thefedupvettech

[thefedupvettech]

Hi friends. I am so tired. The fight against burn out is real. But hey! At least my hospitals are finally “fully staffed”.

I’m going to try to be better about posting on here because I think it will be helpful to vent. Even if no one is listening.

[thefedupvettech]

The breed standard for modern Persian cats calls for the nose and mouth to be in “vertical alignment” with the eyes 😭

[thefedupvettech]

This!!! We have a client at work who is in her 90s (literally) and on oxygen and her kids/grandkids bought her a Daniff. Another puppy from that litter went to an older man with MS who can barely walk with assistance. Use your heads for gods sake.

can people please tell all the elderly people in their lives that they DO NOT NEED to adopt or purchase a large breed dog. especially a large breed dog that they make no effort to train, then openly admit they have no control over the dog, then said dog attacks another dog, another person, or injures the owner in an incredibly damaging way.

can someone please relay this mesaage to the elderly??? if you are 75+ and frail, you DO NOT NEED to get a dog that can effortlessly pull you over onto the ground just by walking too fast. small breeds exist and are lovely. get one of those, or get a cat.

[thefedupvettech]

Today I had an old man (non client) come into our lobby and plop a can of rx diet down on the counter in front of me. All he said was “do you know what this is?” And I responded “it looks like dog food to me”.

He proceeded to tell me how he had just dropped 8k at an emergency vet last weekend on his dog and that they gave him 4 cans of I/D when he left and told him to pick up more at his vet….

I asked him if we had seen his dog before, and he told me no. I asked how old the dog was and he told me he was 8. I followed up by asking if he had taken his dog to ANY regular vet in the last 8 years and he told me no.

I explained that technically the food is a PRESCRIPTION diet and we can only give it to established pets we have seen, just as we would with medications or preventatives. I could set up an appointment to get established but he would have to wait about a month (it’s a busy season for us) and he proceeded to yell at me and tell me that I can just call the emergency vet and they would tell me to give him the food 🙃

Pretty much ended the conversation by telling him he would have to call the ER and ask them if they wanted the dog on the rx diet long term, and if they could write him a rx to get more until he can get established. He was still pissed and told me again that I can call the ER for him. Had to explain that they cannot disclose his dogs medical info with me because he is not a patient.

At the end of it he stormed out saying “I’ll be back tomorrow”????

Like ok????

Needless to say you vet receptionists are truly wonderful and you put up with so much 🥲 ours is out sick this week and I am carrying my usual tech responsibilities as well as playing receptionist. Y’all are the true heroes.

[thefedupvettech]

Had a client today pull out her vial of Gabapentin capsules and tell me she “needed to buy more flea and tick medicine” for her cat.

She was, in fact, giving her cat gaba (rx’d for travel anxiety) once a month as preventative 😬 and yes, there was a label on the vial that specified it was for travel. I don’t know where the disconnect was.

Send help.

[thefedupvettech]

Does anybody else just want to rip your hair out after you almost get your fingers bitten off by a dog and the owner has the audacity to look you in the face and say “oh don’t worry, he wouldn’t ever bite anyone” 🙃🙃🙃

Part of me almost wants to let them bite me so I can prove them wrong and shut them up!

[thefedupvettech]

Or putting a cat carrier back together 🙃

[thefedupvettech]

Just a reminder if you decide to illegally take a wild animal from the wild for yourself, even if you have the best interests at heart, you could be killing it.

If you feed it the wrong diet you can cause it's bones to break or other diseases associated with mineral imbalances. If you feed it too much you could cause issues associated with obesity including excessive fat stores.

If you aren't a trained wildlife rehabilitator you won't understand the importance of preventing imprinting or humanising. So you'll cuddle it, play with it, and let your pets play with it. So it will think it can only get food from humans, and that humans and domestic pets are part of its family.

If you take it while it's still young it won't learn the necessary foraging and social skills from its parents to survive in the wild. You might joke you don't even need a cage for it, but it isn't able to go anywhere because you've made it dependant on you.

If you aren't a wildlife carer or in the animal health industry you might not realise it's injured and needs treatment. This could lead to broken bones setting in ways that the animal can't perform normal functions and suffering from a life of chronic pain. Or it could lead to it suffering a slow and agonising death.

You might also not be aware that wildlife can contain diseases that can make you sick or even kill you. You could put yourself and your loved ones at risk of serious zoonotic diseases by bringing it home.

And, if you are found to be illegally holding a wild animal without the intention of rehabilitating and releasing it, the authorities are stuck. They can't release the animal because it thinks humans and domestic pets are friends. It can't forage for itself. It can't socialise with its own kind. It could have injuries or diet associated diseases that mean it can't perform normal functions, or is suffering from chronic pain. If they released it, it would die.

Is it fair for that animal that your choices have led to it not being able to experience its life in the wild as it should?

If you take something from the wild and intend to keep it, I hope this makes you think twice.

These kinds of stories are all over social media now, but none of them tell this side. They normalise putting a wild animal though an incredibly stressful experience purely for likes and engagement.

If you want to be a hero, get accredited to be a wildlife rehabilitator. Join an amazing network of compassionate humans just like you who understand that wild things should be wild, and do everything they can to get them back there.

If you find a wild animal and you're not sure what to do, call your local veterinary clinic or wildlife rehabilitation group. Trust that we have the knowledge to make the best choices for that animal. And if you want to make those choices, join us.

[thefedupvettech]

We sit around doing nothing all day, right?!

Last week I walked into the office, knowing full well our schedule was a garbage fire of side booking, and that we were -of course- understaffed. First appointment of the day was a 4DX test- just a tech appointment.

The owner proceeded to bring in the scheduled patient AND his other dog (not scheduled). When I approached him he told me he brought her too so we could get her annual done early (due in late September). Of course she is not only due for her physical exam, but also three vaccines and bloodwork.

I explained to him that he would have to schedule a doctor’s appointment at a later date for the second dog as we only had Dog #1 booked for a quick ten minute tech appointment and our schedule was just too packed to see them both. He was irritated, but said he would schedule something in the future.

THEN, as I’m taking Dog #1 to get blood, he stops me to point out a small growth on the dogs back and says he would like the doctor to take a look. I swear my head almost exploded. I don’t think he listened to a word I had just said when I explained she was not in to see a doctor today. I had to explain a second time that a DVM was not going to be able to see her today and that he would need to monitor it and schedule an appointment if he was concerned.

Unfortunately I work at a small hospital where there is usually only one DVM in the building at one time. Of course I would love to drop everything and see all the pets that just stroll in through the door but that’s just not possible.

I find that I’m most annoyed at the implication that we aren’t busy and MUST have time to do random dogs annuals 4 months early when they walk in off the street. We are already running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Give me a break.

[thefedupvettech]

Today was one of the rare occasions where I actually did “play with puppies and kittens all day”!

Out of 24 patients today, 6 of them were babies under the age of 6 months old. What a wonderful day indeed.

[thefedupvettech]

there’s a morbidly hilarious disconnect between the inherent angst/tragedy of veterinary medicine and the type of names people like to give their animals. I’m afraid Mr. Wiggles has lymphoma. Tater Tot is being admitted to the ICU. I’m here to pick up Bruce Wayne’s ashes.

[thefedupvettech]

Hi Vet Med friends!!

This blog is going to serve as a place to vent and spread awareness of what it really means to work in this profession. Here are some basic rules and expectations of this blog:

Please feel free to send in rants, questions, statements, and stories!

All posts are open to discussion! I love to debate. I know topics can get heated when loved ones are involved so please keep it clean and kind. This job is hard enough without tearing each other down

Clinic/Hospitals/names should remain anonymous… internet safety people!!

And to get to know me:

Call me Wheels! I work in a fairly small clinic with two locations (one being a teeeeeny satellite office). It’s the only veterinary office I have worked at and would love to hear from the people who work in more bustling (and maybe emergency) settings. Lately the generally ignorant, entitled clientele interactions have been wearing me down and I am just looking to find/make a community.

***This is not a medical advice forum. If you have any pet-health related questions, call your vet***

Let’s have some fun!!!