Blrs of this journey to VetMed World @iblvt-blog - Tumblr Blog

I’m a terrible human being

I wasn’t originally going to post this but I think plenty of times have passed. I have a confession to make. About a month ago I’ve killed a dog. I didn’t directly harm the dog but a part of me will always be guility about what I’ve done, or more specifically what I didn’t do. If you don’t know already, I work as a receptionist at a 24 hour emergency clinic. I plan to advance my career after getting married by either pursuing a vet tech or DVM degree (I’m still on the fence). On the day of question, I walked into the back like what I always do and checked up on our in-hospital patients. For privacy reasons, let’s call her “Buddy” a mixed senior dog. It was odd but I could have sworn Buddy wasn’t breathing. I wanted to tell a technician or a doctor but part of me was scared. Mostly because it was pretty busy day and if my suspicions were wrong, I’m just worried that I’ll be troubling a technician or vet for no reason. I sat down on my desk but part of me feels like I did something terribly wrong so I went back a second time. She still looks like she’s not breathing and I still haven’t done anything for fear of the unknown and the judgement that may or may never happen. Then my worst fears was confirmed. They were doing CPR on her amd sadly she didn’t make it. They did a necrosopy on her and she died due to aspiration pneumonia. I wish I can share my stories to the owners (they were just in today) but I don’t think I’ll ever have the courage to and it just make the guilt worse.

This wasn’t the first dog I killed. A couple of years ago, after a long hike through the mountains of the PNW, I hit a black Labrador. Sure, you could say that the owners are partially at fault for negli but it was ME who was behind the wheel. I should have swerved or hit the brakes or got out of the car and looked for the poor thing. I never knew what happened to that poor dog. We called the police and hopefully he found the dog to either end his/her suffering.

I’m posting this not for anyone to feel sorry or guilty for me. I hope that by sharing my story that it will allow non-licensed personnel to not be afraid to speak up (or maybe it’s just me, idk!) because YOU are a crucial part of a patient’s care too.

Spring here in the PNW

With the rainy days past us, it’s nothing but sunshine here in the good old Pacific Northwest. Yesterday, fiance and I spent some good old QT with some of our closests friends right after work. It was a day on the sandy beach roasting hot dogs and marshmallows on questionable hangers, playing catchphrase, drinking carbonated water (and maybe beers?) and just catchin up with life.

I also ordered my laptop and I promised myself that once that arrives I will enroll in my veterinary technician program. Little side story, Bestbuy sent thankfully just my computer mouse to an uknown mailbox in AZ (which does not make sense at all considering I specifically said to deliver it here in WA) so I had to call UGGH customer care yesterday. Second rep was really great and took care of it for me (first rep wanted to hunt down my fiance for SECURITY purposes since the billing was under him). Anyway, *toast* to another 2 years old my life wasted dedicated in books and studying

On an end note posted above is a picture of sweet Meelo. Fiance emailed me his emergency records and I nearly bwaled my eyes out

Life Update 4

Hello TUMBLR~ Long time no talk. I hope you still remember little old me. I would love to make an excuse and say I’ve been busy wedding planning, started school (not quite yet) and doing all these exhausted things but honestly the mindset recently is...

With Spring in full swing we’ve had our bouts of busy days here in the ER clinic (mostly when weekend approaches) but it’s been mellow for the most part. Sadly, a lot of my favorite patients have either died or we put down. #worstpartofthejob #moodrecently

As far as the wedding goes, fiance and I got AIRLINE TICKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s offical, we fly out December 23 (right in the middle of the holiday rush) and we will be back on January 8th. I guess no turning back now?

Got my wedding dress too and scheduled fittings later in the year. *whispers* Dress doesn’t quite fit yet but umm been getting back into shape here.

Particullary getting into rock climbing and getting back into running! This is totally not #sp or an #ad but we’ve been loving the app Couch to 10k. We don’t do it on a daily basis (sometimes we don’t work out, like yesterday) but it’s a fun and free app to have. The goal is to not just fit on my dress to cut down on alteration cost but to run a 10k (or at least a 5k)!

Slowly coordinating getting vendors w/ my cousin + wedding coordinator, let wedding party know the 401 on the wedding, slowly but surely finishing invites (hopefully I’ll be able to send it all by next month) and putting the finishing touches on the wedding website & wedding registry.

School may happen soon but it may not be into the veterinary direction.

I know..this whole blog has been about VET SCHOOL and my whole journey of trying to get into one of the schools. It’s not completely out of the picture, but veterinary technician seems a more appropriate career choice as far as where I am in life right now. I’ve been a little bit hesitant to enroll (I DONT KNOW WHY!!) but Penn and Foster looks like the direction I’m heading to.

And I end my posts with some of the AMAZING photos we took from our recent adventures here in the beautiful Pacific NW! Weather’s been kind of inconsistent lately but I am looking at a gorgeous sunny day outside. Hopefully, it stays that way!

My Recent #Chewy.com Order

As promised, here is a review on my recent Chewy.Com order.

1. Mammoth Rope Toy - Rocky loves it! Then again, he loves any of his new toys. I find it that the Medium size is too big for him (he is about 20-25 lbs/9kg) but he seems to not care. Again, he’s the type of dog that gets really obsessed with new toys and then he would love ignore it after a couple of weeks. Honestly, this was just a purchase so I don’t feel too guilty for getting his cat brother something really big. (I would give it 4/5 stars)

2. Tidy Cats Clumping Litter - I really just use this litter for my foster cats. It’s the litter they use at the shelter, but I’m honestly not a big fan of this litter. It creates too much dust and leaves my bathroom floor with little clay pelettes everywhere. Personally, I would use Blue Buffalo Non Clumping Litter for my personal cats but it is more costly and some cats may not like it (my kitten Daisy is one of those cats). (I would give it 1/5 stars)

3. Litter Genie Refill Packs - This is just a refill pack but I LOVE THE LITTER GENIE. So far, I still haven’t need a to change the bag and I had my litter Genie Trash bin for about 2 months. Review to follow soon. (5/5 stars for the Litter Genie)

4. Frisco 72in Cat Tree - *Warning this will be a very extensive review* So the cat tree came on a separate order and shipped a day later that the 3 items above. To me it wasn’t a big deal since my packages would be delivered to our leasing office, locked and protected until we pick it up.

It came in a HUGE box, disassembled. The box was VERY heavy, I would say it weight maybe 30-40 lbs. It certainly was no easy feat to move it from the leasing office to our 3rd flood apartment (THANK GOD THAT WE HAVE AN ELEVATOR!)

For having a fiance, who was kind enough to NOT help me assemble this, it actually wasn’t difficult to assemble. Each piece and part was numbered and it was clearly illustrated on the instructions. Aside from a few pieces that I needed an extra hand, I easily assembled this within an hour so.

As you can see from the photo above, Noah really likes it, particullary it’s a high enough place where Rocky won’t bug him and he can take a nap on. It is really TALL (6ft to be exact). He doesn’t like the very highest perch, he chills either in the top box or the second highest perch.

Personally, I think it can be more comfortable, but Noah doesn’t seem to mind. I also find that Noah fits perfectly in there, and he’s a pretty petite cat. If you have a bigger cat than him (like my foster Tonto) or you if want to give your cat more room, for a couple more dollars, maybe get the large Frisco cat tree.

(4.5/5 stars for the Frisco Cat Tree)

If you like these reviews, please let me know. I certainly enjoy writing these!

As a follow up from my last post..this is my current buy from Chewy.com. Expect a review on these items once my spoiled rotten children get to test these out.

MEET #fostercat10 :D His name is Tonto but we like to call him Fat Ludo. His name came up since we don’t like his name and because we have a friend who has a cat name Ludo. Ludo is much smaller than him, therefore meet “FAT Ludo.” He would be our 10th cat foster! He is a more reserved cat yet has no problem with people, dogs, and cats. He hates wet food, only eats dry. Very obedient and sweet - takes his medicine like a champ. He also let me groom him last night. He’s recovering from URI and seems to be much better so I’m hoping he can go back to the shelter and get adopted this weekend :D

On an end note, I love how he resembles my cat Meelo, like a long lost brother!

#fostercat #arethebest #adoptdontshop

#ilovechewy.com

So I’m working on a post about “My Cats and Dog” Must Haves but I wanted to write a preliminary post about that as to where I get my dog and kitty supplies.

I really love to support local small business! My favorite store here in the Pacific NW to get (most) of my pet supplies especially food and treats, is called Mudbay. I also love going to small pet shops when I come across them. One store in my area even has this punch card reward program where I can get a free bag of food if I buy 10 or so bags.

Don’t get me wrong I still go to to the top two pet retailer store but not that often for a couple reasons. 1. As I mentioned, I love to to support small mom and pop retail stores. 2. With just where I live now, I don’t have a Pet Smart close by. I do have a Petco Store near me but I don’t really get anything there anymore (I did get cat litter and dog cookies there but my dog and cat’s taste has since changed) 3. I still get my dog groomed at PetSmart because we have an AWESOME groomer. And the occasional cute outfits...

I know you’ve been seeing their AD everywhere but I swear this is not a sponsored post for Chewy! I just have been really loving them lately. I have been getting my cat litter there along with a couple of other things. Their customer service is really excellent!

Stay tuned for my next post of my #furrykidsmusthaves if you want to know what I feed them, the toys they love, the litter I used, etc....

To the VETBLR/ANIMALBLR community I have a huge favor to ask!! I would really appreciate it if you can WRITE a post or REPLY with the places you get your dog and cat stuff. I may not shop much for myself but I do get the satisfaction of splurging my four legged children. I am always in the market of finding a good online pet store or who knows? I may be taking my dog or a cat on a trip in your area in the near future :)

Meet-a-Case #2

Right now, I am pissed. REALLY PISSED. Why you ask? A client came in around 4pm. I ask my routine questions about the pet - age (3 years), breed (Min Pin), STILL INTACT? Owner’s very lovely response: “I don’t believe in that.” After a few minutes of waiting (techs take vital, doctor does her exam) and wouldn’t you believe it!! We take in a deposit of over $5,000 for none other than PYOMETRA! (If you don’t know what it is look it up around Tumblr. Basically it’s an infection of the uterus). Oh, the irony!!! I hope she learns her lesson..considering how the doctor told her how this happens. But I bet she wont.

P.s. She’s also one of those lucky bastards that can somehow make others pay for her vet bills. I hope she doesn’t get any more pets. Why get them when you are a HORRIBLE pet parent that let your dogs suffer from preventable diseases rather than pay less to spay/neuter them.

P.p.s Sorry for the inappropriate language and anger. I just really hate pet parents who are like this. -__-

Meet-a-Case #1

Working at a veterinary clinic, even up front like me, can take a toll on your life. Even though I’m not in the back examining the dog/cat like a vet or running bloodwork/diagnostics like a tech, we “admit” patients, have them fill out paperwork, and then when the pet is euthanized we go over paperwork with owners.

Inspired by Dr Ferox’s “ Dr Ferox’s Veterinary Storytime Masterpost” here is my story of Dog+Sorrow Post from a Client Service Rep’s perspective.

When I first checked in the owner, she told me that her regular vet clinic told her to come to us. The dog who let’s call as “Twix” was a 4 year old German Shepard mix whose presenting complaint was vomiting and bloody urine. He was running a fever, a pretty high heart rate and respiration rate. After talking to the doctor, owner agreed to hospitalize Twix. A catheter was place on him and blood was drawn. Doctor didn’t write their medical records yet by the time I was gone so sadly it wasn’t until the next morning that I learned his fate.

The following morning, the AM CSR told me first thing that Twix is going to be put down. Not only did it made me so sad because he was so close to age with Rocky but it got me thinking. What could he possibly have? As I read the medical records it looks doctors suspect IMHA. Naturally with my love for veterinary medicine I did what any untrained people will do..I googled it! IMHA is short for Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia, where the body basically destroys red blood cells. I came across THIS blog and read more on the topic. Even though there are some dogs who can live through this, like DR MAHANEY’s, sadly Twix wasn’t one of them. Even with blood transfusions, his body just didn’t respond to it. Like I mentioned in the beginning, I was responsible for having them fill out the euthanasia paperwork and it will also be engraved in my mind how sad and devastated these pet parents are.

Life Update 3

Since it has been 2 months since I have posted a life update here is a list of what’s happening in my life. I’m sorry if it’s not that interesting but as I said I like to write these for future reference.

1. I’m still not in school because of the wedding and the crazy amount of time and money involved with that. However I have applied for FAFSA and slowly getting myself mentally prepared to be back in school again (thank you vetblr community). Fact: It has been almost 4 years since I last opened a text book (2013 was when I graduated). I have looked at prereqs for Vet School and I’m thinking of WSU, UC Davis, Cornell could potentially be places that I could apply. I also got over the whole fact of being a Husky and maybe applying to Cougar territory - if I get accepted there, the less debt the better! I hope that my fiance and I can at least drive by Pullman this year so we can see the school.

2. Even though it’s been 5 months now, I’m still getting used to living away from my parents. I love how I have control on everything that I do BUT I do miss coming home to a clean house, a homemade meal, and I guess from time to time my crazy parents and sister. I’m so lucky and thankful that my parents will either drop me off work and or drop me some homecooked lunch. I will for sure miss this if I go to vet school. My life though has been a constant routine..work from Monday to Friday from 10-6, wait for my fiance to get off work and pick me up, we either cook a simple meal/eat out (no longer at restaurants but either Teriyaki or Chinese food). After dinner we either play video games (lately we’ve been obsessed with COD Infinite Warfare), walk with our cat (it’s weird but he’s leashed trained), then off to bed! Occasionally we would visit friends or I get that rare moment when I would do a Target run (did that Monday actually).

3. I am fostering again :) I fostered in the past but since I was living with my parents then I didn’t want to trouble them for caring for them, since they were technically just my responsibility. Now that I’ve moved out, since we have the spare bathroom I figure I can share that to cats in need. Thankfully my fiance was totally cool with it.

This is our current foster Mavis (from Hotel Transylvania I think). We only had her for one night buy boy she’s super sweet. She’s not a fan of being held but loves attention and pets! She rubs herself all over my ankle >_<

Previously we took over these 3 kittens...Maci, Zac and Daisy. They are more shy and reserved, especially Maci. We loved them so much that we...

ADOPTED ONE OF THEM! Meet Daisy, the addition to our family. (We were gonna adopte Zac or how we call him I-Zac our chill guy but sadly we were too late) Last weekend I took her to our local vet clinic to get an exam and overall a clean bill of health! She did have her deciduous teeth, but hopefully it’ll just fall off!

More cute photos of sweet Daisy with the brother! As for the OG pets..Noah had this bout of nausea yesterday so I took him to work for monitoring. He was fine afterwards. Could just be the lint roller paper he loves to chew on.

Rocky is well as far as I know. He lives mostly with my parents and I still only have him on the weekends. He’s great though! No more limping and coughing is resolved. Kitties made a club of their own so he’s kind of sad that he’s not allowed.

3. WEDDING = STRESS. I swear I have nightmares about it every night. This night I dreamt that our bank account was emptied out and we had no pay to pay for anything. Anyway, we will be paying out our next deposit which is crazy expensive but not too bad (our venue+flowers+decorations+catering is about $6,000 which is not bad compared to the US but still crazy expensive). I did:

- Finish our wedding website through the Knot. It’s private since there is my personal information on that website.

- Made my bridesmaid gifts, just got to ask them soon.

- Worked on the Gift Registry. I don’t think we’ll get everything that we want but that’s okay. It’s just fun to have a list of everything we need.

- Got my sister her Maid of Honor gift.

- Went to the 2017 Seattle Wedding Show a couple of weeks ago and tasted great cake, got magazines for inspirations, tons of other freebies and great inspiration.

- Look at airline tickets, also quite expensive.

- Fiance asked some of his men to be groosmen. I’m hoping he can ask all of them by the end of the month.

4. GOALS? Well I hope I can get back to working out. Fiance and I are slowly starting to get back to it after recovering from our colds simply by walking. I know my wedding dress will be done soon and that’s gotta fit.

I would like to see the WSU campus as I mentioned. They unfortunately don’t do tour for pre-vet/vet hopefuls so guess road trip over the weekend?

Finish my laundry. We been sleepin on our pull out couch since there’s a crap ton of clothes on our bed. Now you know what I’m doing over the weekend!

This is my cat dog Rocky!

Yes, he thinks he’s a cat. Since I can’t read his mind and that may be completely false what’s true is that for him: CATS>DOGS

He’s 4, born on June 18th 2012 [a combination of my fiance’s Birthday month (born on June) and my birth DAY (I was born on Sept 18th) WHICH IS REALLY COOL IN MY OPINION] or so I was told by the breeder

We got him on Dec 30 2012 from *yelp* yes, a breeder. He will probably be the only dog that I will buy from a breeder. I’m a big advocate of rescuing dogs.

He’s super spoiled! More spoiled than I spoil anyone, even me. His spending include grooming/haircut, toys, clothing, HIGH QUALITY treats, food, vet care, pet insurance..yup the list goes on and on!

That’s why he thinks he can get away with everything (please refer to 3rd photo).

But regardless, he’s my best friend (as far as walking on 4 paws and having crazy like lion hair) from the day he peed on my fiance’s pants :)

It’s here, it’s here!!!! Our engagement photos are out (well some of them) I won’t be putting the whole entire album but just a couple of pics as I slowly receive them from out photographer.

I’m so excited to finally be marrying this guy exactly 383 days from now =D

Blog Update

Since I keep forgetting to switch to the right blrs...this blr is strictly original posts.

If you would like to follow my blr for my reblurs then http://dreamnachievedvm.tumblr.com/ is where I do that :)

Life Update 2

I wasn’t even sure about writing this post well because there’s not much to update. This past weekend was the Thanksgiving Holiday and frankly mine was pretty uneventful. I had to work Thurs and Fri, which for an ER clinic was actually pretty busy. It was my first holiday not living with my parents so got to see them and my (soon to be in-laws). Lots of wedding talk when its comes to my mom, dad, and “mother-in-law” are in the same room.

I honestly put a halt on wedding planning cause as I mentioned I did a lot already anyway. I got my bridesmaids+MOH gift. I plan to ask them in the next couple of weeks here so I’m quite excited about that. As for fiance, I’m still questioning his method of asking his guys to be his groomsmen+BM.

ENGAGEMENT PHOTO SHOOT NEXT WEEK :) I hope to still post a couple here unedited as our photographer send them to us!

Vet school is still kind of that blur looming my life. I enjoy stalking following and reposting interesting posts from the VetBlr community. I hope that I can start school next fall or winter depending on how deep a hole we dug for ourselves budgeting for this wedding.

Been reading on and off:

If Wishes Were Horses by Lorreta Gage

https://openstax.org/ (I know super nerdy of me but I’ve been familiarizing myself with Science again. Been ages since I took any type of science class)

Dr Nick Trout’s books

I’m really glad that I’m actively blogging again. It’s a great hobby/diary/motivator and seeing that some of my fellow vetblrs are following me. I hope that my posts are of interests to you in some way but if it’s not/you want to unfollow me I’m totally okay with that. Again, I’m just here to personally journal/rant about well..my life.

<3 DB

LifePost: Why I’m not in school

I’M GETTING MARRIED! As much as I would love to go back to school 100% of my time, money, resources, energy is planning and saving up for this crazy wedding that we’re having. Since I haven’t even finalized a guest list yet, I don’t want to post that much details about the big day. I did get a lot done such as:

Getting my dress Venue/Location Got a wedding planner Engagement photos are coming soon! Almost finalized whether we’re gonna have a church/garden wedding (WHICH IS A BIG HEADACHE ON ITS OWN) Started an invite list About to ask girls to be my bridesmaids/maid of honor Pretty soon will be sending out Save the Dates :P I actually plan to post more personal/life posts and update on the wedding so stay tuned!

<3 DB

MY MEELO...the beginning of this LONG journey (and post)

April 4, 2012 you can say is the turning point of my life. After some spending some QT w/ my boyfriend then’s house I saw a little orange cat coming down my way. I’m no stranger to stray cats either running scared of me or happily coming to me begging for food. This little guy was the latter.

He was super friendly, happily circling around my leg. Sadly, I didn’t have any cat food or treats for that matter (we had no pets back then). After spending some time with him (or what I thought was a her that time) I sadly had to go and told my bf to keep him entertained for a bit longer.

After that day, I didn’t think that I would ever see that cat again. But he remained true and loyal to us (for the most part) becoming one spoiled king of a cat. Sadly, he’s no longer with us but he’s a big majority of why I got into this crazy of a world of PETS, POO/PEE/VOMIT, VETERINARY and hopefully someday VET SCHOOL. That is one of my goals for this blog....that I can integrate memories/stories of him to continue to inspire me and maybe others :)

<3 DB

Vet Blogs, Books, Magazines, Shows I’m currently obsessed!

http://lifeofaveterinarystudent.blogspot.com/ (A Great Blog Journaling Vet School)

http://vet-life.tumblr.com/page/8 (Vet School & Study Tips)

http://soontobedvm.tumblr.com/ & http://readysetvetschool.blogspot.com (Tips on Vet School, Pre Vet School Journey)

http://drferox.tumblr.com/ (The best Vetblr in my opinion)

https://ejh345.wordpress.com/2006/05/ (Recent follow that I randomly came across with but a great simple blog)

http://kmdvm.blogspot.com/ (I really love Dr Magnifico’s blog but most importantly I’m inspired on how as a small practice owner she is my goal on the type of vet I want to be; giving and kind to her community).

http://avetsguidetolife.blogspot.com/ (One of the first vet blogs I followed, Dr Bern’s blog is truly amazing!)

http://livingmydreamkn.blogspot.com/ (Although she’s no longer updating, the FIRST vet blog I think I read)

http://www.lifeinvetschool.com/ & http://www.tailsofasheltervet.com/ (Dr Ostermann documents her life in vet school and after vet school as a shelter veterinarian. Soon to be Dr. Pangburn is now the main author for the lifeinvetschool blog)

https://myugavetschoolexperience.wordpress.com/ (Dr Camille Grant also kept a pretty good diary of her experiences)

http://www.dvmtales.com/ (Just came across it today but it’s a blog ran by UC Davis)

BOOKS: Marley and Me and I also got a book recently about pet nutrition (don’t remember the title)

SOCIAL MEDIA: https://www.instagram.com/i.am.a.vet.student/ and of course Mr. Bow Tie Vet guy :)

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