How can I get veterinary experience?

[dyachei]

I don't get this, and I'm sure it's going to drive me crazy when I'm out in practice. It's three times the cost.... but it lasts for three years, and it's non-adjuvanted!It wasn't even something I thought twice about when our GP service asked if I wanted the 3yr, even though with their student pricing it was more like 4x the price of a normal one.

because Imrab and the like can also be bought in 3 year doses but for literally 10% of the cost. So when you already do a 3 year vaccine they don't get why it costs so much more.

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[Country_roads]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here.

I very rarely take my dog to the vet. Granted I do have a vet who has his records in case of emergency or etc. but I give him vax myself (except rabies obviously) and generally treat/give him a couple days to heal himself before I take him in

I also have a cap in how much I'm willing to spend on him.

Does that make me a bad pet owner? Maybe. But he loves me, and I love him.

I'm already accepted in to vet school, I know for a fact this is what I want to do and I'm going to love doing it

I guess my point is: Are yearly exams beneficial? Of course. Are they absolutely necessary to be a good, loving pet owner? Not in my opinion

 

[Trilt]

because Imrab and the like can also be bought in 3 year doses but for literally 10% of the cost. So when you already do a 3 year vaccine they don't get why it costs so much more.

Okay, I guess I should say... as someone who already would exclusively use the 1yr purevax for my kitkat, I don't get it. I understand the cost differential for switching from others.

 

[dyachei]

Okay, I guess I should say... as someone who already would exclusively use the 1yr purevax for my kitkat, I don't get it. I understand the cost differential for switching from others.

they have never been able to show me the difference in VAS in 1 year purevax v. 3 year adjuvanted vaccines. I have asked the rep every time. But cats are inflammatory creatures and even the needle stick can predispose to VAS. So was it better to give a yearly vaccine with no adjuvants or a 3 year vaccine with adjuvants? They always claimed the purevax but there was nothing they could show to back that up.

 

[stephrp]

Does your school offer any farm practicum type courses or have research where they use large animal models? I learned a lot through participating in research that used horses (blood draws, catheterizing, suturing, how to scrub and keep things sterile, etc.) and also learned a lot through a cow practicum course (vaccinating, blood draws, some repro stuff, etc.). Learning how to draw blood and catheterize was helpful for getting my foot in the door to shadow/volunteer at an equine clinic. Try finding other pre-vet students near you and see where they shadowed. Sometimes if you have a friend who had a very positive experience you can mention their name and say "so and so recommended your clinic to me because they had a very positive experience" when you call to ask and it can help if the vets working there really liked your friend. Also, if your school has a pre-vet club I know people who found some shadowing opportunities through clubs.

Hello! My current school does not offer anything with large animals other than alpacas which the veterinary technician students work with during their last semester. Volunteers for the farm they work at must be in our program. I'm in a different program so I wouldn't be eligible. Thanks for the other advise!

 

[DVMDream]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here.

I very rarely take my dog to the vet. Granted I do have a vet who has his records in case of emergency or etc. but I give him vax myself (except rabies obviously) and generally treat/give him a couple days to heal himself before I take him in

I also have a cap in how much I'm willing to spend on him.

Does that make me a bad pet owner? Maybe. But he loves me, and I love him.

I'm already accepted in to vet school, I know for a fact this is what I want to do and I'm going to love doing it

I guess my point is: Are yearly exams beneficial? Of course. Are they absolutely necessary to be a good, loving pet owner? Not in my opinion

No one is arguing that someone who can't afford to take their pet to the vet once per year is a bad pet owner. They are stating that the mentality of "My pet is doing just fine, so he/she doesn't need a vet" is wrong, especially for someone wanting to be a vet.

Also let's touch on some things here...

1. Home vaccination, sure you can do it, but there is so much you are missing here by doing it at home. 1. Was the vaccine purchased from a reputable company? 2. Was it stored properly? 3. Was it transported properly? 4. Did you give it appropriately? (not saying you didn't but owner's have thought they have given a vaccine before but were really just getting it in the fur, or they didn't mix it properly (just gave the saline)).... 5. What about the manufacturer guarantee? So if the vaccine fails, they will pay for your pet's treatment, as long as the vaccine was given by a vet and given on time. 6. What if your pet has a reaction? Yes, this can happen after you get home from the vet, but if you have given multiple vaccines at home, the vet won't know which your pet reacted to, whereas if given at the clinic they might be able to get an idea of which it was. 7. What vaccines does your pet need? This varies animal to animal and your vet is the best source of information to know which vaccines to give and which your pet may not really need. You can't determine this.

That doesn't even cover all the other preventive medicine that pets need on a yearly basis that they should be getting from the vet such as flea/tick prevention, heartworm prevention, deworming, heartworm testing, annual examination, dental prophylaxis, etc.

That hasn't even touched upon the whole "I take my dog if she/he has been sick for a few days"... there is a reason vets tell people to come in as soon as possible if there is a problem, because many conditions can take a drastic and horrible turn in just a few days often resulting in euthanasia for a condition that could have been treated had the pet only been brought in a few days earlier. I am not saying if your dog suddenly vomits once and then goes about playing and doing fine the rest of the day to rush in to the vet, but if the dog is vomiting for the majority of the day, you shouldn't be waiting a few days just to see what will happen and you definitely shouldn't be attempting to treat at home, as you said you do.

The other problem with the mentality of I don't take my dogs in yearly because I don't want to and I do stuff at home is that you are going to have a hard time in talking to your clients about the importance of annual examination and preventive care if you aren't doing these things yourself. Hopefully vet school will open your eyes and make you change your mind, but vets aren't recommending all this annual stuff just for $$ or laughs, it really is very important to the health of your pet.

I mean, you go to the dentist what at least once a year (if not every 6 months)? Hopefully. Why? Not because there is anything wrong with your teeth but because you want to prevent there being anything wrong with your teeth. And if you don't do that, then it shouldn't come as a shock when you get a cavity or need a root canal. Well, the same goes for your pet.. preventive care is important and if you don't do it, then you could end up with problems, a sick pet, a really large vet bill and at worse, a dead pet.

Again, we all get the not being able to afford vet care... most of us have been there before or have worked in clinics to know that not everyone can afford super expensive treatments and surgery, and no one is arguing that those people love their pets less than those that can afford care. What we are saying is that the mentality of not needing a vet or not needing the preventive care in people that are going to be a part of the profession, is dangerous and you really should consider if you would be the best advocate for an owner's pet if you are going to be recommending things to a client that you won't even do for your own pet.

 

[Coquette22]

What we are saying is that the mentality of not needing a vet or not needing the preventive care in people that are going to be a part of the profession, is dangerous and you really should consider if you would be the best advocate for an owner's pet if you are going to be recommending things to a client that you won't even do for your own pet.

Just to add in addition to the preventive care, it's nice to have a third party look at an animal every so often. An owner (any owner) can miss things just because you see them every day. We had a boarded neurologist come speak to us who said that she missed her own cat's mild head tilt for weeks until she had a new resident who pointed it out, simply because she saw her own cat every day and the little changes over time don't jump out at you.

 

[Country_roads]

No one is arguing that someone who can't afford to take their pet to the vet once per year is a bad pet owner. They are stating that the mentality of "My pet is doing just fine, so he/she doesn't need a vet" is wrong, especially for someone wanting to be a vet.

Also let's touch on some things here...

1. Home vaccination, sure you can do it, but there is so much you are missing here by doing it at home. 1. Was the vaccine purchased from a reputable company? 2. Was it stored properly? 3. Was it transported properly? 4. Did you give it appropriately? (not saying you didn't but owner's have thought they have given a vaccine before but were really just getting it in the fur, or they didn't mix it properly (just gave the saline)).... 5. What about the manufacturer guarantee? So if the vaccine fails, they will pay for your pet's treatment, as long as the vaccine was given by a vet and given on time. 6. What if your pet has a reaction? Yes, this can happen after you get home from the vet, but if you have given multiple vaccines at home, the vet won't know which your pet reacted to, whereas if given at the clinic they might be able to get an idea of which it was. 7. What vaccines does your pet need? This varies animal to animal and your vet is the best source of information to know which vaccines to give and which your pet may not really need. You can't determine this.

That doesn't even cover all the other preventive medicine that pets need on a yearly basis that they should be getting from the vet such as flea/tick prevention, heartworm prevention, deworming, heartworm testing, annual examination, dental prophylaxis, etc.

That hasn't even touched upon the whole "I take my dog if she/he has been sick for a few days"... there is a reason vets tell people to come in as soon as possible if there is a problem, because many conditions can take a drastic and horrible turn in just a few days often resulting in euthanasia for a condition that could have been treated had the pet only been brought in a few days earlier. I am not saying if your dog suddenly vomits once and then goes about playing and doing fine the rest of the day to rush in to the vet, but if the dog is vomiting for the majority of the day, you shouldn't be waiting a few days just to see what will happen and you definitely shouldn't be attempting to treat at home, as you said you do.

The other problem with the mentality of I don't take my dogs in yearly because I don't want to and I do stuff at home is that you are going to have a hard time in talking to your clients about the importance of annual examination and preventive care if you aren't doing these things yourself. Hopefully vet school will open your eyes and make you change your mind, but vets aren't recommending all this annual stuff just for $$ or laughs, it really is very important to the health of your pet.

I mean, you go to the dentist what at least once a year (if not every 6 months)? Hopefully. Why? Not because there is anything wrong with your teeth but because you want to prevent there being anything wrong with your teeth. And if you don't do that, then it shouldn't come as a shock when you get a cavity or need a root canal. Well, the same goes for your pet.. preventive care is important and if you don't do it, then you could end up with problems, a sick pet, a really large vet bill and at worse, a dead pet.

Again, we all get the not being able to afford vet care... most of us have been there before or have worked in clinics to know that not everyone can afford super expensive treatments and surgery, and no one is arguing that those people love their pets less than those that can afford care. What we are saying is that the mentality of not needing a vet or not needing the preventive care in people that are going to be a part of the profession, is dangerous and you really should consider if you would be the best advocate for an owner's pet if you are going to be recommending things to a client that you won't even do for your own pet.

You're absolutely entitled to your opinion. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anything that you said, but I do not plan on changing the way I care for my dog. I do however, appreciate that you stated how you feel respectfully.

On that note, I don't ever plan on having companion animal clients so I won't have to worry about setting an example with my dog.

 

[DVMDream]

You're absolutely entitled to your opinion. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with anything that you said, but I do not plan on changing the way I care for my dog. I do however, appreciate that you stated how you feel respectfully.

On that note, I don't ever plan on having companion animal clients so I won't have to worry about setting an example with my dog.

Even with bovine, equine, caprine, etc clients, preventive care is important.

Even without any clients and going a public health route, preventive care in all animals is VERY important and vital to human health.

It might not seem like Fluffy's diarrhea has an impact on anyone but Fluffy, but if Fluffy has roundworms, and passes those to dogs at a dog park and Fluffy isn't taken in to be dewormed and those roundworms end up in Fido whose owner has a young child that child could end up blind.

So those yearly exams and preventive care have a larger implication to all veterinary professionals.

Maybe once you get some vet school lectures in and see the larger implication of some things your mind will change some.

 

[Coquette22]

On that note, I don't ever plan on having companion animal clients so I won't have to worry about setting an example with my dog.

While I appreciate the sentiment, you will have third/fourth year rotations and you will have clients there, if only for a little while. So just watch the word "ever".

 

[Country_roads]

Maybe once you get some vet school lectures in and see the larger implication of some things your mind will change some

Maybe, maybe not. I guess I'll just have to wait and see

While I appreciate the sentiment, you will have third/fourth year rotations and you will have clients there, if only for a little while. So just watch the word "ever".

Touche

 

[DVMDream]

While I appreciate the sentiment, you will have third/fourth year rotations and you will have clients there, if only for a little while. So just watch the word "ever".

Not to mention the numerous amount of people that change their mind in vet school or that end up in private companion animal practice somehow anyway.

 

[dyachei]

Not to mention the numerous amount of people that change their mind in vet school or that end up in private companion animal practice somehow anyway.

majority of jobs are there....magic!

Seriously, though. Why are you adverse to changing the way you manage your dog's health? Is it a convenience thing? A cost thing? A value thing? (and by that I mean that some people have a different value for a dog life over a human life - and that's fine). But when presented with data that could help your companion animal live a potentially longer, healthier life why are you specifically adverse to that? I'm not trying to be disrespectful, just trying to see where you are coming from.

 

[Coquette22]

Not to mention the numerous amount of people that change their mind in vet school or that end up in private companion animal practice somehow anyway.

Amen. I started out public health (albeit not in a DVM/PhD program), then went to lab animal and now I'm about to sign a contract for small/equine private practice.

 

[Country_roads]

majority of jobs are there....magic!

Seriously, though. Why are you adverse to changing the way you manage your dog's health? Is it a convenience thing? A cost thing? A value thing? (and by that I mean that some people have a different value for a dog life over a human life - and that's fine). But when presented with data that could help your companion animal live a potentially longer, healthier life why are you specifically adverse to that? I'm not trying to be disrespectful, just trying to see where you are coming from.

I'd say it's probably a little of all three.

Convenience? My dog is incredibly animal-aggressive. He will literally kill anything he gets ahold of. Yes, I have tried counter-conditioning, training, positive-reinforcement, etc. It's better than when I first got him, but the vets office is just too much for him. We wait in the car until the office is clear to bring him back. If my dog was less aggressive, would I be more inclined to bring him in yearly for a check-up? Honestly, yeah probably so.

A cost thing? Absolutely. For a while during my undergrad, I didn't even have enough money to feed myself. No help from the parents. My roommate was nice enough to let me live at her family's house for free for a while, and I survived on the leftover food that they no longer wanted. When my dog would get sick, I had to wait until the next paycheck to even think about having the money to treat him. Usually by that time he was better. Plus I worked in a small animal clinic for about six months so simple things like hotspots and etc. I didn't have a problem in treating them myself.

Value? I come from a background where if a dog bit someone - you shot him. If he was sick? You put him down and got another one. Sure it sucks because he was your buddy, but a dog is a dog. A human's life absolutely has more value to me than a dog's life does. If my dog needs a $700 surgery, he's probably not going to get it. I'll make him as comfortable as I can with some pain killers, or I'll put him down. But believe it or not, I really do love him.

I do agree that yearly check-ups and preventative medicine are the way to go if you can afford it and you believe the cost is worth it. I also understand why people don't want to spend $100+ every six months for flea/heartworm preventative. I don't judge them, because I get it. I understand why people don't want to run to the vet every time their dog gets a cut or is vomiting for a day or two. See if the dog fixes itself or if some simple home remedies will help. If it doesn't, then take him in and see what's up. That's how I grew up, and I guess I don't really see much of a problem with it.

Edit: To clarify, I don't condone shooting dogs. The average person could not get appropriate placement, caliber etc. Have a vet put him down. In regards to the relatively lax healthcare I don't see a problem.

 

[LetItSnow]

I'd say it's probably a little of all three.

Convenience? My dog is incredibly animal-aggressive. He will literally kill anything he gets ahold of. Yes, I have tried counter-conditioning, training, positive-reinforcement, etc. It's better than when I first got him, but the vets office is just too much for him. We wait in the car until the office is clear to bring him back. If my dog was less aggressive, would I be more inclined to bring him in yearly for a check-up? Honestly, yeah probably so.

A cost thing? Absolutely. For a while during my undergrad, I didn't even have enough money to feed myself. No help from the parents. My roommate was nice enough to let me live at her family's house for free for a while, and I survived on the leftover food that they no longer wanted. When my dog would get sick, I had to wait until the next paycheck to even think about having the money to treat him. Usually by that time he was better. Plus I worked in a small animal clinic for about six months so simple things like hotspots and etc. I didn't have a problem in treating them myself.

Value? I come from a background where if a dog bit someone - you shot him. If he was sick? You put him down and got another one. Sure it sucks because he was your buddy, but a dog is a dog. A human's life absolutely has more value to me than a dog's life does. If my dog needs a $700 surgery, he's probably not going to get it. I'll make him as comfortable as I can with some pain killers, or I'll put him down. But believe it or not, I really do love him.

I do agree that yearly check-ups and preventative medicine are the way to go if you can afford it and you believe the cost is worth it. I also understand why people don't want to spend $100+ every six months for flea/heartworm preventative. I don't judge them, because I get it. I understand why people don't want to run to the vet every time their dog gets a cut or is vomiting for a day or two. See if the dog fixes itself or if some simple home remedies will help. If it doesn't, then take him in and see what's up. That's how I grew up, and I guess I don't really see much of a problem with it.

Edit: To clarify, I don't condone shooting dogs. The average person could not get appropriate placement, caliber etc. Have a vet put him down. In regards to the relatively lax healthcare I don't see a problem.

So.... just out of curiosity: Why do you vaccinate your dog?

 

[dyachei]

I'd say it's probably a little of all three.

Convenience? My dog is incredibly animal-aggressive. He will literally kill anything he gets ahold of. Yes, I have tried counter-conditioning, training, positive-reinforcement, etc. It's better than when I first got him, but the vets office is just too much for him. We wait in the car until the office is clear to bring him back. If my dog was less aggressive, would I be more inclined to bring him in yearly for a check-up? Honestly, yeah probably so.

A cost thing? Absolutely. For a while during my undergrad, I didn't even have enough money to feed myself. No help from the parents. My roommate was nice enough to let me live at her family's house for free for a while, and I survived on the leftover food that they no longer wanted. When my dog would get sick, I had to wait until the next paycheck to even think about having the money to treat him. Usually by that time he was better. Plus I worked in a small animal clinic for about six months so simple things like hotspots and etc. I didn't have a problem in treating them myself.

Value? I come from a background where if a dog bit someone - you shot him. If he was sick? You put him down and got another one. Sure it sucks because he was your buddy, but a dog is a dog. A human's life absolutely has more value to me than a dog's life does. If my dog needs a $700 surgery, he's probably not going to get it. I'll make him as comfortable as I can with some pain killers, or I'll put him down. But believe it or not, I really do love him.

I do agree that yearly check-ups and preventative medicine are the way to go if you can afford it and you believe the cost is worth it. I also understand why people don't want to spend $100+ every six months for flea/heartworm preventative. I don't judge them, because I get it. I understand why people don't want to run to the vet every time their dog gets a cut or is vomiting for a day or two. See if the dog fixes itself or if some simple home remedies will help. If it doesn't, then take him in and see what's up. That's how I grew up, and I guess I don't really see much of a problem with it.

Edit: To clarify, I don't condone shooting dogs. The average person could not get appropriate placement, caliber etc. Have a vet put him down. In regards to the relatively lax healthcare I don't see a problem.

see, this makes more sense.

but likely you will see in vet school why some of this thought process will cause issues. Not saying you're wrong, but just saying that you're not seeing the veterinary professional perspective yet.

Also, if the first is a real issue, talk to your vet about sedatives for days when you need to bring your dog in. It can make a world of difference - both in your life and you dog's. Or just wait until you are done with vet school and prescribe it yourself.

I hope you can see that we aren't judging you. Everyone is an individual with different needs and history. Just trying to give a little perspective.

 

[DVMDream]

I also understand why people don't want to spend $100+ every six months for flea/heartworm preventative. I don't judge them, because I get it. I understand why people don't want to run to the vet every time their dog gets a cut or is vomiting for a day or two. See if the dog fixes itself or if some simple home remedies will help. If it doesn't, then take him in and see what's up. That's how I grew up, and I guess I don't really see much of a problem with it.

I know that people don't want to spend "a lot" of money on preventatives, I get it, but I guess I don't see why. When you really break it down.. $120 over 6 months is $20/month and most preventative when I was working in clinics were only over $100 for a year of prevention so that is $10/month to prevent often fleas/ticks/heartworm and some intestinal parasites. It isn't just for your pet either, dogs pick up ticks or fleas and they can cause a huge problem for you.. ticks will bite humans and they spread disease. Flea infestations in a house are not easy to get rid of. Heartworm can cause a dog to drop dead suddenly. Heartworm treatment is painful and expensive and can cause death in itself. So is it really worth saving $10/month?

Trust me, I get the whole not having the money, we didn't growing up and my dog went without. He never got fleas (though fleas aren't a big problem where I grew up, other areas and it would have been an issue) and he had two ticks. Granted, two ticks isn't a lot, but it only takes one to transfer lyme, ehrlichia, or babesia. So, seems silly to not spend the $10/month to prevent worse problems and problems that could affect the humans living with the pet.

I also get the whole human life is worth more than animal life and I really do understand that is how some people grew up, so I get it. What is wish is that people would see how their animals' health and preventive treatment directly impacts their own health and exposure to disease. But I can understand why people wouldn't drop hundreds of dollars on their dog as well.

 

[dyachei]

fleas also transmit a lot of diseases. damn vectors.

 

[DVMDream]

Also, if the first is a real issue, talk to your vet about sedatives for days when you need to bring your dog in. It can make a world of difference - both in your life and you dog's. Or just wait until you are done with vet school and prescribe it yourself.

Or talk to your vet about bringing the dog into the clinic not through the lobby. We used to prepare for dogs that were aggressive with other animals by having an exam room ready and bringing the dog through the back and straight to the exam room. See if the clinic can do that, because it really does help.

 

[Country_roads]

So.... just out of curiosity: Why do you vaccinate your dog?

So I can board him if ever necessary.

Rabies because he's so likely to get in an altercation with any free roaming animal.

see, this makes more sense.

but likely you will see in vet school why some of this thought process will cause issues. Not saying you're wrong, but just saying that you're not seeing the veterinary professional perspective yet.

Also, if the first is a real issue, talk to your vet about sedatives for days when you need to bring your dog in. It can make a world of difference - both in your life and you dog's. Or just wait until you are done with vet school and prescribe it yourself.

I hope you can see that we aren't judging you. Everyone is an individual with different needs and history. Just trying to give a little perspective.

I agree there's still so much I need to learn. My education thus far has enlightened me on several topics and I'm sure vet school will be no different. I very well could be singing a totally different tune here in a year or so.

What is wish is that people would see how their animals' health and preventive treatment directly impacts their own health and exposure to disease

I actually do think flea & tick preventative is important, although I only applied advantage the couple times he got really bad. Otherwise I fed him air-dried garlic from Springtime Inc in the summer (I know, anemia). Last summer I was rather lax about flea/tick preventative because he just never got them.

Edit: I want to thank everyone thus far for approaching me respectfully
@stephrp I'm sorry for derailing your thread!

 

[DVMDream]

I actually do think flea & tick preventative is important, although I only applied advantage the couple times he got really bad. Otherwise I fed him air-dried garlic from Springtime Inc in the summer (I know, anemia). Last summer I was rather lax about flea/tick preventative because he just never got them.

Edit: I want to thank everyone thus far for approaching me respectfully
@stephrp I'm sorry for derailing your thread!

I am not going to touch upon the garlic, since you already know about the anemia, it also doesn't work.

However, the point of prevention is NOT when they get "bad" or they have ticks/fleas. If you are only doing it then, you are behind the eight ball, your dog has then already been possibly exposed to numerous diseases including: lyme, babesia, tick fever, tapeworms, etc. Prevention is meant to PREVENT the fleas and ticks (and thus exposure to the vector-borne diseases, you can get lyme disease too), yes it treats them too, but that should not be when it is used.

 

[Country_roads]

I am not going to touch upon the garlic, since you already know about the anemia, it also doesn't work.

However, the point of prevention is NOT when they get "bad" or they have ticks/fleas. If you are only doing it then, you are behind the eight ball, your dog has then already been possibly exposed to numerous diseases including: lyme, babesia, tick fever, tapeworms, etc. Prevention is meant to PREVENT the fleas and ticks (and thus exposure to the vector-borne diseases, you can get lyme disease too), yes it treats them too, but that should not be when it is used.

I understand what prevention is, hence garlic. There is anecdotal evidence it works. I never had a problem with fleas & ticks when feeding it to him. Does that mean it actually works? No. Could be an environment change that caused the lack of fleas & ticks. Could be numerous things...but he didn't have any.

I think environment has a whole lot to do with how you approach treating your animals. A farm dog probably needs a regular fecal float to check for parasites (I know people who worm on schedule but resistance scares me). A dog who is hiking all the time probably should be kept on a monthly flea/tick preventative.

My dog, who has absolutely no contact with other dogs aside from walking on the same sidewalk, and is never in the brush, probably isn't at as much risk and subsequently, I feel comfortable in not keeping him on a monthly heartworm/flea treatment.

I'm going to go ahead and probably stop right here, I feel like I've derailed this thread enough. I appreciate everyone's input

Just a quick edit as an after-thought: Due to my lifestyle, I'm about 10000x more likely to contract lyme disease through a tick I picked up while running around in the woods rather than being exposed via my dog. That might be another reason it doesn't bug me too much. Just a couple years ago, I walked right through a nest and I had several adults and a million baby ticks all over me. So gross >__<