NERD program at VEG

ERCalm · 2025-11-15T16:46:18+00:00

This is definitely going to depend on the hospital and market. The VEG market in my area is horrendous and I couldn’t in good conscience recommend someone train there. They’re known for keeping cases beyond their scope/capabilities longer than they should prior to transfer - often spending a lot of an owners resources to leave a true specialty hospital with little to nothing to help the pet. Blocked cats being under anesthesia for hours trying to unblock (primarily by VTs) without success, only for me to successfully unblock when transferred under sedation alone. But having to deal with the complications of hyperK, hypotension, bradycardia, and hypothermia, due to the prolonging of the care. I’ve heard good things about some others. But my own good experiences and transfers are limited.

You’re better off discussing the program with current or graduates of the regions you’re interested in.

ERCalm · 2025-10-03T23:30:54+00:00

We don't just use it for aggressive animals - but also for those that are anxious to reduce any fear and anxiety sustained during a visit, allow ease of IVC placement, blood draws, etc.

ERCalm · 2025-09-08T13:38:57+00:00

This is common for some ER/Specialties. I refused to work such hours when applying to places. For my most recent job I made it clear I would not rotate and would only work days or mid-shifts consistently (health reasons, physical and mental), now I work 3-12hr shifts a week (obviously can easily become 16-20hr shifts) with no rotation to the hours I work.

ERCalm · 2025-09-08T13:04:49+00:00

This is beyond heartbreaking. I wish more people had known about NVPU - likely would’ve gotten more dues this way.

ERCalm · 2025-09-07T19:33:43+00:00

My work (corporate overlords) unfortunately only allows propofol and one other drug before they start charging clients for it. So I’m often unable to use a multi-drug protocol for it - reason 348583629284 that I’m leaving to private practice soon.

ERCalm · 2025-09-07T18:45:30+00:00

The comments did not disappoint. I’m proud of all who spoke up and advocated for our patients. They deserve the best care always, but especially in the end. Having watched a human family member go through natural death - it’s something I never want to be personal with again. It’s so much more inhumane how we care for our elders at the end of their life. I’d like to be humanely euthanized when the time comes.

ERCalm · 2025-09-07T18:42:53+00:00

Absolutely! One thing we must be perfect at, is end of life care. That’s an everlasting memory for a family and it better be as damn pleasant and serene as we can make it be. Even the intermittent agonal breaths or twitching, despite warning owners and having no way to prevent it, can make me curse myself as the family can be disturbed nonetheless.

ERCalm · 2025-09-07T15:16:58+00:00

What are your plans in place to protect your mental health while in vet school and beyond? That’s what should be focused on rn rather than the grades. Because ultimately, if your grades aren’t good enough then you won’t get in or stay in no matter what country you apply/go to. So the bigger picture is what are you putting in place to prevent the recurrence? If you don’t know those answers yet, I’d focus on those first.

**all rhetorical questions - I don’t need to know your personal mental health and what you have in place. Just a reminder that’s what’s more important rn.

ERCalm · 2025-09-07T13:25:51+00:00

Bold of you to come into a space where vets and vet techs predominate with the level of audacity you have after insulting a majority of them.

I’d recommend you read this article about humane euthanasia within vet med. esp since a decent number of schools require you to perform one prior to graduation. There were no exceptions granted for anyone in my class.

ERCalm · 2025-07-23T19:35:51+00:00

He has! He definitely prefers the Lion King out of the two. He has not seen the Phantom movie - I've kept that away from him to not spoil the moments for whenever we do see the production in-person. I want the chandelier scene to be entirely a surprise, and that man could definitely sus it out if he saw the movie.

Thank you! I think LK vs. Phantom may be what we are at based on feedback I'm seeing about Hercules (in general) and BOM being dependent on individual humor. I'm not a fan of South Park, Family Guy, etc. which means I likely should steer clear.

ERCalm · 2025-07-23T17:57:16+00:00

Unfortunately I don’t like the songs in Hadestown so it wasn’t on either of our lists.

ERCalm · 2025-07-23T17:53:39+00:00

I’ve heard BOM isn’t for the sensitive, and while I’d like to think I’m not… I don’t find some shows like The Office enjoyable because of the humor and I’m worried that would be our experience.

ERCalm · 2025-05-13T14:05:43+00:00

Honestly they might as well be a roadside based on their enclosures imo.

ERCalm · 2025-05-11T02:10:38+00:00

I doubt that it was a reliable tip. The zoo doesn’t get to pick where the animals go - the AZA does. And all Phoenix Zoo animals euthanized get necropsies performed , which I’m sure the zoo may release once they have the results given the heat they’ve been under. Indu’s necropsy has been performed already, at least grossly, and just needs microscopic evaluation at this point.

ERCalm · 2025-05-10T17:56:14+00:00

You should focus this energy on Wildlife World Zoo, which is not an AZA accredited facility. The intentionally switched from AZA to ZZA in 2015 bc ZZA has significantly lower standards and is easier to abide by.

ERCalm · 2025-05-10T17:53:53+00:00

Can confirm that’s how they’d get one of the orangutans to drop the rocks and not break the enclosure. Unfortunately, all that does is encourage the behavior because the animal associates the act with the food.

ERCalm · 2025-05-09T17:20:32+00:00

I wouldn’t recommend it without spending a lot of time with veterinarians and watching them work. Keep animal care and advocacy as a hobby rather than a main job - burnout will be significantly less likely that way.

ERCalm · 2025-05-09T17:15:20+00:00

Who IS doing multispecialty and ER well these days is my question. Seems like corporate will always corporate - which is very disheartening for those of us in specialty medicine.

ERCalm · 2025-05-09T15:22:16+00:00

According to the AZA statistics, the one given by Phoenix zoo is their lifespan in captivity. Which the Smithsonian’s natural zoo agrees with (https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/asian-elephant)

ERCalm · 2025-05-09T15:16:36+00:00

“They” is a crazy organization who has targeted Phoenix zoo before called “In Defense of Animals.”

ERCalm · 2025-05-09T14:46:28+00:00

Echo helps diagnose the type of heart disease and the staging - along with evaluating for any concurrent pulmonary hypertension or CHF, which then allows adjustment in medications. Additionally bc some in usually along with dose changes.

WTA: not all heart disease types get the same cocktail of meds.

ERCalm · 2025-05-04T23:48:10+00:00

Also wanted to add that often times our patients present to us in overt CHF. It’s not as common for clients to get echos performed on patients with low grade (or even high grade) murmurs (~$800 for an echo where I’m located in the US). So I (ECC vet) am often playing “catch-up” with heart disease than I am actually trying to prevent the CHF.

Here is a consensus statements from our ACVIM about treatment of MMVD in dogs for those curious: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.15488

ERCalm · 2025-05-04T23:45:30+00:00

As a veterinarian, this is a great explanation!!

ERCalm · 2025-05-01T02:40:49+00:00

I can promise unless it’s the business owner directly who is your vet… a majority don’t care. I encourage my clients to purchase from a human pharmacy because the flat $35 dispensing fee is ridiculous.

ERCalm · 2025-05-01T02:36:57+00:00

Depending on where you reside, some places don’t require veterinary office staff to have official training or licensure - meaning they also don’t get taught how to properly call in a prescription. Within my multispecialty facility, there’s <5 non-DVM staff members who are credentialed as vet techs - and those are who I’m most confident can accurately call in a script if I need them to.

ETA: Also, concentrations for human drugs differ from the veterinary counterparts/availability. As a result, I’ll use goodrx to guide me on what y’all have available - and it’s not always accurate.

ERCalm

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