12.10.2007
Names
At our clinic, my name is not Kristina. It would be nice if it was. Or, 'Kristina, LVT', or, 'Kristina, dept. head' or something equally awe inspiring. No, my name is 'Platypus.' It's due to the face I make when I'm being a pain, trying to make a point, or just thinking. Usually being a pain. 'Duck' would also be an appropriate title, but it wasn't the one that was chosen. I even got an email from a certain coworker recently, with a picture of one of my 'relatives'.
12.06.2007
Bird Care
When you have a bird (a parakeet, to be exact) boarding at your clinic, it might come with specific instructions.
It will have a blanket to cover the cage.
It will have a radio so music can be played in the evenings.
The radio will, in fact, be set to a certain station. This bird has musical preferences. It likes 50's and 60's music.
Too bad the radio doesn't get any reception in the clinic.
It will have a blanket to cover the cage.
It will have a radio so music can be played in the evenings.
The radio will, in fact, be set to a certain station. This bird has musical preferences. It likes 50's and 60's music.
Too bad the radio doesn't get any reception in the clinic.
11.18.2007
11.17.2007
Kennel Assistant
Mean cat= doing wellness exam and vaccines in a small room in case he escapes=him escaping=him climbing up the cages onto the little window near the ceiling=us trying various ways to get him down without him killing us=him pooping all over= the kennel assistant having to climb up and scrub the window and walls down. Poor kennel assistants.
The Chihuahua Trio
These dogs are regulars...and they always have new outfits on, depending on the season/holiday.Those wonderful cats
The result of Muffin, the cat, resisting taking a pill. He chomped my finger instead. 10.30.2007
Reasons to become a tech...and not a vet...
#1. You don't have to diagnose. Perhaps you might think diagnosing would be cool. Finding out the problems...a big puzzle. Unfortunately, however, many of these puzzles are missing big pieces. As a tech, all you have to say when the client bombards you with questions is, 'that's a good question!' and go find a Dr. to explain everything. Or try to explain everything. We techs aren't supposed to diagnose or explain things to clients, and I love that. I generally don't know what all is going on anyhow, so it gives me a good excuse to not have to think of an intelligent response. Hey, I put the catheters in and draw the blood. There's a reason I didn't go to school to learn to explain the innerworkings of animals to people. And half the time they don't seem to listen to you anyhow. It's real fun trying to explain things to people who aren't actually listening. It is tempting at times to say to clients: 'Repeat after me. One pill twice daily, starting tonight.'
#2. You don't have to do surgery. I know some doctors love sx. I know others don't love it. I find myself especially thankful I don't have to do it when I'm monitoring an OVH for a 70# dog who has had puppies before. Layers of fat. Engorged everything. Lots of blood. I can be sympathetic to the vet, but there's no way I want to be the one removing that uterus/ovaries. No, I'm a big fan of giving moral support.
#3. The Dr. is ultimately responsible for everything. I like being given lists of things to do for animals. I really don't want to be the one in charge of curing them/deciding what to do.
#4. You don't have to deal with the backlash. Well, we've all had our share of upset clients to deal with, and we've all put out more than a few fires. But in the end, it's generally the Dr. who gets to deal with it. And I don't envy them.
#5. You don't have $100,000.000 in debt waiting for you when you graduate. Community college tuition is a wonderful thing. Being a tech isn't exactly the highest paying job around, but those who think that vets make alot of money are generally way off. Do not become a vet if you want to be rich.
I'm thankful there are people who want to become vets. But just make sure you understand that being a vet doesn't just include saving lives and grateful clients. That does happen, but being a vet can also be a very stressful thing. Thank goodness for wonderful clients, they make all the difference.
#2. You don't have to do surgery. I know some doctors love sx. I know others don't love it. I find myself especially thankful I don't have to do it when I'm monitoring an OVH for a 70# dog who has had puppies before. Layers of fat. Engorged everything. Lots of blood. I can be sympathetic to the vet, but there's no way I want to be the one removing that uterus/ovaries. No, I'm a big fan of giving moral support.
#3. The Dr. is ultimately responsible for everything. I like being given lists of things to do for animals. I really don't want to be the one in charge of curing them/deciding what to do.
#4. You don't have to deal with the backlash. Well, we've all had our share of upset clients to deal with, and we've all put out more than a few fires. But in the end, it's generally the Dr. who gets to deal with it. And I don't envy them.
#5. You don't have $100,000.000 in debt waiting for you when you graduate. Community college tuition is a wonderful thing. Being a tech isn't exactly the highest paying job around, but those who think that vets make alot of money are generally way off. Do not become a vet if you want to be rich.
I'm thankful there are people who want to become vets. But just make sure you understand that being a vet doesn't just include saving lives and grateful clients. That does happen, but being a vet can also be a very stressful thing. Thank goodness for wonderful clients, they make all the difference.
10.26.2007
Business Office Makeover
After rearranging the furniture and clearing out a bunch of stuff, but before reorganizing
After reorganizing/decorating.Mindi and I decided to have fun and redo the business office, since we're both interior decorating fans. There are still more things we'd like to add, but this is what we've done so far. Makes the office much more peaceful and pretty!
10.22.2007
Computers
We are a mostly paperless practice. Which is awesome when the computers actually work. And having all the computers work at a fast speed will be cause for great celebration. We haven't actually been able to have that great celebration yet. I remain optimistic that it will happen in my lifetime.
10.05.2007
What do I actually do??
In case the parental unit is interested in what I actually do each day, the following is my general routine on a sx morning.
6:15: Wake up. Decide that I can get 15 more minutes of sleep in, and wonder why I didn't set my alarm for 6:30 in the first place.
6:30: Actually get up. Get ready for work. Skip breakfast. Go through all my used scrubs until I find my name tag. One of 4 name tags I have, but somehow they're always in my laundry pile.
7:15: Psmith and I, and occasionally Penelope, go to work. I take him on a short walk and then set his kennel and bed up.
7:30: Clock in. Hope that the time clock works, so I don't have to write Mindy yet another 'please clock me in at 7:30 and out at 11:30' note. Wonder why I didn't eat any breakfast, since my stomach is doing wierd things. Oh well. In an hour I'll feel fine.
Mindy tells me that a sx drop off is in #2. I glance at the estimate and form before walking in. So I can sound at least somewhat informed when talking with the client. Realize that, oh crap, I need a canine 1-20# OVH estimate, not a feline one. Let Mindy know; she makes me a correct one.
Go into exam room #2. As I walk into the room, my demeanor changes. I'm no longer the slightly irritated technician whose stomach is churning, who wishes that darn boarding dog would shut up, and who hopes that the declaw that was done yesterday doesn't try to tear us apart as we remove the paw bandages. No, I am the calm, smiling, in charge of the situation technician. How is Spot doing today? Let me show you this estimate before I go over the anesthesia consent form. Now here is the consent form. Yes, I would highly recommend the IV catheter and fluid therapy, here is why. Bloodwork? Let me explain. Pain meds? Well, wouldn't you want them if you had your ovaries and uterus removed?!?!? Ok. So I don't say all that. It wouldn't be professional. The client can choose whatever they want.
Take Spot in the back, try to put her in a cage. Oh. You don't want to go in the cage? And there's a feline declaw in room #1? Leah, can you take this dog for me? Put her papers in box #4.
Walk into the cat room. A feline OVH. Nice enough people, friendly cat. Slight payment issue. The payment policy has been drilled into me. I could recite it in my sleep, and I've had to recite it to quite a few clients. They're not paying for it, the lady who gave the cat to them is. Supposedly it's all taken care of. Ok, that's fine. Can I have this lady's number? Ummm.....no. They don't have it nor is it in the phonebook. Fine. Just give us a call later with this lady's contact info, as we cannot release the cat without payment. Due to lack of a clue in regards to how much this former owner will spent, I don't go over the anesthesia consent form with them, I just have them sign it.
8:00: All the sx patients are checked in. Jessie and I fill out the cage cards with each patient's plan. She tells me that she's made half of the day's goal with just one spay, since they're treating for ear mites, testing for FeLV/FIV, doing IV cath/fluids,microchip, pain meds tgh, preanesth chem, vaccines,deworming, and, what the heck, she talked them into a dental as well. I tell her that I have no clue what we can do with my feline OVH. Vax? Don't know. Pain meds? No clue. No bloodwork or IV cath, I assume. Let's just get her spayed, at least.
The Dr. arrives. And he's brought....bran muffins!!!! Yeah!!! says my stomach. Hopefully I'll have time to eat one before lunch. They're from Safeway, and they're extremely good.
We have him listen to all the animals and approve premeds. Normal on all, I ask? Yes, he says. Let's use that Buprenorphine on the feline OVH, instead of Torb. I like the longterm analgesic effects of it.
Jessie and I have our sx morning routine down. We like to say that we don't have to talk to eachother, we already know what the other wants/is thinking. We both work on TPRing the patients, giving meds to hospitalized patients, and getting blood from sx patients. She runs all the bloodwork, I get all the premeds ready. The lab is her domain, so I'm happy to have her run everything. I like getting all the premeds ready.
Premed all animals. Wash scratch from cat that didn't like its premed. Place IV catheters in the patients that need them. I tell Jessie I want to place them. She lets me. I love placing IV catheters.
Leah, those 2 dogs vomited. Can you clean it up? The Morphine always makes the dogs vomit. We can tell whether the owners followed our instructions and held off on food the night before.
8:45: Draw up induction drugs. Get a size 7.5 trach tube. Oh. You want a size 10 trach tube, Jessie? Fine. Jessie always goes bigger than I do. I like to say that if I had a WWJD bracelet, it would stand for 'What Would Jessie Do'.
Attempt to induce the canine OVH. The premed has helped sedate her a little, but she still is a reluctant patient. And the client didn't choose an IV catheter. Restraining this animal while giving the Propofol IV is a challenge.
She's asleep. We shave her belly, trim her nails, and scrub the sx site.
8:50: She's on the sx table. We hook her up to all the monitors and open a small sx pack for the Dr.
The next 1/2 hr is spent monitoring her throughout the sx. I get suture, and keep her alive. The SpO2 is down to 89. I reposition the monitor on the tongue. Normally that's all I have to do to make it go back to the 90's range.
This dog has had puppies. Thus things are more enlarged than normal and there is more blood. The Dr. mutters something about darn ligaments and wishing all his OVH patients were 4 months old. That would make things so much easier.
This dog has decided that she will not maintain well under the anesthesia. I reduce the anesthesia, increase the O2, breath for her, and am thankful that the sx is almost over. I also turn the alarm down. I know that her levels are a bit low, and I don't feel like listening to constant beeping.
The sx is over, the dog is fine. I unhook her and put her in her kennel, and Jessie brings the next patient into the sx room. Leah extubates the OVH, and keeps her warm.
9:50: I get my dental going. The teeth aren't that bad. Sigh. Looks like it'll be a rather boring dental. Ah well, at least it'll go quick.
Leah, can you get me the Cephazolin? And a calculator? All dentals get an antibiotic inj. I have Leah figure out the dose for me. 12# /2.2kg x 20mg/100mg/ml = 1ml. A calculation that I often make several times a day. Please give it SQ.
Thankfully this animal is maintaining well under the anesthesia, so I don't have to worry about breathing for it.
I finish my dental and work on invoices. A declaw is going on in the back ground. I hear hysterical laughing. It appears that Jessie is having trouble breathing and standing up due to her laughter. Do I want to know what they are laughing about? I see that they are attempting to place the bandage on the paw, but the finger from the glove (used to put hold the gauze onto the foot) isn't wanting to stay on. I hear a few words, discover what the laughter is about, and conclude that staying in charting is probably the best option.
Due to the nature of the work, the joking often may seem rather crude to your normal listener. Ok, at times it is. Although I like to think that I have a perfect halo over my head. Leah reminds me that it's really tarnished and crooked. Whatever. Leave it to her to let me know that even though I was homeschooled I'm not perfect. She knows me too well. I hope the rest of the office thinks I'm perfect, but I have my doubts.
Jessie is breathing again, the declawed paws are succesfully bandaged, and the cat is awake.
11:30: The sx patients are all done and awake, although all still groggy. I clock out and go to lunch.
More on the afternoon later, but I think this has run long enough!
6:15: Wake up. Decide that I can get 15 more minutes of sleep in, and wonder why I didn't set my alarm for 6:30 in the first place.
6:30: Actually get up. Get ready for work. Skip breakfast. Go through all my used scrubs until I find my name tag. One of 4 name tags I have, but somehow they're always in my laundry pile.
7:15: Psmith and I, and occasionally Penelope, go to work. I take him on a short walk and then set his kennel and bed up.
7:30: Clock in. Hope that the time clock works, so I don't have to write Mindy yet another 'please clock me in at 7:30 and out at 11:30' note. Wonder why I didn't eat any breakfast, since my stomach is doing wierd things. Oh well. In an hour I'll feel fine.
Mindy tells me that a sx drop off is in #2. I glance at the estimate and form before walking in. So I can sound at least somewhat informed when talking with the client. Realize that, oh crap, I need a canine 1-20# OVH estimate, not a feline one. Let Mindy know; she makes me a correct one.
Go into exam room #2. As I walk into the room, my demeanor changes. I'm no longer the slightly irritated technician whose stomach is churning, who wishes that darn boarding dog would shut up, and who hopes that the declaw that was done yesterday doesn't try to tear us apart as we remove the paw bandages. No, I am the calm, smiling, in charge of the situation technician. How is Spot doing today? Let me show you this estimate before I go over the anesthesia consent form. Now here is the consent form. Yes, I would highly recommend the IV catheter and fluid therapy, here is why. Bloodwork? Let me explain. Pain meds? Well, wouldn't you want them if you had your ovaries and uterus removed?!?!? Ok. So I don't say all that. It wouldn't be professional. The client can choose whatever they want.
Take Spot in the back, try to put her in a cage. Oh. You don't want to go in the cage? And there's a feline declaw in room #1? Leah, can you take this dog for me? Put her papers in box #4.
Walk into the cat room. A feline OVH. Nice enough people, friendly cat. Slight payment issue. The payment policy has been drilled into me. I could recite it in my sleep, and I've had to recite it to quite a few clients. They're not paying for it, the lady who gave the cat to them is. Supposedly it's all taken care of. Ok, that's fine. Can I have this lady's number? Ummm.....no. They don't have it nor is it in the phonebook. Fine. Just give us a call later with this lady's contact info, as we cannot release the cat without payment. Due to lack of a clue in regards to how much this former owner will spent, I don't go over the anesthesia consent form with them, I just have them sign it.
8:00: All the sx patients are checked in. Jessie and I fill out the cage cards with each patient's plan. She tells me that she's made half of the day's goal with just one spay, since they're treating for ear mites, testing for FeLV/FIV, doing IV cath/fluids,microchip, pain meds tgh, preanesth chem, vaccines,deworming, and, what the heck, she talked them into a dental as well. I tell her that I have no clue what we can do with my feline OVH. Vax? Don't know. Pain meds? No clue. No bloodwork or IV cath, I assume. Let's just get her spayed, at least.
The Dr. arrives. And he's brought....bran muffins!!!! Yeah!!! says my stomach. Hopefully I'll have time to eat one before lunch. They're from Safeway, and they're extremely good.
We have him listen to all the animals and approve premeds. Normal on all, I ask? Yes, he says. Let's use that Buprenorphine on the feline OVH, instead of Torb. I like the longterm analgesic effects of it.
Jessie and I have our sx morning routine down. We like to say that we don't have to talk to eachother, we already know what the other wants/is thinking. We both work on TPRing the patients, giving meds to hospitalized patients, and getting blood from sx patients. She runs all the bloodwork, I get all the premeds ready. The lab is her domain, so I'm happy to have her run everything. I like getting all the premeds ready.
Premed all animals. Wash scratch from cat that didn't like its premed. Place IV catheters in the patients that need them. I tell Jessie I want to place them. She lets me. I love placing IV catheters.
Leah, those 2 dogs vomited. Can you clean it up? The Morphine always makes the dogs vomit. We can tell whether the owners followed our instructions and held off on food the night before.
8:45: Draw up induction drugs. Get a size 7.5 trach tube. Oh. You want a size 10 trach tube, Jessie? Fine. Jessie always goes bigger than I do. I like to say that if I had a WWJD bracelet, it would stand for 'What Would Jessie Do'.
Attempt to induce the canine OVH. The premed has helped sedate her a little, but she still is a reluctant patient. And the client didn't choose an IV catheter. Restraining this animal while giving the Propofol IV is a challenge.
She's asleep. We shave her belly, trim her nails, and scrub the sx site.
8:50: She's on the sx table. We hook her up to all the monitors and open a small sx pack for the Dr.
The next 1/2 hr is spent monitoring her throughout the sx. I get suture, and keep her alive. The SpO2 is down to 89. I reposition the monitor on the tongue. Normally that's all I have to do to make it go back to the 90's range.
This dog has had puppies. Thus things are more enlarged than normal and there is more blood. The Dr. mutters something about darn ligaments and wishing all his OVH patients were 4 months old. That would make things so much easier.
This dog has decided that she will not maintain well under the anesthesia. I reduce the anesthesia, increase the O2, breath for her, and am thankful that the sx is almost over. I also turn the alarm down. I know that her levels are a bit low, and I don't feel like listening to constant beeping.
The sx is over, the dog is fine. I unhook her and put her in her kennel, and Jessie brings the next patient into the sx room. Leah extubates the OVH, and keeps her warm.
9:50: I get my dental going. The teeth aren't that bad. Sigh. Looks like it'll be a rather boring dental. Ah well, at least it'll go quick.
Leah, can you get me the Cephazolin? And a calculator? All dentals get an antibiotic inj. I have Leah figure out the dose for me. 12# /2.2kg x 20mg/100mg/ml = 1ml. A calculation that I often make several times a day. Please give it SQ.
Thankfully this animal is maintaining well under the anesthesia, so I don't have to worry about breathing for it.
I finish my dental and work on invoices. A declaw is going on in the back ground. I hear hysterical laughing. It appears that Jessie is having trouble breathing and standing up due to her laughter. Do I want to know what they are laughing about? I see that they are attempting to place the bandage on the paw, but the finger from the glove (used to put hold the gauze onto the foot) isn't wanting to stay on. I hear a few words, discover what the laughter is about, and conclude that staying in charting is probably the best option.
Due to the nature of the work, the joking often may seem rather crude to your normal listener. Ok, at times it is. Although I like to think that I have a perfect halo over my head. Leah reminds me that it's really tarnished and crooked. Whatever. Leave it to her to let me know that even though I was homeschooled I'm not perfect. She knows me too well. I hope the rest of the office thinks I'm perfect, but I have my doubts.
Jessie is breathing again, the declawed paws are succesfully bandaged, and the cat is awake.
11:30: The sx patients are all done and awake, although all still groggy. I clock out and go to lunch.
More on the afternoon later, but I think this has run long enough!
The perfect dental
This is the kind of dental that Jessie and I fight each other for. Look at those beautiful teeth... I adore dentals like these. Although I must admit, I was kinda bummed that I didn't get to pull any of them. They were all solid, amazingly enough. I should have taken an after picture. They really were beautiful when I was through with them. 10.04.2007
Psmith
This is where Psmith always sits on sx mornings. Right in front of the sx door. He knows he can't go in, so he becomes a roadblock instead.
He and Leah have a routine down on sx days. When she gets food ready for the patients post sx he always sits next to her, because he knows that she will always give him 2 pieces of kibble, occasionally covered in canned food. His favorite. Notice his elephanst sitting next to him. That is new favorite toy. Or was until today, when he destuffed it. Attitude
No, I'm not going to look at you. I want this darn IV catheter out and to go home.
Fine. I'll look at you. But don't expect me to smile for the camera.
Whaa??? You closed the door??? Well then, I'll just glare at you. 9.29.2007
Me 'n Leah
Aren't I cute? Or retarded, as the case may be. I actually posted this picture so you could see my beautiful co-worker/friend, Leah. We're on our way to Spokane to buy clothes. Which are now very neatly organized in our respective closets, mine by color and season, hers by ...well, I'm not exactly sure, but they're nicely organized. I was admiring them yesterday. 9.28.2007
Straight Hair
The important thing to notice in this photo (aside from the fact that my hair is really straight and I am really crooked, I suppose to add artistic touch the picture) is the tin on the wall. Notice the detail, the rust, the quaintness of it. I'm quite fond of my tin, which I assume was from a ceiling and is now nailed to my wall . I'll post another picture of it so you can see it in all its glory. 
Feline Dental
Breathing for the cat before starting the dental. Some animals don't like to breath right away after going under the anesthesia, so we have to breath for them.
A spay or neuter is going on the the background.
Scaling the teeth.
Hooking the cat up to the IV pump and ECG machine.
9.18.2007
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