veterinary education on rats

I've just completed a mini-veterinary course this evening. It was a series of lectures mostly by veterinarians, and only one lecture was on the topic of exotics. After class, I spoke to the only exotic vet who presented, and asked about what kind of /amount of education vets get for exotics. He told me he'd had half of one course which covered all exotic animals : birds, reptiles, and all types of rodents. (This is in Ontario.) He also said that vets who do treat exotics tend to want to keep in touch and share information... to help eachother out.

It explains a lot to me.. why it's hard to find a vet who will treat rats. And why the ones who do treat rats are so quick to say what they don't know. I have a great respect for the vets who take on treating rats, and a new-found understanding of why it's so important for rat owners to study up, and bring as much information with us as possible when bringing our pet rats to the vet.

That's exactly right. My vet is always attending seminars and workshops on small animals and other exotics. She told me this is the only way to learn about rats, through their own knowledge and experience and those of their international exotic colleagues.
She also did several postmortems on my rats to learn more back when I started to bring her lots of them.
There is also a network of exotics who do keep in touch via a forum.
Without the seminars and workshops, it's impossible for vets to not learn of the new methods and procedures, meds and treatments. My vet also works closely with U of Guelph.

Being a vet is all about continuing education -- going to workshops, lectures, etc. A lot of clinics will actually give you time off specifically for that. There is no way you could learn everything you need to know about all animals in four years of school. Usually, emphasis is on the cat, dog, horse and cow. This is why they encourage you to join clubs, take days off to shadow vets who are interested in the field you're interested in, and do some sort of summer work/research with profs. At my school, we have the Lab Animal Medicine Club and the Zoo, Exotics and Wildlife Club for those interested in rodents/small mammals. As far as I know, we focus on rats in class a number of times throughout the four years -- in a few weeks, we have a clinical medicine class on small mammals (learning to handle, restrain and examine them) and we also focus on the lab animal industry numerous times in health management classes. Also in fourth year, you can do some exotics rotations in addition to your usual small animal ones.

So in the end, its really all about the vet and what they choose to learn outside of school!

ChrisK said:

I've just completed a mini-veterinary course this evening. It was a series of lectures mostly by veterinarians, and only one lecture was on the topic of exotics. After class, I spoke to the only exotic vet who presented, and asked about what kind of /amount of education vets get for exotics. He told me he'd had half of one course which covered all exotic animals : birds, reptiles, and all types of rodents. (This is in Ontario.) He also said that vets who do treat exotics tend to want to keep in touch and share information... to help eachother out.

It explains a lot to me.. why it's hard to find a vet who will treat rats. And why the ones who do treat rats are so quick to say what they don't know. I have a great respect for the vets who take on treating rats, and a new-found understanding of why it's so important for rat owners to study up, and bring as much information with us as possible when bringing our pet rats to the vet.

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Do you mind telling where you found this course?
I would want to study the articles about rats' health.

sure! I went to the mini-vet school offered at Algonquin College in Ottawa.
Here's the URL which describes it. I don't know the password to get into the actual lecture info, but this would probably be a good place to start.

http://www.communityveterinaryoutreach.org/minivet.htm

OVC is also offering a mini vet school in Guelph

Cityratt said:

OVC is also offering a mini vet school in Guelph

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oooooh?

Is there info on that somewhere? I would totally take advantage of that!

Ack! It looks like it sold out....but i think it was really well received so they should run it again (I can keep an ear open if you like) Heres the link:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~gvets/Global%20 ... iVets.html

Its run by global vets so it supports a great cause too

that and it started in Feb...which would be why it sold out....

man time flies

Cityratt said:

that and it started in Feb...which would be why it sold out....

man time flies

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Awww o well... Maybe next year... I would LOVE to go! Is there a website about it so that I can throw it in my faves in hopes of remembering? lol

OH HAHAHAHAHA

Totally missed the post before the one before last... *did that make sense*

Ignore last post hahahaha

*sigh* I'm so silly sometimes

:heart: Oh man Dr. Foster AND Dr. Peregrine did lectures!!!!!!
Wow that would have been amazing. Those 2 are absolutely fabulous lecturers! Dr. Fosters classes were by far the best part of my week! (Aside from Parasitology - which was the best course of my undergrad!)

Definitely will keep in mind for next year...

And time certainly does fly... Its now been almost a year since I attended any lectures (man do I miss it!) AND all the lectures are already over!

I would love to find such lectures here in Halifax. Anyone know of anything like that here?