Teen Topics

aspiring [??spa??r??] adj. 有抱負的；有志向的

5. sound [sa?nd] adj. 牢固的；穩(wěn)當的

6. GI tract： 胃腸道

7. nuance [?nju?ɑ?ns] n. 細微差別

8. hardwired [?hɑ?d?wa??d] adj. （能力、方法、活動類型）基本的，固有的，無法改變的

9. delicate [?del?k?t] adj. 微妙的；棘手的；需要小心處理的

10. intervene [??nt??vi?n] vi. 干涉；介入

11. comatose [?k??m?t??s] adj. 昏迷的

12. hindquarters [?ha?nd?kw??t?z] n. （四足動物的）后腿及后臀

13. IV drip： 靜脈注射點滴

14. rehabilitation [?ri?h??b?l??te??n] n. 康復；恢復（正常生活）

15. hands-off： 不插手的，不干涉的

16. carnivore [?kɑ?n?v??（r）] n. 食肉動物

17. neonatal [?ni????ne?tl] adj. 新生兒的

18. falter [?f??lt?（r）] vi. 蹣跚；搖晃

19. intensive [?n?tens?v] adj. 加強的；集中的；密集的

Dr. Bronson studied in Germany as an exchange student， but both there and in the United States， what you learn about in vet school is domestic animals. Interestingly， though， she doesnt see this as a problem. When she advises aspiring4） zoo vets， she says， "Often theyll choose a vet school based on how many unusual patients theyll see or what their wildlife program is. I personally dont think thats very important. The important thing is to get a really sound5） medical background."

That works out because when you finally meet the other species， whats kind of cool is how much is the same.

"Weve all got the same parts，" she says. "Everyone has some kind of heart-like organ， everyone has some kind of GI tract6）， everyone has nerves. All the way down to a worm or a spider， its all more or less the same stuff. If you have that basic comparative background， then a giraffe is much like a cow， a lion is much like a cat， and the nuances7） are what we teach."

One big challenge in working with wild animals is that it can be very difficult to tell when theyre sick. "Even a cat is very good at hiding symptoms，" she says. "Theyre hardwired8） to not show symptoms at any cost， because if they were in the wild， that would be a death sentence."

When you do realize theres a problem， it can be a delicate9） balancing act to decide when and how aggressively to intervene10）， because these creatures are more easily stressed than domestic animals. And when you do decide to treat， youve often got to figure out how to care for an animal that cant be physically handled. Recently the zoos North American river otter， Elvis， who at 17 is quite elderly， had a sudden neurological problem， leaving him almost comatose11） at first， and weak in his hindquarters12）.

"It was very tricky—like having an ICU patient that you couldnt touch，" she says. "If this were a dog， we could have run an IV drip13） and had him on all kinds of IV meds， and wed be able to go in and turn him every half hour. We werent able to do that." When the otter was well enough for long-term rehabilitation14）， that also had to be hands-off15）. A physical therapist suggested ways to encourage certain behaviors in the water， so he was given an obstacle course and food-filled toys that sank so he had to dive after them.

A success like Elvis is obviously hugely satisfying， but Dr. Bronson says that even the cases that dont work out as well can be rewarding. "You also have the failures， which are hard at the time， but they help not just you but the whole zoo community learn，" she says.

And， of course， another reward of the job is getting to work with really awesome animals. "I really like the carnivores16）—theyre very tough， and you can get them through amazing things，" she says. "If youre going to have a medical miracle， its going to be with one of them. They just have that evolutionary fight in them."

Finally， another reward of her job is how often she gets to work with an animal over its entire lifespan.

"Were there doing that neonatal17） exam when theyre born， we watch them grow up， and every time they fall and falter18） along the way， were there to fix them，" she says. "And we watch them as they age， which is often the time when a lot of the more intensive19） care happens. We help them age gracefully and help them be pain-free， and then were also there when they pass. That is something very special."

工作中的挑戰(zhàn)

布朗森醫(yī)生曾作為交換生赴德國留學，但不管是在德國還是在美國，在獸醫(yī)學校學到的只是如何醫(yī)治家養(yǎng)動物。不過，有趣的是，她并沒有把這點看作問題。當她給有志成為動物園獸醫(yī)的人提供建議時，她說：“通常他們選擇獸醫(yī)學?？吹氖撬麄冊谀抢飳\療多少種不尋常的動物患者，或者可以參與什么樣的野生動物項目，而我個人認為這些都沒那么重要，重要的是要獲得真正扎實的醫(yī)學背景?！?/p>

這很有用，因為你最終會碰到其他種類的動物，而比較酷的是這些動物是多么相似。

“我們都有相同的器官，”她說，“每個動物都有某種類似心臟的器官，有類似胃腸道的東西，也都有神經系統(tǒng)。哪怕小到一只蟲子或一只蜘蛛，它們也都差不多擁有同樣的器官。如果你擁有這種基本的動物比較醫(yī)學的背景知識，那么你會發(fā)現(xiàn)長頸鹿很像奶牛，獅子很像貓，而我們所要教的就是其中的細微差別?！?/p>

給野生動物看病所面臨的最大挑戰(zhàn)便是很難識別出來它們是否生病了?！熬瓦B貓咪都很善于隱藏自己的病癥，”布朗森醫(yī)生說，“它們天生就會不惜一切代價掩蓋自己生病的癥狀，因為如果它們在野外生活，一旦露出病相就意味著被判了死刑?！?/p>

因為動物園里的動物要比家養(yǎng)動物更容易焦慮不安，所以當你確實意識到動物患病后，該何時進行醫(yī)療干預、實施多大程度的醫(yī)治，這個度很微妙，不好把握。而當你真要下決心給動物治療時，你還常常要想出辦法來照料這些無法理療的動物。最近（編注：英文原文發(fā)表于2013年），動物園一只名叫埃爾維斯的北美河獺突然患上了神經系統(tǒng)疾病，這只河獺17歲了，已經到了相當老的年齡，疾病使它一開始就幾乎昏迷，后腿及后臀變得無力。

“這種情況很棘手，就像你有一個住在重癥監(jiān)護室里的病人，可你卻不能觸碰他，”布朗森醫(yī)生說，“如果是一只狗，我們還可以給它打點滴，輸送各種靜脈藥物；我們還能進病房，每半小時給它翻一次身。但是我們沒法對河獺做這些?！碑敽荧H身體恢復得差不多，可以進行長期康復訓練時，同樣必須停止人工干預。物理治療師建議了一些鼓勵河獺在水中多做某些動作的方法，于是我們就給它開設了越障訓練課程，在水中放入了可以沉到水下的裝滿食物的玩具，這樣它就會潛入水中去追尋食物。

很顯然，像治好河獺埃爾維斯這樣的成功會帶來巨大的滿足感，但是布朗森醫(yī)生認為，那些不太成功的案例也可能讓大家受益?！澳阋矔庥鍪?，當時你會覺得難以忍受，但是失敗的經歷不僅讓你也讓整個動物園學到東西?！彼f。

當然，這份工作的另一項好處便是可以醫(yī)治那些真正可怕的動物。“我真的很喜歡食肉動物，它們很堅強，你可以幫它們度過很了不起的境況，”她說，“如果你要創(chuàng)造醫(yī)學奇跡，那么奇跡必定發(fā)生在這種動物身上。它們體內就是有一種進化的戰(zhàn)斗精神?！?/p>

最后，她做獸醫(yī)還有一個好處，那便是她常?？梢耘惆閯游飯@的動物走過它們的一生。

“它們一出生，我們就在它們身邊給它們做新生兒檢查；我們看著它們長大；成長路上它們每次步履蹣跚或跌倒，我們都會施以援手，”她說，“我們看著它們老去，這時候我們常常需要對它們進行大量的、更加頻繁的護理。我們幫助它們優(yōu)雅地老去，幫它們免除痛苦。當它們離開的時候，我們也陪伴在那里。這真是非常特殊的經歷。”