r/VetTech

I've been an ER tech for many years, and am unfortunately "used" to death and euthanasia, however, this case is really eating at me tonight. I'm going to keep it short, mostly the basics. Approx 2yr old M DSH presented as a wounded stray, NWB RH, suspected animal bite wounds with a nasty abscess. Finder was treating at home for the past two weeks. Per finder doing well otherwise. E/D/U/D normally, no other concerns. He wasn't looking great per se, but stable. We went through multiple options/estimates/financing options and finder was only able to contribute less than the exam fee. Ultimately, we were able to work within their budget and give Convenia, SQ fluids and planned to send home with buprenorphine. I gave them a donated carrier to take him home in as they did not come in with one. After giving the injectables and returning the patient to the room, I left to grab discharges. I came back to the client taking the carrier apart and trying to get the patient out. The patient was struggling and trying to get away from the client. They attempted to wrap him in a blanket but he was desperately trying to escape. The patient got caught in the blanket and fell to the ground. I heard his head smack against the floor and he let out the saddest yowl. He screamed for a few seconds and then went agonal. By the time I was able to scoop him up and bring him to the treatment area, he was dead. There are more details contributing to how I am feeling but I'm not going to make assumptions or open up that discussion here. I'm just sad, honestly.

Does anybody know when it comes to pet euthanasia. Why must step #1 be a needle? Surely it would be better for a gentle drowsy state; give treats, comfort them, to unconscious before any needle is applied. It makes obvious sense so there must be a regulatory or legal reason why it is not an option at facilities? Otherwise there last memory is the needle, it's not good for anyone. Obviously it would cost more for the family.

What is the purpose of the numbing injection before the pink? Does the pink euthanasia itself cause pain? if not I do not see the point. Besides, our family member was unconscious due some pain medication they gave, before even coming out of the locked doors.

Thank You

EDIT: I understand this is very much a touchy subject. There is no judgement here, at least from me i hope this stays calm and helpful.

You know. The good ol’ I can’t leave my job because I need the money, I can’t take a pay cut, but my mental health is in the garbage..

I’ve been on the verge of deep depression for a hot min. But I always, dig myself out of this deep dark hole.

My soul dog died about 2 months ago, and I’ve been finding I really hard to care about anything. My coworkers, my job. But I’ve never lost my patient care aspect of it.

How many of you guys are on SSRI’s and had good experience? A coworker of mine just told me about micro dosing mushrooms and that they helped her.

I just wanted some ideas from other people and a bigger community..

Tl;Dr: Everyone seems to think being a vet tech is horrible, especially other vet techs. Is becoming one a mistake?

For context: I am a 27yr old with a degree in Communication Studies & Rhetoric who has been working office admin jobs for the past few years. I currently make about 50k (which is hilariously low for what I could do in my field, but also very close to what most vet techs make in my area so its proof to myself that I already know what the pay feels like). I absolutely hate my job. Not my boss, not my coworkers, just the literal tasks of working in an office. I haven't met a desk job I've liked.

The only job I did love? Foster Care Coordinator at a county animal shelter. I grew my program from about 30 animals in foster care to 500 at the peak (it was a state with no spay-neuter laws and its a no-kill shelter. Chaos. Chaos constantly). I LOVED giving vaccines, assisting the vet team, taking home the medical fosters, holding the animals at end of life. I've done the maggot removal, I've survived a parvo-outbreak. I had some nightmares about it but it never scratched how much I loved that stupid crazy job. I got paid virtually nothing and didn't really care. I felt like I had a real job that really helped and had purpose and skill. Not just a pencil pusher. I only let it go because I had to move and when I moved there are weirdly no shelters in my area? (A state with strict spay-neuter laws and a fairly rural area.)

Fast forward I am looking up the ladder for my job and while my earning potential skyrockets up from here I look at those job listing and throw up a little in my mouth every time. I just hate it.

I've been considering pulling the rip-cord and going back to school to do a 2 year vet tech certification program at a nearby college. I never wanted to pursue the major I did, or do the work I do, but I did it because everyone told me it was the smarter, easier, better thing to do. I'd make more money, I'd have a comfortable life. But honestly, I can't see myself staying in the office or even accepting a position that makes me more money than I do now because I dont want to do that kind of work. I want to, for the first time in my entire life, make a life path choice for myself. Go after something I actually want and like even if its risky.

Despite that fire under me to take my life back and do it my way, I am a little terrified by how much shit people talk about vet techs (especially vet techs leaving the field). Even my dad responded to the idea with "uh thats a minimum wage entry job? Just go be a vet! Now THATS whats in high demand and pays well" (He has no grasp on how long or how expensive that would be. I simply couldnt afford to pull that off.)

Hello all,
I am trying to get certified through Wisconsin (in NJ) via on the job training and it is the last year to do so. I have been in the field on and off for over 10 years. The Wisconsin application requires to list previous convictions, 12 years ago I got a DUI, which in the state of New Jersey is a traffic offense. Not that it matters, but I drove two blocks home and at my residence, I was issued a ticket. I know I have to disclose this information but they require documentation and I do not know what documentation I need. I am in tears at this point.
Has anyone else ever experienced something similar?
I would hate for something that happened. 12 years ago to stop me from doing this.

Thank you to anyone who reads this

Does anyone have a preferred calming supplement for dogs? This is for my personal pet, but I haven't worked in GP in about 6 years, so I don't necessarily know the most up-to-date information regarding Adaptil/Solliquin/Composure/Calming Care vs. anything else.

Little history - I have a surrendered English Bulldog who has a very obsessive personality. It's very difficult to break his attention from something once he's fixated. He's been through over a year of training (and somehow graduated three Good Manners classes??), and we are working on breaking through to him, but I think a little supplement management would help. I'm hesitant to put him on fluoxetine in case it lowers his inhibitions (and we have a bite incident trying to remove an item he's fixated on), and pure sedatives do not seem to phase him even at the upper end of the dose limit. It doesn't help that he's a very active dog and I've haven't been able to take him for walks the past few weeks since it has been well over his temperature threshold here.

Any experience (personal and professional) is appreciated!

When this occurs in an existing patient do you think this can just be a tech appt ( where the tech can just push it back in and send the patient home and monitor) or should it be a dr visit

I work at one of the candy coated corporate hospitals, we're getting Voyager to replace our current software in two months and we're all terrified. I'm excited for the concept of being able to text clients directly for communication but that's pretty much all I know about it. The company has been very hush hush about it all, a few other hospitals have had it and the commentary has not been great. We also keep getting mixed information about how we're going to be rolling out the training to this new software. First I heard it was a 6 week training course, then I heard 6 days, and then someone else told me they only got 2 hours to play with it and watch videos and then next thing they knew it was rolled out already.

What has your experience been like with Voyager? How long did it take to get the swing of it compared to other vet med softwares? What are some early hurdles to prepare for?

Are there any RVT’s who currently work at Banfield who actually like their experience?

I feel like ever since I started working at Banfield last August that I was just thrown into taking RVT appointments and was not properly trained. Since my clinic was short staffed they wanted me to take drop off appointments only a month in. I feel burnout from corporate GP I used to work for VCA but banfield just seems worst. We see way too many sick pets and with voyager starting I just feel like really scared cause they can’t block off the appointments. I don’t know I’m almost at my one year but I feel like my PM and lead doctor are so hard on me. I feel like I should leave GP and try and find something more chill.

This job is so stressful. The culture at my location here is toxic. There is no structure. I wish we didn’t have to see so many pets. It’s like we have to squeeze like 28+ pets into a schedule and the express appointments omg I hate them. I am not happy at this job, I can’t leave right now, but I’m am trying to save up money so that I can find something else.

If anybody has any advice for me please let me know.

The teacher strongly recommended I interview someone who isn't in GP.

I have been working at this general practice since april, and it’s the most stressful job I have ever worked in. I have a plethora of mental issues, and my thinking is too scattered to work here. I keep making mistakes, and I don’t feel welcome at all by the people there. Some of the other people are nice, but I am too afraid all the time to ever become friendly with them.

When I do make mistakes, criticism doesn’t feel stable, it feels insulting. It could be my hypersensitivity, but it’s like every mistake I do either annoys or pisses off others.

There is a tech who just graduated from the same tech program I am in. I asked her how long it took her to get the hang of things “a couple of weeks”. How am I this dumb that I cannot grasp this place after a couple of months. Even if part of that time I was only working saturdays… How can a week make me feel like I am just starting over each time I come in?

My boss is very stern with me, doesn’t like talking to me. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t explain things quickly enough for her, but she goes on to interrupt me then say “i don’t know what you’re trying to tell me” as if I am an idiot.

I got a job offer to work part time as part of the veterinary team for the research labs at a nearby university. and during my internship with them that my school requires, it felt a lot more like my speed and my kind of place. No lobby full of noises and impatient clients, no dogs barking constantly from the boarding area, and no higher up staff that speak down to me constantly and act annoyed whenever i talk.

But i am scared this lab job won’t work out either. that I would regret leaving.

I don’t know if I should just quit or work on the weekends to continue getting a discount for my pets. It just does not seem worth it to me anymore.

I cannot help but bring work back home with me, replaying all the mistakes I make. I cannot stop spiraling.

I work only 4 hours for this upcoming week, but it feels never ending- and I can’t breathe or think of anything else just imagining being there.

This whole experience has just made me feel weak, stupid, and incapable.

Hi all.

A online student in SoCal needs to borrow a rabies pole in order to graduate from the program!!

She is willing to drive anywhere in SoCal and we can leave a deposit or do whatever needs to be done. This is one task holding her back from finishing this semester!!!

The video is very very simple and will just take a few minutes to record and the pole can be brought back asap.

Posting here to try and help out a fellow student.

For context, this client and I had been having a pleasant conversation about not originally being from this part of the country and she asked what had brought me here and I told her a bit about it and that I had recently enlisted in the US Army and leave for basic training in October.

Unprompted, she looked at me and said, “I’m going to say something that a mother, a sister, a friend would tell you. You need to lose 20-30 lbs and get on a glp-1, and start doing Pilates, or you won’t have the stamina to make it through that.”

I awkwardly was like “uhh yeah I’m working very hard on my fitness goals and frankly can’t afford those things nor are medications like that allowed for enlisted soldiers to medically qualify.”

What she doesn’t know, is I work 10 hour days walking around 25,000 steps a day, and still drag my tired ass to the gym after work for over an hour, I walk my dog at least a mile and a half before and after work, force myself to get up at 5am every morning to run a mile, and do push ups and sit ups in between cleaning shit at work. I work in large animal medicine so I’m outside, in the heat, working with horses and cattle and everything else.

I am painfully aware that I’m not yet where I need to be, and no one knows more than myself what I look like and how much weight needs to come off my body when I step on a scale and look in a mirror. I can’t lie, it really, really stung me when she said that. She had literally just met me. It was so unexpectedly sharp and I get she was probably trying to help but it wasn’t. It was just unnecessary.

So, I cried a little about it and did my usually 1.5 hours at the gym after work. The army is gonna give me tough skin but damn dude, I’m working so hard!

Have any of you ever had clients say some really out of pocket things to you about your body/weight/appearance?

Somewhat new LVT. In my schooling/reading ive never heard the pros/cons of using a long vs short IVC. I try to utilize long IVCs in giant breed dogs & seizure patients, but does any one have info on benefits of using one vs. the other? Resources for info?

The other day, I had a client that came to visit her hospitalized cat and I ended up chatting with her for a few minutes. The cat is named Sweet Cream and truly lives up to her name. I ended up grabbing a small hairbrush and let the owner use it because I noticed Sweet Cream loves cheek and chin scritches.

At the end of the visitation, the client (an older woman in her 60’s maybe?) suddenly looked at me and said “you are so sweet”. I said, “me? Or Sweet Cream??” She told me, “no, you! I can tell you love animals so much. The love is just *oozing* out of you, I can feel it. You’re so kind and sweet, thank you for taking care of her. I know you’re giving her so much love when I’m not here.”

Yall. I almost cried. 🥹

I’ve been in the field for over 8 years and I’ve felt my share of burnout. I still love animals and call them all baby, little one, sir/maam, my love, sweetie, cutie patootie pants, etc… but it’s the clients that usually leave me the most frustrated. This client reminded me why I’m in vetmed. I felt so seen in that moment, especially from a client I’ve never met before. For them to feel the love I pour into my patients means that my patients can feel it tenfold.

Thanks for listening to my little yap sesh. I hope all of you receive the accolades that you rightfully deserve, and that you give the same love to your patients, coworkers, and clients in return. You’ve got this 💕

I’m in process of buying equipment for a start up GP hospital…. Currently feeling decision fatigue over multi parameter anesthesia monitoring machines!

I’ve been used to Midmark/Cardell Touch and like it, but since I’m able to order dream equipment, what should I be looking at?

Mindray epm10 is one of my options, anyone use this and have feelings? I keep hearing great things about Mindray products.

Thanks!