Kristen Black

Meet Zazzle! Zazzle is a miniature hair sheep at my aunt's farm in Kentucky. He was very popular as a ram, travelling around the United States and having all kinds of fun with lots of pretty ewes! He was my patient for my first solo surgery. If you're wondering what said surgery was, you can refer instrument in my hand (and yes, that's blood all over my fingers). The instrument used is called an "emasculator". Now can you guess what the surgery was? It was a castration! Zazzle is no longer a ram, but a wether. But it's ok, he doesn't notice the difference.

I'm a pre-vet major, concentrating on exotics. But I'll do anything as far as hands-on experience goes. My aunt is a vet and uses the "watch one, do one, teach one" method. I've watched her do the same surgery on many different animals and even helped with a few. For spring break, she surprised me with my very own "do one". It was a little nerve-racking at first because I had to catch him and drug him and get him in position all before I even started the good part. My hands were shaking as I took the blade from its sterile packing and I thought 'these are not the hands of a surgeon'. But I took a deep breath, steadied my hands, and made my first incision. I won't bore you with the gory details, but I finished the surgery successfully and Zazzle bounced back pretty quickly! This experience gave me a lot of confidence in my skill-set and renewed my excitement about becoming a vet!