I Get Around: Taking It All In

I set a new record for attending rounds this week. When I was on my emergency rotation one of the residents told me that my role as a second year was to be like a sponge and soak up as much information as possible (and also to talk as little as possible according to her). I went to:

1. Radiology rounds 7:30 Monday morning. Saw a case I had seen on my emergency rotation, a dog that presented with extreme respiratory distress, was very difficult to intubate and radiographs showed a severely constricted trachea. I learned that the dog was probably bleeding into not only its lungs but also the trachea and that this constellation of signs indicates rat bait toxicity. The owners didn't know of any exposure but the dog was free roaming.
2. Large animal rounds 7:30 Wednesday morning. Saw two fawns with presumed aspiration pneumonia and a cow with a broken back.
3. Community Practice Service rounds 7:30 Friday morning. Discussed a case of feline hyperthyroidism. Learned that the current thinking on why there has been an epidemic of feline hyperthyroidism in the last twenty years is that it is likely due to either the chemicals in flame retardants or chemicals in fish diets like tuna flavored cat food.
4. Anatomic Pathology rounds noon on Friday. Saw a wallaby that died of toxoplasmosis. Learned Australian marsupials are very prone to toxoplasmosis. Saw a woodchuck that died of hepatocellular carcinoma that ruptured and caused a bleed into the abdomen. Apparently hepatocellular carcinoma is very common in woodchucks.
   
5. Clinical Pathology rounds 1:00 pm Friday. Saw a cat that succumbed to a yeast infection, there were tons of yeast in the urine. Learned yeast infections are not uncommon in patients on long-term antibiotics, and this cat was also on dexamethasone (a steroid that suppresses the immune system) for IBD.