Exotic Animals Abroad and at Home

For a graduate of both Tufts’ undergraduate and veterinary schools, a worldly and varied schooling led to a rewarding position as one of three vets on staff at a small Texas clinic.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [12.01.04] Eric Brum traveled around the world learning how to be a veterinarian. But when he looked for a place to settle down, the Tufts graduate and Fulbright Scholar decided to become one of three vets in charge of the Foskey Veterinary Clinic in Orange, Texas

“He seemed like such a nice guy and his experience was so diverse,” Dr. Jason Foskey, owner of the clinic, told the Orange (Texas) Leader. “He had been to Africa and had been over to Brazil. And even though we don’t have a lot of those animals over here, the owners of the exotic animals we do have – they wanted medicine as good as the people over in Houston and San Antonio and Austin get.”

The 26-year-old Brum – a Providence, R.I., native who studied in Brazil, Mozambique and South Africa after earning both his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at Tufts – knew he wanted a clinic where he could put some of these unique lessons to use – and he found it at the four-year-old Foskey Clinic.

“My interests are in a variety of species but particularly in exotic species as well as in cats and dogs, so I was looking for a thoroughly mixed practice,” he said. “It’s actually hard to find this kind of practice, because they’re giving way to specialized practices.”

Through his diverse studies, Brum learned to be flexible in his approach to diagnosis.

“The first thing you got from it is there are many ways to look at the same problems,” Brum told the Leader. For example, he explained that quick action is imperative for birds because their rapid heartbeats means illness can quickly threaten their lives.

Revisiting old policies – even those concerning the care of less exotic animals – has led to successful advancements in treatment.

“Historically, we were basing our cats’ dietary needs on the needs of dogs and not recognizing there was a significant difference,” Brum explained. When the amino acid taurine was found to be an essential part of a healthy feline diet, the cats’ diets were supplemented accordingly. Since then, the incidence of the disease has diminished, the newspaper reported.

In addition to the research aspect of his job, Brum enjoys the role of education. He discussed the risks for puppies contracting a disease called parvovirus, which attacks the lining of dogs’ stomachs and prevents them from absorbing needed nutrients.

“We support them during the period they have the virus,” Brum told the Leader. “If you can keep their hydration up and keep them healthy enough we let the virus run its course and we have a 60 percent success rate in treating them.”

Prevention, of course, is a vet’s favorite prescription.

“That’s why we encourage immunization,” he explained. “And here [in Southeast Texas], if you don’t do it, there’s a very good chance you dog will contract parvovirus.”

Brum knows teamwork – at Tufts, he was a defensive end on the football squad – and he puts that mindset to work to help maintain the clinic’s 24-hour, seven-day-a-week emergency call service, where one of the three vets on staff can respond to the emergency needs of animals.

For clinic owner Foskey, Brum’s devotion and experience complements the clinic’s comprehensive approach to veterinary care.

“We’ll see any patient that comes through the door,” he told the Leader.