It’s National Veterinary Technician Week, and the Tulsa Zoo is celebrating the professionals who help keep its animals healthy — from a 130-year-old tortoise to a flamingo recovering from an injury.
Veterinary technicians like Jessie Cochran, a registered veterinary technician at the Tulsa Zoo, play a vital role in maintaining the health and wellness of every animal. Cochran spoke with News On 6’s Jayden Brannon about her work, the challenges of caring for such a wide variety of species, and what this week of recognition means to her.
Q: What do you do as a veterinary technician at the zoo?
A: “Our main job is to maintain the health and wellness of the animals,” Cochran said. “We go around and do treatments such as injections, blood draws, laser therapy or x-rays — multiple things we implement into the animals’ wellness plans to make sure they are healthy.”
Recently, another veterinary technician, Alesha Dodd, performed blood work on Al, the zoo’s 130-year-old Aldabra tortoise, to monitor his long-term health. Cochran also used laser therapy on Vicky the flamingo, who has a sore ankle that needs extra care.
Q: What is it like working with so many different animals?
A: “Every day is a new day and it’s so fun getting to learn all the different species and kind of how they react to things and how they work with things,” Cochran said. “Training them and trying to figure out new and creative ways to help them is just really exciting.”…