Legacy

Vet school 101: You can’t be a veterinarian just because you don’t like people.

“That’s the first thing they tell you in vet school,” Professor Gary Sod explained when I met him in his office. He then confessed that was the reason he chose vet school to study medicine. “I don’t like people,” he said with a chuckle.

An assistant professor of farm animal medicine and surgery in the LSU vet school, Sod said he has always liked medicine, surgery and orthopedics. Originally from Berkeley, California, Sod came to Louisiana to teach applied mathematics and physics at Tulane University. It was his wife who talked him into going to veterinary school, which brought him to LSU.

Only two tattered, leather chairs welcomed visitors into Sod’s office, along with a model set of front and rear horse legs towering in a corner. On one wall hung a dry erase board covered with the illegible scribbles of a doctor. Another wall was home to a bookshelf stuffed with vet books and scattered bones.

Sod’s attraction to helping animals came early in his life. “I brought home stray dogs as a kid,” he told me. After rescuing the dogs, he would feed and take care of them, keeping most and finding homes for others.

Today, Sod spends the majority of his time at the LSU Large Animal Clinic helping animals in a different way. His research focuses on decreasing the number of horses that are euthanized due to leg fractures. LSU is currently the only school in the country whose vet program designs implants for large animals, particularly horses.

Few fractures are ever successfully repaired in adult horses, although the small animal implant field is highly sophisticated, Sod said. In many cases, methods and implants used in humans can be used for fracture repairs in small animals such as dogs. But a leg implant made for a 160-pound person won’t work on a 1,000- to 1,200-pound horse.

Sod explained that the success rate of repairing fractures is so low, euthanizing a horse is often seen by owners and veterinarians as the only choice left. “I think it is unacceptable that horses don’t have an option,” Sod said.

High-profile cases of racehorses like Eight Belles (who was euthanized on the track during the Kentucky Derby in 2008) and Barbaro (who was euthanized after hospitalization in 2007) have helped shed more light on large animal fracture repair, Sod said. He designs implants that are both large and efficient to keep horses and other animals comfortable enough to live through a fracture wound.

The process of designing an implant is tedious. Sod begins by coming up with a design, which he tests on a computer to see what changes need to be made. “After I am satisfied with the computer model, I have a machine that makes the limb,” he said. He then tests the implant in a cadaver, or a leg that he has harvested from a euthanized horse.

The success rate of horse leg implants is low mainly because a horse implant must be able to work immediately. “Horses stand right after surgery,” Sod said. This makes them very difficult patients.

One of the most memorable moments in Sod’s career was the first time he placed an implant that he personally designed into a horse. “There’s a difference between testing implants and actually putting it into a live animal and seeing that it works,” Sod said.

Sod’s most publicized case was Molly, a pony that was rescued after her owners abandoned her following Hurricane Katrina. She had been attacked by pit bulls, resulting in the loss of a leg. Sod assisted with the amputation of Molly’s leg and helped design the original prosthetic device. Sod described Molly as a “sweet, docile” horse, which he said was helpful in the success of her surgery. At 700 pounds, Molly’s size worked in her favor. “Had she been bigger or had a worse temperament, it wouldn’t have worked,” Sod said.

Throughout his career, Sod has performed surgery on many animals, not just horses. The list includes cattle, bulls, sheep, goats, llamas and even kangaroos. Sod has treated problems ranging from fractured limbs and gastrointestinal complications to trauma wounds and birthing dilemmas. According to Sod, helping cows deliver is a “fairly common” procedure.

“I try to stay emotionally detached from my patients,” Sod said with a sigh, though he admitted he takes it personally if an animal dies or has to be put down. Sod said his interaction with the animals outside of surgery is what he enjoys most about his job.

Sod joked openly about his discomfort around large groups. (Apparently, two people in Sod’s office at once is bordering on a crowd.) Teaching lecture classes comes with the territory of his duties as a professor, but Sod is much more comfortable during his time in clinics. “I like working with students,” he said. “That’s why I stayed in a vet school.”

Sod finds comfort in his weekend hobby as well. “I fly planes,” he said casually, as if piloting were something everyone did in their spare time. Sod enjoys the solitude of flying, describing the experience as quiet and relaxing. He said seeing hawks and eagles in the sky less than 15 feet away is beautiful. His attraction to flying isn’t such a contrast with his work as an animal surgeon. When flying, Sod said he always searches for a lift to keep the glider up. And with large animal orthopedic surgery, he continues to search for new technology to keep animals up and moving.

Professor Gary Sod probably won’t be nominated for Mr. Congeniality at the LSU Equine Hospital’s Christmas party this year. But however shy Sod may be, he is still outstanding in his profession. As he told me, “I enjoy being able to put an animal back into a better quality of life.”