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Number of large animal vets is on the decline in Wisconsin

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Photo by Bill Olmsted

Janesville veterinarian Dean Peterson performs dental work on a horse during a recent visit to an area stable. Peterson was able to take care of routine medical procedures on several animals during the single visit.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Large animal veterinarian Dean Peterson uses a specialized electric drill to perform dental work on a horse. Good health care has helped extend the lifespan of many horses.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

A pan of labeled blood samples, medicines and hypodermics track Dean Peterson’s work with several animals during a visit to a stable outside of Janesville. The increasing draw of urban areas is luring some veterinary students and veterinarians away from large animal toward small animal practices.

JANESVILLE — It's not easy being a small animal veterinarian.

A sweet kitty can become a hissing, screaming furball requiring two leather-gloved doctors to give it a vaccination.

But what if the patient is 10 times the size of the doctor with four hooves and a dirty tail made for clubbing?

The number of graduates entering the large animal and general practice veterinarian fields in Wisconsin has declined, said Dr. Nigel Cook, head of the Food Animal Production Medicine group at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.

Some parts of the state have shortages of animal doctors, Cook said. One reason could be that people are drawn to work with small animals, but there are other reasons, Cook said.

The large animal medical industry is changing, he said, and the number of large animal veterinarians needed—and their skill sets—could change with it.

The number of students taking elective food animal programs at the school of veterinary medicine in the early 1990s was 25 to 30, Cook said.

In 2000, that number slipped to half that, he said.

Typically, about half those students go on to dairy practices, and others go into mixed practice.

Eventually, some "drift off" to small animal practices, Cook said.

The school is taking steps to change the trend, he said.

"I'm prepared to think we're not producing enough (large animal veterinarians)," Cook said. "But we're working very hard to change that."

Change in industry

As the demographics of the dairy industry move toward large, corporate farms, the roles of veterinarians are changing, too.

In the past, veterinarians could expect to be called to several farms every day to treat one animal at each stop, Cook said.

"We called it fire brigade work," Cook said. "You'd trot out to a farm and treat an individual cow."

Fifty years ago, a farmer might have called the vet to treat one case of "milk fever" or hypocalcaemia.

That's when a cow has low blood calcium a few days after giving birth, Cook said. Muscles need calcium, so the cow becomes weak, even unable to stand.

The condition can be fatal, but it's easily treatable with an injection. But on a farm with 20 cows, a farmer might see only three milk fevers a year, Cook said. When you have 2,000 cows, you could see 300 milk fevers a year.

"You watch the vet do 300 milk fevers, and you probably start to think you can do it yourself," Cook said.

What farmers want

That doesn't mean veterinary skills aren't needed, said Dr. Dean Peterson, co-owner of Janesville Animal Medical Center, 5021 N. Highway 26, Janesville.

Today's producers want to treat their own animals whenever possible, but they need help doing it, Peterson said.

Farms hire veterinarians to write whole-herd health plans and come up with protocol to treat various illnesses.

"They want us to train workers to do the continual maintenance you don't need a license for," Peterson said.

But there is a line, Peterson and Cook said. Only veterinarians can examine animals and diagnose illnesses. And only veterinarians can do surgery.

Young professionals

Everybody assumes young, professional dentists, bankers and reporters want to live in urban communities with plenty to do after work.

So what makes veterinarians different?

Nothing, Cook said.

"It's sort of part and parcel to the shift in urbanization," Cook said. "Our young folks leaving the school tend to want to be closer to things rather than far away."

Clinics near Green Bay or Minneapolis might not have a hard time finding new veterinarians, Cook said.

"But in Rhinelander or somewhere like that, I know practices that have been looking forever and haven't been able to fill (a position)," he said.

But there is good news, Cook said. The class taking its final rotation at the veterinary school right now is the biggest the school has seen in years, Cook said.

In the past, students from around North America filled the seats, but this year it's all students from UW-Madison, he said.

The school is in its third year of holding weekend workshops for high school students to get hands-on veterinary practice, he said.

Dr. Mike Miesen is the product of the school's push to train more veterinarians. Miesen, 28, is in his first year of practice at the Whitewater Veterinary Hospital, 527 S. Janesville St., Whitewater.

He works mostly with dairy cattle, although he'll take care of a sick pig or cow and help out with a cat when needed.

Miesen thinks children should get exposed to production animals at a young age. Kids who don't might not know the career is an option, said Miesen, a Platteville native.

"Kids now grow up in more of an urban environment," Miesen said.

On top of that, education is expensive, and large animal veterinarians can expect to work long, physically demanding hours, he said.

Still, Miesen can't imagine doing anything else.

"I like to think on my feet," Miesen said. "You can read all you want in books, but until you get out there and do it … (In this career) you learn something new every day."