MSPCA-Angell Pathology Externship

By: Jolene Carlson

Purdue University, Class of 2011

I participated in one three week off campus block at the Mission of Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA)—Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, MA during June & July 2010.  MSPCA-Angell is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1868, making it second-oldest humane society in the United States.  Angell Animal Medical Center is a fast paced world class emergency hospital in Boston, MA.  I worked in the Pathology Department with Dr. Pam Mouser and Dr. Patty Ewing, both ACVP boarded pathologists.  During my time there, Angell clients were allowed to submit their deceased animals for a free educational necropsy performed by me with oversight from Dr. Mouser.

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A Cat with More Than 9 Lives

By: Christopher Fulkerson

Class of 2010, Purdue University

I met Barnum during my first small animal medicine rotation.  A scrawny cat at best, Barnum had survived more than most cats would have been capable of and his owners had supported him through more than most would have been willing.  Before I had ever met him, he’d survived hyperthyroidism treated with I¹³¹, septic peritonitis after a gastrostomy tube leaked, inflammatory bowel disease, heart disease, chronic pancreatitis, chronic kidney disease and persistent anorexia.  He was nothing much to look at – nearly toothless, he was more skin and bones than cat and spent much of his time lounging lazily in lateral recumbency.  He sported a bright blue vet-wrap neck bandage that made his head look several sizes too large for his impossibly thin frame.  The bandage covered his bright orange esophagostomy tube, a permanent fixture since his failed gastrostomy tube.  This visit was more bad news for Barnum and his owners – a diagnosis of gastrointestinal lymphoma had been made by endoscopic biopsy.  Where some owners would be disheartened to learn that their beloved pet had cancer, Barnum’s simply took it in stride.  Her only response was, “What do we do now?”

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Oreo and Jesse

By: Jun Yu

Class of 2012, Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine

Pencil drawing