Maintaining a healthy digestive system can be particularly challenging when it comes to our canine companions. Dogs engage with most things using their mouths, and unfortunately this means that even the most well-mannered pets can be exposed to unexpected digestive disturbances.

A balanced digestive system is a central part of canine health, and this relies heavily on the healthy flora that reside within the gastrointestinal tract. This normal, healthy flora plays an important role in good digestive function, helping dogs to get more from their meals and developing a stronger, more resilient gastrointestinal system.

Just as your dog requires a healthy diet, the healthy flora that reside in the gut also need a source of sustenance to grow and flourish. MSPeubiotic® is unique in its ability to resist breakdown through the digestive system, travelling all the way through to the hind gut where it is fermented by the flora that reside there.

This natural source of pure prebiotics doesn’t contain any preservatives or additives, and can be given to dogs of all breeds, ages and sizes. Adding MSPeubiotic® to your dog’s diet is a simple, convenient solution that can help…

• BALANCE GUT FLORA: Maintain an abundance of healthy flora and improve overall gut health.
• BETTER NUTRIENT UPTAKE: Enhance the absorption of vitamins, minerals and nutrients from the diet.
• REDUCE ODOR AND FLATULENCE: Improve fecal consistency and reduce fecal odor and flatulence.
• HEALTHY SKIN & SHINY COAT: Improve the condition and quality of the skin and coat.
• SUPPORT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM: Support healthy immune function and help dogs recover from illness faster.

The world is a big place for your youngest patients, who may also be your most adventurous and mischievous! Puppies and kittens frequently get themselves into a world of tummy troubles and require extra support. The challenge is that these patients also have unique needs based on their age.

Did you know that growing pets go through what is termed an “immunity gap” between 4-12 weeks of age? This is a vulnerability window when maternal immunity starts to fade, but self-made antibodies are not fully protective yet. Every chance we get to support rapid immune development is a chance to ensure a healthy pet!

What if you could offer these patients the following, with one simple solution?

• Healthy growth via a high energy formula with specific nutrient levels
• Appetizing textures including rehydratable kibble, to help with hydration and weaning when needed
• Immunity support through special nutrients such as beta glucans
• Microbiome support to promote a healthy digestive tract

NOW YOU CAN, with the FIRST and ONLY Gastrointestinal diets formulated specifically for puppies and kittens. Available in both kibble and canned formats!

Submitted by Erin Hendrickson, RVT

Submitted by Daniel O’Hara, Second Year VT Student at Sask Polytechnic

Like a number of people who become RVTs, my initial dreams and aspirations when I was younger were to become a veterinarian. The thought of become a tech never crossed my mind at first, and so I explored some other career paths when the length of schooling to become a vet discouraged me from taking that route. Nothing I tried felt like the right fit however, and I started to consider becoming a vet tech as an option when going back to the drawing board.

Even at the point where I initially toyed with the idea, I didn’t fully understand the role of an RVT in practice. As I started to look into it more, it was enough to make my decision to pursue becoming an RVT a concrete one. Doing my volunteer hours to prepare for school, school itself, and working as a Tech Assistant on the weekends have all reaffirmed that decision as the right one to make and given me a new level of respect for all of the RVTs out there. Until the last couple of years I hadn’t realized how much they truly form the backbone of veterinary medicine.

Coming back to school again as a mature student with post-secondary experience has felt like a boon to this point in my education. Although in a way I feel as though I wasted the years before applying to the Veterinary Technology program, it also has given me a solid foundation to work from. I came into the program knowing how I learn best, how I need to study, and with a hunger to succeed that I hadn’t previously felt. The program has still been a challenge and there’s more to come yet, but I appreciate rather than regret the time it took me to start on this path.

The farther along I get in the process of completing my education, the more my time in practice and on the board of the SAVT makes me proud to have chosen to join the ranks of this profession. There’s a plethora of experienced RVTs on the board and in the province that are more than happy to share tips and tricks they’ve learned over the years and answer questions students and recent grads have. The SAVT has also shown lots of support for students throughout the chaos Covid-19 has caused with our education. It’s encouraging to have those reminders that as students we’re a welcome and wanted addition to industry in the future.

Despite the challenge of the program, and the extra challenges that the current pandemic has added on to an already difficult program, I couldn’t be happier with my choice to go down the path of becoming an RVT. I’m excited to continue forward, especially with practicums coming up in the new year. Looking ahead, I’m excited to get the chance to do more in a clinic setting and the opportunities for further learning and improvement that come along with that. It finally feels as though we’re more or less in the home stretch of the program, and I’m excited to see what the future holds after graduation and the VTNE.

The SAVT is excited to launch our Kudos Program! This program allows anyone (RVT, DVM, Manager, vet team member, or the public) to submit a kudos to be shared with them and the veterinary community. These kudos can be thank yous or celebrations for something that has been done or accomplished by that individual. These thank yous and celebrations do not have to be veterinary related if there is something that they’ve contributed to in the clinic or the community that you think should be recognized. The Kudos Program is an opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication of veterinary professionals in Saskatchewan. There is no maximum to the number of kudos that you can submit however they may not be released and shared all at once.

Below are the kudos from the last month!

Kudos goes to Lauren McLoughlin, RVT from Shelby Riess, RVT. “Lauren and I went to tech school together & have been inseparable ever since. After graduation Lauren & I both got a job at the same veterinary clinic, we both eventually went on our own way to separate clinics. When a position opened up at Lakewood Animal Hospital she was the first person that popped into my mind as I knew she’d be a great asset to our team. Lauren is so compassionate, caring and knowledgeable. She goes above and beyond everyday for her patients. Lauren a great leader and mentor. We are so lucky to have her apart of our LAH family.”

Kudos to Charlotte Timoshuk, RVT from Dr. Charlotte Williams from Hooves and Paws Veterinary Clinic. “Charlotte Timoshuk has worked in practice 15 years as a technician. She answers the phone perfectly, remembers everybody?s name and does excellent work in everything we ask her to do . Recently we have new technicians? in training in our office she shown us she does not mind sharing her knowledge and experience with others. We have celebrated with her privately but want everyone to know how much she is valued and appreciated.”

Kudos goes to Mackenzie Ripplinger, RVT from Dr. Barbara Eatock. “Mackenzie is a new technician who has amazing technical skills already. She is smart and eager to learn. She has been a great addition to our clinic!”

Kudos goes to Jennifer Ford, RVT from Wascana Animal Hospital. “Jenn is a fantastic ambassador for what a Registered Vet Tech should aspire to! She not only has amazing technical skills, but has wonderful communication abilities with our clients and other team members. Jenn is a team player, a very hard worker and a joy to work with. Especially during the challenging times of COVID, she continued to exemplify dedication to her role. We love her and are so blessed to have her as part of our work family!”

Submitted by Darlene Ford, RVT, RVTTC Director

It was a difficult decision deciding on this topic. Something I am passionate about of course. People, animals, travel, art, the outdoors? In the end it was the journey of making the best Italian pizza in Dixon, Saskatchewan.

8 years ago my family—husband and two sons, then 16 and 13—travelled for nineteen days on our own in Italy. We really only had one mishap: in Naples waiting for the 1:41pm train in the station on platform three. At 1:38pm a train arrived. Being from Saskatchewan we all thought “Oh, look it’s a few minutes early.” Having only STC buses in our travelling past that could have a twenty-minute variation in arrival time it seemed a safe bet to embark on this offering. We board the train and are happily discussing amongst ourselves how excited we are to be going to Sorrento and Pompeii. Another passenger on the train, and you are now going to think I am making this up for dramatic effect but I swear it to be truth. A man in a trench coat and fedora (I swear!) looked at us and said “No Sorrento.” Four pairs of eyes widen. What? This train doesn’t go to Sorrento? Again, “No Sorrento,” also no English. He pointed to the route map on the train wall and we realize we have boarded the wrong train. At this point I must say that our Italian was also frighteningly close to zero as well. With the kindness and help of a young man and only words none of us understood we made it on the correct train and on our way to Sorrento where we truly fell in love with pizza.

The pizza in Italy varies substantially from north to south. The southern variety has a thin crust with big charred bubbles on the edges. Very few toppings. It is chewy and has some crunch at the same time. It is delightful. We came home wanting more.

After talking about it for years, three years ago we hired a potter and kiln building friend to make us a wood fired pizza oven in our yard on the farm. Our oven has a stone base so an iron frame needed to be welded to support the weight of the rock plus the oven. It took just over two weeks to complete the actual building of the oven portion. The structure itself is a beautiful addition to the yard even when not being used.

The first fire in the oven has to be slow and long to cure the mortar. Five hours later we cooked the first pizza. The oven was so hot (well over 1000 degrees) that in 45 seconds it was charred and pretty much inedible. How the fire is burnt and maintained is very important. We have discovered (after much trial and error) that 900 degrees is best. At that temperature it takes approximately 90 seconds to cook a pizza and the crust is a perfect emulation of that Sorrento goodness. This brings me to the next very important element: the crust. It is critical to a good pizza and again after trying numerous doughs I have discovered that buying OO flour imported from Italy (of course, they knew all along!) Slow fermenting the dough refrigerated overnight gives the most authentic bubbly crust. I have yet to perfect the dough throwing in the air to shape it technique but I continue to practice. Maybe one day!

It has taken us almost a decade. Yet on summer evenings with friends gathered, music, eating, drinking and enjoying life in general the pizza of our memories crosses the pond and nestles into our little Saskatchewan farm. The journey has been a grand one and very much worth the effort.

Submitted by Jennifer Epp, RVT & SAVT Past President

As a child, growing up on a dairy farm, my dream was not unlike many other little girls, I was going to be a Veterinarian!  I remember following my dad and the herd health Veterinarian around, watching, learning, and helping with whatever I could, and if I was lucky enough to go with, to watch one of our cows get an LDA (Left Displaced Abomasum) Surgery.  Upon graduation from High School, that was the plan!  I did not enter University, and chose to take a year, which turned into two, before returning to school.

During my second year, post high school, my Mom told me about the Animal Health Technology Program.  This was in the late fall of 1991, and I truthfully had NO IDEA what she was talking about!  I had never heard of this program before, nor did I know of anyone who had ever gone through it!  As I’m sure many of you will agree, as a young adult, we NEVER think our Mother’s could be right about something!!  So to appease her, I contacted SIAST, and sure enough the course existed!

Next step – application!  Back then, you mailed everything and had to wait, and wait, and wait for a response!  I was so excited about my potential career, and when the long awaited letter arrived, I was placed on a Waiting List!  Talk about disappointment!  I still continued on, earning my volunteer hours at the vet clinic, and dreaming, and waiting anxiously for a spot to open up!  In July, I started calling weekly, to see if by chance I had gotten in, finally (maybe they got tired of me calling), in the middle of August I received word I was accepted!

The fall of 1992, I started the course – and really was unprepared for all of the work ahead!  I studied hard – and in 1994, I was chosen to be the Distinguished Graduate of the Animal Health Technology Program, and I received the SAHTA Bursary.  This led to my first term on the SAHTA Board of Directors, where I served for 5 years!

After graduation, like most of us do, I started work in a Veterinary Clinic with grand illusions that I would be utilized as the newly graduated Animal Health Technologist that I was.  That I would do blood work, assist in surgery’s, etc, etc, etc.  You have to remember, that back in 1994, the Veterinary profession was very male dominated – and sadly I was often seen as more of an assistant, rather than an AHT.  It was not uncommon for two of the Veterinarians to be doing regular surgeries together, and I was left doing laundry, cleaning kennels, etc.  So after only 4 months of working as an AHT, I decided I was going to go back to University, become a Veterinarian, and then I would graduate, have my own clinic, and treat my future AHT employees with the respect they so deserved!

Well fate so to say, had different plans!  Shortly after I made my decision to return to school, I met a young cattle farmer at the vet clinic, who I started to date.  I did return to University, however after only a month I left!  Sometimes I think that if I had not met him, I might have stuck it out longer, however, every person I turned to for advice  – advisors in the Department of Agriculture, and at the Vet College – all kept saying the same thing “You won’t get in, you will never make it.”  And my emotional and mental health all believed them, so I dropped out of university, and less than a year later I married that cattle farmer.

Through our early years – I did work at a vet clinic – and then was fired “for speaking my opinion on a course of treatment.”  After this I worked various jobs – not related to my field of education, before ending up at Western Canadian Beef, where I started out as a Meat Inspector, and then moved on to work in the lab doing Quality Control.  Both of these utilized many of the skills I had learned – and the lab work especially was very fulfilling, and then one day I found out I was pregnant, and after my maternity leave, I did not return to work for several years.

Together with my husband, we welcomed 3 beautiful children – and I was blessed to be able to stay at home, helping with the purebred Charolais cattle we raised.  It may not have been glorious, but being able to work outside – teaching my children how animals should be raised, treated and cared for, is nothing I regret!  Many of you will remember the fateful events of 2003 when BSE hit!  Suddenly our livelihood was worth nothing!  And in the spring of 2004, it became evident I would need to return to work to help subsidize the farm, but more importantly to feed and clothe our children.

I sent off my resume to Big Sky Farms, which was a hog barn 50 km away from our farm.  Within a week, I had an interview, and was hired part time, to work in the farrowing department in a 6,000 sow barn. This was a commercial herd – so all animals were basically destined to be bacon!  After about 4 months, I transferred to the nursery barns – which was 4 barns on one site, housing roughly 24,000 weanlings.  Again I was only part time, as my baby was only 1 1/2 years old, and I wanted to spend as much time as I could with my children.  After about a year – I started working full time at the nursery barn, and within a few months was promoted to the Nursery Manager.  Never in my wildest dreams growing up, did I imagine that I would be working with pigs, let alone managing a barn!  After 2 years of managing the Nursery Unit, an opportunity came up to manage the Sow herd – so I jumped at it!  I now had a responsibility of managing a herd of 6,000 sows, and leading a staff of 22 people!  I will never forget the words of my first production manager, he said “If all you had to do was look after the pigs, your job would be easy, it is the people that give you the problems.”  And right he was!  The pigs, most of their issues can be fixed with proper ventilation, feed, water and the occasional veterinary care, things are pretty simple!  The staff on the other hand, that is a whole other story!

Here is a little known fact for you, when I was in 4-H, I was on the provincial judging team that went to Agribition, and it was for judging pigs!  I used to be teased about this amongst the dairy kids, but I used to say that underneath all of the extra skin of that pig, is the same frame that we want in our dairy cows!  To this day, I still look at my sows and think of them like my dairy cows – if they don’t have a good set of feet and legs, properly positioned underneath, how can I expect her to perform!

I digress, I managed the farrowing barn down south until July of 2012,  At the time, my husband had left over 1 1/2 years earlier, and I was still living on the farm with my in-laws up until this point.  It was a very tricky situation – and mid July of 2012, my employment with Big Sky ended.  Shortly after we had the auction where we sold all of the farm equipment, and the cattle had all been sold the previous year.  This now allowed me to look for employment elsewhere, and start a new life for my children and I.

I sent in an application to Fast Genetics.  I knew they were a purebred pig company, but was not really sure where they were!  The day after my interview, I was offered the job – but before making this life changing decision, the kids and I drove up to Spiritwood, to check out the town, and see if it was some place we might like to live!  That first trip, we even managed to squeeze in looking at a few houses – and all felt that yes, this was a beautiful place that we might like to try out.  Long story short, within a time frame of 6 weeks from leaving my previous job, we packed up what had been my life for 17 years, a house was bought, and we moved 500 km away!

For the past 8 years, I have managed a “daughter” nucleus unit.  We breed, farrow, and sell purebred gilts to customers across North America.  The barn I manage now, is only 1,200 sows – however, the degree of detail that is needed daily is sometimes unbelievable!  At birth, every piglet is weighed, teats are counted (yes even the males), they are tagged with a distinct numerical ID, that is entered into a database where everything can be tracked.  Prior to this, every sow is selected to be bred to a specific boar, so that her offspring can reach the best genetic potential possible.  In July of 2015, the majority of the shares were purchased by a company out of Texas called Sexing Technologies.  They are well known in the cattle world for producing sex sorted semen – so that you can choose the offspring you prefer.  This however, has never been done in the pig world at all!  We are on the cutting edge of technology, and it is truly exciting to see how the company has grown, and achieved mini milestones along the way.

I guess what I am trying to say is don’t overlook any potential career opportunities.  As that little girl growing up, I thought I knew what I would do!  Never, did I imagine, that I would work with pigs, let alone manage a barn!  I will leave you all with a quote – it is a wall hanging that I purchased the day after the farm auction, I was at a very low point!  Every day after, I would look at it and “Believe!”

Believe.  Life is too short to wake up with regrets, so love the people who treat you right and forget the ones that don’t.  If you get a chance, TAKE IT!  If it changes your life, let it!  Believe Everything Happens for a Reason!