Our homeschool group went on a field trip to the Loomis Basin Veterinary Clinic, offering care for both large and small animals. It is a huge clinic with 175 staff members for the small animal section alone! We divided our group into two smaller groups. Our group visited the large animal section first…
This is an x-ray machine for large animals. It is on a track that can swing around the animal instead of the animal having to move.
The boys tried on the lead vest that is worn while taking the x-ray.
Three types of hay are given to the horses for feed. The kids got to see each kind.
Checking out the horse stable. We were not allowed in because a horse had just given birth, but we could look through the outside bars… here’s the foal…
All the boys got on the large animal scale. They weighed a little over 600 pounds, less than half the weight of the average horse (1500 lbs…)
We moved inside to the small animal section. Inside one of the treatment rooms was a table full of different items. This is the skin of a boa constrictor…
OK, I learned something new here. I thought this was the corpse of a tarantula. Nope. It is the shed skin of the tarantula! Yes, spiders (ALL SPIDERS) shed just like snakes do! So, when you see what appears to be a dead spider, it might be what was left by a bigger spider who grew out of his skivvies…ew.
The model of a flea and a piece of paper with real fleas attached. On the right, a nasty tick full of blood.
Checking out the otoscope…
A large calcium deposit that was cut in half. It was removed from a horse.
X-ray of a goose neck who swallowed a worm with a fishing hook. The hook was removed and the goose lived for 20 years on the veterinary pond.
X-ray of a dog who swallowed his owner’s coin collection…
X-ray of a pregnant cat with five kittens. She gave birth the next day…
A close up of the calcium deposit. Can you see the small piece of metal that the horse swallowed? To protect the horse, calcium built up around the metal. Typically, the horse will pass smaller deposits, but this one stayed and built up…
In the pharmacy…an actual horse pill.
A section of the treatment room. This technician is caring for two dogs that are coming out of anesthesia.
The end of the tour was a lesson on how to approach a dog and read their body language.
