Virtual Cow Butt
Veterinarians have no choice when they need to check a cow for pregnancy or infection. The standard procedure is to stick your arm up the cow’s rectum. The technique is difficult to teach to veterinary students because, well, it’s dark in there.
That’s why veterinarian and computer scientist Sarah Baillie has created the “Haptic Cow,” a virtual, touch-feedback device that mimics the feeling of real bovine anatomy, placed inside a fiberglass model of a cow’s rear end.
“With this technology, students can feel something that feels like the inside of a real cow, but I or another instructor can be following their movements on a monitor,” said Baillie, who teaches at the Royal Veterinary College in London. “This means we can say, ‘Come back a bit or go left a bit.’ It actually means you can direct them.”
Not only can professors follow a student’s exact movements and critique the technique, but they can also keep track of how much force is being applied. If a fledgling vet gets too rough and exceeds the number of Newtons considered safe by experienced vets, virtual Bessie will belt out a cautionary “Moo-oo!”
(image credit: Sarah Baillie/Royal Veterinary College)
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Howard, the Combine Kitty
10-year old Kyle and 8-year old Bryce Billingslea found a kitten along a country road in Michigan. The kitten was missing his front paws! The 10-week old cat’s injuries were rotting and full of maggots, but he still managed to purr. The boys called animal control, and the responding officer called a veterinarian. The kitten was taken to MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where he’s had two rounds of surgery on his amputated limbs, with more to come. Veterinarians think that Howard may have been injured by farm machinery, which is where he got the nickname “the combine kitty”. Costs to save and rehabilitate Howard are expected to run from one to two thousand dollars, but donations are coming in to Ingham County Animal Control & Shelter. Howard is recovering well, eating a lot, and is even able to stand and use his litter box, despite the bandages. Link -via Arbroath, where you can see a video report.
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Forked Dog
A chihuahua named Smokey wandered around with a fork stuck deep in his head for three days!
A handle broke off a grilling fork and flew right into his head at a family party in Kentucky.
Smokey then ran off into the woods and was lost for three days before being rescued. He was immediately taken to the hospital.
Vets took just thirty seconds to remove the lodged barbecue fork in Smokey’s brain.
The dog is expected to make a full recovery. Link -via Arbroath
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Ugly Bat Boy
This cat’s full name is Ugly Bat Boy, and he lives at Exeter Veterinary Hospital in New Hampshire. His owner, veterinarian Stephen Bassett says that he is normal in every way, except that he’s ugly. The eight-year-old cat is bald in most places, but has a long flowing “mane” on his chest. Ugly has become a local celebrity. Veterinary employee Christie Hartnett calls him “Dr. Bassett’s little wonder cat.”
Workers said many people who come into the building can’t really believe what they’re seeing. But they said despite appearances, Bat Boy has a nice disposition and real inner beauty.
“The impression from clients that come in is he’s not real because he just sits so still, and when he does move, he scares them, but they think he’s mesmerizing,” Hartnett said.
Be warned that if you go to the story and click on the “slideshow” button, the first picture may frighten young children. Link -via Metafilter
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The Cat Who Wears Contacts
Ernest is a 15-year-old cat who lives at a shelter in Godshill on the Isle of Wight. He suffers from entropion, a condition where the eyelids roll inward and cause inflammation. Surgery might correct the condition, but veterinarians were concerned about how such an old cat would react to an anesthetic. The solution? Contact lenses!
Centre manager Paula Sadler, 56, said: ‘Before Earnest was given the contact lenses he was quite squinty and had trouble seeing where he was going.
‘Now his eyes have opened up and he has a new lease of life.
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