Hi all! My name is Bella and I’m a 1st year Animal Science pre-vet track major at Cal Poly SLO. I’ve worked at a small animal veterinary hospital and boarding for the past couple years as a Kennel Assistant. I’m now hoping to get into mixed animal practice after being exposed to so many different animals my school has on campus. I’m working hard to keep grades as high as I can while also getting as much experience as possible for when I apply to vet school! On the side, I compete in track and field for shot put and hammer. I love the sport and getting to compete at the next level is always fun! I have also been heavily involved in community service since high school and continuing to help here too at a cat shelter and through the club Letters of Love as a fundraising coordinator. I have 3 Bearded Dragons (Derek, Dynamo, and Doug) and 1 Cavapoo (Milo) that are absolutely amazing and the best to have around. I’m so excited to be here, meet you all, and continue to learn so much!

Have you ever seen something difficult, an animal suffering, a hard euthanasia decision, how did you handle that emotionally? I’ll share my answer in the comments.

Which species have you had the most hands-on time with? Which feel most unfamiliar to you? I’ll go first in the comments😊

Meet a group of nursery pigs on a Wisconsin farm. Eight weeks old, thriving, gaining weight faster than any other group this season. The farmer is proud of them. Then one morning he finds three dead with no warning. The next day, two more. The pigs that died were the biggest, fastest-growing animals in the barn. You perform a necropsy. When you open the chest and look at the heart, you stop. The cardiac muscle is streaked with pale white bands of necrosis alternating with dark hemorrhagic zones, creating a mottled purple and cream pattern. It looks exactly like a mulberry. This is mulberry heart disease, caused by combined selenium and vitamin E deficiency. Selenium normally sits inside the glutathione peroxidase enzyme, neutralizing the peroxides that would otherwise destroy cell membranes. Vitamin E waits inside the membranes themselves, stopping lipid peroxidation chain reactions in progress. Remove both and cardiac muscle, running continuously at high metabolic demand, is defenseless. The fastest-growing pigs died first because they needed the most antioxidant protection and had the least. Feed analysis confirms selenium at 0.12 mg/kg. It should be 0.3. 💡 The takeaway: In selenium-deficient regions, the pigs you lose first are often your best ones. For more information on this condition, see the classroom or follow the link below: https://www.skool.com/pre-vet-skool-9535/classroom/d804917a?md=a3f90a53671b4c3999e646decb930a26