My day starts at 8 a.m 4 shifts a week and goes until 6p.m  We used to have two doctors on staff but ever since COVID-19 we went to 1 doctor a day. We start our morning with appointments and surgery begins in the afternoon.  The doctor prints out a treatment sheet with all of the drugs and instructions needed for whatever procedure we have for the day. I then draw up the drugs and have someone check them before continuing. We have a check system where whenever someone draws up any medication or vaccine we have it checked by another because everyone makes mistakes.

Once the drugs are pulled up I begin to set up for a spay, neuter, dental, mass removal or whatever we have on the schedule. I also prepare items to place an IV catheter,  endotracheal tubes, blood pressure cuff, complete monitoring system and IV fluids.

The patient will be given an intramuscular injection or drugs to sedate so we can then place the IV catheter. We sedate first to provide minimal stress to the patient. From there on out we continue with the induction process and with then with the procedure.

We have been doing a lot of dental procedures lately so I take dental radio graphs of the patients mouth and then scale and polish them while the doctor reviews the x rays. The doctor will then determine if he/she needs to make any extractions, if not then we wake the patient up! If no extractions a dental procedure can take about 30 minutes to an hour.

Once our surgeries are done we then clean up and my day continues. We see afternoon appointments and nurse visits. Nurse visits are things that can be seen without a doctor. I also take full body radio graphs of patients when needed by the doctor or give injections prescribed by the doctor. And that is how my day goes! Of course it can change if we have emergencies but those are unpredictable and always come as a surprise.

Thank you to all of my followers!

xox Melissa

Hi everyone!! Long time no talk.

Summer has officially approached NYC and you all know what that means.. yes beach and sun for us but that also means a change of weather for our sweet fur babies.  A lot of people get caught up in the “fun of the sun”, which is great but there are a few things to remember when exposing these animals to the sun.
If you’re dog has a face like this …

It becomes difficult for them to breath mostly all the time, so imagine always having a hard time breathing and now you are in the hot sun because mom and dad wanting to go for a 5 mile run.  These breads above are known as
“brachycephalic: Having a relatively broad, short skull; the throat and breathing passages in these dogs are undersized making it difficult to breath.

I am not saying don’t let the dog out in the sun but be cautious and do not spend all day in the sun with these breads or any bread for that matter.

Here are some helpful tips for you and your pup this summer !

1. Short walks or be sure there is shade
2. Always bring water for your fur baby
3. NEVER dump them in a cold bath if you think they over heated
4. DO NOT apply sunscreen to your pet
5. Be cautious of the hot pavements
6. NEVER leave a dog in the car

Just remember if you are hot… imagine how your pet feels.

Melissa.

 

Testing anxiety is a real thing and unfortunately a lot of people struggle with it, myself being one. As you all can see from my blog I work in the Veterinary field as a Veterinary Nurse. I graduated from my two year program back in May and took my board exam July 31. I was seven points away from passing… the worst part is how much I studied and how hard I worked.  At the end of the day the only one to blame is myself. If you ever feel like you are the only one who works hard and feels like it doesn’t pay off…. don’t because you aren’t alone. I think we all just have to learn how to take a break from studying sometimes, because there is such a thing as over studying. Sometimes I wish our mind can just screen shot things we study but unfortunately that is not real life. Best advice to others out there studying for the VTNE or an big exam, take breaks talk with others for outside help and stay confident in yourself.

When you hear the word “vet tech” what does it mean to you? Do you know what the job description of a vet tech is? I constantly feel myself going into a definition after telling someone I am a vet tech. When I say Veterinary Nurse, people understand me and there is a sense of respect.  Animals may not be able to speak but they are just as important to families as if a human was, sometimes people like the animals more then other family members!

Does anyone who doesn’t work in the veterinary field know what we do as veterinary technicians? We monitor in surgery, we are trained to identify anesthesia abnormalities, prep the patients for surgery, place ET tubes, give anesthetic drugs, recover a patient from surgery, place IV catheters, pull blood, view cytology on the microscope, properly restrain animals for exams, position for radiograph’s… the list goes on and on.

Tell me… does this sound like an easy job? A job that deserves the title ” vet tech” or does this sound like the job of a nurse, and for that a better name would be Veterinary Nurse.

I have all respect in the world for human nurses because they work long shifts, holidays,and they are the ones we deal with when we go to the hospital. They create the patient relationship and I respect that.

I also respect myself and my field enough to know that we also deserve the title Nurse. When we ask for this title we aren’t trying to upset, up show or be better than anyone. We are only asking for the respect of the title. If you google the term nurse you will find the following :
“a person trained to care for the sick or infirm, especially in a hospital”
“give medical and other attention to (a sick person”

This definition clearly defines the tasks of what a Nurse does a long with what Veterinary technicians do. So why must we be called any different other than a name that we deserve? We understand that our profession does not pay enough and may never because we care for animals and they are viewed as property, I understand that BUT we simply want the respect of a name we deserve. Next time you see one, thank the Nurses of the world but also next time thank the Veterinary Nurse who was a shoulder for you to cry on over fluffy, the comfort for your pet as they are being hospitalized, and the voice for animals.

Daily dose of the life as a vet tech..

Client Mrs Rodriguez comes in regarding “fluffy” our 7 year old golden retriever. Enter the room and retrieve history on our patient since we last saw him. “Oh fluffy is doing good, no concerns” well that is music to my ears! Review my information with the doctor and prepare him to enter the room. Doctor enters the room; the client and him begin to speak. “oh fluffy has not been well, he is throwing up constantly and not eating much”

Doctor exits the room and asks me why I did not get proper history on the patient…

 

Clients.. please tell us every detail of what is going on with your pet! Honesty is the best key to finding the best solution to helping the four legged furry friends . It definitely is not fun when clients do not disclose every details of the patient coming into the clinic. We love honesty! And we love our patients! Let us help

 

Being a nurse for animals is probably the hardest job I have ever had. We not only have to help these animals that don’t understand what we are doing but also we have to be their voice. I cannot think of a time I went to work and it was a normal or easy day. That never happens. Or people think we are slow during the holiday, when in reality that is when we get most of our emergencies. ” Fluffy ate the kids new toy car”…….

You laugh, but I promise it actually happens!

The worst  is when the pet has fought as long as they have and the time has come. Going into that room and having to discuss the details of the euthanasia and seeing all the broken hearts in the room. I wish I could say that is the worst part but its worse than that. We have to hold in every inch of sorrow we feel until we have finished with that room. Our job is to be strong and be there for the family.

I had a case a few days ago, the pet was older and just looked horrible and suffering. It was time for the rainbow bridge. He had this look in his face and some of the girls and I thought you know what, I think hes hungry…

We had this delicious left over vanilla cupcake in the back and we brought him one.

Oh man he loved every second of it!

The worst part about being a tech is holding the most unselfish creature in your arms and feeling their weight slowly become heavy as they cross the rainbow bridge…..

 

I talk about this in my blog because a lot of people do not understand how difficult our job is or how much effort and heart we put into what we do. We don’t just play with puppies and kittens all day. Instead we work everyday to help these animals and families closest loved ones fight for life and be the voice they don’t have.

 

My blog is to help expand the knowledge to the unknown of the life of a vet tech and to help me relieve my mind of my days at work.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
Here is a picture of my son and I, ” For him I do it all”

Every new day I have with you, means another day of my happiness. Every night Rocky helps me pray that all the animals cross the rainbow bridge and shine in the sky.

 

 

 

 

Walked into work @ 8 a.m. See my surgery team wrestling an 11 pound frenchie on the floor… damn this is how my day will be huh? Head over to the team to help pull blood and place a catheter on this crazy little dude. He is so small, how bad could it be? 20 minutes later….

Well then.. do not tell anyone we just got our ass handed to us by a frenchie…. it’s the little guys you gotta watch out for!

So frenchie has a big brother and when I say big.. I mean BIG. Ok lets try big boy to get some blood and catheter. oh man hes got some tennis balls on him still…..hmm lets give him a nice party hat. Alright I got this. All those times I never went to the gym, I think I  can hold this big guy hes calm and being so good (5 seconds later) ….. welp that turned quick, this dog sprang up and pushed me into the table as he tries to escape. The only thing I can predict from this situation… another bruise!

Just a recap of my Friday at the clinic! Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton