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I pretty much worked as a technician Monday and Wednesday. I was working with appointments and vaccines. Friday the dog that I did my clinical report on was hospitalized. His kidneys were failing. I found his chart and spent the first hour copying his chart and what was in it, blood work u/a the whole 9 yards. I copied everything down that I deemed notable. I also was allowed to try and intubate the possible leg amputation or elbow repair yesterday, I did it wrong but I tried.

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Firstly, I'm sad that clinical 1 is over already. I so much enjoyed my time at Brook-Falls and I'm going to miss everyone there and all the cool critters!
Monday:
Apollo the 4 year old chinchilla came in for a tooth trim. We masked him with isoflurane for anesthesia and the doctor filed his molar points. He went home with meloxicam 15mg/ml, 0.2 ml PO BID and TMS 200mg/40mg/5mL, 0.35mL BID.
Next, we saw Max, a presumed male, 31 year old Pionus. We presented with a history of seizures. He also had very few feathers. Dr. Wittenburg determined that he was barbering his feathers vs plucking them as they still had the shaft of the feather. In essence, he was over-grooming. Also, Dr. W suspected he may have Bornavirus and recommended blood work which was drawn for from his right jugular.
Wednesday:
I mainly worked with a hospitalized patient, Scarlet a 2 year old intact female DSH. She  presenting for lethargy, anorexia and nasal/ocular discharge. Her temp was ranging from 103.8 at the lowest to 106.0 at its highest. I obtained blood samples and ran a FIV/Felv test, CBC and a comprehensive chemistry panel. (Dr. Bloss also wanted a U/A but she had no urine to provide us)
FIV/Felv was negative and bloodwork was otherwise unremarkable apart from some mild dehydration. Dr .Bloss suspected a viral infection. We monitored her temp throughout the day and administered SQ fluids to keep her hydrated and help cool her down. Her plan was to be discharged at the end of the day depending how her temperature was.
Friday: Exotic day! Lots of reptiles in today! :)
Firstly we saw Jose, a "male" 6-7 year old bearded dragon. He presented because his throat was "puffy" and blacker than usual. His is exam was overall unremarkable but we learned that his husbandry and diet wasn't the best. Dr. Lein wanted radiographs to screen for MBD and owner consented (uploaded below). Dr. Suspected the puffing was behavioral and dispensed meloxicam for his OA she noticed on his rads.
Next, we had a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk come in with one of the wildlife rescues BF works with. She had been found laying in a parking lot. We anesthetized her via mask, then I intubated her, and we took radiographs (uploaded below) Due to the severity of her injuries, they elected to euthanize :(
Next, Molly a ~ 9 year old "female" Uromastyx presented. She had a small mass near her vent that would occasionally bleed. It was determined that is was an over-growth of a keratin on one of her femoral pores. Dr. Lein recommended radiographs to which the owner consented (uploaded below). The rads showed what looked to be a bladder stone, so we did a quick ultrasound to confirm (picture below) Molly was dispensed meloxicam and enrofloxacin; both of which had to be compounded in house.

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Monday was a routine day becaues we only had one doctor on staff because one of the other doctors was on vacation so I saw a lot of wellness exams and hollistic consult appointments.  Wednesday was a bit more exciting.  The first surgery was on a 12 y/o SF cocker spaniel that was blind.  She was having a large growth removed from her chest that Dr. Allie had removed parts of previously but the way the mass was not all of it could be removed so periodically she takes out what she can.  There is a 4th year vet student doing her internship at Integrative as well so she and Dr. Allie scrubbed in together to take care of this mass.  Haley (the dog) had multiple other small growths on her body that the owners were concerned about and wanted to have removed after the large one on her chest. The funny thing was they marked all of them and there had to be 30+. When she came back to the prep room I thought she had some really neat markings on her fur. It was the sharpie boxes mom and dad made. LOL. Dr. Allie did not end ip removing all of the growths because they were all very small. SHe only took 7. Catheterizing Haley was hard. Her cephalic veins were HORRIBLE. Holding off didn't help finding them they were mushy on both legs and when advancing the catheter we would get a little blood in the hub but then the flow would stop and the catheter would no longer advance. Eventually three techs and a million sticks later we were successful. We finally got her on the table and began giving propofol but she wasn't going down which we found weird because she had gotten her full dose and then added 2 cc more. We discovered her catheter was not working and we had a scare that the propofol went SQ. The 4th year vet student looked up adverse reactions and what to do in case of it going SQ and after reading the drug insert for the actual bottle of propofol it had said that it will no longer cause the skin to slough. We were all relieved and then removed that catheter and decided to use her hind leg. Upon opening her skin for the growth removal Dr. Allie had realized that the way the mass was on her chest it actually started fusing to the muscle so none if it could be removed. She was then sutured up and had a few of the other small growths removed. Friday was another routine appointment day. The only interesting one I had was a 14 y/o basset hound with NASTY ears. Dr. Amanda had been seeing him for many months for ear infections. I am lucky I was not there for his first appointment because the staff all said they were so badly infected they lifted them up and the smell literally cleared the room, even a few techs said they had almost gagged. He also got infection in his mouth from his ears shaking and hitting his lips. Dr. Amanda has tried everything to treat his ears but they are becoming very resistant to antibiotics. They are becoming well managed now with deep cleanings every three weeks and laser therapy in clinic. I said my goodbye to Dr. Amanda because I only see her on Fridays so that was a little tough because she was so sweet. I am going to be really sad tomorrow!):

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Wow today is our last day at our first clinical site. I learned so much in these 7 weeks! I have enjoyed Harris pet hospital 100% and definitely recommend it for future clinical sites.
My last week was very emotional. Not because it was my last week but because we had a patient come in to be euthanized. It was an 11 year old female canine. She was a mix breed weighing about 40 lbs. The reason the parents were euthanizing her was because she had skin allergies and the medications were becoming to expensive for them. The dog actually belonged to the daughter who lived in Minnesota who was in college and couldn't have her at the dorms. When the doctor brought her in back she was so upset because she has had Roxy as a patient for Roxy's whole life. The doctor said she would take her if she could but she has 5 other dogs in the house right now. I offered to take her if the family was able to relinquish the pet to me. The doctor went back and talked to the parents and they said okay but they need permission from the daughter first, but wouldn't be able to get a hold of her until later. They then informed me she is aggressive with other female dogs. Well I have a female puppy. So I called my mom and told her this dog would be put down unless we could take her. My mom said bring her home. Roxy would be perfect for my parents because our 16 year old lab passed away last summer and they haven't gotten a new dog. They do have two cats but my mom was still willing to give it a try because we didn't know how Roxy was with cats. The parents agreed to this and left Roxy with me. She was so sweet with so much energy for being 11 years old. She was in her run and I was ready to take her home to my parents house at 2. The parents came back into the clinic about two hours later and said they got a hold of their daughter. The daughter would not relinquish the dog. She wanted no one else to have Roxy. She told the parents to euthanize. It was so sad she wouldn't let us help Roxy and give her a second chance at life. I then held her while they placed the catheter. I don't cry at a lot of cases but this one I did. I called my mom and told her what had happened. She was so excited for Roxy to come home with me she even told my dad about it in the hospital and he was happy too. My parents were upset when I told them what happened. I don't know why people have to suck sometimes.

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Final full week is bittersweet! I finally feel like I know the team at Hallett and they feel 100% confident with me. I know how they work and where I can help. Monday was spent helping in appointments, running lab work and fecals. They run lots of fecals in house but I have yet to find any parasites :( Wednesday I helped in surgery. It was a busy surgery day. There were 2 14-week-old bulldog puppies in to help fix their cherry eyes (the medical term escapes me right now) I have yet to experience a brachycephalic breed under anesthesia. I helped to monitor that surgery and all went very well! Friday, they were very shorthanded in the hallway. It was one tech with that doctor and there was a lot lab work for each patient. So I helped a lot in their lab which I have found that I like a lot because they run a lot of their lab work in house. There was a new pet exploratory surgery on a rat terrier. The doctor does not enjoy exploratory surgeries because she is opening the abdomen and there is a higher risk for infection when cutting into the GI tract. As the doctor was cutting through the abdomen there were sutures left over from a previous surgery that did not absorb (the history of this patient was unknown) The doctor pulled out a sock from the small intestines! The intestines looked very angry and were bruised badly. The tissue was not yet necrotic but very close to being so. The doctor decided not to resect that part. I helped to pour sterile warmed saline on to the intestines. I’m sad my time at Hallett is coming to end!

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This week was full of surgery and monitoring as well as lab testing and wellness exams. I was able to help in monitoring anesthesia for several surgeries. Including several neuters which was very minimal monitoring since they take a very short amount of time. I had a little more control in client and patient interaction. Including asking patients to rooms, taking them back for blood draws or other procedures. It is helping me boost my confidence as well because I am taking more initiative in what I need to do for myself, my team, and the patient.

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Clinical Week #7 Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Clinical Week #7 Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Monday was a day of taking appointments and surgery. One of the workers at EVC brought in his dog since she ate gorilla glue. I was able to scrub in on the surgery and assist. It was very exciting since I was able to hold the stomach and intestines! Wednesday I just helped with appointments, nothing to crazy. Our day was slow since the schedule wasn't full. Friday just helped again with exams. A patient came in and we diagnosed a mass in the abdomen. A patient also came in that had ate an entire bottle of aspirin. He was covered in vomit, on oxygen, and blood work was being  run. I had to leave before finding out what was all happening with him but he did not look good. My goals for the next week is to meet everyone at my new clinical site!

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What a week, Monday was a day that will always stick with me. I ended up being in surgery on Monday due to too many CVTs scheduled with doctors. The day started with a no call- no show surgery appointment, so surgery went from having a full schedule to so now having some time in between. Well, as luck would have it, the no call appointment showed up 30 minutes because they were sent an email saying their appointment was scheduled for a later time with the email to show as proof. So now surgery is back to a full schedule and now they are behind schedule. Because of this I wasn't able to help out as much as I would've liked to. Surgery is under way and the "late"appointment is now prepped for a spay, ready to go, goes on the table, everything appeared to be normal, towel clamps are placed and the heart rate jumps a little, CVT ups the anesthesia a little and the Dr makes the incision into the abdomen. Then they both hear a high sound and try to find where it came from. They checked the monitoring equipment, anesthesia machine, and checked the patient for palpebral reflex and vitals and the patient appeared to be in a good anesthesia plain. Everything seemed normal and the sound that was previously heard was not repeated. The Dr began removing the ovaries and the patient wakes up out of anesthesia. The endotracheal tube slipped out of place and the patient was no longer receiving the anesthetic gas. The tube slipped because the cuff had a small leak in it. (Note: after every procedure the tubes are checked for leaks while cleaning them and prior to being used). The equipment failed and I almost puked. A new tube is placed and the procedure is completed without any further complications. Monday taught me to always be vigilant and always check everything again and again.
Wednesday I was able to complete my check off list. I would say wednesday was a very productive day.
Friday I was in surgery again and probably the most I've felt apart of the team since I've been here. I think that is becasue I was no longer focused on completing my check off as well as the CVTs. I feel as though I was utilized much more because of this. I was helping prep for surgery, TPRs, restrain for catherization and intubation, help carry patients i n and out of surgery, clean instruments, and clean both surgery suites.
I feel bummed out that monday is my last day here because I feel like I've found my niche but I am also very excited to move on to my next clinical site and continue learning!

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Monday I observed a necropsy of a 1 year old NM German Shepard. He died at home for no reason. The only thing the Dr. found was stomach ulcers but he didn't believe that was the cause of death. He thinks that the dog might have had heat stroked. The Dr. took tissue samples and sent out to the lab for testing. On Wednesday it was a lot of yearly exams with vaccines. There was a 15 year old NM DSH that came in because he wasn't putting a lot of wait on his back left leg. The owner thought he might have broke it but he did not. There was puncture wounds on his leg that looked like they had been there for awhile. The owner doesn't know how it would have happened because he is an indoor outdoor cat. Friday was also a lot of yearly exams with vaccines. There was a 10 year old NM black lab that came in because he stopped going up stairs and he would whine when they would touch his back. The Dr. said he was started to have arthritis in his joints

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Arredondo- Week 7 at North Shore Animal Hospital

On Monday, there was a 11 year old neutered male Golden Retriever who had a bad hot spot located on the right side of the neck. I helped Lindsay, CVT, hold the dog down so Jess, CVT, could clip and clean the wound with chlorohexidine scrub. After cleaning the wound, Jess used laser therapy to help promote healing.

On Wednesday, a 2 year old female DSH came in for its wellness exam. The owner had concerns that the cat may have fleas. Dr. Whitney combed the cat, flea dirt was present. Dr. Whitney showed me how to tell if it was really flea dirt or just dirt. First, he placed the possible flea dirt on a white piece of paper and then placed a drop of alcohol on it. He told me that if it smeared red, then it is flea dirt. If it smears brown, then it is just dirt. The dirt smeared red, so the cat has fleas. I thought that as interesting to learn.

On Friday, I was able see the end of the day at the clinic. I helped with perform TPR on the surgery patients and I was able to see the patients get discharged.

The staff at North Shore were so much fun to be with. They were great teachers to me and it was great learning experience. They did their best to have me perform as much skills on my sheet. They have always kept an eye out for an opportunity for me to perform a skill. I accomplished my goal for clinical I by having more confidence in my blood draws. I highly recommend a classmate to go to North Shore for a potential clinical rotation in the future.

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This week I shadowed with Brigete and Jennifer. One of the techs is not as good at giving me things to do or allowing me to complete tasks. I was able to push myself with her though and show initiative that I ended up doing more than usual. All this week was checkups on horses that received joint injections or were recovering from injuries. Many x-rays completed, was able to improve restraint skills with these horses. One horse had been in the US for only 2 weeks, he was imported from England and his owner is French. The owner was rather comical and not used to American ways so he was giving us a hard time! His horse was 7 years old and still had a baby mind. He was super nervous, but would try and please and you could tell he wanted to behave but his nerves always got the best of him. He was super sweet though! All the check-up horses were doing well in their progress, though slowly improving it was at least still on the positive side.

Wednesday I was able to meet FEI horses in the hunter/jumper circuit. This is the highest level for horses so it was pretty cool to work with them. They all were really sweet and well behaved. One horse was having issues with constantly pooping and it was turning into a soupy mess the more he pooped. At one point the DVM needed to shockwave the leg on the opposite side of where she was. So while I restrained I was to also watch for when the horse’s tail went up and yell to her to watch out for poop! The days seemed super long and tiring, but as usually very informative.

My goal for next week is to prepare for Clinical 2 and get a schedule.

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This week was a week full of dog attack victims coming into the ICU. The first was a 5 y/o SF Lab that was attacked by another dog (breed unknown). She had severe bite wounds on her hips, right hind limb and her left front radius/ulna was broken. She was sent to surgery to repair the front limb. An external fixation device was used to keep the broken bones in place and she was sent back to the ICU for recovery. During this time, she was regurgitating at least 5-8 times a day and not eating. The doctors decided to place an NG tube so she could eat and fully recover.

The next dog attack was a young SF schnauzer. This dog was in a lot of pain which caused it to be very vocal throughout the day. There were two wounds, one on the right hip and one on the left thorax. The thorax wound was concerning because it was so deep. She was placed into oxygen and given pain medication while the doctors decided a plan. The plan was then to go to surgery and explore the would to see if it punctured through to the thoracic cavity. I helped monitor for anesthesia while surgery was performed. It was confirmed that the wound punctured through more deeply than it looked initially. Treatment for this dog would have been very expensive, for this reason she was euthanized.

There was an older CM pitbull that was presented for euthanasia. The reason behind this was a few years ago the dog had bitten a child. They thought that it was a one-time thing and the behavior improved. He become more aggressive as he got older. In the past year he had killed two cats and the owner felt that his behavior was not able to be fixed. This was something I had never seen before. The tech that triaged the patient said that if the situation was different she would speak to the owner about different options. But, in this case, the dog was pretty old and had some pre-existing medical issues. For these reasons she felt this was an appropriate option.

I also got to observe an NG tube placement in a 7 y/o CM chihuahua. He was not eating after abdominal surgery and radiographs were taken showing that the GI system was not moving things through properly. I watched the tech go through the process of using lidocaine in the nostrils and mixing additional lidocaine with lube to slide the tube down. I also watched their method of suturing and stabilizing the tube. They used a 22g needle and slid the suture through rather than using needle holders or hemostats. They claimed it is an easier approach.

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Look at the proglottid on the baggie!!

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Final week y’all!  Monday, we had a busy surgery day.  The coolest by far was the declaw/neuter of Riley a 7-month-old cat.  Dr. Schmidt used a laser to carefully cut through the segments on the claws.  It was very interesting to see.  It saved quite a bit of time and Riley recovered from his DKT without issue.  He was seriously watching the best tennis match when he woke up, I wish I got a video.  Today was full of fun- so much I decided to just write about Monday & Wednesday instead of waiting to add Friday too.  First case of the day, we were running standard intake lab work for one of the HOPE dogs.  Her name was Dixee and she was a SF.  As part of intake protocol, we must collect blood, urine, and feces to run the diagnostic tests.  We collected blood and urine successfully, but we could not obtain a sample via free catch for her fecal.  We elected to use a fecal loop to scrape some feces out of her 🤬.  We got a very small sample, ran it, read it, and found no parasites.  Fast forward a few hours later we took her outside again.  She gave us a very big sample complete with tapeworm proglottids attached to it.  We determined that the fecal loop did not yield enough of a sample to positively identify anything on the slide.  We ran another fecal float and there was NPS on the slide again.  The DVM stated that sometimes when there are proglottids in the feces they haven’t shed the eggs yet, so it is not uncommon to not see anything on the slide.  Second fun thing of the day was a dog who came who was suspected of eating a quarter.  Romo, a NM 8-year-old Lab (shocker) came in and we gave him 1.1 ml of Apomorphine to induce vomiting.  I was so excited, seriously, and oversaw catching the vomit.  He let out a few big globs of puke, but no quarter.  We took a lateral radiograph and saw the quarter clear as day.  I left before I could figure out the resolution, but it was so cool to see.  My goal for the first week at Wolf Merrick is to get acquainted with where everything is in the new clinic and use my skills I have learned at For Pets’ Sake.

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Monday: I did less things on Monday but I also was able to demonstrate some know how. So, a 5 month old King Charles presented with a history of coughing. A tracheal wash was performed (I got to see glimpses) and then sent out. An 8 month old silver lab mix came in to be neutered but the owner's daughter brought some concerns. The past week she had said that the dog was vomiting, having diarrhea, scooting and had sores on his feet. Since he was fine for the past 2-3 days the neuter went on. the Dr. scraped his paws thinking maybe an allergic reaction but more likely an autoimmune disease. She also expressed an flushed the 🤬 glands since the diarrhea would have prevented them from being flushed normally. She prescribed apoquel for the sores and inflammed bowel. On this dog, I extubated. The next patient was a 13yo DSH SF. She was being seen for arthritis. Dr. Teri had us do a laser treatment and then she gave acupuncture therapy.  The next patient was Dr. Scot's who was assisted by a fairly new doctor to the clinic, Dr. Martin. This was my case. This 6yo MN Schnouzer had a history of crystals/uroliths. Dr. Scot opted to do a cystotomy to manually remove the stones. He catherized the dog to remove urine, though, some stones were caught between the red rubber catheter and the dog's urethra. A method to fix this is called a 🤬 pulse. This is used to build pressure and force fluid out and take the stones with. I helped with x-rays and they showed that one stone was left but Dr. Scot was able to manually express the stone. He vomited after extubation and was given 0.8cc of cerenia.
Wednesday was so unbelievably cool! So, a male lab mix was in for a neuter. He had a history of abuse and neglect and is a young pup. Everyone dismissed his skin condition as scars except for 2 techs. The doctor did a skin scraping and let me look at it. Behold, the demodex mite! It had spread over his body. The hip spay tail cat was done. This is a story since I've been following this case since she was brought in. This tiny 1.9lb kitten from Lakeland had a necrosing tail. It was literally just bone with dead skin holding it on. Upon looking at this tail, Dr. Scot noticed it's legs were wonky, it was not walking funny. Turns out with the help of radiographs, the leg was broken. This kitten was there 6/8 and was operated on 6/11. I clipped and scrubbed the tail and hip area, set up for the IV catheter, changed and set up the extension set. During surgery, the cat's heartrate was normal but the O2 was in the 70-80 range. Despite fussing with the oximeter it did not go up. The mucous membranes remained pink thorughout surgery. However, since the techs were concerned Dr. Scot also became anxious and turned to me and yelled for atropine. I totally freaked and was useless. So, guys ALWAYS KNOW WHERE EPI AND ATROPINE ARE! The kitten is still being hospitalized and is walking. The last patient I had for Wednesday was a 4yo MN golden having a TTA done. I held for intubation, scrubbed the area, helped determine that he vomited up novox and then gave him an injection SQ of 1.5 cc rimdyl. I set up for his cath, and set up the IV pump. After surgery, I helped radiograph his leg and stapled the wound as well as bandage it. I then assisted in getting his pain drip set (hydro morphine, lidocaine, ketamine).
Thursday: So the afternoons are just appointment and getting surgery ready for the next day. However, I checked in the HST cat and gave her 0.02 cc bupronex oral. I also checked on the TTA (bording until 6/22). Both were doing well and eating. I was allowed to pull a cath.
Friday: It was pretty routine, appointment and assisting. However, when I got in Dr. Martin was talking to the techs about what to do with this little dog that had maggots crawling out of his 🤬. That was gross. Anyways, Dr. Gould got called over to an emergency yorkie that was unresponsive. HR 60, BG too low to read, BP too low to read T 97.9. Karo syrup was immediately applied to the gums and once a cath was in 1.5 cc dextrose and 1.5 cc sterile water was given IV. He began to lift his head and stand but was still shaky. He was hospitalized and blood work was done. Despite having blood work the day before the values were all off. TP, ALB, ALKP, CHOL, Na, and Cl were all low. We radiographed him and did an ultrasound. Both were unremarkable. He was put on sodium chloride since it lacks K since his K was already high. I asked about this today and his blood work that was sent out came back positive for Addison's. Lastly, a dog ate edible brownies. He was given apomorphine and t
hen activated charcoal which proved disgustingly effective.

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This week was a rather slow one. I was looking forward to watch some cool surgeries but most of them canceled. However, I did assist in quite a bit of appointments. They technicians would check the patient in, have me take vitals, and hold for the veterinarian as they perform their exam and administer vaccinations. I felt like it was a good experience for when I start taking rooms on my own one day. Every client and every patient is different and it was interesting to see how the technicians and veterinarians adapted to each situation. I read quite a bit of fecals this week as well. Finding nothing all week until I finally found Coccidia! The patient was a 7.9 ln puppy, a CVT let me dispense and figure out the dose for the medication for the patient.

A goal of mine for next week is to try and finish up my skill check offs! I'm only missing suture removal, and watching a nasal intubation and urinary catheter placement.

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This week the most interesting patient we had come in was a 6 y/o CM bulldog. He presented for lethargy and labored breathing. He was placed in an oxygen cage when he arrived. He had a history of blastomycosis. One thing that was odd about this case is that he was on a continual EKG and it was counting the heartbeats as double. The tech explained to me that the P ways and the T ways (I believe) were the same size so it was counting them as two heart beats. He also developed a right head tilt, the doctor explained to me it was probably because of the hemoconcentration that he was experiencing. We took blood from an arterial blood draw for blood gases which showed that his blood was only 91% oxygenated. I also noticed that his eye looked kind of cloudy, the tech explained to me that this was probably because of the history of blastomycosis because a lot of the time it sets up shop in the eyeball. Sometimes this results in blindness. We tested his reflex and his eye was not responsive to movement on that side. I left before I found out his diagnosis.

I explained a little bit about the cat that presented with chemical burns down its esophagus in class. This 3 y/o CM DSH licked a feliway diffuser and either got burned or had a reaction to the feliway. Since his esophagus was so scarred and painful, they had to put a PEG tube in for feeding. I didn’t watch the surgery, but I assisted with flushing the tube and rewrapping the bandage. Since the tube was placed the cat was doing much better and more alert and responsive.

Next week my goal is to work on using a 1 mL syringe for blood draws and being able to get close to the full 1 mL.

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Monday was a very busy day with a lot of intense cases. We started our day with Booboo, a 14 year old "male" dove (he has never been sexed but the owner referred to him as a male). Booboo presented after having seen a different vet the Friday prior for lethargy and anorexia that wasn't improving. They reported that a cbc and chem panel had been done at that vet and that the values were normal (we had not gotten records sent over yet). Also, Booboo had been started on meloxicam but the owners did not give it because they thought he was lethargic after the first dose. On exam, he had some severe bruising on his right wing and breast with a lot of crusting/stickiness in his feathers. It was determined that at his previous vet, they must have attempted to draw from his basilic vein and potentially lacerated the vessel, then tried to glue it shut with surgical glue. Dr. Wittenburg suspected that his lethargy after his first dose of meloxicam likely was unrelated to the medication but from hypovolemia from blood loss. Since his blood work was unremarkable, Dr. recommended x-rays under anesthesia. I intubated Booboo, (yay me!) with the teeny-tiniest little 3.0mm ET tube, then we took VD and lateral radiographs which were overall unremarkable except Dr. suspected that Booboo may have fractured his back at one point and had some evidence of osteoarthritis. It was recommended to continue the previously prescribed meloxicam and continue to monitor.
Later that day, we had Ziggy, a 2 year old male neutered labrador retriever, in after eating an unknown amount of used tampons. We started by performing VD and lateral radiographs which showed that he had some sort of material in all areas of his GI track, his stomach, intestines, colon, etc. He got very stressed out while having his rads taken and pooped all over. Dr. Wittenburg requested that we walk Ziggy outside so he may finish defecating and potentially pass some tampons. He did indeed! He defecated 2 whole tampons. After he was "empty" Dr. requested we repeat rads to see what was still remaining. They showed he still had some material in his stomach and decided that we should induce vomiting. We placed an 18g catheter in his left cephalic and gave him apopmorphine 0.82 mg/mL IV. The vomiting was almost immediate (as we discussed in pharmacology!) Ziggy proceed to vomit up another 8 tampons. He rested in a cage after that while we monitored him for any additional vomiting. By the way, this was not his first offense, he is a known sock eater... It was a gross day.
Wednesday:
"Chicken" the 3-4 year old female Buff Orpington chicken came in after her owner had found her in her coop with acute paresis in her legs with no known trauma. Dr. Lien recommended taking radiographs, so we performed lateral and VD views which were mostly unremarkable. She was dispensed meloxicam and I performed a gavage feeding! I administered 45mL of Emeraid™ Omnivore via 12 french catheter into her crop. Since her Owner didn't want to pursue further diagnostics, she was going to continue to monitor at home and hope for the best.
Friday:
Not the best day... we had a dark cloud of euthanasias. Chicken, the chicken from Wednesday, was dropped off to be euthanized. She had not improved at home and her owner did not want her to suffer. We anesthetized her via mask with isoflurane, then she was euthanized  via intracardiac stick with 2mL pentobarbital solution. For practice, Dr. Schimek offered for me to perform a blood draw from her basilic vein while she was anesthetized but not passed yet. I successfully drew ~1mL so I finally reached my goal of getting blood from a bird! It was a little bitter sweet :(
After she had passed, we made two "paw" print impressions as well as plucked some pretty feathers for the owner.
Our other sad case was Rocky, a 10 year old neutered male Mini Schnauzer that 7 days prior to presentation, had fallen from the owners arms and landed on his back. The stated he has seemed okay overall, but within the past couple days had been lethargic as well as been having looser stool. On presentation, his abdomen has firm and tense and he was slightly pale. Per Dr. Schimek, we performed VD and lateral radiographs. His entire abdomen was diffusely cloudy with no differentiable organs. I performed a jugular blood draw for a CBC with differential which showed elevated WBCs and nucleated RBCs. Basically, he was losing more blood than he his body could replenish so his bone marrow was throwing out extra immature RBCs. Dr. Schimek suspected that he had a large abdominal mass that has been slowly bleeding since his fall a week prior. His owners elected to euthanize. However, since Rocky was a drop off appointment, they did not want to be present. I placed a 22g catheter in his right cephalic vein and Dr. Schimek administered 3mL pentobarbital solution IV. Rocky passed peacefully as we all cuddled him and told him what a good boy he is... It was a sad day.
On a happier note, Dr. Wittenburg taught me how to gavage feed a snake which was super cool. Using a french catheter, it gets fed into the esophagus, down until past the heart (approximately the 1st third portion of the snake) and administer the meal while monitoring for regurgitation. It was very interesting!

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On Monday I was in surgeries again monitoring anesthesia and helping both set up and take down for the day.  I got to monitor a growth removal on a Duck Tolling Retriever who also happens to be one of my good clients at my job doing treadmill.  The owner was nervous about the procedure but when she saw me come in to check him in for the day she said she felt relieved that Lucky was going to have someone he knows.  That made me feel good she was more relaxed after that.  Wednesday I worked on some more of my check off list by giving fluids to one of the technicians dogs who came in because she was having diarrhea the night before and she was definitely dehydrated.  She pooped right in front of Nina's fan. Yuck! (but also kind of funny).  Friday was a pretty slow day because we only had one doctor and 5 technicians so I did a lot of stocking, organizing and restraints for blood draws along with doing some myself.  I also got pretty comfortable with the CBC, chem, and UA machine. My goal for this upcoming week is to tie up any loose ends on my check off list for clinical 1.

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Monday was a pretty routine day. I pulled a lot of vaccines for patients and sort of floated around where I was needed.
Wednesday was much more eventful. i was in the lab all day and was able to learn each machine, such as CBC, CHEM, Cortosol, and run tests such as SNAP tests, Urine, and fecals. I also did an ear cytology where the right ear was 4+ yeast, very itchy. One urine was a great sample for learning as it was pretty packed with bacteria and whiteblood cells but not so great for the patient. I also expressed some bladders for spays.
Friday I was a able to remove some sutures off of a patient who had 3 lump removals, two on the face and one on its side. I also trimmed a lot of nails on friday and finally, unfortunately, I can say I used to the styptic powder. It happens to the best of us, i guess.

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Clinical Week #6 Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Clinical Week #6 Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Monday our day unfortunately started with a DOA and as weird as it sounds it was actually interesting; mostly because it was a 77 year old macaw! I spent the day in surgery to get some essential skills. I was able to get a bladder expression, medial saphenous blood draw, and placed IV catheters and intubated 2 patients. One dog was a lab and the other dog was a terrier mix, which was a nice variety to see what I could do. Wednesday was really uneventful, there was 6 technicians on the floor (not including myself) for one doctor until 10am then it was 2 doctors. I did get to remove the staples from the dog that had the tooth pick in his neck. Friday I continued practicing on all of my skills. I helped with appointments. There was a cat that was recently adopted and he had mats all over his body, we ended up shaving his entire abdomen because they were so bad. Lastly I cleaned surgical instruments from the surgeries from that day. For my goal I would just like to make it known how appreciative I am of them allowing me to be at their facility and helping me achieve my goal of becoming a veterinary technician.

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This week felt like a blur.  Now that I am in a routine at the clinic, the days just fly by.  Monday, we had a luxated patella surgery on a 7-year-old FS Miniature Poodle and a dental.  We did the orthopedic surgery first.  This is because if we did the dental first, particles and bacteria from the dirty mouth of our dental patient could be transferred and contaminate the sterile field of the orthopedic surgery via the air, shoes, particles on our scrubs etc.  I never wondered why we did orthopedic surgeries before dentals until that day.  They would do a spay or neuter before an orthopedic, since its removing “sterile” insides.  Our dental that way was a MN Westie, who was not handling the anesthesia well at all.  He was experiencing apnea, and at one point his Isoflurane was turned off completely, to bring him back to a state where his brain could signal his body to breathe on his own again.  He recovered well after that, but it was tense.  Wednesday was routine with preventative exams and vaccinations.  We had three HOPE Safehouse dogs with us that day, and each tech was assigned to get them ready to be able to be fostered.  They were all given a physical exam, had a U/A done, had fecals ran, and bloodwork done.  2/3 dogs were heartworm positive.  The youngest dog, Kaby, was a 7-month-old unaltered male and his fecal was positive with coccidia.  Our Dr. decided since Kaby was heartworm negative and in overall good health with his blood work that a neuter could be performed.  He literally did this neuter in 20 minutes, it was so cool.  Friday was the day to restock and clean and it got off to a sad start.  We had a DOA male dog named Charlie there when I arrived, which was sad.  I didn’t get any signalment on him other than his name and sex.  The owners say he passed in his sleep and brought him in as soon as we opened.  Shortly after we finished making pawprints and bagging Charlie, a longtime client called saying their dog needed to be put down.  Scooby was a 10-year-old NM Husky Mix who had some sort of tumor blocking something in his system, so he was unable to defecate.  He hadn’t eaten in a week and in that time lost 6lbs.  He was so weak and actively leaking fecal material from his perianal region when we brought him back to place his catheter.  I had seen him several times in the clinic when he was getting his B12 shots.  It was hard on everyone, but he was suffering so this was the best option.  We made him 5 nice pawprints and the owners even donated his bed to the clinic “in case there were any older dogs who needed extra bedding”.  I thought that was very sweet. The day got less sad after that.  Euthanasias are never easy but it comes with the territory of being in veterinary medicine.  My goal for the last week here is to fine tune my blood drawing skills and run as many of the laboratory machines as possible by myself.

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Arredondo- Week 6 at North Shore Animal Hospital

On Monday, I helped the technicians by taking the RR, HR, and the temperatures of some of the patients that were checked in that morning. I recorded those vitals on the patient’s record. All morning I was helping the technicians prepare the patients for surgery. There was a 6-month male Labrador Mix at the clinic for a neuter. Terri showed me how to estimate the size of the endotracheal tube to a patient. She told me to grab one size bigger and smaller. I selected the endotracheal tube sizes 7, 7.5, and 8. Once the technicians induced the male Labrador Mix, then Terri taught me how to place an endotracheal tube into the dog for the first time. We started off using the size 7.5 and it was good fit from what I felt when I placed the endotracheal tube into the patient. She taught me how to secure the breathing tube to the patient’s mouth using gauze from the gauze roll.

On Wednesday, the clinic was busy in the morning because there was only one doctor that day. I was mainly assisting the technicians with their tech appointments. Since it was busy, I also helped clean the rooms between the exams and helped fill prescriptions.

On Friday, the clinic was busy again, but there were two doctors working. I was helping the technicians where ever I could. I filled and checked prescriptions. I also cleaned rooms and helped with restraining when needed.

Next week, my goal is to continue to practice blood draws. Also, I hope to find an opportunity to administer subcutaneous fluids to a patient and run another urinalysis.

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This week was full of freak show horses. Most visits were annual vet check-ups so thankfully nothing major needed to be done with the horses. One barn was a retired polo horse facility, as the DVM described it “the land of misfits”. The owner is still active in competing with the horses and once they’re done he sends them to this separate facility and all the horses have something significantly wrong with them. Most are due to the work they did throughout their life. The one horse had bad arthritis in his LR hind and his front hooves were in such bad shape they decided to perform x-rays to see what condition the joints were in. If in bad enough condition it would not mean a happy ending for this gelding. When x-rays are taken of the front feet they are placed on wooden blocks, the gelding was doing fine and appeared to be very calm until something behind him freaked him out. He fell off the blocks, pulled tight against the cross-ties, and was thrashing around. I tried to get ahold of his head to release the cross-ties and move him away from the equipment and tech/DVM, but wasn’t able to move quick enough before his legs started flailing everywhere. Thankfully the tech and DVM were able to back into a stall and grabbed the equipment with them. The cross-ties were eventually released, we re-adjusted our approach……. and heavily drugged him. :D :D I felt bad that I wasn’t able to move fast enough, but I’m ready for the next time!!!

Wednesday was a day of checking up on horses that received joint injections and treatments to see how their progress was. Most were a huge hooray and the owners were super excited! The last appointment did need further injections and unfortunately is a horse that is known to be violent. Even through heavy sedation and a twitch he tried kicking several times and doing his best not to cooperate. At one point the DVM needed to reach under the horse’s barrel to the opposite leg to inject on the inside hock. I held a front leg up so the horse had less chance of kicking aaannnndddd as stated before he was a butt and still tried every trick he could. At one point I started slipping on the rubber mats while holding onto his leg, in automatic reflex I grabbed the leg harder and he decided to kick his leg forward. Of which sent me flat on my butt and feeling like a complete moron! Eventually we moved to the other side of the horse, I created a better stance for holding the leg, and the horse got mad and laid down. At that point the DVM decided to call it a day. I was able to complete my goals for this week and my next goals are to apply eye and ear ointments.

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Monday an 8 year old Siamese FS feline came in because she was not eating. During the exam the Dr. noticed that there was a lot of stool in her colon. We took X-rays and there was stool that went all the way to the transverse colon. The was sedated and an enema was done. They sent the owner home with a bag of gastrointestinal food so that this doesn't again. There was a 5 year old MN Doberman canine that came in with a lipoma on his neck. The owner set up surgery for Wednesday for him to get it removed. Wednesday there was an 8 month old M DSH feline that came in for a neuter. The Doberman also came in for his surgery. They were both quick surgeries. Friday there was a 17 week old female Shepard mix that came in because she was attacked by another dog. She was already on medication for the bite wound but the swelling on her face never went down. There was a little bit of an abscess so the Dr. drained it. There was an 7 year old FS English Bulldog canine that came in because she was shaking her head more. On the ear swab that was done she had rods in her ear. She was sent home with ear flush because the owner already had ointment at home.
My goal for next week is to finish the few skills I have left to do.

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This week is going much better for me mentally! Monday the lead technician Whitney sat down with me to go through my check off list as we have not done that yet together. I got majority of my check off list completed so it was a much needed weight lifted off my shoulders. Wednesday the practice manager Cindy brought me into her office, I was a tad bit nervous as I was unsure why. She told me that I was doing a great job, the staff at Hallett really enjoy me and to keep on doing what I was doing. Hearing that I almost cried, I really had no clue that they felt that way. Last week in my journal I noted that I was upset that the I felt the CVTs were not teaching me as much but now its all put into perspective for me. Its not that they weren’t teaching me as much as I hoped its that they finally trust me and are comfortable letting me do things. It was a really good feeling to have them tell me I am doing a great job and that my hard work is noticed because I have been so stressed with my schedule that them saying that makes it all worth it!

On Monday, Whitney helped me with a jugular blood draw on a 10 year old SF labradoodle. I was having trouble with the vein rolling and the skin being loose. Whitney held the loose skin out of the way and I got it on my first poke that time. I was also able to collect urine via cysto from the same dog too! It was a good day!

Next week I hope to perform working on more urinalysis things particularly reading the urine sediment. That has definitely been a challenge for me.

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This week has already been pretty eventful! As always the normal things like monitoring in surgery, restraining, TPR's, reading fecals and urine sediments.
On Monday, I worked the night shift. It is a lot slower at night. Surgery is over and patients are being discharged. It was about an hour before close and we had an emergency dog fight come in. It was a 6 year old chihuahua who was attacked by the other dogs in the house. The female dog was bleeding and the whole eye was out of place. The jaw was totally out of place. We took an x-ray and saw the jaw was broken. The doctor said the eye would need to come out and the jaw would need to be fixed by a specialist. The owners had no money so they chose to relinquish  the dog to the clinic. We decided it was best for the dog to be put down. The road ahead would be much to painful. The owner stayed and held her through the euthanasia. The charges were on us. It was so sad and crazy to see we couldn't do anything for her without the owner having money.
On Wednesday, I got to see ear mites on an ear swab slide! It was so awesome. They are so big and creepy and swim around on there!
One week left, wow! We made it guyssss! I only have one thing left on my check list and that is staple removal. My goal for this next week is to remove staples!

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Week 5 was a good week.  Monday was uneventful with only a few surgeries and many routine preventative exams.  I observed a TPLO surgery and it was cool to see all the instruments specific to orthopedics in use.  Wednesday, we had two rabbit neuters.  Patches and Peanut were both 7-month-old unaltered Holland Lop brothers who live in the same house and the owners wanted them fixed due to their inappropriate urination.  Both surgeries went off without a hitch, and I helped assist with monitoring their anesthesia every 5 minutes.  It was intense because none of the monitoring equipment was working properly on these small animals, so we had to rely on manual HR and RR being taken.  A rabbit’s heart rate normally is from 130-325 bpm while awake, under anesthesia both rabbits gave us a rage between 250-300 bpm.  Their respiratory rate while awake is between 30-60 and under anesthesia they both ranged from 40-60.  I felt like I didn’t take a good deep breath till both neuters were completed and the rabbits woke up from anesthesia.  They are just so delicate, especially under anesthesia.  Friday was a blast.  Every patient that needed blood drawn came right to me.  I performed three jugular draws, on a Lab, Brussels Griffon and a Maltipoo.  I also performed a cephalic on a Golden and a lateral saphenous on another Lab.  I got them all successfully.  We had an urgent patient come in around the end of my time there.  The owner called and stated the dog has allergies and scratched himself so hard on the neck that it was bleeding.  The bleeding was so bad that it was soaking through the towel he was using, and he described it as a “gash” so they told him to come in.  Before the patient arrived, we set up a station for this dog complete with a laceration pack, the bandage cart, excess gauze, oxygen, fluids, and the crash kit.  We didn’t know the severity, as the DVM thought it could be just a little scratch to a lacerated jugular.  Thankfully it wasn’t either of those.  The 2-year-old Pit mix came in with about a 3-inch abrasion on the right side of his neck.  The bleeding seemed to have calmed down from the drive over.  We did not need any of the emergency equipment we set up for.  The DVM cleaned his abrasion and offered Apoquel® and Cytopoint® to help with the severe allergies.  My goal for next week is to get a medial saphenous on a cat, and to work more with butterfly catheters.  I am about 70% complete with my list, as well.

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This week was supposed to be blood draw week, I attempted once on Friday but was unsuccessful. It was on a hound dog with a super droopy neck. Normal stuff like monitoring and restraining and taking x-rays. I did accomplish last weeks goal by completing a few urinalysis!
Wednesday I got to watch an AI. I had no idea what an AI (artificial insemination) was the doctor just told me to hold the bag while he poked a needle through it. He was looking at the sperm count under the microscope to see how the implant would go. There were tons of swimmers so he said yup lets do it! I asked him if the owner brought in the sample and he said no I collected it. I really didn't know if you could do a cysto into the testicle to collect the sample. But no. He told me to use my imagination. Grossss haha. I assisted in the room, holding the female pug while he put a tube into the vulva. I had to lift the back end of the pug up so they would go to where they needed to be. Harris has so many breeders come in the hospital its crazy. That is why I have seen so many declaws and see a lot of puppy litters when they are only a few days old.
The 6th week the goals I have are as always blood draws and more practice on 🤬 glands. I have only done a few and could use more practice!

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Arredondo- Week 5 at North Shore Animal Hospital

On Monday I was able to help Terri with dental x rays on a 15 year old spayed female DSH. She was able to give me some tips, but she basically told me that everyone has their own preference and way of doing dentals x rays.

On Wednesday there was a 10 year old neutered male Siamese at the clinic to monitor its blood glucose levels. The cat was fed as normal before it came in but did not receive that morning’s dose of insulin. The staff checked the glucose level every hour using a glucose monitoring kit. Throughout the day I was assisting the techs in the exam rooms.

On Friday, I performed a successful jugular blood draw on a 6 year old spayed female Spaniel Mix. The dog was there to have a growth removed from the side of its neck. I was able to work with the CBC machine and chem machine. Then Jess, CVT, taught me how to work the Coag machine. Next, there was a 11 year old spayed female Basset Hound who came in to have an open wound full of maggots cleaned out.

Next week, my goal is to work more with the blood machines. Also, I hope to perform a fecal analysis or a urinalysis.

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Can I just say that I am exhausted! My life thus far has been veterinary medicine 24/7 (I am even dreaming about it every night). I have been working Tuesday/Thursday afternoons after class and every Saturday/Sunday. This is by far the hardest semester for me mentally. I am so mentally tired. The reason I bring this up is because this adds to my personal growth I have made it 5 weeks so far and I know I can make it to the end. I feel that if I can make it through this clinical round I can make it through the program. I have vacation time from work that I have to use up next week so I’ll have almost a week off from work which will be a much needed break because I feel like I am going to explode from all the stress currently in my life. And the only day off I have had since this semester was on Memorial day.

To take more about my skills, I drew blood from a lateral saphenous on a goldendoodle while he was under anesthesia. Dr. John walked me through on how to do it and I successfully did it!. Friday I drew blood on a medial saphenous on a cat, which I have only done one other time on a kitten. I drew the blood but when I put it in the EDTA tube it had clotted already. I was a little upset because no one walked me through how to do it, or when I should stop drawing up the blood before it clotted or how much I needed. I have seen it done a million times before but I feel like I am there to learn and majority of the CVTs don’t teach me much. The practice manager and the lead tech are both great at explaining things! I have been helping out a lot with reading fecals, running blood work. I am finally starting to get the flow of their clinic!

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Monday was an interesting day, I was in surgery all day! I was able to practice TPR and I even got some check offs done such as nail trims, bladder expression, SQ fluids, SQ injections, and applying eye lube! I've become quite the pro at applying eye lube if anyone needs some.
Wednesday I had planned on practicing blooddraws; however, every exam that needed a blooddraw the client wanted it performed in the exam room. Now, I dont know about you, but I personally wouldn't practice blooddraws in front of the owner since I have little to no experience drawing blood.
Friday was a very good day. I was able to collect blood! I felt bad the first time though. Super sweet cat, medial saphenous, caught the vein first poke, drew back about 1 1/2 cc , the little guy moved, and I blew the vein! :( ouch. I felt horrible but the CVT Amanda assured me it happens more than we think. I think she was just trying to make me feel better since the whole time I've been here I haven't seen anyone blow a vein... regardless it worked because I drew blood on a jugular right after that and it was PERFECT! I was also in the lab a little bit, sort of an introduction to the lab as I am schedule to be in there next week.
I have become much more confident this week and I plan on building on that confidence next week too!

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Clinical Week #5 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Clinical Week #5 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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This week 2/3 of the days I was in surgery all day and other I ended up in surgery. Monday it was a day of appointments in the morning, restraint, blood draws, and nail trims were my day. We had a dog come in that had a history of eating everything, and I mean everything. This time he ingested a corn cob (which the family had for dinner recently). We did radiographs and got him in for an exploratory surgery. The cob was stuck in his intestines and was removed. Wednesday we had 2 dentals, 2 spays, and 1 fracture repair on a young dog. It was repaired with pins and wire. On Friday we had 3 spays, a dog in for punch biopsies, and a TPLO. I was trying to express the bladder on all of the patients since they were all sedated but everyone seemed to go to the bathroom before coming in for their surgeries! All well still good practice trying to located the bladder on all of the animals. My goals for the up coming week is to complete more of my essential skills I am almost there! Can't wait to finished up my clinical site over the next couple weeks, so far it has been a great experience.

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On Monday a 2 year-old SF Pomeranian presented for vomiting and diarrhea followed by a collapse later in the day. I was not there when she was brought in to the clinic but on her chart it stated that the collapse was possibly due to vestibular disease. At first, they thought it was due to anaphylaxis, but it was never known what caused it. She was put in the oxygen cage and monitored very closely because her mucous membranes were pale and her blood pressure was low. She was given vasopressin® and her blood pressure was taken by a tech with a doppler and he got 120. This was amazing for this dog so he called over the DVM. Her heart rate and blood pressure both dropped dramatically after. Within two minutes she has no palpebral reflexes. She was a yellow code so they started doing chest compressions at two minute intervals. Her bladder released and she began bleeding from her mouth and nose. There was fluid in her lungs. They placed an endotracheal tube from the crash cart and used the suction machine to try to get some of the fluid out of her lungs. She was given Atropine® 0.5 mL and Epinephrine® 0.05mL after some of the compression sets. Her owner decided to stop trying to revive her and she passed away at 9:55AM.

On Wednesday there was a lot of normal things going on. Lots of respiration watches and TPRs. I worked on my blood draws and getting use to using a doppler.

On Friday I got to assist with a blood donor cat who was a 4 year-old CM DSH. We took 60mLs of blood from his jugular vein. The doctor had already drawn up the anticoagulant. After it was placed in a bag he said he was going to spin it down and remove the plasma and it would be ready to go for a patient. The cat was then given 150cc of subcutaneous fluids and fed.

Next week my goal is to continue practicing my skills. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable and confident in the 5 weeks that I have been at WVRC. Now I just need to continue practicing to get better.

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This was another week of a lot of dental work in surgery so I monitored patients. I am getting pretty good at understanding the Surgivet monitoring machine. We had a 12y/o NM DSH come in for a dental with extractions. The owner didn't want to have a dental done for quite some time until they realized that one of his canine teeth literally fell out on its own. When we were looking in the mouth where the canine was supposed to be we saw that the hole was actually infected. Dr. Allie pulled out a chunk of hard pus so he went home on antibiotics. Wednesday I worked on more check off skills like doing more CBCs and chems. I filled out a lot of paper work for sending off titers tests which I like that they try to have clients do more titers than vaccines if they are not needed. Friday I was going into appointments and helping get histories for doctors which was fun being able to have client interaction. A lot of them were very nice and willing to let me learn on their pets. I actually got to see a pet that I work with a lot at me actual job so it was fun seeing a familiar face. My goal this week is to become more independent in the clinic and show the staff and even myself how much i have learned from them throughout my time here already.

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Monday was awesome, so awesome I barely remember it. I know we were busy. The cat that was hit by a tractor last week and broke its paw? Yeah, guess what? Dr. Scot said that Sunday it had absessed and had maggots. He talked about the very distinctive smell that maggots give off. He talked about how they look like sawdust. The palmar side of the foot was the one that absessed. He removed the pad completely and a few bones. He sutured what he could to give it chance since "cats are tough". But he doesn't think that she will be able to heal and will have to amputate the paw later. Also, The lower left canine was busted and he extracted it. The upper left canine was facing the wrong direction and he decided to deal with it another day. Dr. Mona was taking care of a shelter cat which are the x rays below. This cat presented with wheezing. Dr. Mona had the girl that was new and me take radiographs by ourselves., without help, "no asking for help unless you REALLY need it". So, I was able to describe boarder, collimate, accurately measure, the whole 9 yards! We needed to get to the thoracic inlet more but couldn't since the cat was getting fed up with us. Dr. Mona suspected that the cat had asthma or maybe pneumonia in the past, possibly even fluid since the radiographs of the lungs looked gray instead of black. Dr. Teri had a mass removal and extraction the mass was sent for histopathology. It was a 5yo newfoundland so it was hard to keep all of him on the dental table. I was able to watch and get things for Dr. Gould during her mass removal on an 11yo SF pit mix. Since it was a large mass that would collect fluid in the area where it was removed she put in a pen rose drain. She explained that contrary to popular belief that liquid drains around the drain instead of through it. She also explained that if she accidently sutured the drain to the body wall she would have to go back in and removed the entire thing.

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This side wasn't as bad, but it was spreading quickly.

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Quite an interesting week. Monday, June 4th was nothing but dental work. I saw a good visual on cleaning grade 1 and grade 2 dental. It was at the end of the day I saw a grade 3 dental on a 7 yr 8mo F 8.9 Chihuahua. The DVM concluded that a total of 10 teeth had to be completely extracted. It was a lengthy task but was done successfully. I helped monitor but also watched closely as the DVM performed the surgery. Here are the teeth that were extracted: 101, 103, 104, 201, 203, 204, 301, 407, 408, and 410. Wednesday, June 6th was a normal day of wellness checks. Friday, June 8th I saw an interesting/terrible cast of "hot spot" or skin infection on a 112lb 8mo NM Newfoundland Puppy. The patient presented with sores on both sides of his face. We shaved the affected area and cleaned with chlorexidine scrub followed by a cold water rinse. The DVM prescribed apoquel (16mg) 1 & 1/2 for 3 days BID and then 1 & 1/2 SID, Cephalexin (500 mb) 60 tabs BID, and some Chlorexidine 3% PS Pads for the patient to take home. I'll post pictures of the hot spots. A goal of mine for next week is to understand the patient discharge after surgery process that they follow.
(Here is the worst side)

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This week at Fox Valley was slow with not a lot going on. It was a lot of routine exams and vaccines. On Monday I was able to trim nails on a 6 year old SF Tibetan Spaniel. Other than the nail trim not a lot happened. Wednesday I was able to draw blood from a 2 year old NM Golden Doodle. He was a very good boy and I was able to get the amount of blood needed for the test. He was getting his liver enzymes retested. They came back normal. I also removed some sutures from a 3 year old NM Spaniel mix. He was having sutures removed from his scrotal area an infection had formed after a neuter. So a scrotal ablation was preformed to remove the infection. There was a 7 year old NM Schnauzer mix that came in because his eye was cloudy. He had come in a few weeks ago because he had been scratched in the eye by another dog. They treated the scratch but his eye became very cloudy after treatment. The Dr. refereed the owner to another clinic because she was afraid that the dog might lose that eye. There was a lot of pressure around the eye causing the dog pain and there was nothing that the doctors could do at fox valley. Friday was very slow with not a lot of appointments. One of the techs brought her dog in so that I could do check offs on her. The dog was a 3 year old SF Pit bull mix. So I was able to do things that fox valley doesn't get a lot of.

My goal for next week is  to work on more blood draws so that I can get better at them.

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Clinical week #5 @ Chicago Equine Medical Center

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Clinical week #5 @ Chicago Equine Medical Center

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Monday was a really good day for me. I told the lead CVT and the tech I was shadowing that I had certain goals to complete this week and they helped me to get them all completed in one day! The staff has been really helpful and patient with me and getting the needed skills done. Right away in the morning there were horses on site to be prepared for discharge. CVT Bridgette helped me removed sutures and catheters from two horses, apply bandages, give oral medications, and take a set of vitals. A tip she gave me on taking vitals is when she takes the temp she rests her hand on the horse’s side and takes the RR while the thermometer is reading. She said that most of the time the RR doesn’t increase while doing an exam and so it’s a way of cutting off a few seconds of time. The first call we went on I lunged the horse for the DVM to evaluate his lameness and trotted in hand after she did multiple leg flexes. He received shockwave therapy afterwards. The next horse we worked on was a 28 yr old mare that the owner is still riding and seems to be having a hard time deciding whether she needs to be retired or not. The mare had many medical problems due to old age, but looked really good for her age! Her LF knee was bowed out and sore when walking. X-rays were performed and I held the cassette while the DVM very patiently directed me where to position it for each image. Bone spurs were found in the knee. The DVM discussed the many options with the owner, she did not make a decision right then.

Weds was a busy day of lameness exams and clients tacking on more horses than planned for. For one horse, I was to babysit her while she was given 5,000 mL of fluids and DMSO. She was mouthy and the DVM was afraid she would chew through the IV set if not watched. It didn’t take long before the fluids were finished as it is a continual strong stream, could actually watch the fluids go down in the IV bag. The rest of the day was a bit uncomfortable for me. The tech and DVM were on edge and wanted to move fast without having anything in their way. I did what I could and tried to show initiative where possible, for the most part I restrained the horses and unloaded/loaded the truck. Doing clinicals has been a challenge in specific areas that I struggle with often – selling myself, showing outward confidence, and creating continual conversations. Hopefully by the end of this semester those areas will have a little bit more improvement than they did before.

My goals for next week are to complete a fecal and urinalysis.

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Shelter cat with wheezing

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Monday:
Sara CVT and I were "float" techs which means we essentially would help out as needed and weren't assigned to a particular doctor. We did a lot of little things here and there like filling medications for other peoples' appointments or starting blood work or set up fecal floats if they needed it.
Over the lunch hour, we helped cover in surgery and I assisted in monitoring and prepping a rabbit for a neuter. He had already been pre-medicated, so I pre-oxygenated him via a face mask for 5 minutes prior to induction with isoflurane gas anesthesia. Once he was at a good plane, another tech started shaving him. Generally, their rabbit neuters don't receive an IVC because the procedure is so short, but they told me to go ahead and place one for practice. I got a 22g in his itty bitty right cephalic! His procedure went well and he was recovered in an incubator.
Wednesday:
Sara CVT was assigned in surgery with Dr. Mueller, thus, so was I. For procedures, she had two dentals, a dog neuter and an exam on an egg-bound duck. Both dentals were larger dogs that did not need any extractions, yay for them! The neuter was a very cute little Corgi named Bear. He was pre-medicated with dexmedetomidine and hydromorphone IM. For induction, ketamine and diazepam IV. For anesthetic maintenance, he was intubated and placed on isoflurane gas inhalant. I monitored his anesthesia while Sara prepped him for surgery. Everything went well and he recovered without issue.
Daphne was the duck, unfortunately I did not get a chance to find out what was going to happen with her. Hopefully Sara can fill me in on Friday!
Friday:
No news on Daphne the duck.
We started out our morning rechecking Apollo, the 17 week old ferret. He had recently dislocated his elbow. He also had ear mites that we were rechecking. We first took a lateral rad of his left forelimb, then did a mite check on the microscope; everything was resolved! He was a very good ferret and compliant for all the restraint and procedures that were being done. Next, we had Peanut and Almond, two rabbits that were between 7-11 years old (the owner wasn't 100% sure of their age. The presenting for wellness exams which I restrained for. They were very sassy bunnies! Dr. recommended baseline blood work due to being senior rabbits but the owner declined due to cost.
Most interesting case of the day was Lilith, a 5 year old barred rock chicken! (yay a chicken!!!) She presenting for increasing lethargy, anorexia and open mouthed breathing. She had a temp of 106F (hyperthermic for a chicken) increased respiratory and effort, and was underweight. Dr. recommended radiographs and blood work. Owner okay'd rads but declined blood work (ALL I WANT TO DO IS DRAW BLOOD ON A BIRD) I assisted in obtaining lateral and VD rads but then after that was drawn away to help with something else. I later learned that Lilith went home with antibiotics and prayers. Hopefully she takes a turn for the better!
I've been working with Sara on learning their different lab machines and avian/reptile cbc differentials. I hope to improve on those and as with every week, I want to get blood from something exotic! I also hope to be a little more independent. I do feel that as the weeks go by, I can be more helpful and less glued to Sara's side :)

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Sort of a weird week not going to BF because of Memorial Day, as well as the following Wednesday as they were not seeing patients that day - they were closed to take staff pictures and do other tasks around the clinic.
Thus, my only day with them was on Friday.
We had several interesting appointments, but probably the most entertaining was Marshmallow. Marshmallow was a 2 year old holland lop rabbit that had been neutered at a different clinic towards the end of April. He had some post-operative complications with swelling and him chewing at his incision site, so his people were very much attentive to him and wanted to make sure they did whatever he needed :)
Friday, they called because "he chewed his penis off." Naturally, CVT Sara and I were rather intrigued into what this appointment would entail. Fortunately for Marshmallow, his exam proved that he in fact still had his penis. As rabbits do, he sort of just pulled it into himself whenever they messed with his private bits.
We also had a very sweet 24 year old Cockatoo come in for a wellness exam and to do her yearly blood work. Her samples were obtained from her jugular and a CBC and chemistry panel were performed.
Not as much fun: towards the end of the day, I was restraining a flying squirrel for an exam/nail trim, and it bit me on two of my fingers and drew blood. Considering it was technically wildlife, my human doctor advised I go to the walk-in which was kind of a bummer. Now I'm on antibiotics!
I'm feeling much more comfortable at Brook-Falls and working with the team there. I will be sad to go when the 7 weeks is over :(
For Week 5, I'm still hoping to work on blood draws on birds! They've been more open to me restraining birds and collecting samples on small mammals, but before I'm done I'm getting blood on a bird!

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I'm also going to include where I was on Tuesday since I was able to go to Elkhorn. For my two hours at Elkhorn, I spent most of the time petting fluffy dogs. However, there are two things I was to mention. One, this collie mix came and got hit by a beverage cart. A BEVERAGE CART. This is not a small dog, how does someone hit a good size dog with a BEVERAGE CART. He had lacerations on his caudal ventral abdomen and legs. I helped restrain. This same dog has a family member with a peanut allergy. Therefore, we should always ask clients about some of their allergies before giving treats. Also, there was a neuter and since the neuters are so fast there and they don't go internally, the animals are just pre medicated. This cat, this poor cat was given pre med and put on 0.5 of iso and STILL felt what happened. When the DVM went to tie off the cat reared up on the table and had to be restrained while the DVM finished.
Wednesday: I was absolutely not up for anything and thankfully for me, a tech brought in a baby bird that had fallen out of the nest. She tried to put the baby bird back in the nest but noticed that there were flies around. When she climbed a ladder to peek and put him back she noticed all of his (I'm not sure of sex) siblings had died. So she brought him to work. She had looked up online what to feed him and contrary to popular belief, worms and water are a no no. So she made him a hard boiled egg, boiled sugar water, made baby rice cereal and combined it with dry dog food. She also found out that babies need to eat every 15-20 minutes. While I did other things on Wednesday like restrain or run blood work or peek in on Dr. Scot's surgeries, I made this baby my project. Dr. Scot put him really close to a heater (he used to raise turkeys so he knows, he's also a vet for Fellow Mortals who were called).
Friday was awesome and terrible all at once. I started out thinking "wow this is kinda boring". Do not ever think the word 'boring'. EVER. After I stupidly thought that, Dr. Welch asked me to plug in the cautery pen and keep holding and running fluids. The pen and fluids have the same frequency so whenever the pen was used the fluids shut off. After that Dr. Scot brought in a baby squirrel with a cleft pallet he was going to try and repair. I held for the attempt of intubating (it did not work he wound up giving the squirrel a shot of telizol). I also held for the surgery. But unfortunately the squirrel's flesh was not enough to suture and he had to be euthanized. Dr. Scot grabbed me a little while later with a baby sandhill crane that broke its leg. He said "so I'm gonna have you intubate". It was awesome, the trachea is right behind the tongue and it is super easy. Though, quoting Dr. Scot here 'the key with exotics especially birds is to be quick'. I had to rush to get this urine soaked and muddy bandage of this animals leg. Then I was horrified. As I peeled off the vet wrap there was gauze. I'm pulling away the gauze and this crane starts to bleed. It smells. I continue. There was this hard part of the bandage that I pulled off and to my shock, the animal's foot is hanging on it's body by a small piece of skin. Literally hanging. I'm supposed to scrub, but how in the heck am I supposed to do a target? I just go side to side knowing it won't be good enough. There's no way. Upon examining the leg closer Dr. Scot noticed that the ankle is broken too. There is no way he can fix it in a baby animal. Crane gets euthanized and I was able to x ray it after and break down surgery as much as I could. After that, where everything died. I quit surgery and went to the clinic side of things with poop and restraint. Also a barn cat got hit by a tractor and was finally found 2 days later. More about that this week!

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This week, since it was shortened by Memorial Day it was kind of out of whack.  Normally surgery happens Monday and Wednesday, with each of the doctors having one full day of surgery to themselves.  Wednesday is usually Dr. Temple’s day, but she allowed Dr. Schmidt to perform his surgeries since his schedule tends to be more booked up.  He had two stage 1 dentals, a neuter, and a heartworm treatment.  Now, that might not sound like much, but each case was unique, keeping us all on our toes.  First up was Lemmy, an almost 2-year-old unaltered Irish Wolfhound.  This guy… was MASSIVE.  He honestly made me a little nervous, just because of his size.  He was also nervous but was a very good boy for his entire hospitalization.  It took 3 people to get him onto the table after he was sedated.  He must have weighed at least 150 lbs.  His surgery was a breeze, and he recovered well.  With the size of his… boys… the doctor suggested a scrotal ablation, but the owner elected not to have that done.  A scrotal ablation is the removal of the scrotal skin after the 🤬 are removed.  It is mostly an aesthetic procedure but can be necessary if there is trauma to the skin or infection after the neuter.  Second procedure was on a MN Lab named Cash.  He was in for a dental, and while we were waking him up from anesthesia, he literally tried jumping off the table.  He popped awake so fast we had to extubate him immediately otherwise he was going to start choking according to the doctor.  Last surgery was again a dental, this time on a FS Collie mix named Belle.  She was given Propoflo™ as her induction medication, and it only took about half her calculated dose for the drug to take full effect.  She then had a hard time coming out of anesthesia, requiring some atropine to get her HR increased.  Once she was awake and extubated properly, as the two techs were moving her to her kennel, she began hacking/coughing.  We alerted the Dr. and he put me in charge of sitting with her and checking her HR & RR every 5 minutes till she stopped her coughing fits.  She eventually did and was discharged.

Friday was full of patients coming in for routine exams, vaccinations and so on.  I pulled blood from the jugular vein for the first time, which was the one I was most nervous about.  We did have an 11-year-old FS Daschund who came in on a sick pet visit.  We took her blood and it began agglutinating in the serum separator tube.  This was Dr. Temple’s patient, so she asked for a CBC, PCV, and blood smear.  Her RBC, HCT, and HGB on her CBC results were all severely low. Her PCV was at about 11%, where normal range is between 35%-55% and her serum was slightly icteric.  There were agglutinated cells in the smear, clumping together like bundles of grapes and there were spherocytes.  It was fascinating to look at.  Due to the agglutination, low CBC numbers, low PCV, and the findings on the smear, the doctor suspected that the patient had IMHA, Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia.  After consulting with the owners, they declined to do a blood transfusion, which is recommended.  They elected to go with antibiotics and a corticosteroid to treat the dog.

Coming into Week 5 my goal is to work more with fractious animals.  I would like to use my Fear Free techniques along with proper restraint.

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Wolf Merrick Animal Hospital Week 4I accomplished a goal of mine that I didn’t expect! I was able to successfully perform a cystocentesis. I have been beating myself up about this procedure because I have failed doing it twice but got it on my first try on Friday, June 1st. It was on a 2yr NM DSH where I was able to successfully draw 3.2 ml of urine. Then performed a full UA including a sediment, chem strip, SG, and microscope analysis. On Wednesday, May 30th, I saw a very cool surgery. It was a gastropexy and spay on a 80 lb. 5 mo/ old newfoundland. The procedure took 2 and a half hours and it was very interesting to see the CVTs watch anesthesia and make adjustments as the surgery progressed. On Friday June 1st, I assisted in a very sad case of keratoconjunctivitis sicca dog in a 13 yr SF shih tzu. The owner had neglected to use the prescribed eye drops causing the entire eye region to be very swollen and red. I held and assisted in shaving the affected area in attempt to clean up all the gunk built up. This was very painful for the dog, so we tried to be quick. Once the area was clipped and the gunk removed, a DVM used povidone iodine antiseptic swab sticks to clean the affected area. After we cleaned the patient’s eyes as best as we could we applied an e-collar to prevent her from itching any further.  A goal of mine for next week is to start finishing up my last skill check offs. 

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Wolf Merrick Animal Hospital Week 4I accomplished a goal of mine that I didn’t expect! I was able to successfully perform a cystocentesis. I have been beating myself up about this procedure because I have failed doing it twice but got it on my first try on Friday, June 1st. It was on a 2yr NM DSH where I was able to successfully draw 3.2 ml of urine. Then performed a full UA including a sediment, chem strip, SG, and microscope analysis. On Wednesday, May 30th, I saw a very cool surgery. It was a gastropexy and spay on a 80 lb. 5 mo/ old newfoundland. The procedure took 2 and a half hours and it was very interesting to see the CVTs watch anesthesia and make adjustments as the surgery progressed. On Friday June 1st, I assisted in a very sad case of keratoconjunctivitis sicca dog in a 13 yr SF shih tzu. The owner had neglected to use the prescribed eye drops causing the entire eye region to be very swollen and red. I held and assisted in shaving the affected area in attempt to clean up all the gunk built up. This was very painful for the dog, so we tried to be quick. Once the area was clipped and the gunk removed, a DVM used povidone iodine antiseptic swab sticks to clean the affected area. After we cleaned the patient’s eyes as best as we could we applied an e-collar to prevent her from itching any further.  A goal of mine for next week is to start finishing up my last skill check offs. 

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Here is the stick that was removed, you can see how deep it went in!

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I switched my days this week to be able to be at WVRC on Memorial Day. In the middle of the day it got really busy but I followed a STAT case. A 6 y/o SF chocolate lab presented with a stick that she impaled herself on while playing fetch. She came in on a gurney because the stick was in her back left thigh and she could not walk. When she came into the treatment center she was painful and needed oxygen. The Dr. started surgery immediately to see if the stick had penetrated any organs or arteries. During her treatment she was given propofol®, midazolam®, plasmalyte fluids, and a chloride injection lavage to flush out any remaining debris. The stick did not penetrate anything important and came out easily. The Dr. put a drain in and she was discharged later that day.

Since WVRC has a lab that does all of their lab work I was excited to get all of my lab check-offs for the week on Memorial Day although all of the tests I performed were all negative for anything interesting.

On 5/30 a pair of cats, 3 and 4 y/o CM DSHs, presented for possibly ingesting lilies. They both had pollen on their nose on presentation. I performed a medial saphenous blood draw on each cat for blood work that was run for later that day. One of the cats was given charcoal as treatment and they both spent the day in the oxygen cage. I also observed an 8 y/o CM lab mix that was having laryngeal spasms and stridor. They immediately got him oxygen because his gums were cyanotic. He spent the rest of the day in the oxygen cage and bloodwork was to be done for further diagnostics.

5/30-6/1 a 14 y/o SF chihuahua presented for respiratory distress. When preforming a physical exam, we found that she had a 5/6 heart murmur.  She was taken in for chest radiographs. After the Dr. looked at the radiographs she was diagnosed with CHR and was placed in an oxygen tank while a treatment plan was made. Also, a 10 week old intact M golden retriever was referred by it’s DVM because of a rock that was lodged in its bronchial tree. It came in as a STAT and needed oxygen and a catheter placed right away while they prepared for surgery. He was cold and cyanotic on presentation. It was sent over with radiographs of its chest from its rDVM. When the Dr. looked at the radiograph she determined that the rock was not in its bronchial tree but in its stomach. He was diagnosed with an abdominal hernia that was pushing up towards the diaphragm. The client declined surgery and the dog was euthanized.

For next week my goal is to finish up any remaining check offs that I have. These include observing an nasogastric tube placement, suture removal, and otic topical medication application. I also want to continue practicing my blood draws, I feel like I am becoming more confident with practice.

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This week was kind of a calm week around Integrative which was ok by me because I got to work on more of our skills and get the practice with blood draws. Wednesday I was in surgery monitoring anesthesia again. The one I found interesting was an eyelid growth removal on a NM poodle. After we extubated him he got excited and started thrashing as we put him down so we think he popped a stitch. I got to clean that bloody mess up and me and the technician I work most with sat with him for 15 minutes holding him still with an ice pack on his eye to reduce swelling. I took the opportunity Wednesday to take initiative and break down surgery by myself and did a really good job of knowing what goes where and cleaning protocols. Friday I just went into appointment and ran blood work. I also got to fill a few prescriptions. It was a bit of a crazy Friday with the interesting (to put it nicely) type of clients but I was told that my interactions with them were very good. I felt confident jumping in and grabbing equipment that was needed for blood draws, ear cleanings, laser appointments, etc. I feel like I was able to make things move more smoothly for the staff while they were focused on other projects at hand. My goal for this upcoming week is to get started on finding a nutritional case to follow.

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This is a picture of the baby goats. <3 (yes I got permission to take this photo)

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Arredondo- Week 4 at North Shore Animal Hospital

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Arredondo- Week 4 at North Shore Animal Hospital

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Arredondo- Week 4 at North Shore Animal Hospital.

Wednesday, I was able to administer Pyrantel to an 8 week old female puppy. The puppy did not make it easy because it was a wiggly, but I got the medication in. I learned that Pyrantel is a dewormer.

Friday, a 2 year old neutered male Newfoundland was at the clinic because the owner was concerned about the dog’s urination. Owner stated that there was not a steady flow of urine. After she collected a urine sample that morning, the sample had a red color to it. A urinalysis was performed, and no crystals were seen at that time. The results showed many white blood cells and many red blood cells. Dr Whitney performed a physical exam and palpated his bladder. Dr. Whitney did not feel any palpable stones in the bladder. Dr. Whitney suggested some treatment options such as perform a catherization to see if there is a stone in urinary tract, take an x-ray, or take antibiotics to treat the infection. The owner choose the antibiotic route. Michelle, CVT, dispensed 28 of the 800 mg Sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim tablets. The dog will have to come back for a recheck in a couple weeks. Next patient was a 2 year old DSH and I was able to perform a medial saphenous blood draw successfully. Also, I performed a cephalic blood draw on a Labrador for the first time in front of an owner. I was only a little bit nervous, but I was more confident now that I have performed successful blood draws.

Highlight of the week happened on Friday. One of the CVT’s brought in 2 baby female goats that were born on Thursday. The goats were so cute, and I could hear the goats bleating in the backroom. When the clinic was slow, I was able to hold one of the baby goats so it could be bottled fed.

Next week I would like to continue to practice performing blood draws, specifically jugular blood draws.

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This week seemed pretty short maybe its just because we had off on Monday. Well anyways this week involved doing many fecal floats and monitoring in surgery. They don’t use those little green things we use for fecal floats. They take a test tube and mix around some of the stool with half way filled up fecal float solution then spin it down. Instead of pouring off the supernatant and filling it back up with solution they just fill it up with solution. Then put a cover slip on it. I asked the technician showing me if I was right and she said yeah that’s how you should do it, but we just do it this way. I found it interesting how the book way and the actual way some clinicals do it.

On Friday we had 19 4-day old pinscher puppies come in. The client wanted them all to have their dewclaws removed and their tails docked. The doctor who had this appointment was so upset because she doesn’t do tails and even hates doing the dewclaws. I assisted with holding and stopping the bleeding with kwik stop. They always have several puppy litters a week come in to get the declaws but this was the first time watching the tails. They use a hemostat to clamp the tail where they want it to come off at and they literally just twist and pull the tail off. It is so sad to watch!

This upcoming week my goal is to complete a urinalysis. I have run blood work and fecals and feel comfortable with them but haven’t done any urinalysis. And as always blood draws!

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This is was much better! I'm starting to be paired up with CVTs who I have been paired with previously. I'm starting to think they could have been possibly seeing who I am most comfortable around in order to boost my confidence. I don't know, just a theory. Anyways, Wednesday had a lot going on. There were tons of appointments back to back and a lot of late appointment, which is worse than a no show. I had a lot more hands on restraining and distracting of patients. There was a client who had previously been really good at flea and tick prevention and stopped because they knew someone who knew someone who had a pet develop seizures after the application but the seizures could have also been coincidental. She had a lot of questions regarding prevention, why it is need all year round, and specifically side effects of the prevention. I now know why we as technician need to know the answers to these questions. Clients  look to us for answers and yes, the Dr may have the answers but the Dr may not have time to discuss in detail the answers between patients. That is what we are for.
Friday was not as chaotic but it was very eventful. I was able to restrain for more than half of the clients we saw and I was able to pop in and help with other clients as well. I saw my first chinchilla xray, this was not my patient but I was able to observe. The patient was brought in because she had stopped eating abruptly. The Dr thought possibly there was a blockage, mass, or fluid in the abdomen not allowing space for the stomach to expand. So if you did not know, which I did not, when an xray is taken of a healthy chinchilla the abdomen should be appear quite hazy and the internal organs should not be clearly visible. This is because the ENTIRE abdomen should filled with food! As we looked at the xray myself and a CVT thought the xray looked abnormal because of the food in the abdomen but the abdomen appeared abnormal because you could still see the internal organs. Either the stomach was grossly enlarged and the bladder was teeny tiny, or the bladder was grossly enlarged and the stomach was teeny tiny. The patient was then sent to ultrasound for further diagnostics. Unfortunately I wasn't able to tag along as I had appointments to attend to but I will ask around on Monday to find out what happened.
I also saw quite a few analgland expressions performed. I thought this was sort of ironic since on Thursday I was working on that essential skill.
I also saw a patient who had recurring cysts come in because the cysts continued to become infected. I also witnessed my first drainage of a cyst, it basically shot out its contents while being drained and luckily missed my face.
I helped restrain a patient, dog, who had not been eating for 2 weeks for an ultrasound. On the ultrasound the liver and the spleen were enlarged and a liver aspiration and spleen aspiration were performed. This patient was either incredibly cooperative or feeling incredibly ill because she barely moved throughout the entire procedure. I had a lot of new experiences on Friday.
Next week my goal is to continue building my confidence and hopefully attempt some blood draws!

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Wednesday there were 2 three week old lab puppies that came in with abscesses on their neck. The doctor drained them and cleaned them out. The doctor thinks that they might have been caused by the mom picking up the puppies too hard on accident. There was also a dog that was in for heartworm treatment. They kept the do there for the day to make sure that she didn't have any reactions to the injection. Friday was a lot of vaccine appointments. There was a cockapoo canine that came in with an abscess on his ear. The doctor sedated him and drained and cleaned it out. There was a male 7 month old canine golden doodle that came in for an exam and blood work before getting a neuter. During the exam the doctor notice a lot of hair growth in the dogs ear canal. So the doctor took a hemostat and pulled the hair out of the ear so he would not get an infection. I also did a fecal on a puppy were I did find that the puppy had hookworms.
My goal for next week is to do a nail trim

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Clinical week #4 @ Chicago Equine Medical Center

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Clinical week #4 @ Chicago Equine Medical Center

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Weds was a pretty routine day of doing joint injections and shockwave therapy. Was able to perform a sterile scrub all by myself and the tech said I did a beautiful job, it was a ‘make Heather proud’ moment! I am feeling more comfortable in where the equipment is in the truck which makes it easier for the tech as I can start packing up when we are finishing and not waiting for her to help me. Packing that truck is like the game Tetris!

A new treatment I saw was Mesotherapy on a horse’s back (video included). This was to treat the horse’s back for pain he was experiencing.
Took a few hoof x-rays on a horse. The tech directed me on what to enter into the system of which included: skyline, DP, lateral/medial, and oblique views. The horse was possibly lame from a recently popped abscess so we made sure to pack the hoof really good with a tar-like substance to fill as much air space as possible.

Friday was an uneventful day. The DVM really didn’t need help, but he had a tech and I along. The only thing needed to be done during the calls was mostly restraint and the horse’s were rather cooperative so it didn’t take much. Shockwave therapy was performed and general lameness exams. The most fun part of the day came at the last call. The farm had a free-roaming burro and goat. They were so extremely fat and cute! They would randomly come and investigate what we were doing and made sure to get some scratches in. The burro would position itself so I could itch it’s back and butt. The goat was hilarious, she loved for you to give her a noogie and then with much slow effort would rear and try to butt you. Of course being large enough that she looked pregnant, there wasn’t a chance of her actual making contact. They were pretty entertaining though!

I was able to achieve quite a few skills on Weds, but Friday none were accomplished. So my goals for next week are to complete another set of vitals, give oral medication, apply eye ointment, and possibly a topical ointment as well.

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Mesotherapy: Wisconsin Equine Clinic & Hospital

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Clinical Week #4 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Clinical Week #4 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Wednesday was a interesting day at the clinic. There was 2 surgeries happening, a TPLO and what was thought to be a lump removal turned into an abscess in the neck. With the dog that had the abscess in is neck turned out to have a foreign body stuck in his neck. At first they located it with ultrasound and noticed something that looked like it was long and had a sharp point. The Dr. made an incision in the neck and started looking around, after several minutes of looking he found the toothpick that had been migrating from its entry point (the mouth) and down the neck. The TPLO I didn't get to watch and instead of the I helped with appointments. I was able to help with 8 very cute Labrador puppies! On Friday there was a lot going on again. We had a cat nest outside the clinic and there was 6 kittens ( about 8 weeks old) and they caught the mom in a live trap and spayed her. The kittens where dewormed and given a distemper vaccination. A German Shepard came in with a distended abdomen and an ultrasound was done to see if there was fluid. She had fluid in her abdomen and after taking a syringe and drawing off the fluid it was discovered that she had a splenic mass that ruptured, owner took her home. We had a duck come in that was attacked by a raccoon and there was maggots in the wounds. The patient was given a bath and sent home with antibiotics and pain medications. The best part of the day was that a family with 3 malamutes came in! It made my day seeing all of them and how happy they even seemed to make the staff seeing all of them in one room. My goals for this up coming week is to share more about being apart of the fear free movement and trying to show the staff how certain techniques could be implemented to ease their day to day tasks. This would be in hopes to spark more peoples interests to become fear free certified.

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Wednesday was a busy day in surgery. Dr. John had 6 surgeries and 2 CVTs and an assistant with him. First they started with an older Golden Retriever who was having a rather invasive and large lump removed from his lumbar/sacral spine region. I assisted in restraining him so the CVT shave, scrub and place his catheter. She then drew blood from the catheter for her “Pre-anesthetic panel” she then flushed his catheter. The owner was staying the day until his surgery was over, one of the reason why he was first for surgery. The patient could go back with the owner while blood work was being ran. A CVT went in to give him an injection of pain meds before surgery as she was explaining to the owner what she was going to do the owner told her to “shut up and hurry up and just get out” the CVT came back crying. This owner has a history of being very rude to the staff at Hallett. Although the owner was very worried about his surgery, which is very understandable, the owner was out of line. The owner went on to later demanding to speak to the doctor or tech again and made Dr. John get on the phone with one of her other vets. They surgery went well and the owner was back again today as she was concerned about the swollen incision site and drainage from the drain and area surrounding it.  This time she was a little nicer but still demanding. The reason I am sharing this situation is because there is always going to be this type of client anywhere you go. There are going to be hard days and terribly mean people out there. But if anything, take these people with a grain of salt. You cannot let them get to you and run you down. This is one of the reasons why there is compassion fatigue in our field of work because we try so hard to help pets and no matter what there is that person who does not understand or see it that way no matter how hard you try.

On another note, I did lots of TPRs, fecals (every single one was NPS) and restraining this week. Some staff still do not fully trust me and when a pet even gets just a bit too wiggly they have someone who works there take over. One last thing I liked to mention is that when a patient was recovering from surgery and was stable she was very dysphoric so the tech took a lead apron and laid it over her as to help like a gravity blanket would!

My goal next week is to get my lateral and medial saphenous blood draws done!

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The only case I really worked on was the one on Monday. Besides that Wednesday was super busy. Due to that I bounced around a lot. I spent most of my time in surgery. They let me clip and scrub a couple patients. I was also able to set up the IV for both of them and tie them down and set up the monitoring equipment. Certain doctors use certain machines, for the neuters it was just the pulse oximeter. I was able to vaccinate quite a few patients, draw blood and run it. I also was able to get a free catch urine sample and run it start to finish. All by myself! Also, yesterday I was able to mark down test results in the lab book and use my initials. Without another person's. I usually check anyways since I don't work there but I had the chance to. Yesterday, I ran two fecals by myself, start to finish. I was right about the results. I vaccinated pretty quickly and did not need or get the reminder to pull back on the syringe. Additionally, I removed staples from the left side of a boxer. I restrained as well for some techs. I was also able to help set up and monitor during surgery. My initials are trusted as a secondary set on prescriptions. I feel more like a tech that is able to assist and less like that nervous student. My goal for next week is to get my last blood draw check off and become more confident with blood draws. I will start by asking the techs if we can take a patient in back so I can draw blood. Love clinicals!

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Many interesting cases this week at Brook Falls!
Monday started out with a work in appointment for a 18 month old SF husky named Kaya. She had been boarded and presented with her caretakers at the facility with a good 4 inches or so of fence stuck in her paw pad! They weren't sure exactly how it happened, but they rushed her right in. CVT Sara called the owners and got consent over the phone to treat. Per the DVM, we placed an IVC in her right cephalic and administered a combination of dexmedetomidine and butorphanol  IV to sedate her and give her some pain relief.  We then took a lateral and Cr-Cd x-rays. These showed that the fence was only in her soft tissues of the pad and didn't involve any bones. The DVM then pulled the fence out, placed a couple sutures and covered it all with a bandage. Sara and I monitored her sedation throughout the procedure. Wednesday, Kaya came for her recheck and bandage removal and everything was healing nicely :)
Friday, a 10 year old Green Cheek Conure, Rosy, came in after sustaining a bite injury from a housemate Cockatoo. She had lost quite a bit of blood and was in a little bit of shock. She was immediately given some butorphanol for pain control and placed in a warmed incubator and allowed to calm down before further treatments. After some time, we got Rosy out to administer treatments. The DVM bandaged her leg after using a small amount of silver sulfadiazine cream, a hemostatic powder, a telfa pad, and the tiniest little strip of vetwrap. We then administered ~2mL of fluids SQ and gave her enrofloxacin PO. The plan was to amputate the leg, but Dr. Mueller wanted her to be more stable prior to undergoing anesthesia so the plan was to do it today. This afternoon, Sara texted me that Rosy did great and is recovering well!
For week 4, I won't be at Brook Falls on Monday because of Memorial Day, or on Wednesday because they aren't seeing patients since they are doing some in hospital and staff pictures... so I hope to get a lot out of Friday! They do a lot of in house diagnostics, their techs do a lot of manual CBC differentials, looking at a smear under the microscope. They do this especially with birds. Sara has been teaching me a lot about this and even gives me old slides to take home and look at for practice. I hope next week to be able to help with more lab stuff.

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This week was actually a more mild week than what I have been having but I didn't mind because I got to learn more about all of the different diagnostics they run in house, the way they use oils and other holistic methods along with their computer system. Monday we had a surgery on an 8 year old MN for gingival hyperplasia. I didn't know what it was so Dr. Allie had me do my research on it and report back to her. She is a really good teacher when it comes to all of the procedures she does. We used electrocautery for this procedure and let me tell you, it smelled AWFUL. Burning flesh is no good. It all went really well and he was up and ready to go home a few hours after. The rest of the day I spent breaking surgery down and making packs. I am getting my practice in with folding gowns! I don't know why I have such a hard getting those down pat. Wednesday I went into appointments and I was able to be the one to get a history on patients while one of the technicians shadowed me so it felt really good to know that they are letting me get my practice in with clients. Friday was a very slow day so they had me run multiple urine samples and an ear cytology. Yeast looks really neat under a microscope. My goal for next week is to become a little more independent while running diagnostic tests and learn more about the holistics that are used at Integrative!

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Wolf Merrick Animal Hospital Week 3This was a very busy week. I was fortunate enough to see just how a clinic works when it is super busy and overbooked. I witnessed great teamwork and problem solving and was able to help anyway I could. Monday, 5/21/18 I was able to assist in monitoring again for a neuter surgery. On Wednesday, 5/23/18 I got to see in depth into a dental with several extractions on a 15-year-old NM cat. The DVM removed numbers 104 & 204. I also saw my first emergency case! On 5/25/18 a 5-year-old SF chihuahua. She had gotten into a fight with a husky over a bone she was chewing on. As a result, the chihuahua had come in with her left eye completely hanging out of the socket. Unfortunate the DVM available was doing a dental so he instructed that morphine be provided until he could attend the poor chihuahua. I was able to restrain for a catheter to be placed and helped a CVT administer pre-anesthetic. The DVM performed an enucleation and the chihuahua recovered without problems. It was very cool to see the teamwork and quick movements of the CVTs in an emergency. A goal of mine for next week would be able to finish of my blood draws! I’ve gotten jugulars and cephalic, but I haven’t had the chance to try lateral or medial!

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Wolf Merrick Animal Hospital Week 3This was a very busy week. I was fortunate enough to see just how a clinic works when it is super busy and overbooked. I witnessed great teamwork and problem solving and was able to help anyway I could. Monday, 5/21/18 I was able to assist in monitoring again for a neuter surgery. On Wednesday, 5/23/18 I got to see in depth into a dental with several extractions on a 15-year-old NM cat. The DVM removed numbers 104 & 204. I also saw my first emergency case! On 5/25/18 a 5-year-old SF chihuahua. She had gotten into a fight with a husky over a bone she was chewing on. As a result, the chihuahua had come in with her left eye completely hanging out of the socket. Unfortunate the DVM available was doing a dental so he instructed that morphine be provided until he could attend the poor chihuahua. I was able to restrain for a catheter to be placed and helped a CVT administer pre-anesthetic. The DVM performed an enucleation and the chihuahua recovered without problems. It was very cool to see the teamwork and quick movements of the CVTs in an emergency. A goal of mine for next week would be able to finish of my blood draws! I’ve gotten jugulars and cephalic, but I haven’t had the chance to try lateral or medial!

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Week 3 was full of euthanasias. A lot of the dogs I worked with were transfer referrals from various day practices around the area. A lot of the time this means they are coming for second opinions and it ends in euthanasia.

One 13 y/o SF golden retriever came in as a STAT for fluid in the abdomen. Upon arrival an aspirate was taken from the abdominal cavity with the help of ultrasound and what came out was a slightly bloody fluid. She was sent to the ultrasound specialist who had determined that she had cancer. The Dr. called her condition carcinomatosis which meant that there were little tumors all over the abdomen cavity feeding on all its organs and one large mass where they all began.

Another older SF mixed breed dog came in for respiratory issues as a STAT. As I was doing a TPR I noticed that I could feel her heart very strongly as I was restraining her. The tech I was working with said she had a raging heart murmur which she said was about 4 or 5 out of 6. She was put in a Snyder and scheduled for radiographs. When we took the radiographs we found that her heart was huge and the Dr. diagnosed her with CHF.

Another patient that returned after visiting last week was the older SF chocolate lab that presented for a bulging eye and was found to have a low platelet level. This time she came back and it was found that he has neutropenia. Because of the lack of WBCs (white blood cells) she was placed in a Snyder and in reverse isolation meaning gowns, cloves, and shoe covers were required attire. Also there was a special box of equipment that was to be used with her such as blood pressure cuffs, thermometers, vet wrap, etc. I believe she had previous issues with tumors and her quality of life didn’t seem great. She was deteriorating fast (all this happened in 2 weeks) and her nails were actually breaking off. She seemed fragile. After a few visits from her owners they decided to euthanize. I learned how to set up for an euthanasia catheter and their protocols for euthanasia.

I got a ton of my check offs completed this week which is excited. For this coming week my goal is to, if possible, watch a nasogastric one a gastric tube be placed. When I come in a lot of the time they are already placed so hopefully this will be possible this week because they said it would be busy with the holiday weekend.

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This week had its ups and down. Monday started off pretty rough. A cat came into the clinic because it was lethargic, hadn't been eating very well, and was having trouble breathing. The cat panted throughout the entire exam, a senior panel was done and a chest xray. The heart looked thickened. The Dr. discussed possible options with the client and the client was discharged with meds, I can't remember which type. Client leaves and within 10 minutes the client is back because the cat stopped breathing while in the car. Emergency cpr was performed but the cat was not able to be revived. The rest of the day seemed to go by pretty slowly after that.
Wednesday was much better, I was able to complete some check offs such as oral medication, TPR, and learning objectives. I have yet to draw blood but I have talked about practicing on anesthetized patients, so that is in the works.
Friday started off weird but got much better. I was asked to help hold off for a back leg draw on a VERY wiggly cat, there were 3 of us including myself trying to get this blood. When I was asked to assist they had already tried a few times and couldn't catch the vein. I believe they were already frustrated, which is understandable but I was replaced by someone else. I'm not going to lie, that really ticked me off because I felt as though they thought I was incompetent of completing the task. Now that could be entirely in my head,  but that was the vibe I was getting. Luckily, the day improved greatly and I was able to prove that I am quite competent. I restrained and held off for jugular, lateral and medial  saphenous veins on both cats and dogs. BOOM. Nailed it. I also helped assist intubate a cat, and recover a dog from anesthesia.  I've cleaned a lot of instruments and surgery suites this week. A client noticed my name badge and we discussed the program for a moment. Apparently she has been debating on applying to the program but she wasn't sure of the drive. I ensured her the drive was worth it. There is also a forthcoming student shadowing at the moment, her interview is coming up! I'm hoping next week I can start taking blood and become more comfortable with the needle.

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This week at the clinic we had quite a “routine schedule”.  We did a ton of dentals Monday and Wednesday.  Nothing too crazy with those.  I helped take full mouth radiographs for the Stage 2 dentals.  I also was more involved in the monitoring of anesthesia.  I got to be in the room for a 4-year-old NM Chihuahua named Dexter’s 🤬 gland surgery.  The doctor filled his 🤬 glands with some gel like substance, which then hardened, and Dr. was able to remove the gland easily.  I have been helping a lot with TPR’s for the heartworm cases that we see.  For Pets’ Sake works closely with H.O.P.E. Safehouse.  Some dogs that are adopted through this organization come from the deep south, where heartworm is more prevalent.  It is cool to see what we talked so much bout in Clin Path come to life in these clinics.  We also had two parvo positive puppies come in.  Poor things were miserable.  The procedure for not transmitting parvo is extensive.  The dogs were quarantined in the isolation room.  Anyone who went in to interact with them had to wear a “bunny suit”, shoe covers, and double gloves.  There was a litter pan with a towel soaked in bleach that each person who was working with the puppies had to step into each time they entered and exited the room.  I attached a picture of the set up.  Everything they used on the puppies, or that even went into the room was disposed of after, including the doctor’s lab coat and his stethoscope.  Parvo is serious business.  Overall this week was easy as far as exciting cases go.  Next week my goal is to go into the rooms more and see how they start their appointments and get more comfortable with clients and seeing the examinations in the rooms.

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Arredondo- Week 3 at North Shore Animal Hospital

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Arredondo- Week 3 at North Shore Animal Hospital

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Arredondo- Week 3 at North Shore Animal Hospital

On Monday I was assigned to help out Michelle, CVT, for the day. I was able to observe a toe amputation on a 9 year old neutered male Labrador. The fifth digit up to the third phalange on the right foot was going to be removed because there was a growth on it.  In the morning after the patient was checked in, the vitals were recorded. The heart rate was 96 BPM, respiratory rate was recorded as panting, and temperature was 102.4 F. I helped restrained the Labrador while Michelle placed the 20-gauge catheter into the dog. After the catheter was placed, the dog was placed in a kennel. Meanwhile, Michelle got out the appropriate pack for this procedure and got out extra surgical tools that may be needed. The extra tools included kerns bone holding forceps, bone cutting forceps, and rongeur. While Michelle was setting up the surgery room, Dr. Whitney administered the preanesthetic of 0.25 mL of Acepromazine via IM, 1.5mL of Buprenorphine via IM, and 3.8 mL of Rimadyl was administered via SQ . After the surgery room was set up, Michelle administered 2 mL of Diazepam via IV and 2 mL Ketamine via IV to induce the dog. Then Terri, CVT, helped Michelle intubate the dog. Michelle used a size 9 endotracheal tube. After the endotracheal tube was placed, Terri prepared the surgical site. Terri, shaved the fifth and fourth digit up to carpus and scrubbed the area with surgical scrub. Then the dog was moved into the surgery room and hooked up the patient to monitors. As I observed the procedure, Dr. Whitney used various tools including the mayo scissors, backhaus towel clamp, and scalpel handle with blade. He used a CO2 laser to help cut through the tissues on the toe. Also, Michelle allowed me to record the SpO2 and BP levels during the procedure. Dr. Whitney used PDS 3-0 suture and polyglo 2-0 suture. The surgery went well and they let me take a picture of the toe that was amputated. (the picture will be attached below).

Wednesday was busy with routine physical exams. I helped Kim, CVT, fill prescriptions.

Friday was busy. Right away when I got to the clinic they had me help them with check ins. A 9 year old male Blue Heeler was here for a neuter. Dr. Axnick recommended neutering because of an enlarged prostate and having difficulty urinating. They asked me to perform a jugular blood draw while the CVT restrained. Then they showed me how to run the CBC and the chem panel. The next patient was a 2 year old spayed female Border Collie. It was here for her first heartworm treatment. Dr. Jahn administered a sedative to the Border Collie because it was anxious. Then Dr. Jahn administered Immiticide to the patient. Lindsay, CVT, recorded the heart rate, CRT, and respiratory rate. They checked the heart rate and respiratory rate every 15 minutes during the first hour, then if the patient is doing well, they record every 30 mins, then every hour. If there is any swelling at the injection site, then they will ice the incision site for 5 minutes. Typically, they will ice every 30 minutes, then as needed. Throughout the day we monitored the Border Collie. She was walking fine and appeared to be in no pain.

My next week goal is to continue to practice blood draws. Another goal I have is to practice performing and analyzing a fecal examination and urinalysis.

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Clinical Week #3 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Clinical Week #3 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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For this week of clinicals I did reach my goal of working on blood draws,  and I am still working on interacting with my coworkers. It seems like its hard to get to work with everyone, and feel like apart of the staff, especially since you barely start a job and have to leave, just feels strange! On Monday I got a few more check offs, jugular and cephalic blood draw, oral medications, and ear medications. We had a patient come in that got into a dog fight. He had a large laceration on the left side of his neck and puncture wounds on the right side of the neck, ears, and front legs. We clipped and cleaned the wounds with chlorhexidine solution. On Wednesday I spent my day in surgery. We had a neuter on a labradoodle and a cryptorchid neuter on a pot belly pig. the left testicle was retained and the right was in the scrotum. This surgery was fun because it was unique and that the doctor was quizzing me and making the surgery really fun to be in. After surgery it was a day that the suite needed to be deep cleaned so I did so. Lastly just before I left for the day the large animal veterinarian showed me stallion semen that was 30 hours old and still very active. She said this stallion was used to breed a mare earlier that day. On Friday I worked on restraint in appointments, they were very busy so I just bounced where ever I was needed. There was a dog with an 🤬 gland abscess they put an antibiotic into the 🤬 gland and sent home pain medications. I helped the groomer with and angry cat, he was sedated but still very sassy. There was also a lot of fecal samples! I ran 8 of them, and read all of them, only one of them was positive with whipworms otherwise they were negative. My goals for this up coming week is to continue to gain others trust in my abilities, I would also like to ask more questions with the doctors to know what they are doing and why.

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Short but i was excited about it! haha

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Week 3 has been awesome just like my other weeks. I have so many things I could tell but I will only focus on a few things.
Each day of this week I was able to draw blood and was successful which is cool because that was my goal! I got to watch a pyometra, it was a 4-year-old golden retriever who was rushed in for emergency surgery. It was so crazy to watch because I have never seen such a huge uterus.  I was going to cut it open but they told me I could do that on my own because it would smell soooo bad. I decided to pass on that this time! haha
I got to run a few fecal samples & see how they do fecal floats. I did find round worms and coccidia. On one of the slides I did a blood drop & found microfilaria! It was so cool I had to take a video of it. Yes, I got permission for all my pictures I have taken.
My goal for next week is to be able to help more without having to ask questions about what I’m doing and if I’m doing it correctly. I am not afraid to ask if I’m doing something wrong because I am still learning but it would be nice to feel confident!

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This week was a full-on learning experience! Wednesday I was helping in appts and was in surgery. They were shorthanded and the practice manage was helping in the lab to run blood work for surgery and appts. She utilized me a lot more than most of the techs did. She had me run chemistry panels on their machine. She then checked a blood smear to double check the machine. She had me clean rooms and set things up for the tech in appts because they were so shorthanded.

In surgery, it was Dr. John’s day. He had a patient, Grover an 8 year old Lab, hospitalized for the day to do thoracocentesis due to pleural effusion and bile acids test. They collect a fluid sample from the chest cavity and sent it to the outside lab for cytology. The then pulled a pre sample of blood then fed Grover and an hour later collect another sample. Dr. John had me draw blood from a cephalic vein (which I have not done yet) while he restrained and rolled the vein for me.  It was a successful blood draw!

Dr. John also went over the PQRS wave on the EKG and drew me a little picture (see below). He stated that its very important to know types of abnormalities on the EKG when you are monitoring your patient under anesthesia. I was thankful for the time he spent with me to teach me a couple things!

The staff had a learning meeting where Dr. John demonstrated scrubbing in and gowning up which was semi how it was taught in school. For example, he pushes his hands out to put on the gloves. He also talked and demonstrated with some employees on how to drive the laparoscopic equipment meaning holding the camera so he can see what he was doing. They did not do this on a live patient but instead on a box named “Abby the Abdomen” LOL. They set up a spay surgery and drew the bladder, kidneys and uterus on the inside of the box. He said it’s very important that you follow him where ever he goes. He also needs the tech to watch out to make sure he is not by any vital organs when he cauterizes/cuts the uterus. It was very informative!

That was just one day this past week! I could go on forever about what we did on the other days!

My goal next week is to work on my blood draws and get those checked off!

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(Initial post deleted by Heather on accident, oops!)

First I’d like to start out by saying that I feel that I completed my goal of being more confident/comfortable with the team at Hallett this week!

Wednesday this past week was a pretty boring day, only 3 appointments and no surgeries scheduled at all but Friday sure made up for it! There were two dentals on dogs with heart murmurs and a dog neuter. There were also two cases that came to be hospitalized from the night before that the doctor in surgery and the doctor seeing appointments tag teamed. The first patient to go into surgery was the dog neuter on an German Shorthair Pointer approximately a year or 2 old. I assisted with the nail trim while the dog was being scrubbed by a CVT. A 6 year old cat from the night before came in to be hospitalized so the doctor could run diagnostics on him. First a TPR was performed, the temperature was 105.6! The doctor wanted IV fluids but first the xrays were performed and a urine collected via cystocentesis. The xray was unremarkable but the urine collected was apparent hematuria as it was drawn into the syringe from the bladder. A catheter was attempted on the right cephalic vein but the vein blew as the cat was very wiggly. The ended up placing it in the left cephalic for the IV fluids. A couple hours later doctor requested a PCV/TP and TPR to be done. I applied stress free restraint for a medial saphenous blood draw. The cat became very wiggly and we were unable to collect the sample. When attempting to restrain for a jugular blood draw around the left elbow was swollen with fluid. The catheter somehow got moved and slipping out of the vein which blew the vein in the process. A CVT attempted a catheter in the medial saphenous of the right rear leg but again blew a vein as the cat was too wiggly. Doctor then called for a sedative to be given IM and to out the cat back in the cage to calm down. I assisted in monitoring a patient under anesthesia. They have the same Surgivet machine that we have at school. Every 5 minutes the MAP would make a noise alerting what that parameter was. I was to say this out loud and the doctor would respond with the number and say thank you. If the number got to 60 fluid rate was then changed. At that 5 minute mark the respirations, pulse, SPO2, temperature, 02 and anesthesia rate was written down. Whew! That was only highlights of my day on Friday there was so much that went on!

My goal for this upcoming week is to work on my checklist. I finally feel that the team at Hallett is starting to trust and feel more comfortable with me!

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Monday morning a emergency C-Section came in for a black lab that was in labor for 5 hours already and only had 3 puppies. 5 puppies were left that were taken out during the C-Section. All of the puppies lived except for one of the 3 that she had before coming in. Later in the day there was a chocolate lab that came in that was not eating. After doing some x-rays it was determined by the vet that the dog had fluid around his heart. Wednesday was a lot of exams and vaccines but there was a cat that came in with a tail injury. He was a 11 year old DSH cat that the owner thought he might have broke his tail. But when he came in he had a abscess on the base of the tail that the doctor flushed out with some scrub. Friday was a busy day. There was a 1 year old FS chocolate lab that came in because the owner said that her eyes were red. After an exam it was determined that her eyes were fine but her abdomen was not. We took x-rays of the abdomen and it was full of fluid. They are sending out a fecal to test for Giardia. There was also a 7 year old MN mini golden retriever that came in who was lethargic and not eating. During the PE the doctor say ulcers in his mouth and the gums had no color to them. Blood work was done in house and the doctor determined that he was in kidney failure.
My goal for next week is to try to do a blood draw. I didn't have a chance to do one this week since there wasn't a lot of blood draws done.

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Clinical week #3 @ Chicago Equine Medical Center

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Clinical week #3 @ Chicago Equine Medical Center

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Monday I journeyed around with Dr. Morauw. First patient only needed a blood draw to make sure he was receiving the full amount of supplements needed. These kind of calls are a different experience because it is usually a large barn and the owners are not present. Sometimes the personal grooms will help you find the horse, but most of the time we walk up and down the aisles until we find the right horse. Most of the time we do not see any people or talk to anyone.

The second client was an older lady that had 2 horses she was keeping in her back yard. Her husband always took care of the horses and when he passed away everything was left to her. She needed some client education on caring for the horses and what their vet needs are. One horse was really overweight, but otherwise healthy and so his regimen will be easy except for the fact that the owner is living off of a small amount of money funds and needs to be financially conscious. The pony that was boarding with her is very underweight, roughly around 25 years old, and has cushings disease. They were contemplating euthanasia. The DVM said he is BAR, eating ok for how many teeth he has left, and is overall spry and happy to be alive. Because of that she steered them away from euthanasia, but instead suggested feeding him hay cubes made into a soup for extra calories and increasing his grain intake. I was able to take vitals on both horses without the owner even noticing, she was surprised when I gave the results to the DVM, Dr. Morauw commented that it is our goal to do as much as we can without the owner or animal knowing so there creates less stress. I had a proud prepared student moment too! Dr. Morauw was explaining where her stethoscope was in the truck and asked if I could get it for her, I asked if that was all she needed and she said yes, so I pulled my stethoscope out of my pocket and offered its usage. Her and the client thought that was pretty cool :D. These 2 horses ended up taking about 1 ½ hrs instead of what should have been a 30 mins appt. Paperwork needed to be given to the owner with notes and such of which the DVM usually does in the truck before she leaves. The client requested for us to come into her home and offered coffee. It was so sweet. She seems like a lonely, little, old lady that loves to show hospitality. She had a super sweet and fat black Labrador too, she must feed her animals overly well 😊.

The final patient of the day had an eye ulcer that needed medication and a recheck. Ended up being a simple drop, see, and go appointment.

Wednesday was a super long 12 hr day. Tagged along with Dr. Marsh and Bridgette. Dr. Marsh is the busiest doctor at the clinic so her days and schedule are usually long and full. We stayed at one farm the entire day doing lameness exams. Dr. Marsh specializes in sports medicine and has become in high demand; I am beginning to think that sports medicine is not an area where I can be passionate in. Throughout the day I jogged horses to check for lameness, boy am I out of shape, and brought horses to and from the DVM. Another Sacroiliac injection was performed where I then applied alcohol as needed, opened sterile materials and handed them to the DVM. Performed a couple surgical scrubs on horses getting stifle, hock, pastern, and sacroiliac injections. Bridgette was impressed with how well I did and that I actually got the horses clean. She said it is very common for people to keep expanding their surgical scrub area and so they never get it fully clean because they keep adding more dirt. I made a point of doing a larger than needed surgical scrub area and sticking within those lines, Dr. Marsh appreciated that and said it’s always better to do a larger area than be too small and have to start all over. As I was restraining a horse with a twitch and handing needles to Dr. Marsh she said I needed to do a “no-no”. She prefers to have needles handed to her by breaking the end off in your mouth and then passing the needle instead of with 2 hands. She knows it’s a huge rule in school to not do that, but as she put it “we’re not in school right now and I’m the DVM!” :D :D

The last horse to end the day was a hard to handle mare that had a jumping accident. This mare does not like to touched, poked, handled, pet, or anything and especially when she is in pain. Which of course she was in extreme pain! It took all 3 of us to keep her feet on the ground while she was given a sedative. Once that kicked in, a 14g 5.25in catheter was placed with continual fluids and DMSO. I am not sure the size of the IV bag, but it was huge! We threw a lead rope over the above rafters and hung the bag from that and sutured the catheter to the mare’s neck so she could walk around. I have never used DMSO before and I shall never forget that smell! After the fluids were finished the mare’s shoulder, elbow, ribs, and chest were ultrasound to look for any fractures or muscle tears. Elbow and shoulder x-rays were performed as well. Bridgette was trying to put her continuing education to use and tried to hold the mare’s leg and the cassette in a way that she was shown. It was quite comical to watch and she decided that the people didn’t know what they were talking about because it was really hard to hold that position! After taking imaging class, it was interesting to see them try to get the shots they needed. The DVM didn’t wear a lead gown, they kept going back and forth on what settings to use, and most of the time the shots turned out to be oblique because they couldn’t get the cassette and x-ray machine to line up. I might as well of thrown that class out the door! They joked how every view was turning out oblique and kept switching from who would take the view to who would hold the cassette because they figured it must be one of them making the mistakes. Haha! Was really funny to be a part of.
My goal for next week is to apply better restraint methods and try to apply some fear free where possible.

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Week 2 was much more interesting! I would like to believe I have earned their trust and not that everyone is just being nice to me. I am getting a lot more hands on experience. CARE is trying to become a fear-free facility, which is amazing, so they really do not restrain unless necessary. Instead, they offer positive reinforcement such as treats, and petting. If restraints are necessary it is very minimal such as restraining the head/upper body for vaccines.
Even though the facility has a very nice indoor/outdoor pet walking area, I have not seen many pets utilize it. Which is funny; however, that means I have seen quite a lot of cystocenteses using the ultrasound machine. Also because they are fear-free, I have seen a lot of neck towel wrapping especially is cats and smaller dogs.
I have been passed around to quite a few techs right now, which at first I thought was quite annoying because how am I supposed to get the feel and flow of things if I'm being passed around!? Now, I actually kind of enjoy it. Each person sort of has their own way from getting from point A to point C. Which is interesting. Some techs don't move onto the next appointment until they have completely finished their previous appointment such as greeting the client, doing an assessment, going in with the Dr., checking out the client, opening the door for them to leave, and cleaning the room and equipment. Then there are techs who move onto the next appointment and go back to clean the previous room. It also depends on how busy they are as well. For me, its interesting to see the different "styles" of each tech. I pretty much get to pick which style works best for me and what helps me remember to complete each task, which is funny because that is how I train new employees without realizing it.
I have also taken a few xrays, one of which was not very fun.. It was a cat who, honestly, was very cooperative; however, the outcome was grim. The cat came in becasue she had not been eating as much as usual, was lethargic, and overall was not herself. The owners were an elderly couple who had since she was a kitten and she was also quite elderly herself. The Dr felt her abdomen and wanted a diagnostic xray because she believes she felt some sort of mass in the abdomen. So xray was taken and there was not only a definite mass in the abdomen but also the lungs contained quite a bit of fluid. Due to the location of the mass, without further testing, it was likely the mass was cancer related but not officially diagnosed and due to the fluid in the lungs and age of the animal their options were to biopsy, a slow recovery and possible chemo; euthanize now; or euthanize later. Since the quality of life was still good, they opted to euthanize at a later date and to enjoy what time they had left together. Honestly, I almost started crying and realized this is the ugly side of the job and it happens quite frequently. I will definitely need to learn how to cope better and not be such a sap.. On a better note, I was able to help with a PREGNANT GUINEA PIG! Totally got to feel up some baby pigs. Nice.

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My first week was exciting but I felt as though I was in the way more than I was able to help. My first day felt more like a shadowing experience. I was shown around the facility and tagged along. I ended up watching a few hours of informative videos such as OSHA videos and Low Stress handling by Dr. Sophia Yin DVM, MS, which I highly recommend!
After I completed watching the videos I was able to help restrain a german shepherd that had some type of skin infection while the infected areas were clipped and cleaned. He was in pretty bad shape as this infection has been ongoing and was not as responsive to the antibiotics as they were expecting. It was pretty interesting, some of his lesions had healed while new ones were popping up. The owners, though were very concerned and wanted their dog to recover, seemed to have misunderstood or misinterpreted the medicine regimen. He was supposed to be bathed regularly with a medicated bath; however, the baths were too painful so they were told to not bathe him due to his discomfort but when they wounds began to heal, they were to continue with the baths. Instead they thought they were no longer supposed to bathe him at all. This is where you realize how important customer communication is. They did not deliberately discontinue the regimen but misunderstood it. Since he was on oral antibiotics as well, he was still being treated but was not responding as they had hoped. They ended up receiving a different antibiotic that a previous culture determined would be responsive and instead of a medicated bath, they are to clean the infected sites. I'm hoping that once they become used to my presence and trust my abilities that I will be able to partake in much more hands on experience.

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I'd like to apologize for the delay in my second week post, we unexpectedly had to euthanize our family dog on Saturday night.

My second week at Brook-Falls went well, I started to feel more comfortable there and had a better idea of how their flow goes. (I also finally know where they keep their supplies, so if someone asks, I don't have to bumble around cluelessly!)
During the week, I continued shadowing CVT Sara with her appointments. On Friday, we had a "flex appointment" which is essentially a drop off appointment that a doctor will see at some point throughout the day whenever they get a chance. Felicity, a 3 year old SF rabbit, presented after having not eaten or defecated for 12 hours. With Sara, I obtained her vitals and did an initial physical exam.
HR: 250, RR: 140, Temp: 95.7 F. Her HR/RR are pretty typical for a rabbit, but her temperature indicated she was hypothermic. On physical exam, her abdomen was tense and painful, her stomach was firm and enlarged, and on auscultation, borborygmi was absent. We placed her in an incubator to help increase her temperature, then per Dr. Wittenberg, placed a 24 gauge IV catheter in her right cephalic vein and started her on fluids at 17mL/hr. We also obtained VD/lateral radiographs and blood for a CBC and chemistry panel.
Dr. Wittenberg suspected a torsion and secondary hepatic lipidosis and that Felicity had a poor prognosis. When I left for the day, she was still being hospitalized. I later learned that the owners had decided to euthanize.
On a brighter note, we had a Cockatoo named Calvin that was there boarding for the week. He was a very friendly bird and when there weren't any other clients/patients in the hospital, we had him out for some enrichment and socialization. He wasn't a big talker, other than saying "Hi Calvin!" when he wanted attention.
During my third week, I hope to work with more exotic patients, particularly birds. I'd love to perform a blood draw on a bird that isn't one of my chickens :)

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Today was super busy! I bounced around from case to case and barely stuck around long enough to see one through. It started with and emergency where I was asked to go get blankets and assist the techs (SOOOO EXCITING). The doctors were practically overbooked with surgeries since there are only two surgery suits and two dental locations. I was trusted to run tests and fill prescriptions without supervision. I had to remember to keep my lid on. (I was really excited). I even jumped with one of the vet's dogs, and helped him wrap a wound. I didn't sit down except to eat (more like choke down food quick). Since my goal for this week is to do blood draws, I told several people what I needed and they wrote "GRAB ALLEGRA FOR BLOOD DRAWS" on the surgery board. Nerve racking but effective. I was able to draw blood on a lippy (thankfully muzzled and anesthetized) collie from his lateral saphenous. Even though that was the only thing I got checked off on for today, I still feel more at home at the clinic. More to come!

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Week 2 at For Pet’s Sake went well.  I have settled into a routine of helping where I am needed to keep the clinic running smoothly.  Monday was busy, and I was tasked to take TPR’s every hour for dogs who were staying to get heartworm treatment.  The two dogs had been adopted from HOPE Safehouse which pays for the treatment of the infections.  We had Paisley, who is a one-year old female that was receiving Immiticide® for the first time.  We also had Cheyenne, a three-year-old lab was going through her second round of treatment, this time using Diroban™, since last time she was given Immiticide® and it was not effective in killing her heartworms.  They needed to be monitored every hour to make sure that the treatment is not causing any adverse reactions, such as vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing or fever.   We also had a seven-month-old German Shepherd named Huntress, who was in for an OVH.  She also needed to get microchipped.  I was tasked to insert her chip while she was under sedation, as she was a handful awake.  I simply tented the skin between her shoulder blades, inserted the needle and squeezed the trigger on the syringe.  We verified the chip was in place by feeling around the insertion site and scanning the area with the chip reader.  It was successful, and her OVH was performed successfully as well.  In the little down time I had during the day, I was also tasked to perform fecal floats.  I had one sample come back with NPS (no parasites seen), and another sample was positive for roundworm and coccidia.
Wednesday morning started out with a very aggressive six-year-old unaltered male Pitbull.  He came in for a sedated nail trim.  He has a history of being aggressive towards staff, and last time he was in the clinic bit the scrub top of one of the techs, ripping it.  So, everyone was very calm, we made slow movements and tried to stress him out as little as possible.  He was given 1.2 mL of the alpha- 2 agonist Dexdomitor® (dexmedetomidine) mixed with 0.2 mL of Torbugesic®, a partial opioid agonist, to sedate him.   His nails were trimmed as short as possible and then he was given 1.2 mL of the antagonist AntiSedan® (atipamezole) to wake him up.  In the mean time we had Thor, a three-year-old Boxer in for lateral and VD radiographs.  It was determined via the radiographs that he had a foreign object and was then given 120 cc of Barium to further help determine what was in him.  I have attached a photo from his study, which look super cool.  He ended up getting exploratory surgery that day which revealed he had eaten part of a squeaky toy, including the squeaker, and some sort of wet wipe/diaper wipe item.  He did well in recovery from the procedure and so far, is doing well post op at home.
Friday is the “slow” day at the clinic.  We had a three-year-old female ball python named Judah come in for not eating and bad sheds.  After speaking with the doctor, it was recommended to raise the humidity in her enclosure and soak her in warm water to help with the shedding issues.  We had Lacy, a three-year-old FS come in for bloodworm, which revealed she had Lyme disease.  She has never been on preventatives and she lives on a large amount of land which she can roam freely.  She is being treated with Doxycycline and Gabapentin.  There was an engorged tick on her at the time of her exam, which I believe is Rhipicephalus sanguineus but was not officially confirmed.
My goal for this upcoming week is to practice more blood draws.  I got to draw on a cephalic vein Friday from Goose, a three-year-old NM.  We have now made a mock arm to practice on, using an IV bag and lead, vet wrap, and towels.  Even if it is just practicing on that I think it will be beneficial.

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This week was quite eventful. I'm more confident in the clinic and I'm running the snap tests for tick borne diseases and heart worm by myself. I was able to run a giardia snap test this week too. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I worked on more restraint techniques from really easy big dogs to feisty cats. Monday I tried to give SQ fluids to a cat that has been in renal failure for two years. This cat is 18 years old and under 5 pounds! I poked right through her skin and gave fluids to her fur. It was really embarrassing as the client is particular with his techs. When I got in the morning of 5/18, there was a NM 7yo Golden Doodle that had surgery to remove this massive invasive lipoma that wrapped around his leg from the right inguinal area to right hip. Dr. Scot removed it and put in a Jackson pratt drain. It was noted that overnight it wasn't draining properly. The DVM instructed the techs to give the dog a laser treatment and lay him in right lateral recumbancy QID to aid in draining. A&D baby ointment was applied to the skin surrounding the drain since blood was dripping from the insertion site. Monday I was also able to run the UA machine which took some getting used to but by the end of the week I am almost able to run it by myself. Wednesday, I ran the CBC machine and chem analyzer. I spent most of my day following the doctors around asking about their cases and jumping in where I could. One interesting case I was able to see was a 9 yo S/F DSH cat with absorptive dental disease. The tech took dental x rays prior to the doctor coming in to check things out. On the radiographs the roots of some teeth blended completely with the bone, on others there was a faint outline and on some you could see where the tooth was starting to turn to bone. The doctor let me feel the tooth and absorptive lesions with a probe. The tooth felt normal, smooth and slimey. The lesion felt tacky. Dr. Teri performed 'crown amputations' where she buzzed off the crown of the tooth and smoothed out the remainder of the root and bone. Then she sutured the gingival flaps together. During this, I was able to retract the lips of the cat with a snook hook. This cat alos had a few lumps on her body that were aspirated by Dr. Teri. They were located on the L caudal thorax, L thorax and R stifle. The history from the owner was that she felt 1 mass, didn't know where but that it was growing. Upon looking at the aspirates, Dr. Teri said they were cutaneous mast cell tumors that could be benign or invasive. They were granule cells (she let me look and pulled out the book and microscope). There was no diet change or antibiotics or treatment for the masses.
Another case I was following around for the day included 6yo S/F sharpei hound mix. She present with slowing down, exercise intolerance and that these symptoms got worse over summer. We did (not me I was in x ray) blood work, radiographs and attempted a UA. The blood work revealed a faint Lyme positive, while the radiographs showed bilateral mineralization of the scapulas. The left elbow was swollen suggesting that she was compensating for the right scapula. The radiographs also showed cardiomegaly suggesting possible congestive heart failure or blastomycosis. The doctor was having trouble finding a diagnosis that fits all her symptoms. Laser treatment was ordered as temporary pain relief until more tests are run. Friday was a blast. I was able to go into some exam rooms and restrain, administer SQ fluids TWICE, fill prescriptions, run bloodwork and snap tests as well as a couple UA's. I was also able to help stock an order that came in. As far as cases went, it was routine. However, there was one that was both irritating and interesting. So, a 5yo N/M DSH orange cat comes in. He is indoor/outdoor and is difficult for the owners. He presents with a "bite wound" that the owners had been treating at home with liquid Band-Aid. It was when the open wound started oozing pus that they brought this cat in. The tech gets him under iso, no pre-med. He is LIGHT, reflexes still intact almost woke up a couple times so he was on a higher dose of iso that preferred. 3-5 range vs 1.75-2. Anyways, the doctor shaves the wound and realized that it goes around the animal's right front limb. She starts to flush the wound with sterile saline and notices his skin sloughing off, and pulls it off. While doing this the tech notices some debris. The doctor just squeezes a little and out pops some sort of BB pellet. Some jerk shot this innocent little cat. RUDE. She continues to flush the wound and then says to the tech to go get and x ray. There were not more pellets in the wound. She applied murcin, which is cat safe, to the wound and put on a regular telfin pad along with padding and vet wrap. The cat stayed for a while to monitor. I'm not sure if he stayed overnight to keep the bandage on as long as possible. I gave this cat 150ml LRS SQ as well. I didn't poke through which was exciting. Earlier that day I had given this old lab SQ fluids as well as a SQ injection. I was able to do more this week and got 72% of my checklist done. For next week, I want to observe a cysto and be able to do more venipunctures.

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Wednesday this past week was a pretty boring day, only 3 appointments and no surgeries scheduled at all but Friday sure made up for it! There were two dentals on dogs with heart murmurs and a dog neuter. There were also two cases that came to be hospitalized from the night before that the doctor in surgery and the doctor seeing appointments tag teamed. The first patient to go into surgery was the dog neuter on an German Shorthair Pointer approximately a year or 2 old. I assisted with the nail trim while the dog was being scrubbed by a CVT. A 6 year old cat from the night before came in to be hospitalized so the doctor could run diagnostics on him. First a TPR was performed, the temperature was 105.6! The doctor wanted IV fluids but first the xrays were performed and a urine collected via cystocentesis. The xray was unremarkable but the urine collected was apparent hematuria as it was drawn into the syringe from the bladder. A catheter was attempted on the right cephalic vein but the vein blew as the cat was very wiggly. The ended up placing it in the left cephalic for the IV fluids. A couple hours later doctor requested a PCV/TP and TPR to be done. I applied stress free restraint for a medial saphenous blood draw. The cat became very wiggly and we were unable to collect the sample. When attempting to restrain for a jugular blood draw around the left elbow was swollen with fluid. The catheter somehow got moved and slipping out of the vein which blew the vein in the process. A CVT attempted a catheter in the medial saphenous of the right rear leg but again blew a vein as the cat was too wiggly. Doctor then called for a sedative to be given IM and to out the cat back in the cage to calm down. I assisted in monitoring a patient under anesthesia. They have the same Surgivet machine that we have at school. Every 5 minutes the MAP would make a noise alerting what that parameter was. I was to say this out loud and the doctor would respond with the number and say thank you. If the number got to 60 fluid rate was then changed. At that 5 minute mark the respirations, pulse, SPO2, temperature, 02 and anesthesia rate was written down. Whew! That was only highlights of my day on Friday there was so much that went on!

My goal for this upcoming week is to work on my checklist. I finally feel that the team at Hallett is starting to trust and feel more comfortable with me!

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On Monday I was in surgery monitoring anesthesia again, I am getting pretty confident with it and knowing the normal ranges for dogs along with getting comfortable reading the Surgivet machine. We had two dentals and the first one was a 13 y/o SF standard poodle with breath that could clear a room. She ended up only needing 1 extraction which surprised us all because her teeth looked terrible. The second dental was a 13 y/o NM beagle mix, he actually had 8 extractions! It goes to show that teeth really are icebergs because we would have not really know what was going on until we took the radiographs. Due to the length of each of the dentals I was in surgery the whole shift. On Wednesday I went into appointments getting histories for doctors before they went in and drew up vaccines. I got the chance to also do laser therapy on a sweet black lab. I am slowly getting the hang of how to do a nice fluid motion with the wand. I also got to go into an appointment for Poppy because Heather brought her in for acupuncture! I spent a decent amount of my day going through our check list and getting what I could get done so I wouldn't have to worry about rushing through it towards the end of the time here. On Friday I worked on autoclaving surgery packs and gowns. I got to see what they use for their general packs, laceration packs and dental packs. I practiced folding gowns because I for whatever reason struggled with it last semester. The vet assistant that I was working with gave me some helpful tips for remembering how they are done. I liked using their autoclave because it was slightly different from the one we have at school so it was nice to learn the different systems. I also got to see Poppy again on Friday for electro accupuncture. That was the first time seeing or really hearing about it so I was excited to learn about it and see it in action. The doctors and techs there are all so wonderful and helpful with explaining what and why they are doing things. I am learning a lot from them. My goal for next week is to start drawing more blood and getting comfortable with it in both dogs and cats along with running CBCs and chems because they don't do a whole lot of in house bloodwork and they have a really fancy Idexx machine(

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On Monday 5/14 there was only a few patients in the ICU for the entire day. There were dental patients filtering in and out, but those patients are mostly in the care of the dental team except for TPRs after recovery. There was a 1 y/o SF Boston Terrier that was presented for hypoalbuminemia, hypocalcemia, and azotemia post-op. She had a NG (nasogastric) tube placed. I helped flush the NG tube which produced a dark green, thick, foul smelling liquid (about 85 ccs). This patient had regular TPRs taken throughout the rest of the day with no significant findings.

Another patient that was in the ICU was am 8 y/o SF Puggle who was febrile and diagnosed by the cardiologist with a 3/6 heart murmur. This patient was on respiration watch for the entire day. Every hour I checked her RR (respiratory rate) and her RE (respiratory effort) which for the most part was normal – mild.

The last dog in the ICU for the day was an 8 y/o CM Cockapoo that was presented for seizures. His owner stated that he had a seizure in the car ride over at 8AM. He was on seizure watch for the day. When he arrived, he had another seizure at 10AM while getting his catheter placed, he was stiff and slightly shaking. At 12PM, the patient was in his cage and started rolling around. At first the techs thought that he was wrapped in his catheter and nervous about that, but the doctor said that he was doing that due to vestibular disease.

On Wednesday 5/16 the main case that I worked on was a 5y6m CM Shih Tzu. He was presented for straining to urinate. He was brought into radiology for abdominal radiographs which showed bladder stones that had also made their way out to the urethra. I preformed a jugular blood draw (1cc of blood needed) for an ISTAT and PCV (See attached picture for results). He was send off to surgery for a cystotomy later in the day and was discharged before I got back on Friday.

On Friday 5/18 I was working with a 14 y/o CM Dachshund that was referred by its regular DVM. Upon arrival he had low BP and it kept falling. The first time I checked using the doppler it was 59 and the second it was 36. The DVM gave norepinephrine and then we rechecked again, and it was raised to 78. He was placed in the Snyder for the day because of a cyanotic tongue. His owners decided on euthanasia.

Another patient I worked with was a 11 y/o CM mixed breed dog. He was presented with severe neck pain and was ataxic. The neurology department preformed some tests such as knuckling (flipping the paw on its opposite side to see how long it takes to turn  it back over). The dog did not turn its paw back in the appropriate position on its hind limbs. They also did some tests for balance, strength, and other reflexes. The dog was painful and anxious, so they gave Acepromazine IV 0.6mg to take him to ultrasound. He was also fluids. While he was sedated I was able to trim his nails, they were very overgrown and the other techs thought this might help with his balance.

For next week my goal is to be able to preform more blood draws from somewhere besides the jugular. I also want to have the opportunity to do subcutaneous fluids if possible. These are both things I have done previously but feel I definitely need more practice to build up my confidence.

(Picture below is how they keep track of lab data that is done in the ICU, this later gets entered into the computer so everyone has this info)

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Clinical Week #2 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Clinical Week #2 @ Elkhorn Veterinary Clinic

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Monday I worked on more restrain of animals for the doctors and technicians. I was reading fecal samples which were negative, and running more heartworm tests. I was also drawing up vaccines and Proheart®
, which I was taught how to calculate. We did a laser treatment of the left hip on a Bernese Mountain dog. I was able to administer subcutaneous fluids to a vomiting and diarrhea dog, a technician also gave Cerenia®
. Just as I was about to leave an opossum came in with a prolapsed 🤬. They boxed her down and did a modified purse string suture. Wednesday I was with a doctor that was very particular about how patients were restrained for her, there for I was not able to restrain as much and mostly observe. They vomiting and diarrhea patient from Monday came back but this time due to swollen ears and the owner didn't believe the Metronidazole was doing what it was intended since the dog was either still having diarrhea or not pooping, she didn't know. Then a vomiting 8 year old cat came in with an unknown history of urinating or defecating. There was a 2 view radiograph taken which showed a lot of poop! We did an enema and sent the patient home. I read a fecal sample of a dog that was recently adopted by one of the Doctors and he had hookworms and whipworms. A cat also came in with a lump. When the Doctor did a fine needle aspirate a neon green purulent material came out, yay abscess! Friday I spent my day in surgery monitoring the one surgery we had for the day. It was a neuter and dental on a newly adopted 4 year old Yorkie. He did not do well under anesthesia, he was holding his breath and trying to wake up through most of the neuter. He finally stabilized when we moved him to do the dental. The Doctor doing the surgery gave the dog Nutri-cal®  after he woke up from surgery. The reason she did this is because puppies and small breed dogs are likely to be hypoglycemic after surgery. After that was mostly cleaning up and creating dental bags for after surgery.
My goals for next week is to be more interactive with my coworkers and to continue to show all of the skills I have learned. Continuing with my check off list and hopefully working on my blood draws.

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Arredondo- Week 2 at North Shore Animal Hospital

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Arredondo- Week 2 at North Shore Animal Hospital

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Arredondo- Week 2 at North Shore Animal Hospital

On Monday I was assigned to help Terri, CVT for the day. I helped Terri with the preparation of the dental she was going to perform that day. Terri’s patient was a 14-year-old spayed female Terrier who presented for a dental cleaning and a growth removal that was on it’s head next to the right ear. Preparation for the dental included setting up fluids, putting out the hot air blanket, setting up for the catheter placement, and having the dental tools on the tray next to the dental sink. I thought it was interesting that they take a before and after picture on the dentals they perform. Before the dental began, I was able to watch Dr. Whitney perform the growth removal procedure. Dr. Whitney used Vicryl 3-0 suture to close the opening after the growth was removed. Throughout the dental procedure, Terri allowed me to record the pulse rate and SpO2 levels every 10 minutes and record the temperature every 30 minutes. After the dental, I got to watch a partial tail amputation. It was performed on a 3 year old neutered male Labrador Mix that kept reinjuring the tip of his tail. Dr. Whitney allowed me to be in the surgery room to watch. Dr. Whitney used a CO2 laser to cut through the skin and bone which I had never seen in action before. This procedure was so fascinating to watch despite the burning smell of skin.

On Wednesday, North Shore Animal Hospital examined animals from H.O.P.E. animal shelter. I performed a fecal flotation and giardia test on a 2 year old Male Pitbull. Corrie, CVT, taught me how they perform their fecal flotations. They did not use fecalyzers to perform the fecal flotations. Instead, they mixed the fecal sample with zinc sulfate solution and poured it through a paper towel to act as a strainer. Then they pour the strained sample into a centrifuge tube and let that run for five minutes. After the sample was centrifuged, I got out a slide and cover slip. I used a smaller tube to sweep lightly across the surface of the sample to gather possible eggs at the top. Then I tapped the tip of the small tube onto the slide and I repeated that 3 times. I looked at the slide under the microscope and I concluded it was negative. Corrie confirmed that it was negative. Later on, Corrie and Jess who are CVT’s, allowed me to participate in the preparation for a neuter on the dog from H.O.P.E. Corrie allowed me to administer a microchip SQ between the shoulder blades. Then she allowed me to administer a SQ injection of Rimadyl®. She showed me where to administer Rimadyl® injection which was into the loose skin near the right side of the dog’s right shoulder blade. When was clinic was slowing down, I helped Kim, CVT, spread peanut butter inside the mugs as a part of there fear free technique.

On Friday, I got to watch another dental. The dental was performed on a 10 year old neutered male Cockapoo. It was a basic dental cleaning with no extractions needed or complications.

Next week, my goal is to get a better understanding on some of the different forms of medications that they can come in. My next goal is to try to administer oral medication to a patient. Also, I would like to practice more blood draws specifically on the medial saphenous and cephalic vein.

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This was an awesome week at Wolf Merrick Animal Hospital. On Monday I was able to assist in multiple surgeries! The first surgery (5/14/18) was an oral mass debulking. The patient was a 13 yr. old NM 90 lb. Rottweiler with a 2 and half inch mass on his upper pallet. It was a quick procedure and the mass was disposed of. The veterinarian who performed the surgery had said that this was the 2nd time removing this mass and was expecting it to return unfortunately. During the surgery I assisted in monitoring every 5 minutes and logging. Checking pulse, temperature, CRT and respiration.  On Wednesday, 5/16/18, I was able to assist in monitoring again, only this time for a neuter. I followed the same procedure in monitoring pulse, temperature, CRT, and respiration every 5 minutes. The procedure I witnessed on Wednesday the 16th was a dental on a 14.8 lb. cat, where I again monitored vitals. A very exciting case came in at the end of my shift on the 16th as well. A dog had gotten into a fight with another dog at a day care and had some serious bite marks across its back-right leg. I assisted in cleaning and debriding with a chlorhexidine scrub. The patient was 80 lb. NM Chesapeake Bay retriever so I’m curious as to what kind of dog was able to cause such damage to him. There was a huge hematoma where the patient was bitten. The veterinarian decided to prescribe some anti-inflammatory 🤬 instead of trying the drain the affected area. ( ☹) Finally on Friday, 5/18/18 I was presented with an interesting case. A 7.3 lb. Boston Terrier was dropped off because it was diagnosed with pneumonia and I assisted techs with a treatment plan provided by the DVM. One of those treatments was using a nebulizer! I held the mask to the puppy’s face while the nebulizer converted 3 ml of saline for the patient to breathe. The purpose was to try and break down the pneumonia and encourage coughing after the treatment. I also got 2 blood draws on my first poke today! A jugular and a cephalic, both on uncooperative dogs!

A goal of mine for next week is to keep practicing blood draws. I feel like I got lucky this week but want to be able to do them without hesitation. Another goal would be able to utilize Wolf Merrick’s computer patient system without assistance. (printing lab work, seeing what patients are coming in, what patients are due for vaccines, etc.)