u/MTG0513

Usually I can separate myself from it emotionally but this week was rough. I had to euthanize ~250 mice, including lots of pups. It wasn’t because they were being used for experiments, but because my PI wanted to cut down the number of mice in the colony we were keeping “just in case” (which I’m actually pretty sure IACUC doesn’t allow but whatever). I’ve been doing this job for a while now, and have managed to come to terms with the number of non-experimental mice we euthanize (genotypes we don’t need, breeders that are too old, etc.), mainly because my university has a program where euthanized mice can be donated to a wildlife rehabilitation center for birds of prey. So it doesn’t feel like senseless death. But seeing literally three gallon bags filled with dead mice was…a lot. Doesn’t help that my coworkers think I’m nuts for caring about the mice at all. Could use some support/validation from people who understand.

My cat takes Lantus insulin, the way it works is that you store the pens in the fridge until you’re ready to use them, then keep one out and unrefrigerated for 28 days. My power went out yesterday and it’s taken until now to find a working refrigerator to store them in. Should be okay with the current pen as it’s only been in use for 12 days, but do I need to dispose of the three that were stored in the fridge? The temperature in the fridge has probably been somewhere around 65-70 degrees F. I don’t even know if I can get replacements as I use GoodRx at a human pharmacy for them. Pharmacy is notoriously difficult to get ahold of but I will try them, pretty anxious though so would like an answer sooner rather than later.

Applying for a master’s in Evolution and Ecology. Some relevant details:

- 2.7 GPA, lots of Ws, took 8 years to graduate, HOWEVER
- Serious medical issues that contributed to my disaster of a transcript (severe depression, undiagnosed ADHD, treatment resistant chronic migraines)
- Already have an advisor who wants to take me on, she will be on the admissions committee
- Started working in the field while I was still an undergraduate and have held 4 full time positions over the past 12 years
- Will have excellent letters of recommendation from my supervisors, including one I had as a professor
- My GPA within my major (Zoology) is significantly higher than my overall GPA

Honestly it feels pretty hopeless but my potential advisor thinks I have a chance and she definitely wants me.

My girls have had water bowls for years with no issues, but my latest two have decided that their favorite game is filling them with bedding. I think I’m going to have to switch to a bottle, but if I remember correctly from having guinea pigs, many of them are faulty. Does anyone have any recommendations? If it’s on the shorter side that would be good too, as I only have a 40 gallon tank and it’s filled over halfway with bedding, so there’s not much vertical space.