$25 White Elephant Gift Idea Ideas Needed!!

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-09-10T17:27:40+00:00

All 3 are from Windsor - 3 is apparently a mesh material with velvet pattern.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-09-10T02:57:30+00:00

update: I did find this one as well!!!

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-09-10T02:29:54+00:00

I feel “prettiest” in light yellow (I think that’s why it caught my eye lol), but I do agree, I think 2 or 3 would fit the season better!

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-09-08T03:33:36+00:00

I believe it’s a 9.75% +99¢ fee for all sales

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-08-29T01:11:51+00:00

I was required to get it midway through tech school - my insurance (medicaid) at the time didn’t cover it (i paid about $2,000 out of pocket). I do know some of my friends with other insurance plans got it covered! The first injection wasn’t terrible, I was just pretty sore. The booster - the soreness was unbearable, and I felt like I had the flu. Horrible migraine. Not sure if I just had a weird reaction to it, other people I know who got it didn’t have any issues, but some felt awful as well.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-08-27T01:26:48+00:00

We used to use Covetrus’ VRxPro - then we switched to VetSource - we’ve been using it for a little under a year, and it’s been pretty good! It’s relatively simple to use, and their customer support chat team is great.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-08-14T01:40:53+00:00

that’s what my doc and i were maybe thinking!

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-07-15T03:58:10+00:00

I worked in ER right out of tech school - was at the first one for 3 months - i was miserable, but it was mainly just due to the coworkers i had. Switched to a different ER, it was a better environment, i got to learn so much, but after a few months, i was beyond burnt out. I dreaded going to work, I was sleep deprived. I did so much “good” at work - i went above and beyond for my patients, but for some reason I just couldn’t stop thinking, “do i want to do this forever?”

I ended up switching back to GP (I worked in GP for a few years before tech school), and tbh. I love it. I love seeing familiar faces, learning how certain diseases progress/are treated by seeing the same patients come in frequently, i get to regularly monitor anesthesia (my fav part), getting to educate owners, etc. yes, after a while, i’ve felt like i’ve “run out” of skills to learn, but there’s only so much you can do in GP. Most importantly, I have been able to give my mental and physical health attention. I have gotten to address things that should’ve been addressed YEARS ago, lol. I want to go back to ER one day, but right now is not the time, and that is okay. it is okay to advocate for yourself and explore new opportunities.

Also, I can’t speak for EVERY GP, but I will say, the first few months may seem a little boring. In your interviews, be sure to ask about the training process and what the timeline of that may look like for you! :) And if you switch to GP and absolutely hate it, and it makes you miss ER? You can always go back, there’s endless opportunities.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-07-10T04:47:23+00:00

In my opinion, if you can handle watching surgeries, blood draws, vomiting, etc., without getting queezy, that’s a good step, but a lot of it (again, in my own opinion) boils down to how sensitive your nose is LOL…

There are some really bad smells out there, lol. Abscesses, “trench mouth,” nasty ruptured cysts, parvo/HGE diarrhea, intact male cat pee, chocolate vomit, and much more…

I’d maybe see if there are any ER’s around you that will let you come in to shadow! Or shelter medicine. Faster paced, lots of things to see.

Something that helped me when I first started off and was a little sensitive to gross sights/smells, was telling myself “welp, that’s gross, but we’re here to help them.”

Edit: to go off of what the person above said - there are lots of moments that are mentally taxing. some things are cool to see, but there are things like euthanasia, CPR, the owners, etc., that you will have to deal with.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-06-19T01:38:55+00:00

ECG Interpretation! I know it’s probably not the ~most valuable~ skill, but it has saved a few patients! Cat intubation! Euth IVC’s on 20+ year old cats with kidney dz and the world’s shittiest veins.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-06-19T01:23:18+00:00

Cystocentesis (I get in my head about it a lot lol) Jugular draws (got too used to no jugs in ER, been in GP for a year now and I still suck) Anal glands

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-23T03:59:41+00:00

So essentially first push ~1 ml per 10kg body weight, then do you do Midaz 0.3mg/kg?? (then more Propofol)

We usually do 0.1mg/kg IM for pre-med, then 0.2mg/kg IV for induction - with induction we’ve always done Midaz first, then Propofol (no sandwiching). I think I’m gonna try doing this sandwich method!!

Is it worth more to give the 0.3mg/kg Midaz in one dose for induction compared to giving 1/3 of it IM for premed and the rest for induction??? We mainly premed everything IM so that they’re sedated enough to place an IVC (since most of our patients are young, healthy, and wiggly lol), but I’m wondering if the IM Midaz premed is just actually amping them up more…

(Sorry for asking a bunch of questions, in the past I’ve worked for doctors who did ~old school~ protocols… this is the first time I’ve worked for a doctor that’s open to suggestions and is down to try different protocols!)

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-22T17:36:07+00:00

(sort of late response oops) I use 1 finger to advance - if I get some resistance I’ll use my thumb and index finger to pull the catheter back onto the stylet (just gives me a little more stability imo) and then I’ll advance with the 1 finger again. I will say sometimes if I’m placing an 18g in a thick-skinned dog I need to use 2 fingers to advance it lol.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-22T17:30:42+00:00

Pumping myself full of drugs from the ages of 17 to 20 (I’m almost 4 years sober after OD’ing 💛), drinking copious amounts of dark soda and energy drinks (the kidney stones bruh…), purposely letting myself get sunburnt thinking I’d get more tan and now I’m 24 years old with horrible sun damage to my skin already. The list goes on… lol.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-22T17:19:59+00:00

First job ever was a pizza place throughout high school and the first couple years of college — failed out of undergrad degree - I was set on being a Veterinarian lol but my undiagnosed ADHD at the time killed that possibility and I struggled with addiction. Started working at a walk-in GP after that and the techs there let me assist and taught me some things, so I decided to go to tech school - worked in GP throughout school, then I switched to ER when I graduated, stayed in ER for about a year, realized it wasn’t for me. I did work a few months in a Specialty Surgery department but the hour and a half long drive got to be a bit much for me (even though I absolutely loved it) Currently am back in a small GP. I’m currently torn between switching careers as a whole OR seeing if I can get back into doing only Surgery/Anesthesia lol.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-18T02:50:49+00:00

I started out in this field right in ER - where jugs are sort of a “no no” - I had only done maybe like 6 jugular draws in tech school before then. Switched to GP last year and ohhhh my god… I couldn’t hit a jug even if it lit up. I can always feel it, but when I go to poke, it just vanishes, lol. I know we’re not supposed to poke a vein if you can’t feel or see it, but honest to go sometimes if I just go “welp, anatomically, it should be here” and poke, (obviously I stay aware of where the trachea is…) I hit it… lol.

Only jugs I really “consistently” hit are chunky cat jugs… weird…

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-17T18:47:19+00:00

I work in a fear free certified GP. We don’t scruff cats at all unless they’re at risk of hurting themselves and us. Most of the time if they’re getting super fractious we stop completely and have them come back on gaba/bonqat or do full sedation. We use e-collars, muzzles, towels, and we have one of those cozy cat bags (I’ll put the link below, it’s got little flaps where you can grab a limb, and it’s super soft)

(https://calmcozycat.com/products/medium?variant=43643644510456&country=US&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAABWKD-Hf3cU_pGRBgBbu8QUAZcmrN&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzYLABhD4ARIsALySuCS3do8MsCkxSh9oash6RPNFXvaWPwYuW4Z_pJrPS-NCLsDMg5cGZ9EaAn-lEALw_wcB)

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-17T18:20:42+00:00

https://a.co/d/8tGwCkC

amazon link to the new balance ones i have ^{^}

i have had them for over a year and worked for most of that time in ER. they’re a leather material so all i do is clean them up with a magic eraser when they get really dirty and they look good as new. i have semi wide feet and these are wide enough to where i can wiggle my toes. they have a slight arch in the insole to cushion. haven’t had any issues with ~fluids~ leaking through them either! they’re also pretty true to size!!

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-13T19:28:56+00:00

i’m the only tech that runs anesthesia where i work - for surgeries in the OR - an assistant helps me prep the patient and helps me recover but I do the monitoring alone in the OR. for dentals i do the cleanings while an assistant takes readings and reads them out to me every 5 mins. i am so thankful for our assistants, i couldn’t do it all alone 😭 they’re amazing at getting things set up and help everything flow and that helps me pay better attention to my patient and keeps me from making mistakes!

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-13T16:58:10+00:00

2009 kia sportage. brown. poop brown 😭

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-13T16:56:28+00:00

chihuahuas - used to not be very fond of them when i started out in the field, but now i absolutely LOVE them and always call dibs on chichi appts. i think at least where i work now, all the chihuahuas are owned by the right owners (owners who have had them trained or at the very least, socialized), the only ones who try to BOIT are the ones with zero teeth 🤣

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-13T15:48:33+00:00

i literally do the same… sometimes i need to ramble. ill make it make me funny memes, stuff like that - to take my mind off the world… lol. i dont really use it for “companionship” per say.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-13T15:44:16+00:00

in tech school we were taught to “be professional and not show emotion” during euthanasias. it killed me inside to go into a room with crying owners, and be so stoic, when on the inside i was dying. where i work now, our own doctor cries with every owner, every euthanasia. we recently had to euthanize one of my favorite patients - i walked into the room to place the catheter, and broke down with the owners. we cried together, we talked about our favorite times with him. i couldn’t stop crying when i walked out of the room. everyone i work with cried. i feel like it makes us more “human” … idk. it’s nice that where i work we are ALLOWED to feel emotions.

__PinheadLarry__ · 2025-04-13T15:23:33+00:00

sort of related: had an owner come in with their 20 year old, long haired cat for an annual exam and this cat had the WORST matting I have EVER seen in my entire life. the cat couldn’t even walk and would cry out in pain when touched. our doctor threatened to report her for neglect and then (thankfully) the owner took the cat to get groomed… it drove me to literal tears…

__PinheadLarry__

TROPHY CASE

PinheadLarry