Aug. 15, ‘09-A sunny warm day and K.C. Losinski roars up in her new truck. She’s another sitter that Hawken adores and he tells us we can go to work. Cousin Keith Bollinger arrives to work with Greg in the Showroom. The following weekend was the first open house. At  9 AM Kaitlin Young, a fourth year vet student arrived in her eco-friendly car. After a brief tour of our house and office, we headed out to Schultzie’s, for they had just left a message about our cattle. We raced over to Winkie and Jean and they were calmly chatting with Rose and Gayle Thewis. We visiteda few minutes and rumbled out of their yard. I drove like usual and Kaitlin sat in passenger seat next to me. Tom was stuffed in back seat wedged between  his surgery box and mastitis tubes. He appeared content sitting next to the plump full food/beverage cooler. We just don’t stop for lunch or snacks. I always have food packed for I am car camp woman. In between calls, we feast on baby carrots, garden fresh raspberries, grilled chicken drummies and sandwiches. Now I have this notion that used vehicles are just fine for us. We buy a good van with 50,000 miles on it and eventually it gets converted to vet van status. Dick from Dick’s Auto Repair is part of our A-team and takes great care of our vehicles. For some reason, our brakes get worked on a lot @ Dick’s. I floor the accelerator and we cruise with urgency for there’s a milkfever and a calving emergency,  along with the list for routine calls. First stop is an organic farm that has an assortment of Jersey and Aryshire  cattle. It’s the farmer’s first animal calving this  season that’s un-able to calve on her own. Doc Tom reaches in the birth canal and fluids flow to the floor. He slips as he pushes his self proclaimed short Polish arm in deeper. He has Kaitlin reach in the cow also and they conclude that the uterus is twisted. The twisted uterus required 30 minutes of manipulation by Kaitlin and Tom. A gallon jug of  lubrication to ease the calves exit is squirted on the cow’s backside. Tom’s mustard bottle is floating in his bent bucket. The bottle is well-a pal. The pail is a pal. Now I’ve offered money towards the purchase of a spanking new steel bucket that would shine and boost professionalism. He’s scoffed @ that notion and feels the pail is a reflection of all the 25 years on the vet route. That pail serves as a barrier to a swift blow to the leg when strategically placed between the cow and Tom. The mustard bottle is a vet’s treasure for it holds just the right amount of lubrication ooze to to slather up his plastic shoulder length sleeve prior to inserting an arm in a cow’s backside. That mustard bottle provides entertainment throughout Buffalo Co. and especially for Dewey Burr and John Pronschinske. They have their own mustard bottle to tease Tom with. So after the calf is cranked out with a metal calf puller jack, they reach in  the cow’s birth canal to insure there’s no uterine tear. I clean up the OB handles, chains,  calf puller, grab the lube, paper towel and Tom offers follow up instructions to the farmer. We’re off to Waumandee to treat a milk fever. Milk fever is  an emergency, for the cow after calving becomes low on calcium. So the good Dr. first checks the cows temperature. Then he checks her udder and pulls milk out of  the teats. If there’s no mastitis or infection in the teats then he finishes his exam.  Then we gather the oral history from the farmer- we ask how old the cow is, how many days fresh and if she has had milk fever before.   Time to capture the cow. Some days the cow might be out on pasture and not able to get up. That is ’til we approach and she finds new found zest to flee the confines of our rope halter. This cow  was in a maternity pen all bedded up with sawdust.  Kaitlin used the long needle and poked it promptly in the cow’s neck vein. A nice backflow of red dripped brilliantly to the bedding and pooled @ her black boots.  This is a good time to catch up on all the local happenings and today the talk turned to the Waumandee Fall Festival that takes place the 3rd Sun of Aug. every year. It’s a chance for the Catholic Church to have a fundraiser, duck race and ball tournaments.  It also requires countless volunteers to work together and a real sense of community is displayed.   Smashed potatoes, ham, meatballs, bread, coleslaw and the pie are served as a feast fit for all.  The farmer where we were treating the milkfever, pushes the wheelbarrow filled with ice, pop and beer for the festival. I tease him about being able to push the wheelbarrow in a straight line and up the steep slope of the church grounds and being sobered up for Mon. chores. The calcium fluid flows through IV tubing  from the bottle into a needle into the cow’s vein. The bottle is all ran in and this cow decides to get up and figure out where she is now. By 2 PM I got dropped off @ home so sitter could get home and Hawken and I could play.  No time for Doc and Kaitlin to eat the lunch I had in the crock pot. I made to- go plates of roast beef, taters and carrots.  They examined countless cattle, infused cows and by 8 PM returned to Welcome Home Farm. Arriving home, splattered with the days work, it was time for Tom to start the rest of the chores Hawken and I didn’t do. He told me they put off 2 surgeries for Sun. and the rest of the days calls.  Kaitlin and Tom were just going to sit down for supper @ 9 PM and the phone rang. Off they went to a calving. It seems that the warmed up supper would have another layer of crust til it was consumed.  I awoke to a deluge of rain pounding on the steel roof. The early AM was non-stop pouring rain. Hawken, Kaitlin, Tom and I took a relaxing 1/2 hour breakfast and consumed  pancakes and farm fresh eggs. By 9 AM Kaitlin and Tom sped out on calls. It rained and rained and I decided to by-pass the church festival. By 5 PM they gave it up on the route for it was Sun. They opted to push another surgery off  ’til the next day.  I had time in the evening to stroll around yard with Kaitlin and we harvested apples.  She is an energetic, up-beat, quick to smile lady that fit perfectly into Vet World for 3 days. We wish Kaitlin and her husband well as she completes her last year @ UW-Madison and takes boards to become a vet.  What a great way to learn new techniques and ideas from her in regards to veterinary medicine.  The things that she found to be most helpful from us were the extensive history taking , recordkeeping and that the mustard bottle is a must have for any aspiring vet.

Recycle your mustard bottles and your garbage,

Sue Roskos