Young Voices: First grade learns from local veterinarian

One student added that it’s important to provide pets with “lots and lots” of love, and another on the need to keep them safe from ticks with medicine.

Caldwell then turned the conversation to the importance of providing shelter and warmth for pets, or a barn for farm animals like horses.

“What is a veterinarian, and why might you need to take a pet to the vet?” Caldwell asks the students. Eager hands shoot up again as the students discuss the need for an animal doctor: A pet isn’t feeling well, needs vaccinations to keep them healthy, get their teeth cleaned or an injury are all reasons to take a pet to the vet, they tell her.

Now the conversation turns to surgery, stitches, allergies, ear infections, belly aches — the students have many, many comments to make. It is clear the students are inquisitive and Caldwell has their attention as she starts with her slideshow. She has photos of farm animals, wild animals and cute puppies and discusses the different types of veterinarians and the work that they do. Showing a photo of a big cat and its vet, she said, “He’s a cat vet but a different kind of cat vet as you can see, right? Well, yeah, so he works at a place in Florida where they do big cat rescues.”

Continuing to explain the different types of specialty vets, she added that it is more common to see female veterinarians than a male these days in the profession.

From there, Caldwell explained the work they do at Tucker Road Animal Hospital when a pet comes to the clinic and some of the animals they have helped due to unusual circumstances — like an owl.

The students were interested to learn how vets count puppies in a pregnant dog and some of the emergency treatments they have performed to keep a pet healthy, like removing finger puppets ... or a metal fishhook.

The final part of the presentation was the most exciting for the first graders: A dog’s teeth were passed around, and then an eyeball in a jar that had been removed from a dog during surgery. The students thought that was gross — and, of course, therefore fun.

First graders are reading about occupations, community helpers and the role they play in supporting the community, and Caldwell’s visit gave them the opportunity to learn more about what veterinarians do, said Stacey Doss, one of the first-grade teachers at Westside.

“The classroom visit with Dr. Caldwell gave our students the opportunity to learn more about her important occupation and the role she plays in helping pets in the Columbia River Gorge,” she said. “We always love when our students can make connections between what they’re learning in the classroom and the community they live in. Thank you to Dr. Caldwell and her staff at Tucker Road Animal Hospital.”