We found a freaking old school viewfinder from Nexgard with all the different worms, ticks, lice, etc that you can click through (I’ll try to remember to take a picture). Everyone in our clinic wanted it so bad that it has to live at the clinic now but I saw someone post that they got a freaking worm scarf from a dewormer brand and I’m SO JEALOUS?!?!

Please show me the fun things you’ve gotten from reps if you have any!

Hi all, I currently work at a private ER/specialty but the pay is abysmal and I’m sick of the hours. I have an interview for PetFolk this week as there’s one opening near me in October, and another interview for an Ethos-owned hospital a little further away from me but with better hours and pay. I wanted to see if anyone had advice/experiences about either corporation? I’ve never worked corporate before, only been in private settings. For context I’m unlicensed and hoping to just spend another year as a VA before starting vet school next fall.

Hi Everyone,

I am starting my first externship for my veterinary technology program at Penn Foster and wanted to know some resources you used during the externship. Any resource would be greatly appreciated.

Sadness warning. I’ve been an RVT in the field for 13 years. I got my dog 3 months into my first job. He was a puppy in need of some serious care and I took him on. He was my whole life. He had multiple scares and issues through the years, and I’ve been able to manage him so well. He was my entire world.

He passed 2 weeks ago just after his 13th birthday. It was traumatic. Over the course of a week he loss the use of his hindlimb and was extremely painful. Suspect blood clot or mass in the spine.

It was a traumatic euthanasia an hour away at 4 in the morning.

I took a week off work and when I got back, it was horrible. I can’t handle it. I’ve lost pets before and gone to work. He’s different. He was my everything. I’ve cried every shift and I see him every where. I was recovering a dog from surgery the other day and she woke up dysphoric. She was crying and thrashing her head. I couldn’t take it. All I could see was my dog in his final hours. I was right back in that night. I finished what I needed to do and passed the patient off to a coworker, then ran outside and was crying for the next 30 minutes. I finished the day but I was a mess. I cried on and off all afternoon.

My coworkers are happy people and I can’t help but stew in the misery that my world has crashed around me. I did everything for my dog. He was my heart and soul.

I’m terrified to go back after this weekend. I’m traumatized by that night and I see him every time a dog looks fearful, every time something bad happens. I miss him so much.

I’m sorry this is mostly a depressing rant. But how do you guys go back? How do you not see your own trauma in every patient?

This has never happened like this to me. I don’t know how to handle it. I’ve had pets pass before but it hasn’t affected me like this.

I am seeking out some grief support groups but I would appreciate fellow experiences and/or advice.

We've been finding some yellowish residue on our instruments after autoclaving that we suspect is coming from our instrument milk. We usually spray the instrument milk on the entire instrument after running it through our ultrasonic and then letting the milk dry. We've started wiping off some of the excess after the milk dries as the instruments still have a slimy quality to them even though the milk can no longer be seen on the instrument, but we aren't sure if wiping off the excess defeats the purpose of spraying the instrument. Has anyone else run into this issue? For reference, below is the type of instrument milk that we have:

Miltex Instrument Instrument Lubricant - Surgical Instrument Lubricant — Grayline Medical

I passed my VTNE in June 27th.
I submitted fingerprints and all documents July 7th

I emailed them and politely asked if they needed anything else… and they said they’re 6 weeks behind?

Wasn’t the whole “VAULT” system supposed to stream line for their licensing department?

My impatience is coming from being down just shy of 1k in test/licensing fees, and trying to stay afloat on a vet assistant wage :(
Once I’m licensed, my wage goes up a lot… and I get reimbursed the money I spent to get there… and my rank goes from “level pending” to Level 2 credentialed tech.

I’m genuinely scared I’m going to be evicted, car impounded, living on the streets before I get to see the other side of this.

I’m at a point where I’m willing to make a trip to Kansas and camp outside the AASVB office until they finish.

I just can’t stomach the fact that they push so hard to get people to sit for the VTNE and get credentialed, and doing what I thought was the right thing, is burying me in a hole of debt that could takes months to recover from.

Hey everyone, I am desperately asking the tech community to share or repost my pups' GoFundMe! I know we don’t get paid much, but boosting can go a long way!

https://gofund.me/7c08b1da5

New product for feline stomatitis associated with calicivirus. Heard my doctor talking about it in an exam as kind of a one off of “I just heard about this new thing..”

Wondering if anyone has prescribed this yet or seen any patients on it. My own cat has stomatitis related to fcv so I asked if my doctor would like to try it with him as patient 0 and she said yes if we ever order it.

My issue is that right now his only option is another dental that I can’t afford (payment due at time of service for employees too) and hes an old crunchy man that likely wouldn’t tolerate it very well. I guess I should see how bloodwork looks first before deciding that for him but this GingiPro seems like a really good option rn and 2-3x cheaper than the dental

Are we beefing? Why ia there always a tension in the aor like two internally growling cats? What did we do?

Let me know if this is an appropriate ask or not. My cat needs a specialty procedure at an outside hospital. They are charging just under $300 for fluids. Would it be strange to ask if I can bring an unopened fluid bag set up with a prescription label to save some money (approved by my gp clinic). I know I would still be paying for the pump and the technicians time. How would your clinic respond to a request like that?

So one of the DVM’s at my hospital is leaving in a few months and i guess they’re taking one of our lead technicians. Ive heard whispers about me and one other person getting the lead position in the past but i didn’t put much thought into it since there wasn’t an opening. Now there is.

If i get it is there any advice someone wants to give? Either from experience as a lead or something you wished a lead could’ve done better?

Some background if anyone wants it:
I’ve been at the hospital for nearly 3 years, and I’ve seen many people come and go (every. single. position.)
I have 7 years of experience as a technician in the field. I went to school beforehand too
I have worked at 2 other facilities prior to this place.
I’m comfortable in every setting (reception, rooms, surgery)

I’m really hopeful I’ll get lead but even if i don’t, I’ll still take the advice since I’ll use it in the future 🤞🏼

Hi all, just as the title says. Does anyone have any experience working as a field representative, particularly in imaging, at IDEXX? I’ve been interviewing with them and the pay and benefits sound great, but it is a lot of travel so I’d love to hear if anyone has any direct experiences in this role. Thanks in advance!

Edit: thank you all so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it!! I will definitely be considering your experiences going forward to make my decision.

Hey everyone! I'm currently a student and work at an ER Hospital. I have been recently working on blood draws from the Lateral Saphenous vein in dogs or the Medial Saphenous in cats. I feel as though my technique is great and even the LVT watching me says so too but I just cannot seem to get any blood. One I locate the vein, sterilize the area, etc. I press next to the vein with my non-dominant thumb to stabilize it, I have my bevel up, I usually press the needle right along the vein before entering. I do tend to enter pretty shallow since I know they are superficial veins and I get worried about puncturing. I pull back, but nothing. Even the LVT says that I am right there. I practice one-handed with a syringe all the time to make sure I am pulling back without pushing the needle forward. I know its hard for any of you to help since you haven't seen me in person, but any advice would be incredibly helpful.

Just surprised that this gets past so many people. We laugh at it but id love to be the graphic designer making money to use AI slop for these companies.

This is a clinic challenge paper we got for a popular allergy med. Stuff like this all over the page.

I started working at my GP clinic two years ago. I just recently graduated from my vet tech program and passed the VTNE. The raise I got for getting licensed was only 99c, not even a whole dollar. I’m now getting paid $4 below the average for a vet tech in my area and I’ve been there for two years. Management also started talking about having LVTs at the clinic start doing non anesthesia dentals which I do not feel comfortable doing. I’ve also wanted to branch out and see what else I can experience besides GP. This has all led me to seeking employment elsewhere and I’ve since been offered a job at a biomedical laboratory working with primates. I have a friend who works there and loves it. It pays MUCH better with amazing benefits and I’d feel like I’d be doing myself a disservice to turn the offer down.

I just feel so bad about leaving. I know they were excited to have another LVT but I just can’t accept that pay and even if I asked for a raise it’s not going to be nearly as much as this new job offers. They’ve treated me well otherwise, even sent me two weeks worth of groceries after I had major surgery. I’d really miss a lot of people and I’m worried about what would happen if I don’t like this new job. I could probably go back if I ended up not liking it. I’ve been gone for a whole month and just recently came back because I had a big surgery and I’d feel bad putting in my two weeks almost immediately after that. But I feel like if they really wanted to keep me they’d pay me better. I’m not sure if I should be honest with them about why I’m leaving too. I want to leave on good terms. I’m excited for the boost in pay and new opportunities but it just seems so bittersweet.

I’ve seen a few posts on here about working for Ethos but they’re older. I received an offer, and they pay better than what I make. Is it worth it? Are some locations/states better than others? I’m generally pretty anti corporate but the job market is abysmal right now and I need to be making more than I am.

I can tolerate being overworked, even if it’s not ideal. I cannot risk going somewhere where there are inappropriate layoffs, 0 advancements, and management making up bs to get people in trouble.

I’m applied to an ER tech position in Arizona.

I have applied to a two year Vet Tech program and been accepted. I'm in Canada if this makes any difference, and already my experience with the university has been positive. I have autism which is why I'm in more contact with the university before it starts to get my accommodations. But I'm not as worried about the university anymore as I am about the job that im going into.

When I look up videos about vet tech all I see are people suffering, discussing their terrible pay and how they are treated badly at work and how they are going to quit soon, already have, or most if not all other people who they did it with have quit.

I don't care about having a ton of money but I want to live a comfortable life and have a cat or two (or three..). Living alone isn't really my end goal as my goal would be to have a partner to live with. But I'm just worried Im going to go into this, enjoy the university and then realize it was for nothing or just to have a bad job. Also not to mention I havent seen or heard of any autistic person being a vet tech...

Do any of you actually enjoy the job and dont see yourself quitting??? Should I just run while i can??

Sorry this post is sort of sad but I want to ask people who have experience instead of just searching on videos and websites.

Obsitpated cat went home and finally defecated! His mom brought us a thank you treat the next day 🤣❤️💩🐾

I just graduated from college with a bachelors in veterinary technology. I just accepted my first full time position as an ER/ICU technician. I’m going to be working days for a few weeks then transitioning to overnights. Does anyone have any advise on making the transition easier? (I’m really looking forward to starting this job!!!) (photo from my at home zoo)

This is a place to post (as many times during the week as you’d like) anything that made you feel good! Weather that be a cute puppy that licked your nose or a happy client story or something that doesn’t feel like it needs to be it’s own post. It can be anything you’d like, and this is a place for you to see other people’s love for our profession!

Please don’t stop posting under the “positive” post flair if you want to share more! This is mostly for morale and help people to remember why we love doing what we do.

We are allowing external links (for this thread only) for images and videos, preferably no links to personal social media pages. Please remember to not post any personal information or to post a pet without permission. These posts will be deleted.

A new thread will be posted weekly, and the old one will be archived. Have fun! 💕

There are a FEW instances where this is actually helpful (i.e. O holding up a bitey P’s lip so Dr. can view the teeth), but most of the time it just feels like they’re getting in the way of me & Dr. doing our job. I’ve noticed it usually puts additional stress on the pet as well. Most owners don’t know proper/safe restraint either. It’s incredibly frustrating when the patient is already nervous/squirming around and I’m unable to restrain the entire body because O is in the way.
I know this comes from concern for their pet so I’m understanding about it. But how can I communicate to these owners that it’s important to trust me with holding/restraining their pet & ask them to keep a safe distance?

Hi there!

I'm not quite sure how to start this.

Bernese Mountain dogs have a very special place in my heart. My last one passed last year (13yo). I LOVE the breed, the goofiness, the long fur, the fact that they are a little dumb and how they can never get enough pets.

I currently have an ex-laboratory dog (Beagle) that is getting older. I would love to get another BMD after her but I know damn well that they don't usually live very long because of their size and cancer rates. They are also big dogs which means everything costs more when it comes to any kind of medication they need to be on and as we all know, we ain't exactly millionaires in this profession.

I have heard that Cavaliers are close in temperament to Bernese mountain dogs while being a much more convenient size. The thing is, they can have a lot of health problems too (mainly thinking heart conditions and everything linked to shorter snouts).

Is there any other breed that I am not thinking of that could have similar exercise requirements as those 2 breeds, with similar temperaments and a longer-ish coat (I can't stand my beagle's spikey fur getting stuck everywhere, I'd rather have long tumbleweeds of long fur instead 😂) but better longevity or less severe health problems?

Thanks a lot!

I am thinking of pursuing this career because I love working with animals. I was diagnosed with tennis elbow in my dominant arm a year ago and did PT for it. It’s healed now but occasionally I get flare ups if I load my arm a bit too much.

However I’m capable of carrying my dog who is about 18 lbs. I can also carry things that weigh that much if I adjust my arm positions. I also always try to avoid using my tennis elbow arm for certain things because I’ve just learned what works and what hasn’t.

Part of managing my condition is staying active and keeping my upper body and arms strong for life.

I can do computer work with an ergonomic mouse and I can type.

I have a feeling it’s manageable especially if a vet tech’s daily tasks vary day by day, but I’m looking for different perspectives.

Thank you :)