Introduction

Hey Everyone! I have officially decided to start my own blog. I have decided to do this because things in my life are actually getting to a point where they might be interesting to read about...no guarantees, though! Anyway, let me introduce myself.
If you don't already know me, my name is Rachel. I am from a small town in northeastern, Missouri, which I thought was a pretty good place to grow up actually.
For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a veterinarian. I remember the first time I saw a spay done on a dog...all I could think was, "man, I wanna do that!" Here's why I consider myself a very lucky person...10 years later, I'm actually in my senior year of vet school! How many people do you know that for one thing, actually know what they want to do with their lives, and for another thing, actually get to do it? In my opinion, it doesn't get much luckier than that, and I'm grateful every day to be one of the few...even if I may complain every now and then ;)
I guess it should be no surprise then that this blog may be saturated with veterinary stuff...starting with my own spin on my good friend Abbie's (www.chickinczech.blogspot.com) Monday theme called "Menu Monday". I like the idea of having activities on blogs, so my version of this is going to be called "Merck Monday". The Merck Veterinary Manual (http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp ) is sort of like the veterinary Bible. It may not be the most complicated or in depth of all veterinary related text books, but it, in my opinion encompasses the most species, and includes the most need-to-know basic info for veterinarians. In light of this, and the fact that my classmates and I are going to be taking the NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Exam) in less than 6 months, I've decided to post a vet-trivia question every monday. You can all vote on it then, if you like, and I'll post the answers on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
Here is the first question:

A 10-year old, male castrated tabby cat comes into your clinic, in Holiday, Indiana, crying in pain. His owner reports that "Garfield" initially was seen straining to urinate in the litterbox while yowling mournfully, and has just had an episode of acute collapse in his hind limbs. His hind limbs feel cold and he doesn't seem to be able to put any weight on them.

What is the most likely differential?

A. Urinary Tract Infection
B. Idiopathic Cystitis
C. Obstructive Urolithiasis
D. Aortic Thromboembolism (Saddle Thrombus)

Good luck, remember this is just for fun (and secretly to help me study for boards just a little bit...;)
Hope you all have a great night,
Rachel