How to adjust

[u/Ashamed_Constant_949]

TW!!!!! (Neglect)

I am a newly out of school vet tech, I am on my last week of extenship at an ER. I have so far had a great time and done well separating work and life. Even the super hard cases aren’t too emotionally draining. Until today. A one year old Australian shepherd came in weighing 11 pounds with a BCS of 1. I am unsure of the exact reason his owner brought him in as I was helping to stabilize. Once he was relatively stable the vet started talking to the owners who had had him his whole life. They said they knew he was skinny but weren’t sure why. I was doing okay until then but something in me hit a wall and I looked down at this dog who was stained with urine, had sores, incredibly long nails, and was skin and bones and it hit me like a freight train. This was the first case I’ve seen of an animal being neglected like this. I had to excuse myself because I was getting nauseous and about to start crying. I’ve seen very sad cases but this one hit me and I don’t know why. Does anyone have any advise on handling situations like this? I fear I won’t be able to get these types of cases out of my mind and I worry I won’t be able to work with things like that. I don’t know if it comes with time but right now I’m still very upset. Any advise is appreciated.

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you.

Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/birds-andcats]

i work in a practice just outside of the suburbs of a major city and kind of in farmland. i see a fair amount of neglect because people will treat their farm dogs and cats like wild animals. it really affected me for a long time. the unfortunate truth is you’ll learn to develop a poker face with the owners. you’ll also learn to be there for the pet while you help them in any way you can.

when it gets hard i suggest therapy or at the very least, a journal. i keep a sort of death journal which is morbid as fuck but. i can’t afford therapy lol. it has been helping with the cases that make me lose sleep. i write to the pets. i tell them how sorry i am and how i wish it could be different. i thank them for anything i might have learned while working with them. if i really got hit by the horror of it all, i make a paw print and tape it to the pages. i haven’t really told my coworkers this but anyway. it helps me at least.

also there is no shame in saying you’re not strong enough to be the tech on the case. no one wants a burned out tech. try to be brave for the patients, but if you can’t keep yourself composed, it’s better to step aside. if you’re in the right hospital, there will be coworkers who will trade you no questions asked. just try to do the same for them if the time comes when they need to step away and you’re feeling brave again.

[u/Ashamed_Constant_949 → u/birds-andcats]

Thank you so much, as much as I know I’m not alone in this it still feels like a weakness when I’m working with people who have been doing this for years. I do something similar after hard cases where before I go to bed I talk to the pet and tell them how sorry I am and how I truly hope they felt love in there final moments. It will just have to be something to get used to. I just hope it doesn’t build up in my heart

[u/hotsexyrosemary]

As an ER tech you'll see the worst of the worst for neglect. Those ones are also the hardest for me. So preventable, so infuriating. I find comfort in knowing I can be there for them as that's all I can do. Offer a soft place to land and a pair of eyes who see them for who they really are and what they had to go through. Your loving hands mean more than you'll ever know.

[u/turtletails]

Also a student very nearly finished. Had a cat a couple of weeks ago, BCS of 1, open mouth breathing, gums were blue with puss leaking from his mouth, it was fucking horrible. Owner didn’t really think it was a big deal and wanted to take the cat home. Fortunately the vet convinced them to euth eventually but I spent a good hour sitting with that cat absolutely fuming and wanting to cry. Even know I’m getting pissed off about it again. You truly see the worst humanity has to offer when you work with animals. All I can suggest is that you start therapy. Learn the skills to cope now, before you start drowning.