What is it like working and living in Alaska?
It is like living in another country. Things that affect the "lower 48", like economic ups and downs, don't always affect us because of our unique resources such as oil and fishing. It is not unusual for someone to tell you they don't "ship, fly or offer services" in foreign countries.
Living in Alaska seems normal to me, but when I travel to the lower 48, I experience culture shock. It is always hard to comprehend how many people there are. The highways are crowded, and the stimulation from bulletin boards, flashing lights, car lights, neon signs, noise and the crowds is overwhelming. We do not have freeways like you have, and our maximum speed limit of 65 only exists close to Anchorage. Elsewhere, it is still 55 mph.
People wonder how we deal with so much darkness, but I really don't notice it. I do notice the change in the amount of daylight when we lose or gain light by six to seven minutes a day. When you are traveling, people ask how much daylight you have and you have to calculate about 45 minutes a week difference. It becomes hard to sleep in the spring when the sunlight comes beaming in 7 minutes earlier every day. Suddenly you find yourself waking up at 4 or 5 a.m. and feeling like its time to get up.
During the summer one of my favorite activities is gardening, and I love to work outside in the garden at 11 pm or midnight! It is very peaceful and the
birds are singing. This is common in Alaska. We go at a very fast and furious pace all summer with the long days.
Alaskans also have a hard time leaving their winter clothing behind. We like a coat "just in case." On my first trip to Mexico, I packed long johns. I just couldn't leave them!
What drew you to live in Alaska?
I wanted a place that had a lot of adventure. I've been all around the US and knew big cities weren't for me. I liked the mountains, the wildlife and adventure. I had never been to Alaska and chose to do one of my senior veterinary preceptorships here to see if this is where I wanted to
live after graduation. I fell in love with the state.
Everywhere I turned it seemed there was another adventure waiting to happen. I fell in love with the land, the beauty, the people's spirit of adventure and the closeness to nature. You never seem to be able to quite grasp the beauty. Whenever I leave for vacation, something always reminds me that I belong in Alaska and I want to return.
What is it like being a vet in Alaska?
What amazes my veterinary comrades in the lower 48 is our lack of the "annoyances" they have. We do not have a large parasite problem, including intestinal worms, fleas or heartworms. Even though salmon
fishing is a main industry and when you think of Alaska you think of salmon,
we do not have salmon poisoning here in Anchorage. If an animal has
allergies, we have been able to do allergy testing and successful
hyposensitization because we don't have fleas.
Comrades have asked me how we make a living up here and I reply "by
doing medicine." We see old age diseases, hormonal conditions, and
metabolic diseases. We may need to treat a case from the "bush" that can't be rechecked easily, because of the logistics to get the animal back to the vets. The animal needs to be fixed before returning and we may board them awhile to be sure everything is OK before returning them to their home.
If a male cat has a urinary obstruction in the bush, it can be fatal due to the
length of time before they can get in. Therefore I have seen more perineal
urethrostomies done on cats that would not have been done if they lived
where they could be rechecked faster or lived in Anchorage.
I have worked on the Iditarod which is a unique way to see "Bush Alaska." I have been to many of the towns along the Iditarod trail. We may work 36 hours non-stop at the beginning but then the rest comes and there is time to play and enjoy the beauty.
What was your most memorable case?
I treated a dog that was fishing with its owner in a boat, fell overboard and got cut by the propeller. It came to our emergency clinic by boat, followed by plane from the bush to Anchorage, then car to our clinic. It had severe injuries including an open fracture to its front leg, and was in shock. After many days to stabilize it prior to surgery, it did recover.
I have talked to people describing a cat with urinary obstruction living in the bush. Unfortunately there is no way to help a cat with that condition without anesthesia, and it cold not survive the 2 days until it could be flown into Anchorage from the bush. They chose to end its suffering on their own.
I have friends that live on an oyster farm in Prince William Sound. I periodically see their cats when we visit them and they bring them in for procedures I cannot do out there.
I once had a client that kept describing their dog being constipated. I dispensed laxatives to help her pass a stool. She did finally pass a stool. The owners were flabbergasted as it measured 21 inches long. They were very upset and brought it in to me, wrapped in saran wrap and tinfoil and froze it to keep it preserved. The dog only measured 19 inches long. "How could this be?" they asked. It should have been coming out her mouth! They thought I had done something wrong, but I explained we had gotten her to pass her stool and yes, she had been very constipated.
I also had a dog vomiting and unable to have her puppies. She was
dehydrated so we started her on fluids while taking radiographs and doing
blood work. She began whelping while we were waiting on results. When we took a post whelping radiograph to look for any remaining puppies, we saw a large bolt in her stomach. That had been the cause of the vomiting and not eating. So we took her to surgery to remove the foreign body from her stomach and she recovered nicely and raised all the puppies.
