KH Scribblings

Femur Fx cont.

2010-11-21T22:43:00.000-08:00

Canine Femur Fracture Repair

2010-11-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

We are fans of pain management. Thus, we do epidurals on most of our orthopedics.

I don't think this picture needs any explanation.

Placing the IM pins

Canine Cystotomy

2010-11-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

I am posting again. Because there are a fair number of cool surgeries that we do and so pictures should be taken. My photography skills have not improved in the least over the past few years of non-posting and neither has my taste in what photos to display. Thus, enjoy the blood and guts and dark shadows. I will, however, play around with the layout of the blog because I'm tired of looking at the layout I currently have.

Below we have a canine cystotomy- done on a min poodle with about 9 stones in her bladder. We removed three, the rest were working their way out naturally.

That is the bladder....we're flushing it out to make sure there are no stones left.

See the three little stones?

I realize these are rather boring pictures. But now you know what the bladder of a min poodle looks like -something I'm sure you've always wanted to know. And now you know what bladder stones look like.

Another ear mite

2008-05-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ear mites

2008-05-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ear mites are pretty cool.

Home Blog

2008-05-18T21:59:00.001-07:00

In order to avoid mixing pictures of blood and guts with pictures of my home, I have a 'home blog' now. www.home-etc.blogspot.com
The main purpose of it is to keep mom and dad updated on the progress of my new house.

A Day At Work for Psmith

2008-03-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

He's a pretty busy boy.

Attempting to help a feline abscess heal

2008-03-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

Removing the skin that isn't adhering to the body.

All the pus, etc underneath that needed cleaned out.
All closed up with drains in place.
This originally was a typical abscess on a cat. However, a week later it still wasn't healing up and the cat was doing very poorly. In an effort to save the cat's life, we removed the skin that wasn't sticking to the body wall, cleaned everything underneath up, and closed the area up. Hopefully the cat will make it.

Finally...the finished product!

2008-03-05T21:34:00.000-08:00

Three days of painting and arranging and the room was finished.

Cont.

2008-03-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

These are better. Pictures that make it look like I'm a cheerful worker.

Cont.

2008-03-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

Kristina, however, has no sympathy for Rachel's concerns. This shade is fine, she says. Stop complaining.

And please stop taking pictures of me making faces at you.

Painting the room cont.

2008-03-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

Although Rachel is having fun, she has a few concerns about the shade of orange we're using.

Painting Rachel's Room

2008-03-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

Rachel and I had fun recently painting and decorating her new room.

Rachel is having a ton of fun.

My parking lot

2008-03-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

This is the parking lot I normally park in...however, due to the snow we had awhile ago, that wasn't an option for some time.

Beautiful Earrings

2008-03-05T20:59:00.000-08:00

We all decided to go to get our upper ears pierced! A cartilage piercing I think it's called? Anyhow, I love mine. : )

Unique looking eye

2008-03-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

The eye on a GSD. I don't remember what had happened.

Interesting surgery

2008-03-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

This cat had a huge mass on its stomach. When it was cut into, pus poured out. After fixing that abscess, the Dr. proceded further to see what could be found. A bullet was removed as was the spleen.

Mass Removal

2008-03-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

Mass removal from the chest of a boxer.

Mass removal

2008-03-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

A unique looking mass on a cat.

A prisoner

2008-03-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

What happens when your clinic cat gets locked in the business office? He wrecks havoc, tipping the trash over to get at the Pita Pit leftovers.

How to give a cat a bath

2008-03-05T20:36:00.000-08:00

1. Tell cat to 'sit still' with a firm voice. This will generally result in a very compliant cat who will let you give a very thorough bath.
2. When you have to rinse the stomach, say 'roll over.' If the cat is chunky, you might have to assist with this part.
3. When bath is over, wring feet and tail out, and towel dry.

I don't know why people have such a hard time bathing cats.

My beautiful girl

2008-03-05T20:27:00.001-08:00

Penelope the princess

Spa Month Display

2008-03-05T20:25:00.000-08:00

The display Leah and I set up at work for our Spa Month, along with our handsome dogs, Boz and Psmith. Psmith tried to steal the rubber ducks.

Demodex Mites

2008-03-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

Demodex mites we scrapped off a dog that had sores all over it. All dogs have demodex, but most don't have problems. It's a pain in the neck to try and treat! Next mites I'll post: ear mites! They're even cooler looking than Demodex, and I'm thankful God made them microscopic.

Names

2007-12-10T20:18:00.001-08:00

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'.

Bird Care

2007-12-06T19:33:00.000-08:00

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.

Femur Fx part 2

2007-11-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

Femur Fracture

2007-11-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

Repairing the fractured femur by placing pins.

2007-11-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

Psmith enjoying his new bed.

Cute Puppies

2007-11-17T21:14:00.000-08:00

Shih Tzu puppies- delivered by c-section the night before.

2007-11-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

On a Golden Retriever- we didn't actually remove anything, just did a biopsy.

Kennel Assistant

2007-11-17T21:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

These dogs are regulars...and they always have new outfits on, depending on the season/holiday.

Those wonderful cats

2007-11-17T20:51:00.000-08:00

The result of Muffin, the cat, resisting taking a pill. He chomped my finger instead.

Reasons to become a tech...and not a vet...

2007-10-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

#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.

Cuteness

2007-10-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

My kitten Penelope at work.

Business Office Makeover

2007-10-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

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!

Computers

2007-10-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

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.

What do I actually do??

2007-10-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

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!

The perfect dental

2007-10-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

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.

Psmith

2007-10-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Me 'n Leah

2007-09-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Straight Hair

2007-09-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Hello up there!

2007-09-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Another holding down the dog photo...

Feline Dental

2007-09-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-09-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

My job is not always the most dignified... at times I have to lay on the floor in order to hold a dog down. Sometimes I'm able to get a small nap in....

ACL SX Part 1

2007-09-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

An ACL Sx...

I'm actually working!!

2007-09-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Finally. A picture that makes it look like I do more than sit around or take pictures of everyone else. I'm briefly assisting with a surgery.
Normally with your average surgery I monitor the animal, note things such as CRT, TPR, SpO2, RR/HR, adjust the anesthesia level as needed, and overall attempt to make the whole procedure go as smooth as possible anesthesia-wise for the animal. And Dr. Attempting to spay an animal that wants to jump off the table can be a challenge.

Where are the scrubs??

2007-09-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

We all wear matching scrubs each day. Big cranberries, that's what we are. However, there are times when duty calls.... and one is not properly attired. In fact, there are times when one comes to the clinic in 'cute' clothing (anything not a scrub = cute) since there is just a meeting to attend. Shoes that were chosen purely based on cuteness (ie, carrying a dog or doing anything even remotely physical can be life -or ankle- threatening) jeans that aren't as loose as the burka-like scrubs, and a shirt that .... well, it's from Banana Republic, for pete's sake!

But... when a dog's gotta have a bath, a dog's gotta have a bath. Or an Amitraz dip, as the case may be. You might think that I am wearing the fully body armor because I'm afraid to ruin my makeup, clothing, or beautiful hands. One must stay somewhat put together on one's day off. Technically, however, I'm wearing it all so I don't come in contact or breath the Amitraz dip.

And then I went to the meeting.

And then I had cheesecake. Thankyou Dr. M for having a birthday.

Beloved Ana

2007-09-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is Ana. Our clinic cat. Now what you see neatly opened on the table is a formerly sterile gown, waiting for the scrubbed up technician to put it on. In enters Ana. She is wondering, hmmm... I'm already a pain in the rear. What else can I do today to make things difficult. I know! I 'll park myself on a sterile gown and glare at anyone who comes near.

I opened a new gown.

ACL SX part 2

2007-09-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

A closeup of the knee.
Another view.

The threesome giving their muscles a workout. They're crimping the bars that hold the line (which is replacing the torn ACL) together. Me? I'm just taking pictures. I don't like to overwork my muscles.

It is finished. Dr. M is closing with staples- an efficient, effective method of closing when you've been in sx for over an hour and want to wake the dog up as soon as possible. We all know, however, that we will be cursing her when we try and remove them all. Perhaps we'll just let her do it.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, this was a laborador retriever. Not a chicken, like my sister was guessing.

Got...Barium??

2007-09-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

We do not go around drinking milk at work. In fact, most of us don't like milk. No, Jessie actually prefers barium. It has a sweet, chalky taste, and is proven to help calm the stomach. Of course, we mainly force it down animals. Not drink it.

Yes, it is a picture.

2007-09-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

In case you doubt, I did indeed post a picture. After 2.5 hours of messing around, trying to figure out how to get pictures on my blog, I downloaded Picasa2 and from that I added pictures. Before I gloat too much about my success, I should do a few more to make sure I have it down.

I could describe things...

2007-09-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

Since I am having such difficulty posting pictures I was just thinking that I could put my poetic skills to work and describe things instead of just attempting to post visual aids..... (I have some of the coolest pictures too. Sigh. Someday. )

I could try to describe the kitten who came in today (found by someone)... looking like something tried to rip part of its face away but only succeeding in making it look like a kitten from a horror film. I could say that once it was euthanized maggots started crawling from where its eye and nose should have been. But I won't. Because that's gross. I would like to say I did not take a picture of it, however, due to how gross it looked. I want this to be a 'little brother friendly' blog, not one rated 'R' for disturbing images.

I could also try to describe the dog that came in due to pain in hind end. Upon further examination it was discovered that there were maggots all around and in his hind end, due to mats that had made the feces stick around it. I felt quite satisfied when I'd shaved all the hair off that dog. And cleaned the maggots off. No picture of that either. Darn.

Clients... ya gotta love them

2007-09-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

I walked into the room.

"Where's Jessie?" is the first thing out of the lady's mouth.

Sigh. I know Jessie is awesome and all. In fact, I really like her so I know the owners have a point. They expect to see their favorite vet tech, Jessie, waltz into the room and instead, in walks...hmmm...'What's your name?' 'Kristina'. It says that on my name tag which officially labels me as 'Licensed Vet Tech' If it's not upside down. Sometimes it is.

They love Jessie because she does awesome nail trims. I've racked my brain thinking, 'How can I emulate Jessie in this area, and thus have clients love me?' I just don't know what makes hers so much better than mine. So I quick half of the nails. So the dogs pee and express their anal sacs all over at times. So there is occasionally a screaming dog who is attempting to avoid my nail trim. I still don't know what is so much better about her nail trims. Anyhow.

I can't say that I'm too upset that they love Jessie. Because then I can pass off their appointments to her. All in the name of 'but they love you, Jessie!' They are nice enough people. However....

After resigning themselves to the fact that St. Jessie was not going to be the one to go over things with them, they poured forth:

...cutting off her husband... " ----- stop talking. I have things to tell her."

"He had 12 kibbles this morning. 12. This big. Here is a kibble for you to show the Dr. so she knows what size they were. Because Dr. M said we could give him a little bit of food as he doesn't do well without eating breakfast. They were crumbled up. Here is the list of the medications that he had this morning. He had them at 4:45AM. Here are the phone numbers to reach us at. And here. And here. And here. Here are his 3pm medications. And here is his applesauce and meal. His 3pm meal."

"Would you like me to give the whole container of applesause with his meal?"

"No. It is only to moisten his food. He does not need all of it. And here is his list of things he needs done today. TNT, rads, dental, check ears. And whatever else needs to be done. "

I would just like to say that the conversation was much longer and redundant than the above lines. Being the faithful vet tech that I am, I attempted to pay attention to everything. Really. I made an effort to focus. On the food size, the kibble number, the fact that it was crumbled, the fact that the applesause was only to moisten the rest of the food, the fact that the other meds had to be given at three....etc. etc.

I will never fight Jessie for their appointments.

There are several people I wouldn't fight Jessie to take appointments for. But we both get our fair share over overly detail oriented people, or just plain rude people, or people who you wonder "Are they really on earth today?"

Thank You Leah!!!

2007-09-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

I just want to thank Leah for her help in getting the pictures/video on my blog. I just spent a bunch of time at her house, while she figured out what to do. I still can't post any from my own computer yet, but at least there are a few to look at!

Having fun at work

2007-09-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

This is what I do half of the time...charts...

2007-09-07T20:58:00.001-07:00

Having fun with animals is part of my job. Taking care of clients is part of my job. Doing charts is part of my job. Charts...the bane of a technician's existance, really. It's wonderful to be busy. Being busy, however, = many charts...sitting in the boxes above my computer....This is where I can be found half the time. See that section in the middle of the charting box? The one where the charts are falling out? Yeah. Those are mine. All the history is on the computer, but we always have a chart for the patient as well, in order to make sure all the hx was finished. If you read a note on the computer, it might look something like this: "Rx Amoxi 30ml, 1ml bid x 10d. Otirinse sid x 7d then prn. TemP 42#, 1.5 bidx7, 1 sid x 7, 1/2 eod" or, " F/U re: OVH, LMOM. KH" The history might just be titled 'ADR', a very technical term which means 'Ain't doing right.'

C-Section

2007-09-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

The uterus, just before Dr.M removes the puppies....all 11 of them.

Puppy number one coming out. You only get to see the first one coming out, because we were too busy clamping and cutting and rubbing to take any more pictures during the sx.

Hmmm....am I really working? Or just lounging around by the ECG machine, enjoying the warmth of the sx table and enjoying the view of the puppies coming out. Yeah, I'm working. Keeping the dog alive,that sort of thing.

And the babies!!!! AWWW...... they all lived. Soon after this picture we took the hemostats off, tied off the umbilical chords, and gave them some formula. They were very demanding and noisy.

So you want to be a vet tech....

2007-09-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

I think that pamphlets/websites which display information about vet tech schools/what you learn/what you eventally will do give the wrong impression.

Or at least, they do not show you what being a vet tech really entails.

So, before you get all excited about entering the noble profession of veterinarian medicine, please consider the following:

* You will probably be peed on on a daily basis. Occasionally, you won't have time to go home over lunch and change, so you're going to just have to smell like urine all day.

* You will also be pooped on. Again, this can be an almost daily occurance. And, sometimes it will be horrible diarrhea, occasionally with blood in it. Nice.

* Your co-workers will probably laugh at you when you get pooped and peed on. They will make fun of you. Do not expect any sympathy. Laugh with them and at yourself.

* You will have to express anal glands. Now that, in and of itself, is fine. What is not fine, however, is when it squirts into your face, instead of the paper towel. And what is even worse, is when it goes in your mouth. You will be able to taste it the rest of the day, no matter how much you rinse your mouth out or spit. Keep your mouth closed when expressing anal glands. I would say keep your eyes closed too, but seeing what you're doing is always helpful. There is no worse smell in the world than anal sac exudate. When it squirts on you, keep in mind that you will get sarcastic comments from your co-workers and boss for the rest of the day.

* You really are never done with work. Do not fall into the pit of thinking "It's Labor Day on Monday!!! That means I only have to work three days next week!!! (since you already get Fridays off). And I get a three day weekend!" Oh no. You actually will have to come in Saturday evening to do kennels since the assistant who was supposed to work Sat - Wednesday was just fired. You will then get to help with a C-Section and have fun assisting with the delivery of 11 puppies. Sunday you will go in to help feed those puppies since the mom will be quite sick. Monday you will go in for a few hours to do random catch-up things, and then you will do kennels that night. Tuesday and Wednesday you will work your normal shift, but you also will have to stay late because, again, you have to do kennels. But, you will enjoy doing all the above because newborn puppies are just too cute, plus you love your co-workers, so it's fun being with them.

*You will have to clean up piles of vomit. You will see piles of vomit daily, especially on surgery days. The morphine you give all dogs as a premed will make them all throw up and occasionally stuff comes out the other end too. So be prepared to clean up piles of vomit. Also, be prepared to try and guess what that animal ate for breakfast. Hmm. . . Lucky charms?? Sometimes you can't quite tell... Thankfully, you should have a tech assistant who will be the main vomit picker upper. However, be prepared to help clean up.

*If you make the mistake 2 years ago of bringing home the mass that was removed from your rat so you can show your roommate, be prepared to have your boss tease you constantly thereafter, asking if you would like to keep the uterus, mass, dewclaws, tails, testicles, etc.... Because she seems to think that you have a collection at home. Trying to protest and say that red and brown is NOT your color scheme so the body parts just wouldn't match with your cream, brown, and blue decor scheme doesn't work. She will still tease you. In fact, if you go on vacation for 1 week, upon your return you just might find dewclaws, tails, and some leftovers from a cat neuter in your box. Just to help that collection along. A necklace or two, made from leftover suture and some body parts might make their way to you. What sweet, considerate co-workers you have.

*You MUST have a sense of humor. A sarcastic one is the best, since you have so many things happen at work that are just begging for a sarcastic response. Do not take everything your co-workers say at face value. In fact, don't take anything they say at face value. They're probably just sarcastic. You will go home with hurt feelings every night if you don't have a sense of humor.

* You will have scars all over your arms. But you will be proud of them. They are your 'battle scars'. However, when they are fresh and right where your watch is suppose to be, they will be a pain. You might even have long ones down your neck that are rather inconvenient when you want to turn your head. However, when your own dog give those to you because you were trying to do a nail trim, they aren't quite as cool. You will probably have bruises all over. Again, think of them as battle wounds.

*You will have to give baths to cats. Some nice, some not so nice. Generally speaking, cats don't care for water.

*You will have to deal with many nasty cats. The kind that leap at you, and scratch, and bite. In spite of this, you will still have to pill them, give them fluids, etc. You will become brave, reaching in quickly to grab that scruff and then you will not release it. Even when your hand cramps up. Even when the cat is screaming bloody murder. Even when you're all scratched up. Because you don't want your co-worker to be hurt. Occasionally you may have to let the cat go, because he is shredding your arm. Then you get to have fun trying to catch a mean cat in the treatment area of your clinic. If you are fortunate, you will have a co-worker who finds it fun to wrestle mean cats. Then you won't have to do it much.

There are many other things that vet techs get to deal with. After all, animals are only part of our job. There are the clients as well.....

But I don't want to scare you out of becoming a vet tech. It really is an awesome job. As long as you don't mind bodily fluids, bad smells, sarcasm, blood, screaming, and long hours. I love it.

Tips

2007-09-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just a few tips regarding your animals and their care:

1. If you have a very sick dog, dumping him in the river to find out if he wants to live is probably not the ideal thing to do. I actually would recommend you bring him to the vet.

2. When you bring your cat in to be euthanized, keep in mind that he will be dead seconds after the injection. When you ask if you can leave and your cat just had an IV catheter placed, my saying 'yes, we'll be out in a moment' means, 'go to your car and we'll be right out with the euthasol (which is called Fatal Plus, btw).' It does not mean that your cat was given an injection which takes awhile to kill him, and it does not mean you can drive away. Because then I have to call you and tell you that your cat has to come back to the clinic so we can give it the euthasol. Situations like those make things awkward. I prefer to avoid them. We really do try to make euthanasias as smooth as possible.

3. If we do a housecall euthanasia, we have to listen to your cat's heart after administering the euthasol in order to make sure he has passed. We also need to feel the femoral pulse. Please do not hold the cat very snug against your body. This makes doing those two things extremely awkward. Especially if you are a larger woman and the doctor is a man.

Attempting to add a picture....

2007-09-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

Hmm. This is an older picture of my brothers...for some reason I can randomly upload the occasional picture, but I haven't been able to add anything from work yet.

The beginning...

2007-09-02T18:08:00.001-07:00

I always said I'd never have a blog (and I even said it with italics). I love reading them; I spend too much time reading them. However, that was in the past. When I didn't have a digital camera. When I had roommates I could gross out with stories of my day. When I thought having a blog meant you had to know something about computers. Now, I have a (very cute, I must say) digital camera that I carry around everywhere to make up for the many years that I really haven't done much picture taking. I don't have any roommates. And, it seems like everyone under the sun has a blog so I figured it couldn't be that hard. So far it's quite straightforward. I was worried I was going to have to read a bunch of instructions to figure out how to make one. I hate reading extensive instructions, I'd rather play around with something till I (sort of) figure it out. This dislike of instruction manuals has so far resulted in my knowing how to use only a few features on my cell phone, and not knowing how to do anything on my camera aside from pointing and clicking (and I was able to download a picture to my facebook, much to the amazment of a former roommate). The latter is much to the disgust of my little brother who can't believe I got a nice camera just for the cuteness factor. There are so many cool features on my camera, and yet I don't use any of them.
All this to say here's my blog. Because I have pictures I want to show my family.
Oh- and the name. KH are my initials, obviously, and at work we initial everything. History, notes, emails...all are initialed. And this blog is for random scribblings of mine, mainly regarding work. So there you are.
Warning- many of the pictures I'm going to post are of various surgeries. If you don't like viewing things such as blood, intestines, a uterus here and there, and maggots, you might not want to look at the pictures. On the other hand, if you like looking at cute puppies or random things I find at antique store that I label 'decor', you might enjoy them.