Dr. Bridget Fitzpatrick is a foreign consultant veterinarian at the International Center for Veterinary Services (ICVS). Originally from Maryland, US, Dr. Fitzpatrick is on exchange in Beijing as part of ICVS’ Veterinary Learning Exchange Program. She is especially interested in treating cats, birds, and exotic animals (including rabbits, possums, and reptiles). While serving the Amish community in Pennsylvania, Dr. Fitzpatrick was part of a team that cared for a troupe of animals – including skunks, macaws, giraffes, and donkeys – that performed in the city’s annual Christmas play. At The International Montessori School of Beijing, Dr. Fitzpatrick spoke with students about helping animals of all sizes, from threelegged dogs to fish that required surgery.
Laurence Brahm, 10, US
Did you want to be a vet since you were a little kid?
Yes. I think for most veterinarians, it’s something you know you want to do from very early on. As early as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to help animals.
Kirstine Melsen, 10, Denmark
How do you find sick animals?
I work at a veterinarian hospital, so it’s the owners who bring [them]in. There are also wildlife rehabilitators in the US, and sometimes good Samaritans find an animal by the side of the road.
Owen Keogh, 10, US/Italy
Do you use a lot of tools?
Yeah, there are lots of different tools. I actually have a human stethoscope, but we can use this for bigger animals like a dog. I also have a tiny one, which is made for human babies. This kind of equipment can be useful for tinier things, like hamsters, guinea pigs, or hummingbirds.
Laura Melsen, 9, Denmark
If an animal throws up, what do you do?
The first thing we would do is figure out why it threw up. A sore tummy can make them sick. If they eat something wrong, like [having]too much turkey or a hamburger, it can make them sick too.
Laurence Brahm, 10, US
Does an animal’s health depend on what it eats?
Yes, especially with the little exotic critters. There are a lot of things that we feed them that they wouldn’t get in the wild. If we ate just cheeseburgers all day long, we would get sick.
Owen Keogh, 10, US/Italy
Did you ever have to take something out of an animal’s throat?
There was a mom who had been doing some sewing in the house, and she put the needle on the couch. Her cat ate the string and the needle, and we had to do a little surgery to take it out.
Ricky Andreasen, 12, US
What was your toughest surgery?
Any surgery can be tough. For example, [taking]stones out of a bladder. If the stones are stuck to the [intestinal]wall, that can be very tough.
Isa Pan, 10, US
What if you have to work with dangerous animals?
That’s something we always have to be cautious about. Anything can be dangerous, even a cat that’s really upset. There are things like venomous snakes that we have to make sure are sleeping with a little anesthesia before we can touch them. We have to keep ourselves healthy first.
Laura Melsen, 9, Denmark
How do you calm a scared dog?
A lot of it is about how we hold our bodies. If you walk right up to a dog, it’s going to be intimidated because you look big and scary. If you turn your body to the side, lower your posture a little bit, and just put your hand at your side, sometimes they’ll come up and sniff you. Talking to them, [how]you’d want to be talked to, can [also]calm them down.
Johnny Hu, 11, China
How do you treat a case of rabies?
Rabies is something that’s not treatable. All animals that get rabies will die. It is something that if we get it, we’ll die [too].
Finn Holmes, 11, China/UK
Have you ever helped animals that have three legs?
Yes. Sometimes, if they get a certain kind of tumor, the only way we can get rid of the cancer is to amputate. So we do have threelegged dogs and cats, and they live really good lives. You’d actually be surprised how much jumping around they do.
Bill King, 11, Hong Kong
How do cats and dogs get around on three legs?
We go around on two legs, so imagine if we had one more? We’d still be pretty good.
Daniel Walton, 12, Australia
Do you have any pets?
I have two cockatiels and a cat. [She’s] actually blind. She can’t see, but she can hear and smell.
Steven Xu, 10, China
How did your cat become blind?
When she was a baby, she got a viral infection in her eyes. It caused lots of scarring, so there’s big scar tissue all over her eyes.
Anita Loh, 10, Singapore
Have you ever taken an animal home from the hospital?
Sometimes if there’s nobody at the hospital to watch it overnight, one of the veterinarians will take it home so that we can check on it every hour or so. We try not to keep them often; most of them have a home already.
Alfred Andreasson, 11, Sweden
Have you ever done surgery on a fish?
I didn’t do the surgery myself, but I helped. You actually drop a little liquid on them that keeps them alive. You have to keep half of their body in a little water bag, but you can do it.
This article is excerpted from beijingkids March 2012 issue. View it in PDF form here or contact distribution@beijing-kids.com to find out where you can pick up your free copy.
