Routine vet visits keep pets ready for disaster

By Susan Collins-Smith
MSU Ag Communications

JACKSON – Getting routine health care for family pets is just as important as having a fully-stocked emergency kit and a home evacuation plan when preparing for disasters.
“After a disaster, many animals must be boarded because their homes are damaged or they are injured or lost,” said Dr. Carla Huston, veterinarian and associate professor in the Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine at Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “In a boarding setting, animals may be exposed to other animals that are carrying diseases that may not be visually evident.” Read More....

Three MSU students chosen for prestigious UN internships

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Through separate summer internships with the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization, three Mississippi State students will be helping people around the world achieve food security.
Selected to work with FAO regional offices are Victoria L. Hall of Newton, Ohio, a third-year veterinary medicine major at the university; senior business administration major Casie E. Leavell of Moody, Ala.; and junior Shelly L. Johnston of Mount Olive, a food science, nutrition and health promotion major. Read more...

Employee of the Month

Congratulations Tonya Calmes, student affairs, admissions assistant for being awarded CVM's March employee of the month.

MSU veterinarians save dog attacked by coyote

By Keri Collins Lewis
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – When Dutch, a miniature dachshund, arrived at Mississippi State University’s Animal Health Center at the College of Veterinary Medicine, he was lucky to be alive.
“Most people would have put him to sleep, but I thought he had a chance,” said Dr. Robert Shamblin, Dutch’s owner and a veterinarian for over 40 years. “He wanted to live.”
Dutch was attacked by a coyote on his morning outing with Shamblin’s wife at their home outside of Tuscaloosa.
“When he came in the house, I saw that he had puncture wounds on each side of his chest,” Shamblin said. “I wrapped him up, took him to my clinic, cleaned his wounds, gave him IVs and medication, and sutured him up as best as I could. On one side of his rib cage he was split three inches along his intercostal muscles. We sewed any tissue we could get to cover the wound.”  More....

Morgan Freeman fund for scholarships

By Keri Collins Lewis
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The generosity of one of Mississippi’s most famous residents attracts veterinary students from diverse cultural backgrounds to the Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman established the Morgan Freeman Endowment for Veterinary Medicine in 1998 to make a quality education available to young Mississippians interested in veterinary careers. Funds from the endowment are awarded to a veterinary student who meets the qualifications Freeman established to help the college aggressively recruit underrepresented minority students.  More...

Heart's passions will make the best careers

 By Linda Breazeale
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Even though she did not grow up on a farm, Dr. Cyprianna “Chipper” Swiderski grew up in the Baltimore area with a love for horses.
That love carried her through two graduate degrees, an internship, a residency and nearly 25 years as an equine practitioner. Now, she is a faculty member in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
“I loved the idea of being a veterinarian, but I also considered engineering. The key to career choices is finding your passion. What will hold your interest when you are exhausted? For me, that answer, ‘horses,’ is rooted in a very special bond I found with them as a child,” she said.  Read More....

Employee of the Month Stephanie Huffman

Congratulations to Stephanie Huffman, CVM's employee of the month for January!  Stephanie has been at the CVM since 2004, working as an administrative assistant in Research and Graduate Studies, helping faculty get their grants submitted, among many other duties.  Even though the grant submission process was new to Stephanie when she started, she's become adept at the process.  "It's a good feeling when one of those grants is awarded after all the work that goes into getting it submitted," she says.  Stephanie and her husband Clint have two daughters: Hanna Clare (8), and Chesley (3).   Outside of work, Stephanie enjoys gardening, reading, camping, and spending time with her family.