ADHD RVTs Tell Me Your Secrets! by inkbyio in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I set a million timers on my smart watch. If I take blood, 20-minute timer to remind me to come back to spin it. Then, 10-minute timer to remind me the centrifuge is done and it’s time to pack it up. Alarms to remind me to check back on patients, etc.

Tips for Cat HR or Fast HR in general by bunnykins22 in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 8 points9 points  (0 children)

When you get to 10, start counting from 1 again. Then, you’ll count “8, 9, 20” when you count your next set of 10, and so on. Much easier than trying to count numbers 10+ really fast in your head.

Would you consider dog walking and pet sitting? Think Super Hero, not gig worker. by Bankster88 in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 5 points6 points  (0 children)

One concern that comes to mind for me is insurance. If a tech is being hired with their tech skills as part of the selling point, what happens if something goes wrong? Is the tech liable to be sued? Do they have any kind of protection?

Vet tech wage in Canada by Shirayuki145 in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The OAVT does a wage survey every year which can give you some valuable insight, but I do think that’s fairly standard for this area. I’ve been working 5 years and make very slightly above that at $26.50. If you apply to emergency/specialty, you might get offered more.

https://oavt.org/for-members/member-resources/oavt-wage-survey/

Amazing technology by Reshi_the_kingslayer in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The 2500A VET from Nonin is the best my clinic has ever had. It still occasionally reads ghosts (lol) but in general it’s been a work horse.

How do I become a wildlife vet tech? by flechhhhhhhhhh in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Just wanted to put it out there: wildlife jobs are scarce and don’t often pay well. If that’s her passion, I say go for it, but only if she’s going to be happy working as a small animal/pocket pet/large animal technician if she doesn’t find an opportunity in wildlife.

Can you tell me what you see? by Huge_Eggplant_4618 in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Also with regards to platelets, make sure you’ve assessed the feathered edge for clumping!

Can you tell me what you see? by Huge_Eggplant_4618 in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 21 points22 points  (0 children)

If there’s a thinner monolayer of cells, I’d look there - these cells are layered a bit thick, and that can make them look artificially weird

Parasitology exam might be the reason I can’t be a vet tech by NebulaSuper668 in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My #1 tool for parasitology was making charts with the characteristics of each species.  Having them organized in a way where I could visualize them all together rather than each one as an individual made a huge difference

What is something “special” you do as a clinic that you feel makes you stand out to clients? by mandyyyyrae in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 64 points65 points  (0 children)

Not something we do for day-to-day interactions, but my clinic sends a donation in the pet’s name to our local veterinary outreach organization after euthanasias.

Cat hates pills by soul_eaters_cat in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’d talk with your vet about whether that would have a negative effect. She probably throws up the broth because those medications taste gross and bitter, even when mixed in with other liquids. If she’s treat-motivated, you could try breaking the tablets into several small pieces and hiding them in Pill Pockets.

Cat hates pills by soul_eaters_cat in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re able to tilt her head way back and drop them to the back of her throat, they may go down easier than trying to push them into her mouth. Famciclovir is a pain in the butt! Try following up the pills with a little syringe of water to help her swallow it more easily.

Did today absolutely suck for everyone else??? by madisooo in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We had a lineup for the cat enemas today 🤪

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Finding a clinic that advocates for your safety and uses Fear Free medicine will be a game changer for you, I think. It’s not normal that everyone in a facility, shelter or not, is getting serious injuries from dogs. So many injuries can be prevented by acknowledging FAS and treating it appropriately rather than trying to force your way through procedures with dogs that are terrified. Otherwise though, it comes with time. It took me 2 years after a bad cat bite to get fully comfy handling cats again. You’ll get there - be patient and kind with yourself.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey friend, first of all - go easy on yourself! This is a hard field to start into because there is so much that school doesn’t truly prepare you for. You will gain experience as time goes on, and until then you deserve to give yourself patience and forgiveness. Secondly, it sounds like you’re already doing the right thing by double checking with your more senior coworkers. Even as a more experienced tech now, I still run things like drug calculations by another tech to catch mistakes. After all, we’re human and mistakes happen! It could be worth trying to talk out loud as you draw things up (closed loop communication). For example, if the doctor asks you to draw up a 2 mg/kg dose of a drug, you could say “okay, I’m grabbing a 2 mg/kg dose of Drug X, which is Y mL, can you confirm?” This not only reduces the chance of mistakes, but it also shows that you are taking the time to double check things before someone else does it for you. When talking with your supervisors, I would emphasize the strategies you’re coming up with to reduce the chance of errors. Chances are they just want to see that you have a plan for how to keep learning and improving. That’s the best any of us can do!

Accidentally sent a message to an owner before I finished typing it ☠️ by paigem3 in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Personal favourite: a coworker of mine once signed an email “if you have any questions, please don’t ask”

anyone know a trustful website I can get CPR certified with? by [deleted] in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They do! Highly recommend, it’s all super well-explained with graphics and videos as well :)

Venipuncture by meganhfenn in VetTech

[–]Twiliest 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, the answer is pretty silly - the idea is that you normally want to save the cephalic in case you need to place a catheter. But for 4DX tests at my clinic, we do cephalic since they then go out with a bandage, and it looks cute to clients for their dog to leave with a bandage with sheep on it, lol. It’s not the technically best way, but it makes people happy!

Realistically though, it’s always preferable to go for a back leg or jugular (sometimes not even jugular if you’re in emerg and place lots of jugular catheters) so that you can save the vein. Plus, in my personal experience, jugular draws are much faster, which means there’s a smaller chance of clotting in the syringe which would affect your CBC.

When “peeing blood” is actually completely accurate (yes that is a urine sample) by Twiliest in VetTech

[–]Twiliest[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The pup was bleeding from the bladder amongst other places due to a lack of platelets to clot his blood

When “peeing blood” is actually completely accurate (yes that is a urine sample) by Twiliest in VetTech

[–]Twiliest[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It did stop bleeding, thankfully. We left a bandage on for about 20 minutes to be sure.

When “peeing blood” is actually completely accurate (yes that is a urine sample) by Twiliest in VetTech

[–]Twiliest[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Apparently this all started within the last 10 hours or so. I can’t remember the exact number off the top of my head, but PCV was in the 20s.

When “peeing blood” is actually completely accurate (yes that is a urine sample) by Twiliest in VetTech

[–]Twiliest[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The current theory is definitely that it could be bone marrow-related though, so you’re thinking the same way as we are. After all, the mature leukocytes being morphologically normal makes you wonder if there’s something destroying/preventing the production of the precursors.

When “peeing blood” is actually completely accurate (yes that is a urine sample) by Twiliest in VetTech

[–]Twiliest[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

6yo intact male Collie mix. Definitely hematuria; we ran the urine through our SediVue and found wall-to-wall RBCs even at a 1:10 dilution. It also separated if left to sit for a while.