‘A goofy menace who everyone loves’ July 13, 2025

“Say hello to Meatball! Last year, I was a fourth-year veterinary student at Iowa State University. November-December, I was back home in Omaha for a few clinical rotations. In early December, I lost my heart cat to cancer we had diagnosed in August.

Obviously, not an ideal situation to have been dealing with during my final year of school. Fast forward a bit , and I was at NHS for a spay/neuter/shelter rotation over the Christmas and New Years weeks! I definitely didn’t set out to adopt anything while there, but my heart was certainly open to it. Especially since I dreaded the idea of going back to an animal-less apartment in Ames, Iowa.

During my time at NHS, there was a small, fluffy little kitten in the kitten room who had been fostered through NHS and was a hilarious little menace that everyone loved. The paper on his kennel that had his name was covered, so I was calling him a stinky little meatball because he was very round and, admittedly, pretty gross. (Later found out his name had been Justin).

Christmas morning, I went in early to do kitten and patient care and was excited to see my stinky little Christmas meatball. And that’s when I knew. I literally thought to myself, “your name shall be Meatball and you shall be mine”. He went to surgery a few days later, and I made sure I was the one who neutered him. And then I took him home the next day.

After my rotation at NHS, Meatball followed me back to Ames, through the rest of my fourth year, through graduation, and now back to Omaha to start my new life and career as a veterinarian. Meatball is now absolutely gigantic for a kitten, and still a little stinky. Don’t worry, he’s still a goofy menace who everyone loves. And such a sweetheart!

Meatball has been a joy in my life ever since the first day I met him. Dr. James always jokes that any student who adopts an animal while at NHS will get extra credit. I didn’t actually get academic credit for adopting Meatball, but I did certainly get an extra best friend for years to come.”

-Alyssa

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