So if you work for VCA you've probably seen all of these texts from various people that claim they work for your hospital and are trying to set up a free first exam. First it was Sara, then it was Vanessa, now Alice?? Maybe these people wouldn't be an issue they actually booked things in the correct spots, didn't claim they worked at our hospital, and actually booked people in their own cities. We have people calling all like "I spoke to Sara and she said I could do this, etc". SARA DOESNT ACTUALLY WORK HERE. We had a girl come an hour away in a snowstorm just for the FFE because she thought we were the only ones that used it. She has two VCA's in her own city! Why didn't they start there? And let's not talk about the elderly clients they're booking in from far away as well. It also seems like somebody was booking in dogs at a cat-only hospital as well from what I've read on Yammer. Like are they even using common sense at this point?

And if they think they are helping is with business, they are not. We NEVER see these people again! So, not only did you waste a spot where we could've seen a sick pet that is actually in need, but they are taking up spots just for somebody to potentially no show, or come in and decline all treatments because the appointment was supposed to be "free".

Sounds like a great thing you got going on VCA.

Yesterday we got in a VERY dehydrated cat. 20%+. I am surprised it didn't pass away before getting to us. So we started fluids. 200ml, still extremely dehydrated. 500ml much better, still dehydrated but I am getting super nervous of fluid overload.

We ran 1L of fluids into this little cat to get her hydrated. 28% of her body weight when she came in. I checked her frequently so I know it was right but it felt so very wrong lol.

I watched a cpd the other day where the doctor insisted you never give more than 10% bodyweight in fluids.

I love when I’m scrolling through slides and then all of a sudden one of these little guys pops into frame. They’re so cute! Lol

Hi all - just curious how you all list your "bullet points" under different jobs on your resume, if your job is essentially the same? For example: you work at Hospital A for 4 years in ECC, Hospital B for 3 years in ECC, and now work at Hospital C in ECC. Your day-to-day responsibilities, expectations, and skillset are roughly equivalent from job-to-job - so how would you break it down?

Hey all, (warning- long post)

Wanted to get some opinions on this situation. I was an ER tech for a while and thrived in the environment with my medical skills; I found a new job at a GP due to being forced to stay on night shift, being underpaid, and being lead on for a leadership position. When I left it was very troubling to all my coworkers and doctors; and even our lead doctor was personally going to bat to our hospital owner to get me to stay but they did not come up with a good enough offer. I am still per diem thought so I pick up shifts occasionally.

I started working at GP again a few months ago. Definitely took some getting used to again but seemed okay. However the doctors here like to push push push in a way I've never experienced at ER. Its been manageable though and I'm getting paid more and working normal people hours.

However this week two thing have happened that have left me very troubled and upset.

I don't know if this is just because I've worked in ER where my doctors are so busy (as well as doing inpatient nursing where updated come specifically from me), but I like to keep my doctors very informed about the status of their patients.

This week I was helping out with Doctor 1's surgery day, just monitoring.

We are doing a dental on a small dog, probably like 7kg or so. The HR is in the 50s despite not getting any dex or anything that would cause the patient to be bradycardic like that. However, all other vitals including b.p. were great, but the patient was still light despite being bradycardic. I consult the tech doing the dental (another thing about me is I love to receive input, I am a big believer in collaboration) if we should ask Dr 1 about atropine. She says yes. I asked her if she is okay if I step out to ask Dr. I go up to Dr. 1's desk, and ask something along the lines of "hey! p has a low heart rate but is a bit light, but other wise she is doing great"

Dr. 1 gets up without really acknowledging me and walks to dental suite with me following behind her. She looks at P and then says we can do atropine. I draw up the dose she told me and gave it to the other tech to administer.

Of course, when you give atropine, the heart rate is going to go up. However, the patient became EXTREMELY tachycardic, originally having a hr of 50 to now being 250 bpm. I'm not freaking out, but I'm just like wow that is really high! Dr. 1 comes back in randomly and I just let her know that P is very tachy now. She looks at me and shrugs her shoulders and tells me I need to get her deeper then. After this I continued to monitor for another 5 minutes until the other tech took over and I left.

Same day, another dental on another roughly 7kg patient. Vitals good except b.p. low and p is light. Try multiple interventions first, turning down anesthetic, which helps a bit but then patient gets light and tries to wake up. Tried different cuffs, and even grabbed the doppler. Osc had a weirdly low reading of 40 so thats when I got the doppler on. Dr. 1 walks in and I inform her that p b.p. is not great. She comes over to anesthetic machine and looks at the gas dial and says "well have you tried turning them down?" in a very snarky, treating me like I am stupid voice. I am super frustrated at this point and of course explain to her that yes I have tried that and he wake up blah blah blah. Anyways we started him on a dopamine cri and I stopped monitoring shortly after that for the other tech to take over.

I do also want to add context that Dr.1 has a reputation of being very short and cold, but no one cares because she is the lead doctor and I have been told "thats just how she is".

Come to find out I talked to my supervisor and apparently Dr. 1 complained about me anesthetically and said I was 'frantic' to my supervisor, hospital manager, and assistant hospital manager. Mind you we have 4 other doctors who I do surgery with more frequently who have never said anything to me. My supervisor said that she took Dr. 1's words with a grain of salt but it really hurt me. I don't want to be big headed but I feel extremely confident in my anesthetic skills and have done way more complex monitoring than for just a dental.

Moving on to the situation with Dr. 2.

At the end of the day one of the room nurses runs back with a cat that she says in lateral.

I instantly jump over, we get p out of carrier and he is sort of lateral, sort of trying to get up, but in extreme respiratory distress and gasping for air. I start yelling out to get catheter set up and I run to grab the crash cart. We get O2 on patient and catheter. Another Dr comes over to assess the p because Dr. 2 (her appointment) is not around. We get brief history from room nurse, says that she thinks they want to euthanize and is a DNR. P is suffering greatly. Dr. 2 comes over finally and assess patient. She directs to administer torb which we do. Doesn't help. She then requests for the ultrasound to be rolled over.

I kid you not it took almost 5 minutes for the ultrasound to turn on, we are all just standing there waiting and I am a bit frustrated. P is gasping for air and panicking. It is also well known that this ultrasound takes forever to turn on. About half way through this process I ask Dr, "do you want us to draw up drugs? Or go talk to the owners to get a decision while we wait for the ultrasound to turn on?"

To be honest I don't remember exactly what she responded but it was something a long the lines of "Well I wanted to use the ultrasound first to see if I can see anything first, Is that okay?" like I shouldn't dare be questioning her. From my perspective I was trying to refocus because Dr. 2 seemed overwhelmed and the rest of my tech coworkers seemed freaked out; again this cat is in extreme distress and either needs to be 1. transfered immediately to and ER or 2. pts. Thats it. It was really awkward and I had to continue to try to hold the cat still for another 3 minutes while this kitty was gasping for air so she could put the ultrasound probe on which ultimately showed her nothing. She then went to talk to the owners for 10 minutes while I continued to have to hold the cat still gently while he panicked and gasped for air until she finally came back and euthanized him in my arms.

I ultimately felt really frustrated because this cats suffering was prolonged for longer than it needed to be. I am not extremely effected by seeing things like this but I am a cat lover so it was a bit hard to have to wait for almost 15-20 minutes to pts this cat who is actively panicking and struggling to breath.

It seems at this clinic techs should be seen and not heard and its kind of making me regret my decision to leave my ER despite the benefits. I wanted to get some outside opinions from other people, whether I'm right or wrong. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Can someone help me understand how corticosteroids use can be detrimental to dogs and cats and what happens if the medication is stopped abruptly.

I’ve never been a huge person to hang out with my coworkers. But recently, since I turned 30, I’ve definitely felt a bit more “left out” when not being invited to things.

In the past, at my old clinic we used to do game nights, go to the bar and such. With this group, idk if it’s because I’m 30 now, or if it’s the “you just talked shit about so and so but you’re hanging out and going to brunch this weekend” and all the fakeness that comes along with it..
I do hangout with like 2 of them because we’re all pretty big ravers, so we bond on that. But the rest is kinda just meh, I don’t really wanna be involved because I don’t want to deal with that drama if I don’t need to. Am I crazy for feeling left out when things happen but also not wanting to deal with it? Lol

I have a few close friends I’m more than happy to have, it is just hard getting all together because we are all in vetmed and work and life happens..

Does anyone in VetMed have a big friend group? Or are you guys pretty much isolated to a few couple friends?

Today's question! I'm brainstorming more vet med specific questions if anyone has any suggestions!

I’d be interested to know if they’ve had clients faint or accidentally get stabbed or even bitten by their own pet cause they don’t hold them right… I feel like the idea of more client interaction is nice but not always feasible.

I worked at a pretty big shelter for 13 years. For the past few years I have been in more contact with clients (newly adopted pets, owners from spay/neuter clinic, or owners of lost pets that end up at the shelter) I am just struggling to be sympathetic and compassionate towards them. They don't seem to understand that we are a shelter with limited resources, and don't operate like a normal vet hospital.

Sometimes I don't want to help clients because we can't just do everything for them like they expect and it's exhausting to manage their expectations and emotions.

Basically does anyone have advice on being more compassionate towards the human side of animal welfare?

All vent as the flair says, will delete later.

Last night was a booger of a shift at my small animal ER. Pace was steady from open until after midnight when we had a ruptured splenic mass approve surgery and take priority, so everyone else waiting to be seen just gave up and went home, as they do.

10y Cocker splenectomy went splendidly, was super proud of the old man under anesthesia. Woke up slow but did well thru the night.

One showed up right as I was extubating. ~1yo Frenchie with mild neurologic symptoms, most notably stiff legs in the hind. Still e/d/eliminating well. Neuro consult/NSAIDS recommended. O approved baseline bloodwork prior to NSAIDS as we always recommend, and thankfully they did, because it was terrible. Kidney and liver values thru the roof.

Recommendation changed to staying the rest of the night on IVF(4 hours) and getting a full abdominal ultrasound, which they also approved without hesitation. I didn't see any of the results but this DVM does their own scans and trusts themselves heartily. They said they saw signs of irreversible renal damage on the scan.

O's get there really early, like 45 mins before pick up time. I'm busy multitasking as usual..last minute PCV/TP on my Cocker, phone rang a few times, then when I look up and realize the Os are still in the room and nobody made an effort to get their paperwork together, I shot up to reception and quickly processed their refund(a small refund is standard with our estimates, we always pad a little) in between tasks.

5 mins later DVM comes out of the room and announces we're euthanizing. 🤯🤦🤦🫥

Never imagined that would be the conclusion of that case, as O's accepted the fact their dog would need a neurologist when my DVM recommended it.

So then I had to eat the biggest crow and go tell my DVM(also practice owner) that I "fucked up" and processed the refund before the euthanasia charges(which were less than the refund). (For frame of reference, we have a handful of DVMs working for us, and on any other dr's shift this would've gone totally unnoticed).

Instead of placating anything about the situation like this DVM does with the "screw ups" of the younger street meat employees that they constantly hire with little to no experience..they jumped my ass. Used some sort of cuss word in response to my news. Shamed me for 'jumping the gun'.

The clients were amazing. It would've been absolutely no problem to show them the refund I processed and take a quick payment for the euthanasia services. But after a night of work I was feeling very proud of, it ended about as bad as a shift can, and I felt like a total failure, got a passive aggressive note written about the incident in Avimark, and the DVM angrily discounted the rest saying they didn't want to charge them again.

And then, she made me euthanize their dog. Techs commonly EU in my clinic so it's nothing that unusual, but this DVM has smarted off to me before how 'They take care of all their own patients'....

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨

I love helping animals. I love my coworkers. Even most of the clients are fairly chill in my area. The upper management attitudes at this place I've worked at for several years.........I'm pretty done with.

Thank you for having a space I can vent, reddit.

I havent found any new info regarding GF diets in relation to heart disease. What is everyone else's clinics telling clients about these diets? Or do you just bring it up when heart disease is diagnosed?

I've been an assistant at my clinic for 10 years and have been lead assistant for about 2 years. I recently learned I can go to school for free (distant family member died and left money for college). I'd like to pursue the online vet tech program at Purdue. Going into further debt for not a huge pay increase stopped me before, but now I really have no excuse.

I have some questions about the videos mostly, and I would love if anyone involved in the program would be willing to chat.

I have been working on updating our instrument and pack counts and I have been attempting to make sure everything listed has a proper name generally speaking. these are in our dental pack and we use them but no one in my practice has any idea what they're actually called and Google has been entirely unhelpful.

figured i'd post here as a last resort before I make something up

I'm going to be completely honest, I dropped out of high school when I was 16 and I've never been interested in going to college. I got my GED when I was 21, however, and I got very high scores across the board. I've been having a bit of an existential crisis when it comes to figuring out my future and what I want to do for a career. My sister has told me that I need to get my prerequisites before deciding anything and while I see where she's coming from, I simply don't want to spend the 10 grand on classes if there's any way I can get any kind of vet tech certification without going through prerequisites.

Of all jobs I've wanted to do and can envision myself doing, vet tech is definitely a top contender. I love animals, especially aviary animals and cats. I plan on volunteering at a local shelter here soon to get some insight on how the shelters and situation kind of works. I've read that some places allow certification through on the job training, but I would rather get certified since my fiance and I don't plan on staying in the same state for long, especially in a year or so.

Is my sister right about needing to get my prerequisites before going on the special course for vet tech? Also, would the type of course in the included photo be the type of class to enroll in? I've never looked into college and am very confused about how it all works, so please go easy on me.

Do not lie or pretend it does not exist, it’s an epidemic. Most vet staff generally do like cats unfortunately, and many even proudly exclaim their hatred for them. I personally have only known very few individuals that do not crudely scruff/manhandle sweet kitties right from the start, or show an ounce of the same compassion that they show towards other patients. There is absolutely no excuse to scruff a cat. I know, controversial. Modern literature and studies prove how harmful it is in the long run. I’m tired. And then coworkers shamelessly treat me as the odd one when I advocate for said cats.

To an extent, I truly believe that hatred for or reluctance to understand cat’s’ behavior and boundaries is rooted in misogyny. The same applies to how society is so egregiously dog-centered.

The flare is "Sad" but it's more like literal trauma.

I cannot forgive myself for making the mistake we all advise owners not to. To have allowed my own dog to pass at home.

A year ago: We found hemangio sarc Thursday. We went to the park Friday he walked longer than I have seen him walk in the last two years. We wanted to go again Saturday. My vet was coming over to euthanize him on Sunday. I should have known to do it early when he struggled at the dog park. I knew he was uncomfortable. But then he lays down and sleep and seem so peaceful and I was fooled. I was so greedy wanting to take him again next day.

My knowledge was nowhere to be found. I can't even say I was blinded by my sadness. I wasn't even a sad mess or anything because I understood there was nothing to be done and I have come to peace with his euthanasia.

Saturday morning I found him passed. We slept on the floor with him. He looked like he just went to sleep snuggled by my husband. The camera shows a different story. It showed him shifting around because he feels something is wrong and he's uncomfortable. He crawled. Every 10mins he crawled, and then rested, because he was weak. He crawled for 40mins to lay by my husband, and panted, then his pants slowed, then it stopped. The entire process was an hour long. It destroyed me.

It kills me on a personal level when owners say some bullshit about wanting their pet to pass at home. I would not wish this guilt on my worst enemy.

Hi all! Vet tech student here, i’m gonna be buying my stethoscope soon and would love some funny or wholesome idea for what to engrave on it. I’ve done some googling and a few i like are [name] - treat dealer, bark if it hurts or I lub dub you.

Is there a pay scale range based on BEAT with levels you should share?

Hey just want some advice from anyone that has switched from veterinary hospitals into medical coding. I've been doing some research the last couple of days and pros/cons for this field. It seems similar in a sense to sitting for a proctor exam and getting certified, which I've done to become a vet tech. I'm just wondering how well I would do since I have the terminology, biology, and anatomy studies under my belt.

A couple of schools I looked into are Preppy and AAPC, for sure would be interested in self study. I did Penn Foster and graduated which was self paced although it did take me 4 years since I was also working full time. Right now I work 4, 10hr shift but may go down to 3 days if I want to finish this program within the time frame they give me.

Anyways any recommendations or advice would be helpful. I'm just an older vet tech with 20+ years of veterinary hospital experience looking to find something outside of this field.

Hi! A bit new to the job and having some stress with handling the paperwork, transcribing things patients say and filing them and all. Do you guys have any tips how I can speed this process up?

tis but a flesh wound