Block Headed Bully Love: Pit Bulls I've Lived With And Pit Bulls I've Loved

Over the years I've lived with many pit bulls. These two are the latest: Petri (above) stayed with my roommate and I for a month and a half recently and Tovah (below) belongs to his girlfriend but often visits or stays over.


Above: This summer I lived with a giant mastiff/pit mix, Elle (you might recognize this photo from earlier on this blog). But the biggest, most muscular pit bull that I ever lived with was Pete, who belonged to my friend Dr. Cool in San Jose. I even wrote a post back then about how much I liked pit bulls.


Above: This lady is the reason I fell in love with pitties. Nibbles was a backyard dog living in my old neighborhood in San Jose. The very first time I met her, I was walking down the sidewalk and she came charging at me from out of nowhere, totally terrifying me. She stopped at the end of the driveway, just a few feet from me.
I had no intention of befriending her, but I was lonely and she was lonely and when another neighbor introduced us in a friendly way, I was hooked. Nibbles was unsocialized, but underneath her fearfulness and bad manners, she was a sweetheart just longing for belly rubs and attention. I would bring her over to spend time in my backyard, take long walks with her, or go spend time with her in her backyard. Sadly, she never went inside anyone's house. When I broke up with my significant other, one of the hardest parts about moving was leaving Nibbles behind.

Below: I can't forget to include the two best trained pit bulls that I know, Lilo and Zrrbrt, who belong to EB and D:

This isn't a breed that everyone cares for. They have a bad reputation in the media and that makes many people afraid of them. However, they've always been one of my favorite breeds because they bond so closely with their people. Sadly, in the past two years I've had a few bad experiences with pit bulls myself and have come to realize that there are quite a few unstable pit bulls out there. I think this is probably due to the massive overbreeding that has been going on for quite some time now.
It takes a dedicated and responsible owner to have a pit bull, especially because they have a tendency to be dog aggressive, which can make them difficult to manage. But if you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend BADRAP's website as a source of good information about the breed (not to mention they are a fabulous rescue group that pulled the most solid, stable, sweet dogs from the San Jose shelter when I was there).

Photo Contest: Your Input Needed

So Cornell has a student photo contest with cash prizes. I don't want to use my favorite pileated photo because they keep it (and rights to it I think) but I picked these three from my collection of favorites. I can only submit two and am leaning towards the top two since in them the animal is looking at the camera and they are more saturated than the cheetah too. Let me know your favorite two and if there are any that you have seen on my blog that are more memorable than these three, with the exception of my beloved pileated. Thanks! HT

PS They are judged based on originality of the animal and its environment and suitability for framing.

Ithaca On A Foggy Morning

I've been consumed lately by my two anatomy classes, neuroanatomy and ruminant anatomy, but not so consumed that I couldn't appreciate the beautiful fog cloaking the scenery this morning. It's been snowing every day. Definitely not spring yet!

Turning 32

Me, not the cat. That is my messy bed, complete with bone box lying next to my pillow, as I studied yesterday afternoon. I have this tendency of spreading my notes out over every available surface when I study.

Well, this is it, I've survived 32 years on this planet. That calls for some celebration. How about a day of class going until 8:30 tonight? Sounds like the way to go to me.

Puppy Roll: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

I think she hands down wins the award for the cutest, most perfect patient in the hospital this week. Luckily she was only there for routine vaccinations.

I must admit she does look a little concerned in this photo about why a stranger is sticking a metal box in her face (then again, it could just be a look of curiosity). Poor puppy. Hopefully I didn't traumatize her with my camera and make her camera shy. I always forget that puppies are in a sensitive period during their vaccination series and can easily develop fears of new things so it is important to make everything as fun and not scary as possible.

Some Thoughts On Education

I'm reading a booklet called _Personal Reflections Of The Shoshone-Paiute-Washo_ published by the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada in 1974. I'm reading it ostensibly to prepare for my upcoming RAVS trip to Nevada but also just because I find it interesting.

There's a chapter lamenting the education available on reservations. I found this quote (from Walter Voorhees) particularly interesting:

To say we educate 25% of our people is stretching the point. The way people pollute the air, water and the land and destroy our resources, leads one to wonder whether we have educated anyone.

It definitely made me pause and think for a second about what makes a good education. I've learned a lot here, but I can't say that there is an emphasis on protecting our environment or sustainable living. Heck, I know a lot of our farming practices are not sustainable.

I wonder what my education would look like if it had a more environmental slant to it. I'm glad I'm reading this booklet because it reminds me to keep that perspective in mind even when it is not required of me.

Bucolic Ithaca II

A Little Bit About Goats And Some Cool Anatomy Terms

I really like goats. SelfSufficientNurse is responsible for getting me excited about goats as she breeds and raises them.

I've learned about some unique aspects of goat anatomy in the past few weeks.

1. Goats lack a facial artery. (So do sheep). Practically, you can't take a pulse over the mandible for this reason. The lingual artery comes directly off the carotid artery. Arterial blood supply to the lateral face is provided by the transverse facial artery.

2. You have to anesthetize two branches of the cornual nerve, not just one as in the cow, to dehorn a goat. The two branches are a cornual branch of trigeminal nerve origin (zygomaticotemporal branch off the zygomatic nerve, said to be lacrimal too) located ventrally and cornual branches of the infratrochlear nerve located dorsally (exits from a depression in the dorsal bony orbit).

3. Goats (and sheep) may have a complete right azygous vein in addition to a left azygous vein (both draining the dorsal intercostal spaces in the thorax).

So there. Life really isn't that exciting when you are immersed in anatomy.

My favorite term so far--planum nasolabial, which is a tough plate of tissue separating the nostrils of cows.

Some other interesting terms--

• Plica vena cava-- a fold of pleura that extends from the mediastinum containing the caudal vena cava and right phrenic nerve; it is separated from the mediastinum by the right accessory lung lobe on which it leaves an indentation
  

• Trabecula septomarginalis (aka moderator band)-- Purkinje fibers that connect the interventricular septum and and the free wall of the right ventricle in order to coordinate the concurrent contraction of the cardiac muscle from apex to base
  

• Cupula pleurae-- parietal pleura that extends cranial to the thoracic inlet (in the cow more extensive on the right). I found this a very confusing concept in tech school-- that part of the lungs extend beyond the boundary of the "bony thorax"-- I've heard the extension being farther on one side as the reason one side is more prone to pneumothorax due to trauma, particularly in small animals and humans

• Supreme intercostal artery-- Artery that branches off the costocervical artery (off the subclavian artery) and supplies the first three intercostal spaces dorsally
  

• White zone-- junction of wall epidermis with epidermis of the sole, ascending infections in this part of the hoof are called 'white line disease' or 'purulent hollow wall'
  

• Pulmonary ligament-- connects lungs to dorsal body wall, created by pleura reflecting off the caudal lung lobes
  

• Sternopericardial ligament-- connecs apex of the heart to the sternum and thereby provides positional stability for the heart; formed by a connective tissue band that is a continuation of the fibrous pericardium
  

Snowy Bales Of Hay

We are having another snowy morning.

My stress level has gone down to yellow now that my radiology presentation is over and I finished taking my neuroanatomy quiz. I'm still worried about my ruminant midterm on Thursday.

And my eye is still bothering me.

Can't wait for this week to be over.

Valentine's Day: Puppy Love

What am I doing for Valentine's Day? A whole lot of schoolwork. I'm also joining the National Center for Lesbian Rights, something I've been meaning to do for awhile but which seems to mark the day appropriately. If someday I ever became involved in a serious relationship again I would want full rights to marry, adopt etc and not the hodge-podge of rights currently available in this country.

I'm planning on going out to dinner with a single gay male classmate.

That's my day.

The shots of me with the puppy were taken a few weeks ago on one of my community practice shifts in the hospital. Being in the hospital reminds me why I am here.

(And yes, I got the owner's permission to post these photos on my blog).

Current Stress Level: Orange

You know how we have a color coded national security threat level? At our student health center they have color coded a stress level chart (above). My current stress level? Orange!

This was my schedule yesterday:
7:30 Miss rounds in internal medicine because my security device has locked me out of my car. What a way to start the day.
8:00-12:00 Neuroanatomy. Yes, every Friday morning I have four hours of neuroanatomy. At least it is broken up into half lab and half lecture. Still, it is very long.
12:00-12:20 Grab a quick lunch
12:20-12:35 Try to track down radiologist guru to go over my presentation for radiology rounds Monday. No luck as they are all in gross path rounds, which I have skipped.
12:35-1:10 Work on radiology presentation in computer lab.
1:15-3:00 Small animal behavior class
3:10-3:55 Work on radiology presentation with said guru.
4:04-4:55 Go to student health center for blurry vision and inflammation in right eye. Diagnosis: probably bacterial conjunctivitis. Pick up prescription for erythromycin ointment to instill in my eye six times daily for a minimum of a week. Yow.
5:00-8:30 Work in radiology department. Take rads on a 165 pound dog. And then two more sets of rads.

And then this morning, Saturday, I'm headed back to the hospital for my Community Practice Service class at 8 am.

This Monday morning I have my radiology rounds presentation on a brain lesion and spinal cord lesion case.

I have a quiz I have to remember to take online for neuroanatomy.

And a midterm in ruminant anatomy on Thursday.

Bring it on. I'm not ready.

View From Vet Research Tower On A Clear Day

Vet School Parking Lot On A Snowy Day

The Breathtaking Beauty Of Snowflakes

Lying on my night stand is _Ken Libbrecht's Field Guide To Snowflakes_, which includes sections such as 'The Morphology Diagram' and 'Snowflake Classification.' If you are surprised to find out there is such a book, so was I! I came across his work when I was perusing the winter 2010 copy of The American Scholar at the coffee stand in the vet school and came across the title "Dead Serious and Yet Flaky.." It turned out to be an article on Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at Caltech who studies snowflakes (I think it would be more accurate to say he has a _passion_ for snowflakes). His wife is also interested in snowflakes and has taken some amazing photos, which you can find, along with other, at snowcrystals.com:


If I had more time I would have plenty of opportunity to study snowflakes as it snowed over six inches here today. I would enjoy it more too if it did not make my commute to and from school nearly impossibe-- there is minimal ploughing done in Ithaca it seems. Definitely plenty of snowflakes, not enough road though!

Preparing To Open The Cow Thorax

This is me on my way to gross anatomy lab yesterday-- we opened the cow thorax which is a major exposure to formaldehyde so I dressed in coveralls and boots to try to protect myself a little more. Poor SuperLesbian has developed a severe allergy to formaldehyde and so she has to wear a respirator. It's huge, you can't even see the part that is strapped on her belt. SuperLesbian is actually in equine anatomy, not ruminant, but it meets at the same time.

Environmental Health and Safety monitors several students on the day we open the thorax and they chose me as one of the students to monitor. They placed two badges on me, one for my overall exposure and one for my acute exposure opening the thorax (a 15 minute window). I was the one cutting the ribs when all the formaldehyde in the chest gushed out and ran all over my boots and the floor, making my nose sting as if I had just eaten horseradish and my eyes water. I was very surprised when EH&S told me my acute exposure was below the detectable level! I asked if they were sure the badges were working and they said yes, someone else in the group had had significant exposure while opening a thorax. Interesting. I have to check back later if I want to find out my overall laboratory exposure-- I imagine that one must have registered.

We managed to dissipate some of the odor and unpleasant effects by hosing down our cadaver. And the minute I got home, I changed out of my clothes and took a bath. But this is one of the downsides of vet school that doesn't get much attention-- the exposure to formaldehyde and other toxic, carcinogenic chemicals in gross anatomy laboratory.

The Power Of Ovaries

While reading this month's (Jan 2010) DVM newsmagazine, I came across the intriguing article, "Retaining ovaries may be a key to prolonged life in women and dogs." It cites a study published in the December issue of _Aging Cell_ that found that "taking away the ovaries during the first four years of life completely erased female survival advantage. We found that female Rottweilers that kept their ovaries for at least six years were four times more likely to reach exceptional longevity compared to females who had the shortest lifetime ovary exposure." The study involved roughly 300 Rotties. It also references a study done at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA earlier this year on women. This study found that while women with ovariohysterectomies before age 50 had a lower incidence of ovarian, uterine and breast cancer, they had increased mortality from other causes compared to women who did not have their ovaries removed before age 50.

I went online to see what else I could find. Physorg.com had an article very similar to the one in DVM newsmagazine if you want to read it for yourself. Here's a quotation from the Rottwieler study's author on his thoughts on why removing the ovaries in early life in dogs causes problems:

What we have here is a compelling convergence. The data from women and dogs, together with reported longevity benefits from ovary transplants in mice, are pointing in the same direction - the notion that a network of processes regulating longevity is under ovarian control.

I was also able to find three other online articles that summarize two different studies on the effect of removing ovaries before age 50 on women's lifespan. There's an article in ScienceDaily from Sept 15, 2006 citing an October 2006 journal article in Lancet Oncology: "Preventative Ovary Removal Linked to Early Death In Younger Women, Mayo Clinic Discovers." And here is the Mayo Clinic's summary of their research, which indicated an increased risk for dementia as a possible sequela of early ovary removal. Finally, here's an article from the SF Sexual Health Examiner, "Removing the Ovaries Before Menopause Increases a Woman's Risk of Dying From Heart Disease." on an article in the journal _Menopause_ about a Mayo Clinic study.

The Mayo Clinic study published in Lancet Oncology gives several possible reasons that removing ovaries increases the risk of early death. The most plausible one for me was that premature estrogen deficiency following the surgery increased the risk for various diseases that in turn reduced survival. However, the truth is that we don't understand the ovary's role in aging and risk of a death.

I know that human surgeons are now much more hesitant about removing a young woman's ovaries. If these articles weren't convincing enough, _Menopause lifestyle_ gives five succint reasons to hang onto your ovaries in this article.

What I wonder is will this sentiment carry over into veterinary medicine? Will we offer clients the option of leaving a dog's ovaries intact when we spay? Given that being spayed after even one heat cycle is a known risk factor for breast cancer in dogs, it seems like this would be controversial even from a medical standpoint. From a behavioral perspective, it would also be controversial since it would not eliminate heat cycles and so the dog would attract male dogs when in heat along with their associated behavior and attempts to mate with her. However, I learned in my behavior class that spaying a female dog increases the likelihood of her becoming aggressive because of the absence of progesterone post-spay so that would be one potential advantage of leaving the ovaries intact.

I suspect veterinary medicine will be slow to change and that we will be performing ovariohysterectomies and not just hysterectomies on dogs for a long time to come. I do find this research intriguing and am very curious to see more research elucidating the mechanisms by which ovaries play a role in longevity.

Vet School Views

This was the view from my passenger car window as I pulled out of the vet school parking lot tonight. And below are some photos from a day when the sky was an oddly bright deep blue-black but it didn't rain or storm. Last is the fabulous sunset from that same day.

The Complete Idiot's Guide To Brain Surgery-- Veterinary Edition

This morning in neuroanatomy my professor put up an image of _The Complete Idiot's Guide To Brain Surgery_ and then announced that they would shortly be coming out with a veterinary edition in case any of us wanted to attempt to remove some brain tumors in our general practices. There was dead silence. And then I said, "Are you joking?" And the entire class and professor laughed at me. I felt very silly. I sit in the front row too in that class, so I'm rather conspicuous. Sometimes I wish I sat in the back and kept my mouth shut.

Meanwhile, there isn't even a _Complete Idiot's Guide To Brain Surgery_ in humans (it's a spoof). So now I'm really curious to know where she got the image. Did she photoshop it or get it off an internet site I can't find? (Addendum: She's not sure where she found the image, but she sent it to me and I got permission from its creator to use it).

Here are some choice quotations from neuroanatomy class today, "The brain in real life is like a poorly done jello mold-- sagging if left just by itself but it is floating in a cushion of CSF."

And then from our lab guide: "If your half brain is cut off midline you may have trouble seeing the 3rd ventricle since it is so narrow. If you have more than half a brain, try to find the 3rd ventricle with a probe via the mesencephalic aqueduct. If you have less than half a brain:), try to find a good example on another brain."

It's good to have some humor about these things.

Lastly, I noticed today that the sign on the door to our wetlab where we hold neuroanatomy gross lab says: "No Food! No Drinks! This is a pathogenic lab where people work with gross stuff." Uh huh.

Nervy

I learned some interesting things about nerves in my ruminant anatomy class yesterday morning.

Have you ever hit your funny bone? If you have, the sensory input comes from branches of the ulnar nerve, which travels towards the ulna bone, the caudal bone in the distal limb. However, I can't tell you how common it is for ruminants to hit their funny bone. Who knows what life is like when you walk on four legs?

I also learned something more clinical that I had not touched on since vet tech school. The radial nerve, which travels from medial to lateral, traveling over the lateral brachialis muscle distal to the teres major to supply extensors of the elbow, carpus and digits gives off a large sensory branch, the superficial branch. The superficial branch of the radial nerve gives off the lateral cutaneous antebrachial nerve and then continues in the distal limb associated with the cephalic and accessory cephalic veins.

This means that there are sensory nerves on either side of the cephalic vein since the cutaneous branch parallels the cephalic vein. When doing a blood draw on the cephalic vein of an animal (which is common), you may accidentally hit one of these sensory branches and the animal will yelp and jump. Uneducated assistants and some techs even don't know enough anatomy to know they just poked a nerve and will try to keep going, assuming the animal is just being recalcitrant. I've seen this happen. I've also hit this cutaneous nerve by accident myself on patients. Personally, it gives me the jitters and I try to avoid drawing blood from the cephalic vein, preferring femoral or saphenous in the back leg. However, this is the most common site for peripheral catheters so I still use it quite a bit. Luckily, for catheters you get to shave/clip the hair and so the vein is usually much more obvious.

Another thing we learned in ruminant anatomy class related to the distal limb was naming the distal most arteries. I quote my fabulous and funny professor on this subject: "That's why these names are about 3 feet long, because they are being very specific about where these arteries are."

The two most distal arteries in the ruminant thoracic limb are the palmar common digital artery III, which is a continuation of the median artery and which gives off the axial palmar proper digital arteries of digits III and IV.

In case you are wondering what these names refer to--

• Over the digit, the vessel is described as palmar or dorsal, indicating the surface it runs along
• It is 'common' if it is supplying more than one digit (i.e. digits III and IV which are the two digits of the ruminant)
• It is axial (close to the midline) or abaxial (farther from the midline, more lateral) if supplying a single digit
  

The things one learns in vet school are often very detailed. Like I've said before, it's a whole new language.

Sunny Bales Of Hay

I took these on my way home from school yesterday. It was the most sunny day we've had all winter.

Simon In The Sun

Above: One of my favorite shots of Simon, with Lindy in the background, making the most of our sunny weekend.
Below: Simon half-asleep.


Above: A rather grumpy looking Simon (he can be extremely expressive). I think he is trying to say, "You woke me up from a nap for this!? Another photo shoot?"
Below: Simon and Lindy sprawled out in the sun.


All year, I've found poor Simon trying to chase the limited thin strips of sunshine we get in this duplex. I found him in the kitchen one afternoon (the last spot to get sun before the sun sets) and back in the fall I found him in the spare bedroom the minute the sun started to come in the window in the morning. I guess I'm not the only one who misses the sun, poor cats.

Winter Goldfinches

just when I need something to remind me of life
of the unfettered lightness of happiness
versus the oppressive lead weight of depression
goldfinches arrive at my feeder
in their drab winter plumage
they are nothing like their bright yellow summer color--
not the eye candy I am used to--
yet they make my heart sing
remember spring
a goldfinch nest I once found in a tiny sapling
standing in a sea of cement
next to my mailbox

wild animals will make their homes
in the least likely of places
when forced to
just like i have no alternative here
to finish vet school
i must make my home in this grey, snowy place
but i remember being happy
and some of the lightness trickles back in

Words For Monday: Hystricognathi, Scuiridae and Myomorpha; Chalazion, Hordeolum and Sty

Last week in the comparative anatomy class we looked at a South American porcupine skeleton. These animals belong to the rodent infraorder hystricognathi, which also includes guinea pigs. In hystricognathi, part of the masseter muscle passes through the infraorbital foramen. Bizarre, I know.

And Scuiridae is a family of rodents that includes squirrels. So instead of remarking that someone is acting squirrely, one could say a person is 'scuiridy.' Of course, no one would have the faintest clue what you were talking about. Except me.

Myomorphs are a suborder of rodents that contains mice, rats, hamsters and gerbils among others. Their medial masseter muscle passes through the eye socket. I am not entirely sure how this is different than hystricognathi, but I think it is because the entire masseter muscle passes through the infraorbital formaen. At any rate, it is unique among mammals according to Wikipedia.

Meanwhile, in ruminant anatomy we learned that the dental arcades are called 'anisognathous' because they do not wear evenly, creating sharp point on the outer upper and inner lower teeth. I believe horses also have anisognathous dental arcades as they get their teeth 'floated' too.

Among other tidbits contained in my notes in this section is this: "Tongue is considered an 'organ meat' and is offered as a dressed organ at the time of butchering." I know some Native Americans prized buffalo tongue and next time some is available at the Ithaca Farmer's Market I plan to try it.

Ruminants have a groove running across their tongue (horizontally, not longitudinally!) partway down the tongue, the fossa linguae, that is the junction of the apex and torus of the tongue. I will be sure to locate the fossa linguae when I get my hands on some buffalo tongue.

Tomorrow we are studying and dissecting the ruminant eye. I really like the eye.

I've learned from reading my notes that the limbus is the junction of the scleral and corneal components of fibrous tunic of the eye. And that the space between the palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva is the conjunctival sac. My notes give this interesting tidbit: "Grazing and browsing animals are subject to foreign bodies lodging in the conjunctival sac. Excessive tearing, blepharospasm or discharges may result."

The next paragraph continues: "Small openings are associated with the margins of the upper and lower eyelids. These are the openings of the tarsal glands that secrete an oily substance that contributes to the tear film [helps prevent evaporation of the tear film]. Small sebaceous and sweat glands are associated with the eyelashes and unicellular mucous glands line the palpebral conjunctiva. Any of these glands may become inflamed and/or blocked. The resulting swellings are called a chalazion if they involve the tarsal glands and a hordeolum, or sty, if they involve the lid margin."

In human medicine a chalazion is also called a meibomian gland lipogranuloma apparently. Kind of makes sense since in human med the tarsal gland is the meibomian gland.
Got to love human med, where everything is named after someone. According to Wikipedia, a stye or hordeolum is "an infection of the sebaceous glands of Zeis at the base of the eyelashes or an infection of the apocrine sweat glands of Moll."

Apparently styes are smaller and less likely to cause lasting damage. One frequent cause of chalazia in people (not cows!) is not properly removing eye makeup which then gathers in the tarsal gland and leads to the formation of a cyst. There are times when I am glad that I don't wear makeup!

So many new words every day now. It's enough to make one's head spin.