{"id":42245,"date":"2022-02-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/kids-and-kittens-middle-school-students-learn-veterinary-science-by-caring-for-cats\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:05:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:05:55","slug":"kids-and-kittens-middle-school-students-learn-veterinary-science-by-caring-for-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/kids-and-kittens-middle-school-students-learn-veterinary-science-by-caring-for-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids and kittens: Middle school students learn veterinary science by caring for cats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Nico
Nico keeps an eye on Colton Cheese, 14, as he does his school work Thursday during his veterinary science class at Escalante Middle School. The class is raising four kittens. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Students in teacher Lu Boren\u2019s veterinary science class at Escalante Middle School have been tasked with a great responsibility: Keeping four kittens safe and healthy as they grow enough to become eligible for adoption.<\/p>\n

The kittens under the class\u2019 care are the second litter Boren has ever introduced to her veterinary science class. The first litter was hosted in the first quarter of this school year. It started as a community service, Boren said Thursday. The kittens came from La Plata County Humane Society, and that\u2019s where they\u2019ll return for adoption when they grow to weigh at least 2 pounds.<\/p>\n

Colleen Dunning, local Humane Society foster coordinator, said in an email that fostering is essential for the Humane Society.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (the students) are learning the essential role that fosters play in animal welfare while learning the basics of animal care,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Boren\u2019s lesson plan has expanded since the first litter of kittens. This semester, students are helping their science teacher give the kittens vaccinations and dewormers that will help protect them from potentially life-threatening diseases, she said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, students finished the last of three presentations about the diseases the shots will protect the kittens from. The group presentation focused on feline panleukopenia virus, or feline distemper.<\/p>\n

Feline distemper is also an easily transmissible, life-threatening virus that primarily affects kittens 2 to 6 months old. Luckily for Boren\u2019s litter of approximately 7-week-old kittens, they have already been vaccinated.<\/p>\n

\"A
A kitten gets weighed on Thursday as part of a veterinary science class at Escalante Middle School. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Transmission of the virus that causes feline distemper occurs through contact with infected blood or other bodily fluids, the students explained. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, fever, rough hair, depression and neurological issues.<\/p>\n

Boren asked the class how people can tell if a cat is depressed. After discussion, students settled on a lack of interest in food and sad or lethargic behavior.<\/p>\n

The treatments for a kitten sick with feline distemper are hospitalization, isolation and the restoration of body fluids to improve the kitten\u2019s electrolyte balance, students said. The best prevention for keeping a kitten safe is relatively simple: vaccination and good hygiene.<\/p>\n

Students weigh the kittens each time they come to class to track their growth. Boren has the students make predictions about the kittens\u2019 projected growth and then later record their observations.<\/p>\n

The kittens are being weaned off their mother, Nani, who hasn\u2019t accompanied her litter for the last two veterinary science classes.<\/p>\n

\"Juliana
Juliana McKown, 13, left, and Aubrey Bleth, 13, do school work on Thursday in their veterinary science class as one of the four kittens the class is raising walks around the table at Escalante Middle School. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Where is Nani now? She is living with one of Boren\u2019s students, Makenna Bard. Bard is fostering the mother cat until she can be spayed at the Humane Society. After that, Bard said, she hopes to adopt the cat permanently \u2013 if she and her mom can convince her dad.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Bard\u2019s first time working with felines. She temporarily took Boren\u2019s last batch of kittens home over Christmas break and watched the current batch over a recent three-day weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI volunteered with the Humane Society with my older sister when I was younger,\u201d she said. \u201cI fell in love with the last batch of kittens, so I became an official foster for the Humane Society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bard said she\u2019s always loved animals and wants to become a veterinarian some day. She\u2019s also had her sights set on being in Boren\u2019s veterinary science class for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cVet science is very fun, and I\u2019m very grateful for the opportunity to foster the kittens,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I want to thank Ms. Boren.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jazlynn
Jazlynn Smart, 14, and Reid Ruecker, 13, weigh one of the four kittens their veterinary science class is caring for at Escalante Middle School. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Boren shares Bard\u2019s enthusiasm for veterinary science. She said it is one of her favorite classes to teach. Boren, who has a biology and farming background, said she loves learning about animals and taking care of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most popular classes in the school,\u201d she said. \u201cAdding these (kittens) to it has just been a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sue McGovern, a special paraeducator, works with students in the Affirmative Education program. She said play time with the kittens motivates some of her students to focus on their school work. For one boy, having a kitten to comfort helped him socialize with other students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll walk down the hall and he\u2019s in charge of that kitten,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019ll let everyone pet it. That\u2019s helped him feel more comfortable being in the halls when other kids are out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"The
The veterinary science class at Escalante Middle School is temporarily raising four kittens from the La Plata County Humane Society. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

includes a crash course in disease, vaccines and good hygiene<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1737,1086,155,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-agricultural-research-and-technology","tag-durango-school-district-9-r","tag-education","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85272,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42245\/revisions\/85272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42245"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}