Vet-a-Visit

After our Primary activity, we headed to MSU for Vet-a-Visit. Once a year, the veterinary college puts on a free display of animals to pet, watch, and to learn more about. There were dog shows, dogs to pet that help in different areas such as seeing eye dogs, etc. Then there were farm animals that the kids could pet and learn more about. We got to pet rabbits, donkeys, llamas, sheep, a horse, a cow. We could listen to a sheep's heart with a stethascope, we could milk a cow, and something a bit more disturbing...

Do you notice anything weird about the cow?

At first I thought this was a fake cow. Then it moved its head and mooed. If you look, there is a hole in the cow. I guess a cow has 4 stomachs. In order for farmers/ranchers to know what their cows are eating they make an incision in one of the stomachs, stitch it to the outer hyde and put this rubber tubing over the incision. I forget what the name for it is. The farmer can then stick his hand in the stomach and find out what the cow has been eating by taking it out and looking at it. So the vet college displayed a cow that had this done and anyone could put an arm length glove on and stick their hand in the stomach. YUCK! I thought that this could not be good for the cow. I know there's a glove on and all, but not everybody is careful and nice to animals. Poor cow. And DISGUSTING! I watched as this kid put his hand in and when he pulled the glove out it was all wet and drippy and lumpy green (obviously hay). I was willing to do it, but the line was way too long and we were running out of time to look at other things. Shucks! All I could think of was GROSS! and poor cow!