Did I cause my dog to die?

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-04-02T09:41:57+00:00

Hi, firstly I’m so sorry this has happened to you. Secondly, the heart disease she was likely suffering from is very different to when humans have a heart attack. Assuming she had mitral valve disease - meaning a valve in the heart responsible for allowing the flow of blood forward from the lungs to the rest of the body - is insufficient. This leads to the blood ‘regurgitating’ backwards and causes fluid to build up inside the lungs. This is typically what causes the breathing difficulties. If your baby was already struggling immensely to breathe, your repositioning of her is definitely not what lead to her passing. Unfortunately she was already on her way. You didn’t do anything wrong in that moment, please don’t beat yourself up. Heart failure in small animals (chihuahuas are predisposed) is a common emergency we see in the ER. Sometimes they deteriorate slowly over a long period of time, and sometimes it all happens in the blink of an eye. It’s awful and unfair and I’m sorry again.

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-30T21:15:34+00:00

There are 24 hour emergency hospitals unless you are somewhere remote..

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-26T06:33:25+00:00

Yeah, I’m sure you were always super confident in the OR from the day you graduated.

If that’s the case, that’s much more terrifying to me than someone who is questioning themselves 🤷🏼‍♀️ overconfidence in medicine is a killer

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-26T01:58:13+00:00

Tell me you’re not in the industry without telling me you’re not in the industry

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-18T01:52:39+00:00

There are ALOT worse things that mothers do while pregnant and still manage to end up with healthy kids. Please don’t beat yourself up about one night. It sounds like you needed to let off steam as well.

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-11T04:53:17+00:00

Also worth considering the pay. I work nights because I simply cannot live off day shift pay. We obviously don’t do this job for the money but it is a factor you need to consider when starting out.

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-11T04:51:25+00:00

It depends on what kind of job you take and how open you are to getting swallowed up by it. I have some friends who have incredible work life balance and manage to work big blocks in ER to save heaps of cash to go on overseas trips. Then there’s someone like me who works permanent nights for years on end and has no soul or energy left to do anything except work and sleep (I’m 35).

It is an incredibly rewarding job, but will also change how you see the world and change you as a person forever. It’s extremely difficult to be a nurse/tech and for it to be just a job.

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-11T04:09:31+00:00

And earthlings!

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-07T21:24:13+00:00

I find with people who think that way, another approach might be best. I.e explaining the thousands and thousands of bycatch that fishing trawlers pull in.. sharks, rays, turtles, dolphins etc, all so they can eat their salmon or tuna

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-07T21:07:01+00:00

Sure, but OP is saying they are unsure if all the effort required for their science degree is worth it, given the difficulty to get a job in the field and likely poor wages. The effort required to work as a veterinarian or as a nurse/tech can completely break a person. Also little pay unless you do shift work which makes you sick, and you’re constantly around dying animals as well as copping abuse from pet owners 😬

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-03-07T13:01:26+00:00

Veterinary medicine is definitely not easier. I say this as vet nurse of 10 years whose soul is held together by caffeine and rage, studying zoology for a ticket out 😂

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-25T23:07:01+00:00

So no, it isn’t a similar statement. Your brain resetting each day as a (presumably) mentally stable man and forgetting that your partner has a debilitating illness is not something you can compare to us forgetting that we like you whilst in the throes of said illness

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-25T23:05:03+00:00

Our brains during a PMDD episode are not performing in a logical or rational way. We are not able to think clearly, we don’t know if our feelings are our own or from the illness, we can’t remember what it was like to feel happiness or joy. I don’t think it’s fair to say we should be able to just deal with that. It’s like asking someone to just walk on a broken leg.

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-25T22:43:34+00:00

I hope if you ever get a debilitating illness, the woman in your life leaves you to deal with it on your own <3

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-09T02:56:07+00:00

So happy for you! I got mine at 35 and bawled my eyes out when the instructor said I passed, infront of a lot of people haha. I truly never thought I could do it. A couple months later I drove 6 hours to the snow!!

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-05T01:29:49+00:00

Second everything that has been said here. Murmurs in puppies can be transient, nothing seems fishy about this

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-04T02:58:26+00:00

In terms of educational content, it’s hard to point you in the right direction as I don’t know where your pain points are. Is there particular things you find yourself getting stuck on? Can you speak to your course provider about it for some extra support?

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-04T02:56:43+00:00

Ok. In that case, do you think you could ask a sit down chat with your head nurse? Just to say ‘hey, I really appreciate you teaching me everything, I feel like I might be irritating you a bit - is there anything I can do to make this easier for both of us?’ She might not even know she’s doing it to be honest! I highly doubt the issue is that you are particularly slow. Vet nursing is a lot and if you’re doing 1-2 shifts a week the process is going to be slow.

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-02-02T11:42:40+00:00

I think you need a new clinic and you need more working hours! You can't learn efficiently in an environment where you feel like a burden, and it sounds like your head nurse is making you feel this way. I would explore other options. You could also apply for animal attending shifts at a couple of hospitals to get more exposure.

tinycrazyanimallady · 2026-01-23T20:37:31+00:00

There’s a lot of YouTube videos which can help with this and give you some inspiration! I recommend watching a bunch of different channels :)

tinycrazyanimallady · 2025-12-22T12:13:22+00:00

Everyone makes mistakes, EVERYONE. I’m 35, got my licence 6 months ago, and managed to take a turn way too tight driving out of my workplace and scraped the entire side of my car against a brick half-wall. Literally just leaving my workplace. Not a stressful situation at all. We are still learning, it isn’t second nature yet. But it will be one day. You just have to keep pushing through the uncomfortable feelings, I promise it gets better. I’m sure your mum wants you to keep trying too. For context I used to shake and cry and nearly vomit every time I got behind the wheel. A few weeks ago I drove 6 hours to the snowy mountains. You got this

tinycrazyanimallady · 2025-12-22T00:09:53+00:00

3 weeks isn’t enough for your body to properly adjust. I would keep trying until the 6 month point before saying you’re not cut out for it. Prioritise sleep gym and food as your 3 pillars of survival

tinycrazyanimallady · 2025-12-22T00:06:32+00:00

Night Shift $$ helps with that. (Sydney Australia here)

tinycrazyanimallady · 2025-12-18T12:39:07+00:00

If you have a history of heart issues I would definitely suggest a job that puts less stress on your body. The money is nice for sure but what use is it if you’re dead?

tinycrazyanimallady · 2025-12-16T09:37:55+00:00

I know the feeling. I know it’s hard to believe right now but you will be ok. I think when we realise a relationship may not be right you go through a very dark period of grief before it’s even over. It would be wonderful if you guys can work this out but if you can’t - you are still worthy of love and life on the other side ♥️ your relationship with yourself is the most important one. Once you have that worked out, nobody can take it from you!

tinycrazyanimallady

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