Nov 02, 2008 - 04:05:28 CST
CAVALIER (AP) - Left hand deep inside a cow, right hand braced against the Hereford's hip to get more leverage, his face pressed against her flank, Dr. Ben Stegman grimaced with the effort to find the calf inside.With a smile, Stegman turned his head to talk to the farmer standing by with an anxious look on his face.
"I think we made it Lloyd. I think the calf is feeling pretty normal," he said.
Stegman, 25, the first veterinarian in Cavalier in 75 years, was out on a farm call on this early October day. Although he could have been a veterinarian practically anywhere - there are three or four jobs available in the United States for every veterinary college graduate - he likes being in a rural area.
His veterinary practice called North Country Veterinary Clinic, which treats cows, horses and other livestock, is bucking a trend. About 85 percent of today's veterinary college graduates go into a small animal practice, he said, but he chose large animals because he likes the relationships he develops with their owners.
"It means a lot to me to be in production animal veterinary medicine, helping with food production. You become part of these little family units. You're going to be involved in 4-H, in their victories, in their miseries," he said.
In the case of Lloyd Veer's cow, this visit was a victory. A week earlier, Stegman had given the cow, which was suffering from "wooden tongue," a shot of sodium iodide, which could have caused it to abort its calf. The treatment was necessary to save the cow, which had a rigid tongue as a result of infection it had developed from a cut that had come in contact with a bacteria in the soil. If Stegman had not treated the cow, it would have starved to death because it couldn't eat.
"She was just going downhill, downhill. She was nothing but bones and skin," Veer said.
A week after Stegman's visit, the cow's tongue was nearly back to normal and it was eating again. In fact, the cow was doing so well that Stegman told Veer he could turn it back out in the pasture with the rest of the herd.
Veer was pleased, not only about the cow's health, but about having a veterinarian within 20 miles.
"I think it's a good idea," he said. In the 60 years he's owned cattle, he said he had to have a veterinarian from either Park River or from Greenbush, Minn., both 100 mile roundtrip drives from his farm near Walhalla.
Before Stegman left, he told Veer to keep an eye on the cow and call him if anything changed for the worse.
Back in the car, driving back to his practice, Stegman talked with a visitor about how much he enjoyed his work.
Cavalier is a good location because he wanted daughters, Emily, 3, and Elise, 1½, to grow up close to their grandparents, he said. He and his wife, Heather, married in 2004, during his first year of veterinary school at Iowa State University in Ames.
The couple met online in 2001 when Heather, who lived in Saskatchewan at the time, asked him a veterinary question about her Jersey cattle. She no longer owns the Jersey cattle - they have a menagerie of other animals and fowl including a horse, pig and chickens.
Cavalier offered him a building lease-free for a year. Stegman said opening a practice is costly. He said veterinary students are told they should expect to spend from $300,000 to $400,000, not counting the real estate.
Stegman has converted the showroom of the former dealership into the patient waiting room and several offices into an exam room, surgery room, radiology room and laboratory.
As he reflects on his six months in practice, Stegman believes Cavalier is the right place to be.
"Being here has allowed me a lot of opportunity for both my personal goals and professional to be fulfilled," he said.
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