Hello Katherine,

Your note is quite a surprise!  I would say two things right off the bat.  First, it takes people to save animals, and veterinarians spend just as much time with the human species, if not more, than the non human ones.  Secondly,it's not shameful or silly of you to love animals by any means--you're one of millions of animal lovers out there!.  So from what I know about you, I'm not sure you should switch careers at this point.  Remember that the health of everything is connected, and by helping people live healthier lives, you are also helping animals and the environment.  Becoming a veterinarian means more schooling (and a considerably smaller income when compared to human medicine.) On the other hand, if this career is truly what you want to do, then go for it!  

Good luck.

~Dr. Lucy

Hello, Corinne

Please take a look at my bio closely - and the bios (school/career paths) of all who contributed to my book.  You'll see there is no one way, but motivation and academic achievement are more important than finances.  So my advice is that you get into the best college you can afford - state schools are more affordable and you can absolutely get a great education.  School is what you make of it.  Before you choose your classes, talk to advisors there about vet school so you make sure you are taking the pre-requesiste courses.  Then study hard, make sure your grades are at the top of the class, and then look for vet schools that you can apply to.  Your options depend on which state you live in - if there's a school in that state - but increasingly there are international options.  So don't worry.  If this is what you want to do, you'll do it.

Remember, though, that there are many other ways that those of us who love animals can help keep them--and us--healthy.  We can all live in balance with nature, and try to have less of an impact on the resources all animals need to be healthy.  So in the meantime, while you're studying, do little things like recycle, buy local, walk or ride a bike, skip spending money on a material good and donate it to a cause.  By helping people, we also help animals.

I'm writing about this in my blogs, so check them out, too.

http://savingotters.wildlifedirect.org/

http://blogs.discovery.com/discovery-earth-live-lucy/

Good luck! 

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Ava,

Sorry for not responding sooner - I am in the midst of a move to Rhode Island from Africa, via one month in South America and two visits with my mom in North Carolina!

Sure but please know it may take me a while to answer! 

Why don't you post the interview here as a comment, and then I'll answer it here so all who visit this site can see it, too

~Dr. Lucy

Hi, there.

Forgive me for not responding sooner - I have been off line for the last month getting things sorted out as I move from Africa back to the US.  As for Charlie, I wonder how he is and hope he's made it.  I wouldn't be able to advise you via email and would only comment on the case if your vet wanted my advice, but I can say that he is/was a lucky rhino to have your care and compassion.  Not every baby is destined to survive in the wild, as you know.  In captivity, we expect and hope they will all live, just as we expect every female panda to give birth every year, and every dog to live to be 16, and etc...

Let us know the outcome if you can.

~Dr. Lucy

Dear Jean Paul HIRWA

It was a pleasure and an honor to work in your country with the mountain gorillas, and to see how quickly many of the younger veterinarians and students like yourself have caught onto the idea of "one-health."  It does work, but only if each and every one contributes in the best way we can, no matter where we live. 

Please write to me again when you finish school and let me know where you are going next!

~Dr. Lucy

Hi.

I don't think it's too late by any means, especially as you are now even more certain that this is the career you want!  Just be patient and realistic since, after you get into school, it is still 4 more years before you'll be treating animals.  I think the fact that you've studied other subjects is great, since a big part of beging a vet is getting to know the people who own and care for animals.

Go for it.  Good luck!

~Dr. Lucy

Hi Steve

I do remember you!  I will pass your email to Ted. 

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Sarah,

I actually tried out for a role in a film where they were recreating a similar adventure and needed a vet.  I'd never applied for anything like that in the past but it sounded very cool.  Unfortunately, I never heard back from the producer....Oh well.  I was born in 1963.

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Cait.  Thank you for writing.  Keep reading!  When you finish our book, you might want to look for the James Herriot series.  (The author was Alfred Wight who used the fictional name James Herriot.).  His books motivated me to become a veterinarian and they are still in print.  Unlike RHINO, his stories are fiction based on real events, but they read like the real thing.  Enjoy and don't let anyone tell you that you can't be a vet.  If it's what you want, you'll do it.

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Suzy,

From what I know, the answer to your question is complicated as it depends where the gorillas are ranging.  For example, the mountain gorillas in the virungas have very little fruit to choose from - mostly berries, wild banana.  The Bwindi mountain gorillas have a wider variety (Martha Robbins and others have published a little about this.)  As for the eastern lowland/grauer's, they, too, have more fruit in their diet but it depends what is available, and I don't think they have been studied throughout their range well enough to know for certain.  I can say that, compared to chimpanzees, fruit selection is not a major factor in their movements as they have so many other plants (200 or so) to choose from!

Hope this helps,

~Dr. Lucy

Hi, Missy.

It's great to hear from you.  One of the most wonderful things about publishing RHINO has been the chance to reconnect with people and find old friends.  Both Vicki Burke and Kathleen McGarry have found me this way!  I hope all is well with you. 

~Dr. Lucy

Hello, Leslie.

Great to hear from you.  Yes, and as you say, I think enrichment applies to all creatures in any captive setting, short or long term, and was surprised that so many of the excellent strategies used in the zoo/aquarium world had not been adopted in the wildlife rehab world.  I think there's plenty of room for overlap--as well as idea exchange--and am glad you agree! As for bats specifically, we've just hosted a terrific team of bat experts from South Africa who came here to Rwanda.  They were surveying caves here and catching bats to screen them for ebola/marburg and rabies-type viruses.     

One of the team members, Wendy White, was absolutely amazing for her bat knowledge, from species to rehab.  She works with the Kwazulu Natal Bat Interest Group.  Their website is http://www.batskzn.co.za/

I'd encourage you to track down Wendy.  Try the contact info listed here:

http://batworld.org/local_rescue/maplists/map.soafrica.list.html

Please send email to me at lucy@drlucyspelman.com if you're unable to reach her and I'll try to put you directly in touch.

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Kathy,

I don't have an idea right off the bat but this is a good question that I should have some answers for because there's generally a shortage of animal health care in most parts of the developing world.  For now, I'd suggest checking out the myriad blogs on Wildlife Direct, many of which originate in Kenya - they include several veterinarians doing great work, and you can post a comment on their sites and I'm sure get an answer. 

www.wildlifedirect.org

Meanwhile, I will work on a list of ideas.  MGVP doesn't have a place yet for vet volunteers, but we hope someday to be able to incorporate training and care for domestic and companion animals around the gorilla park.  The agricultural school in Rwanda has just started a veterinary program and although it has a long way to go, it has potential.

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Karen,

Great to meet you over cyberspace and hear of your passion for workign with wild animals.  And thank you for your invitation to Blacksburg.  I'd very much like to do it though my schedule in the US is not very flexible.  I'll be home late Jan into early Feb and at some point will drive to NC and back - if we use highway 81, Ptero (my lab) and I often go right by your school. I'll email directly using the email you entered when you logged in and we can go from there. 

~Dr. Lucy

Dear Dr. Cuervo,

I am in Africa and do not have all of my prior publications with me as pdf files.

However, all were published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine so you can retrieve them off their website.  If you do not have a subscription to JZWM, I highly recommend it as this really is the best way to stay current on the clinical research in our field.  If you really have trouble, please post another comment back on this site and I'll try to round up the papers.

I would recommend ketamine-midazolam for short procedures or medetomidine and ketamine with atipamezole reversal for painful or longer procedures instead of telazol for a variety of reasons--all discussed in the papers I have written as well as a number of other vets who have worked with various species of otter. 

Of course you should have some oxygen on hand just in case--which is true no matter what anesthetic you choose for otters--as every once in a while, especially when they are light (either on the way down or waking up) they think they are diving and will stop breathing.  Even though telazol anesthesia looks good in otters, the recovery from can be unpredictable and physiologically they are not as stable as with ketamine-midazolam.  See also studies by

Dr. Jesus Fernandez-Moran - in European Otters - here is the link to one of his papers that you can download online (I hope)

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/37/3/561.pdf

Claudio Soto - in SA Marine Otters - also in JZWM, p 535-538 Volume 37 Issue 4 Dec 2006.

I will also send this note to you as an email from this website.

~Dr. Lucy

I will get right on this. Thank you for your help. My daughter has been visiting other ranches and doing a lot of research. Yes, your right. Taking care of animals is a full-time job. I believe she appreciates this aspect. She is a soon to be retired pharmacist and I am a retired physician. We look forward to learning more about this aspect of zoological medicine. Again, Thanks.

Well, there's no easy way for me to help you, sorry about that.  The park service does have noseprints for the gorillas used for indentification, but they're not given out to the public.  This is a common question, though, so I'll check it out and if I learn more, will let you know.

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Marilyn,

Thank you!  I have a few speaking engagements coming up in California, including one that has just come up but is not yet confirmed in Glendale, CA north of LA.  I'll post the details for this book talk very soon.  The others are a little farther north.  Please check this link.  Maybe you can get a friend to attend one of these and I can sign the book that way?  I hope something works out and I'm very glad to have your help spreading the word about RHINO. 

Thanks again,

~Dr. Lucy

Hello Lynn.  Yes great to meet you.

For now, here are three ecotour companies to check out.  Each is run by friends of the MGVP project/Gorilla Doctors.  Through these companies, it's easy to arrange a special visit or presentation about our work with the gorillas - in exchange for donations made to our project. 

One is based in Tampa, FL.  Ged and his company can arrange all of your travel from the US and back, Terra Incognita Tours.  He also often links up his clients to one of the two following Africa-based ecotour companies, Amahoro Tours and Volcanoes Safaris.  Any of these can arrange your in country travel, permits, and etc in Rwanda (which I recommend as it's not a very flexible system in terms of the timing of permits.)  They also work in Uganda and Tanzania.

~Dr. Lucy