Take Your Dog to School Day?! Dr. Sehgal Hosts Veterinary Comparative Counseling

Did you know the most common medication categories that pharmacies receive for pets are antibiotics, anti-seizure and behavior modifying medications?
Inder Sehgal, DVM, PhD, Chair of the Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences department at CHSU College of Pharmacy, recently hosted a very popular Veterinary Comparative Counseling elective class where students were invited to bring in their own dogs and learn aspects of physical exams and ways to administer medications to pets.
Using flavors such as tuna, students prepared an oil suspension, oral medication to treat hyperthyroid in cats. Students also mixed the thyroid drug into a trans-dermal (“across the skin”) cream for cats that do not like to eat pills.  This drug form is applied on the ear and it is made by adding a drug powder to cream and then mixing them by pushing the cream back and forth between two syringes. Dr. Robert Clegg also participated in the class by instructing the proper technique for CPR on a medium-sized dog using Casper, the mannequin.
After the classroom instruction and activities, the class visited Fresno Chaffee Zoo to learn how exotic animals are dosed, what routes are used to administer compounded drugs, and what common diseases affect zoo animals. Dr. Shannon Nodolf, DVM, Veterinarian at the Zoo, discussed the differences between treating zoo animals, pets and people at the Fresno Zoo’s Education Center. She also gave a tour of the treatment facilities that included X-ray machines and surgical facilities for the Zoo’s animals within the Fresno Chaffee Zoo Hospital.
The students all enjoyed their field trip and hands-on learning experiences. CHSU is proud to have our own faculty Veterinarian to help introduce students to the subspecialty of Veterinary Pharmacy. We look forward to hosting more opportunities like this at CHSU in the future! Click here to see some photos of the Veterinary Comparative Counseling and Fresno Chaffee Zoo trip on our Facebook page.
Click here to see some photos of the Veterinary Comparative Counseling and Fresno Chaffee Zoo trip on our Facebook page