VN November 2022

Vetnuus | November 2022 48 To continue with my nostalgic trip through the last 50 years. Onderstepoort, at that stage, admitted 45 students per year. Of these, between five and seven were female, and many were farmers' sons or daughters. It resulted in a well-supplied rural community because many returned to their roots. Many of the farmers also considered veterinary work not to be suitable for ladies. The OP training was very hands-on, with each student being afforded the opportunity to do at least five spays unaided and plenty of pregnancy tests and other first-day requirements. The Outpatients and Abulatory clinics also gave plenty of exposure to the day-to-day aspects of veterinary science. The State veterinary services had a great structure with very competent and energetic vets looking after the health of the country's animals. Diseases were well controlled with minimal risk. Ondersterpoort Research Laboratories was world acclaimed and had a vaccine production unit that was of World class. There were seldom shortages of needed vaccines, and they were even exported to many countries. The Foot and Mouth Research Unit was considered the Gold Standard. In 1974, Veterinary science was pretty primitive. Chloral Hydrate, GGE and Sagatal were the available anaesthetics with highly unpredictable results. Misalliance was a regular because not many dogs had been spayed, and garden restraints were in many case not functional, or deemed unnecessary – dogs roamed the streets, and this resulted in unwanted pregnancies and plenty of broken limbs. Pregnancy tests took up a lot of the large-animals practitioners' time, and they were all done manually – no ultrasounds!!! Plenty of horned cattle made handling a risky business. Milking was done by machine on most farms, but some still did hand milking, and cowpox was uncommon. Prices? A consult was between R2.50 and R3.50, and a spay was around R14 to R20. Horse castration was about R100; the practice went very well if you did R300 in professional fees a day. A recently qualified graduate could expect to earn R500 per month, and a good house would cost R30,000 with a brand new Hilux Bakkie costing R1500; yes, three months' salary would buy a new bakkie and a good place to stay at a 60 months' salary. Try that today! Another thing that was very restricting in the vet profession was that every October the SAVA would put out a recommended fees schedule. This list suggestsed fees depending on the practice location and gave upper and lower maximum and minimum rates. Then the Competitions Board ruled this to be illegal due to collusion. Advertising was a definite no-no. Boy, how times have changed. v Life plus 23 without parole Mike Lowry Mike Lowry has been in veterinary practice for "life plus 23" years. In this column, he shares his experiences and opinions . Regulars I Life plus 23 + 23