2012 Animal Studies Breakfast

The Animal Studies Breakfast honors graduating seniors in the animal studies program. These seniors are awarded certificates appropriate to their specific areas of study, and they exhibit posters that showcase their knowledge and hands-on experiences through case studies, preceptorships, and volunteer and internship opportunities.

Animal Studies  Case Studies, Preceptorships, Volunteer Projects, and Internships

Cassandra Correia ’12                

Small Animal Medicine

Case Study: Prolapsed Vagina

Hudson Animal Hospital (Hudson, MA)

 

Jodi Croce ’12                                

Small Animal and Equine Medicine

Case Study: Total Ear Canal Ablation and Lateral Bulla Osteotomy

Ferguson Animal Hospital (North Providence, RI)

Responsibilities:

• Venipuncture
• Small and exotic animal restraint
• Inpatient/outpatient treatment
• Radiography
• Laboratory diagnostics
• Reception

Sunset Stables (Lincoln, RI)

Responsibilities:

• Husbandry and medical treatments and assistance with veterinary exams
• Assistant trail guide
• Welcoming customers
• Supervising young riders
• Grooming, feeding, and saddling horses
• Basic trail riding instruction
• Pony rides

 

Liz Cullins ’12                                    

Wildlife and Feline Medicine

Case Study: “Red,” the Screech Owl

Foster Hospital for Small Animals, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University

• Environmental enrichment
• Nutrition
• Husbandry
• behavioral training
• wellness assessments with the Tufts Veterinary staff

Cat Hospital of Auburn (Auburn, MA)

Ecotarium (Worcester, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Food preparation and feeding
• Medicine preparation and administration
• Habitat maintenance
• Handling/training/enriching animals
• Restraint
• Visitor education

Special duties and experiences:

• Assigned to work with Chico, a chinchilla, and Red, a screech owl
• Conducted modified clicker training with an opossum

 

Kelli Epes ’12                     

Wildlife and Small Animal Medicine

Case Study: Clicker Training Striped Skunks and North American Porcupine

Paxton Animal Hospital (Paxton, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Assisting veterinarian
• Obtaining patient histories
• Preparing vaccinations
• Running 4dx tests, blood work, and fecal samples
• Surgical prep work

Ecotarium (Worcester, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Preparing diets
• Nail and beak trimming
• Cleaning exhibits
• Exercising and training
• Conducting physical exams

 

Julia Fetherolf  ’12                                   

Wildlife Behavior and Medicine

Case Study: Training—Positive Reinforcement and Clicker Training

Southwick’s Zoo (Mendon, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Daily husbandry
• Medical care
• Enrichment
• Visitor education
• Building management

Special projects:

• Preparation of specialized feeding chart
• Preparation of enrichment schedule for mammals
• Training (positive reinforcement and clicker training)
• Creating daily duties checklists

 

Kelly Ford ’12

Equine Medicine

Case Study: The Role of Hyaluronic Acid and Corticosteroid Intra-Articular Injections in the Osteo-Arthritic Equine Joint

Technician Apprenticeship with Equine Veterinarian

Routine care and management:

• Treated horses, mules, donkeys, ponies, goats, and sheep
• Biannual vaccinations
• Dental prophylaxis
• Intra-articular injections
• Reproductive services
• Pre-purchase exams
• Coggins test/health certification

Special treatment/therapy—assistance with:

• Ultrasound
• Colic exam
• Endoscopy
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection therapy
• Digital radiography
• Lameness exams
• Nutraceuticals

Ecotarium (Worcester, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Preparing and delivering diets
• Cleaning cages and exhibits
• Nail, claw, and beak trimming
• Fecal sample analysis (parasitology)
• Restraint
• Exercise
• Handling exotic animals
• Record keeping
• Administration of medication

 

Kelsey, Hanrahan  ’12                 

Equine Medicine

Case Study: Tildren        

Woodgate Farm (West Boylston, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Mucking stalls
• Barn cleaning
• Turning horses in and out
• Feeding hay and grain
• Maintaining water buckets
• General care (grooming, bathing, and wrapping)
• Wound and first aid care
• Blanketing
• Exercise riding
• Lunging horses

Essex Equine (Bolton, MA)

 

Courtney Johnson ’12

Small and Large Animal Medicine

Case Study: The Importance of Colostrum

Poland Animal Hospital (Poland, ME)

Responsibilities:

• Lab work
• Assisting with surgery
• Reception
• Updating files

Taylor Brook Animal Hospital (Auburn, ME)

Responsibilities:

• Assisting with surgery
• Reception
• Lab work

Turner Veterinary Service (Turner, ME)

Responsibilities:

• Lab work
• Reception
• Handling small and large animals
• Assisting on-site large animal vet

Greater Androscoggin Humane Society (Lewiston, ME)

Responsibilities:

• Feeding and caring for animals
• Exercising animals
• Community education
• Enrichment

 

Jennifer Kupras ’12                                 

Emergency Medicine

Case Study: Mary

The Zoo in Forest Park (Springfield, MA)

• Nutrition
• Husbandry
• Medical prevention
• Assistance with veterinary exams

Veterinary Emergency Specialty Hospital (South Deerfield, MA)

• Emergency Veterinary Technician duties inclusive of triage, exams, diagnostics

 

Felicia Laufer ’12                          

Small Animal Medicine  

Deep River Animal Hospital (Deep River, CT)

Responsibilities:

• Restraint
• Drawing vaccines
• Obtaining histories
• Physical exams
• Blood drawing
• Assisting with dental and soft tissue surgeries
• Running blood work
• Assisting with x-rays and AIs

Coastal Valley Veterinary Services (Middlesex/New London counties, CT)

Responsibilities:

• Restraint
• Drawing vaccines
• Obtaining histories

Salem Valley Veterinary Clinic (Salem CT)

Responsibilities:

• Restraint
• Drawing/giving vaccines
• Obtaining histories
• Physical exams
• Blood drawing
• Assisting with dental and soft tissue surgeries

 

Natalya Nickerson ’12                

Small Animal Medicine

Case Study: Why Blood Cross Matching Is Important

Colchester Veterinary Hospital (Colchester, CT)

Responsibilities:

• Blood drawing
• Monitoring of diabetic animals
• Radiography
• Performed a dexamethasone suppression test
• Performed a blood cross match test

Marlborough Bird & Animal Hospital (Marlborough, CT)

Responsibilities:

• Handling and restraint of birds, ferrets, lizards, and rabbits
• Gram-stain bird stool sample for microscopic analysis
• Skin scraping of guinea pig for mites
• Radiography of Cooper’s hawk
• Melatonin injection/implant for ferrets

 

Christina Paradiso ’12                

Small Animal Internal Medicine

Case Study: Nauset as a Puppy; Nauset Today

Rutland Veterinary Clinic (Rutland, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Manage the front desk
• Complete lab work
• Clean up after surgery
• Handling and restraint of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, and ferrets
• Preparing medications and vaccines
• Preparing for medical procedures

Ecotarium (Worcester, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Preparing diets for wildlife and exotic animals
• Cleaning habitats and creating new habitats
• Exercising and enriching the animals through an understanding of each species
• Public education about wildlife species and conservation

 

Laurallee Payne-Roberts ’12   

Exotic and Small Animal Medicine

Case Study: Surgical CO2 Laser

Tender Heart Veterinary Care (Gardner, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Patient check-in
• Pre-operative care
• Peri-operative care
• Post-operative care
• Critical/long-term patient care
• In-house lab testing

Ecotarium (Worcester, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Husbandry
• Animal exercise
• Enrichment
• Diet preparation and feeding
• Administration of medicine
• Observation
• Problem-solving
• Record keeping
• Clicker training

 

Kelsey Pickering  ’12                   

Small Animal and Emergency Medicine

Case Study: Environmental Enrichment

Southwick’s Wild Animal Farm (Mendon, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Animal husbandry
• Public education
• Animal handling

Acorn Animal Hospital (Franklin, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Treatment room technician
• Surgical technician
• IV catheter placement
• Lab work
• Radiography
• Basic wound care
• Pharmacy technician
• Client communication
• Emergencies

 

Mathew Pierangeli  ’12             

Small Animal Medicine

Case Study: What Is Cerebellar Hypoplasia?

Cat Hospital of Auburn (Auburn, MA)

Laughlin Kennel (Oxford, MA)

 

Sabrina Wagner ’12

Small Animal Medicine

Case Study: Environmental Monitoring for the Component Preparation Area (CPA)

Lantheus Medical Imaging (North Billerica, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Media preparation
• Gram staining and micro ID
• Sample growth and collection
• Trending and inventory, including creation of a new inventory form
• FDA regulation assistance

 

Zahara Yee ’12                              

Equine and Small Animal Medicine

Case Study: Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis

Banfield: The Pet Hospital (Braintree, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Small Animal medicine all inclusive duties of a veterinary technician

Weymouth Landing Cat Clinic (Weymouth, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Small Animal medicine all inclusive duties of a veterinary technician

Bella Luna (Norwell, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Husbandry
• assistance with riding
• behavior and veterinary assistance when needed

Creek Crossing (Hingham, MA)

Responsibilities:

• Husbandry
• assistance with riding
• behavior and veterinary assistance when needed

Laboratory Animal Management Research

Tara Robidoux ’12

Laboratory Animal Management

• Research mouse colony care and breeding colony management
• care of several larger research animal species

 

Taylor Rhoads ’12

Laboratory Animal Management

• Research Beagle care and environmental enrichment
• specialized pharmacokinetic studies in rodents

 

Kayla Messina ’12

Laboratory Animal Management  

• Non-human primate care and environmental enrichment
• research rodent colony care
• health monitoring
• enrichment

 

Kelsea Laubenstein ’12

Laboratory Animal Management   

• Research animal health rounds
• research surgery support services
• non-human primate care and use in neuroscience research