Half way through the exam period I experienced an existential crisis of sorts. I've been finding chemistry this year and hadn't fully expected the jump from GCSE to A-Level. This thought had me considering whether I will be able to get the grades to do veterinary. Therefore I sat down with my mum and discussed the options available to me if I don't do as well as I hope this year. We talked about looking into veterinary nursing, zoology and veterinary biology courses. As much as I wold like to become a vet, it is always sensible to have backup plans.
This summer I will be doing my Gold DofE residential in Blackpool Zoo. This will give me the opportunity to look into different jobs centered around animal care other than veterinary. I will be able to have hands on experience with the animals and ask as many questions as I possibly can. I hope to be writing a proper blog post about this, along with uploading pictures and information about the research that I will have to do while I'm there.
I went to the farm on Saturday after having not been for around 7 weeks. The highlight of my day had to be when we got stuck in the mud after moving 30 cows into a new field. Despite us not wanting to admit that we were stuck, we knew that we'd have to get the tractor to tow us out. We had cows surrounding the Land Rover so we ended up having to feed them in the wrong field, so that the tractor could get near us.
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| The Land Rover stuck in the mud |
I also went to the vets on Friday since starting my exams. There was a cat admitted that had possibly drunk anti-freeze. There have been cases of quite a few cats being killed by anti-freeze. It looks similar to water and some people decide to put this down for cats to drink. I honestly don't understand why anyone would ever decide to do this. The anti-freeze causes the kidneys to fail. Symptoms are difficult to pick up on until it's too late. The cat was given fluids but the levels of protein were around 3 times the regular level which indicates that the kidneys were failing.
