Budding vets get hands-on lessons

Nigel the chinchilla was on a roll.

In a supersized hamster ball, the dark-gray rodent tooled around the hardwood floor of the conference room, occasionally banging into a wall in his exuberance.

Gracie Harvey was singing “Go, Nigel. You're a rock star. Go, Nigel,” a chant that some of the other kids around the table took up briefly.

Gracie, 10, from Parkview Heights Elementary School in La Vista, was one of 22 children taking part in Oxbow Animal Health's Junior Vet Camp held this week at Vatterott College near 120th and I Streets. Oxbow, based in Murdock, Neb., manufactures veterinary products and small-animal food.

“I really enjoy animals,” Gracie said. “This is awesome.”

Ashley Murray, a veterinary tech student at Vatterott, played host for the chinchilla portion of the day. She ran through the do's and don'ts of chinchilla care — tip: always pick them up by the tail — and offered information on the rodents.

Nathan Reuss, a 10-year-old from Anderson Grove Elementary School in Bellevue, peppered Murray with questions about Nigel: How much does he weigh? How old is he? Does he have a big cage?

“I've always liked animals … and I think they're really interesting” said Nathan, who has two dogs and a lot of fish, and wants to be a veterinarian someday. “I would really like to help them.”

After Murray's presentation, the students came up one at a time to pet a jittery Nigel and marvel at his fur.

“It's so soft,” said Emily Downs, 10.

Kara Baker, program coordinator for Oxbow, said the camp is designed to get kids interested and excited about careers working with animals and to teach respect for animals.

Monday, the children toured the campus and learned about chinchillas. The week will continue with various activities, including listening to animal hearts, making crafts and performing a mock surgery on a stuffed animal.

Emily and her sister Lauren Downs, also 10, described themselves as “major horse lovers.” The twins, who attend Louisville Elementary, said their family owns horses.

“Ever since we were 5 or 6, we wanted to take care of animals,” Lauren said.

“Big animals,” added her sister.

Veterinarian Joni Brunssen, director of the veterinary technician program at Vatterott, fielded questions in the college's exotic animals room, which featured reptiles. She gently cautioned against poking fingers into cages and called attention to an unusually active Russian tortoise named Svetlana.

Brunssen was pleased at the children's excitement.

“It's an awesome experience to see the interest that they have,” said Brunssen. “There's a good chance a lot of these kids may grow up to work in this field, and the spark starts now.”