My necropsy this morning
Well, the bear was waaaaaay too stinky, and we had a few more critters to choose from, so I chose a juvenile fox. She was probably born between spring and summer. She had nothing wrong with her, save no food in her stomach and she was quite bony. I am speculating her mother was killed and she didn't know how to fend for herself. Red foxes generally stay with mom through at least one winter. Sad. :(
I did get to grossly observe an actual Peyer's Patch (an aggregate of lymphoid tissue in the intestine), which was cool. I've never seen one except microscopically, but this little fox was young enough to still have quite a bit of lymphoid tissue (as we age, we have less). She did have a slightly enlarged right atrium, and I was hopeful I would find heartworms, but no such luck (from a cool standpoint).
And now I am taking benadryl, on top of my zyrtec, because being around all those furry animals really set off my allergies. My nose won't stop itching. We had the bear (hit by car), a deer (also hit by car), 4 raccoons, a ground hog (died in our clinic), a Canadian Goose, and my little fox.
Have a good Saturday!
I did get to grossly observe an actual Peyer's Patch (an aggregate of lymphoid tissue in the intestine), which was cool. I've never seen one except microscopically, but this little fox was young enough to still have quite a bit of lymphoid tissue (as we age, we have less). She did have a slightly enlarged right atrium, and I was hopeful I would find heartworms, but no such luck (from a cool standpoint).
And now I am taking benadryl, on top of my zyrtec, because being around all those furry animals really set off my allergies. My nose won't stop itching. We had the bear (hit by car), a deer (also hit by car), 4 raccoons, a ground hog (died in our clinic), a Canadian Goose, and my little fox.
Have a good Saturday!