

glandsecretion,decomposingtissue.

I’veaccidentallyjumpedintoa silage

pit,drivenintotwoditches,andfallen

intoa pond.AndI’vebeenhospital-

isedwitha two-litrepleuraleffusion

[excess fluid around the lungs] after

contractingbovinetuber-
culosis,andhadtounder-
goa yearoftreatment.
So,if I hadmytimeover
again, wouldI change
anything?Withouta mo-
ment’shesitation,no.
Theanimalkingdomisvastandin-
credible.Itisa commonassumption
that,asa vet,I willautomaticallyknow
about,andbeabletotreat,anyani-
malthatI mightfindonmyconsult-
ing-roomtable– orbehinda stable
door.Soit oftencomesasa shockand
disappointmenttootherswhenI con-
fessthatI don’timmediatelyknow,
say,thecommonailmentsofaTrit-
uruscristatus(thegreatcrestednewt).
Therearesixmainspecieswestudy
ingreatdepthatveterinaryschool,
andtheyareallmammals:thehorse,
thecow,thepig,thesheep,thedog
andthecat.Afewweeks’teachingis
PHOTOS: COURTESY JONATHAN CRANSTON given over to ‘small furries’ (rabbits,

L-R:relocatinga 4.6m

long,700kgAfrican

Nilecrocodile;Boer

goats;witha young

female leopard