April 14, 2009 Meeting Minutes • WE HAVE PIZZA!
• This coming Saturday is the open house at the vet school. The club will be meeting at 11:00 am in the same room as our meetings.
• The next meeting is our last meeting. We need officers for the club, so we need nominations. Just give a brief statement about yourself, and then we’ll vote.

• Exotic animals is an area of strength, so they got very nice facilities. There are four faculty members, two of which take care of the animals in the clinic and the other two take care of the animals at the Knoxville zoo and the Tiger Haven.
• They also take care of animals at Dollywood and the Smokey Mountain National Park.
• They have two residents as well.
• We have one of the largest exotic animal medicine departments in the country.
• There are no venomous reptiles in the vet school because there is a large liability issue. There are hardcore reptile people that will take care of the venomous reptiles. Florida requires a venomous snake permit. Dogs have been trained to track snakes.
• Venomous reptiles are seen at the zoo.
• Bearded Dragons are better pets than Green Iguanas because the iguanas don’t usually live past their first year as pets because people don’t know how to take care of them. Green Iguanas become aggressive during mating season after sexual maturity. Bearded Dragons don’t get as big, they are easier to feed, and they recognize their owners and have their own personalities.
• Chameleons should not be in the pet trade, either.
• Crocodiles are all fairly dangerous. American Alligators are not in the pet trade and are illegal.
• There are many diagnostic procedures for reptiles. Surgeries, ultrasound, xrays, etc.
• The vet school sees many birds. Radiographs, ultrasounds, can be done on birds. There is much supportive care with smaller birds.
• You should learn diagnostic techniques and surgeries on domestic animals and then apply it to exotic animals.
• The only animal illegal in TN is a purebred wolf. But other large animals, such as large cats, can be obtained with permits. Cheetahs cannot be bought on the internet. Large cats have the same problems as small cats, but they are so much bigger that there are problems with doing certain procedures on them. UT does not defang or declaw cats. Dental procedures are common in large cats.
• Are exotic cats good pets? Small cats can be obtained without a permit, but not larger cats. Mortality rate for exotic cats is very high because people don’t know how to take care of them. Many people give up their exotic cats once they have grown past kitten stage. Facilities that take care of these given up cats are usually inadequate because they have no government funding.
• The Knoxville zoo doesn’t have a large hoof department (deer, elk, etc.). Drugs are reversible; animals go down quickly, but they also recover very quickly.
• The zoo has chimpanzees and gorillas but not orangutans. These can be difficult to work with because they are very intelligent. The main cause of death in male gorillas is heart disease, so they ultrasound the gorillas every year.
• Most of the cats at Tiger Haven can be brought to the vet school awake, but at the zoo they have to keep the cats asleep for longer.
• Most cases are not routine in zoo medicine.
• In Europe, it’s completely illegal to declaw any cat (including domestic) unless it’s for a medical reason. Now it’s also illegal to dock tails and crop ears in Europe. It’s also illegal to descent a ferret.