Ready-Vet-Go!

Pokemon Master by day, Emergency Veterinarian by night

[soontobedvm]

I tend to be a more emotional person. I still get choked up in some Disney movies. But I really want to be a vet and I’m afraid that I won’t be able to stop from tearing up if I have to euthanize an animal. Do only vet techs do euthanasias or do veterinarians too? Is it bad to tear up in a situation like that?

Goodness, I still tear up from watching Fox and the Hound myself! And don’t get me started on a dog movie like Marley and Me… 

I tend to be rather emotional too, but you know, it’s somehow very different when I am in the room, needle in hand, guiding their beloved pet to the other side. 99 times out of 100 I am a solid rock, expressing compassion but still not allowing myself to lose myself in the misery. Now, once in a while, I will have a tough case and I will freely sob either with the owners or right outside the room. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and a very human thing to do. 

I would recommend, if you haven’t already, to shadow a veterinarian. This will show you what euthanasias are actually like (veterinarians are the ones to do them almost all if not all of the time, btw), and let you know if this is something you want to pursue. 

[soontobedvm]

I'm not sure you will know the answer to this but maybe you could point me in the right direction? Do veterinary colleges care if you have transferred schools in your undergrad? My husband got a new job that has made him move to a different state. I planned to stay where I am until I finish my undergrad but I'm finding myself pretty miserable without my husband here. Would it be better to stay at my current school and ride it out?

Hello Nonny! 

No, it does not matter if you transfer schools or not. As long as you complete all of your pre-reqs you will be good to go :) 

[soontobedvm]

Hi I need your help my cousin has an older dog maybe 10 or so that has never been vaccinated and she said he hasn’t been eating for two days and has diarrhea but she’s afraid to go to the vet because she’ll get in trouble since the dog isn’t vaccinated is that true? What would you suggest? Should I take him myself?

Hello Nonny, 

As an ER vet, while vaccination status is important, I would never spend precious time that is normally to discuss treatment and diagnostics to berate her about vaccines. Now, education about vaccines are vital, and she might get a “this could be preventable” talk if it turns out to be something like parvo, but at the end of the day what is important is treating the dog’s disease that is happening right now. I would 100% recommend that this dog be seen by a veterinarian. 

[soontobedvm]

Toxicology Files: Household Hazards Series Coming Soon!

Hello! I’m back! 

And to kick-start my return, I will be discussing one of my favorite things as an emergency veterinarian- Toxicology! We will go through different household toxins and what risk they may pose to your beloved pet. 

Reply below what toxins you would like me to  cover, and stay tuned! 

[soontobedvm]

Becoming a Statistic

Median survival times of lymphoma. Percentage of splenic masses that are malignant.  Chances that a female dog urinating blood is due to bladder stones. All of these statistics are an important part of veterinary medicine that have, in the past year, woven themselves into my brain. There is one statistic, however, that I tried to ignore. I pushed it deep inside, pretending and hoping that it wasn’t real. But, it IS real. And that statistic is why I took a hiatus from this blog. Because that statistic almost consumed me. I almost became that statistic.  

The statistic that I’m talking about, is something that most veterinarians know, though the public is normally quite unaware.  And that is the status of our mental health. Did you know, that veterinarians are 3 times more likely to commit suicide than the general public? Did you also know that 1 out of 6 veterinarians think about committing suicide? It’s a harrowing statistic, and even less than a year out in the work force, I felt the weight of this statistic trying to devour me. Devour me until there was none of me left.

I didn’t truly realize, until I was in the trenches, how difficult this career is. How tough it is to have crippling debt, to always worry and fret about cases until I started having nightmares, and to stretch my mental and physical limitations every single day and to then still be told, over and over and over again, how I am a horrible vet that is and will always be worthless. Or how I am “a heartless money-grabber” that won’t treat their pet for free or won’t give them antibiotics without performing a physical exam. And so on, and so on. 

Honestly, it took until very recently to understand that the fog I was under was me succumbing to the very statistic that I swore I would never be. In general, I am a very happy person, and I really didn’t understand how this could happen. But it did, and you know what? I got professional help. And I’m not looking back.

 Of course, it’s not perfect. I may still stumble with this career, and I may continue to struggle, but at the end of the day, I refuse to become a statistic. And I hope I can encourage you not to become one as well. 

[soontobedvm]

What You Don’t See

-What you see: A too young veterinarian that surely can’t be qualified to treat your animal.   

-What you don’t see: A young veterinarian that busted her butt through 8 years of schooling and while she might not have the experience of a 60 year old veterinarian, she knows more than you think and she knows where to look for help if needed. 

-What you see: A hospital and staff that are only in this for the money.

-What you don’t see: Multiple veterinary team members putting their heads together to create a treatment plan that is best for your pet but still fits in your budget. Multiple people searching through donated medications or secretly using a bag of fluids for free because your pet’s health is WAY more important than our production numbers.

-What you see: A far too long room wait time.

-What you don’t see: The plethora of other critical patients in the treatment room that are being managed at the same time as your pet. Timely examinations of all animals is important and we try to get to everyone as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the actively seizing dog, the cat who just coded, the respiratory distress rabbit, and the dog who just collapsed from an Addisonian crisis will need to be addressed before your dog’s ear infection of three months duration. 

[soontobedvm]

6 Months as an Emergency Veterinarian Review:

What I didn’t expect to pull at my heartstrings: 

-Little old men sobbing. 

Procedures that still makes me shake:

-Emergency chest tubes placements

-C-Sections 

-Resections and Anastomosis  (Cutting and removing sections of bowel and putting the pieces back together)

Amount of times I’ve thought that I’m not good enough for ER med:

Too many to count...

My favorite shift:

-2nd! LOVE my evening shifts!

My mantras lately: 

-”Sucking at something is the first step at getting better at it.”

-” All bleeding stops eventually.” 

-” If I wasn’t laughing, I would be crying.”

Things that make me nervous: 

-Managing electrolyte imbalances. 

-EXOTICS.

Nights of insomnia or nightmares:

-Too many to count... 

Things that are satisfying: 

- Squeezing abscess! 

- Popping in a dislocated hip joint. 

- Seeing a patient who has been hypotensive all morning stabilize. 

My favorite presenting complaints: 

-”Attack by hamster.” 

-”Vomited up 43 cents.” 

-”Fishhook stuck near you know what.” 

[soontobedvm]

Happy Halloween!

As I work ER tonight, I'm reminded that today should just be called "Chocolate Toxicity" day. Please remember to put away your Halloween candy so your furry friends won't be tempted and make your Halloween truly scary!

[soontobedvm]

A Day in the Life of An Emergency Veterinarian

4:40 AM: Alarm screaming. I’m screaming. We are all screaming for coffee. 

4:45 AM: Stealthily grabbing clothes and dodging cats on our bed without waking up the hubby. 

4:46 AM: Forgot a sock. UGH

5:15 AM: Coffee gulped, dog let out to potty, clothes on, stethoscope in hand. 

5:30 AM: Arrive at work.  Sigh, because wouldn’t it be nice to arrive in the sunlight once? 

5:32 AM: Print out hospital list, time for cage side rounds to discuss each patient. 

6:14 AM: My head is spinning from the whirlwind of 20 + inpatient histories, diagnostics, and treatments being shoved rudely into my brain. 

6:30 AM: Do morning physicals. Avoid being pooped on. AWWWW YEAH!

7:03 AM: Organize, look at, and write on patient charts. 

7:30 AM: Wake up some owners with important patient update phone calls. 

8:20 AM: First outpatient of the day is here. Unable to pee cat. Here. We. Go!

8:40 AM: Place a urinary catheter in this cat while an actively seizing dog comes straight back to the treatment room. Start listing off drug doses for the seizure dog while I suture in this catheter. Oh, there’s an owner in room 7 that wants to talk to me too. 

9:10 AM: Come out of seizure dog room, there’s two dogs that ate chocolate in room 5, and a cat who has blue string coming out of his butt in room 3. 

10:00 AM: Try not to sigh as I’m asked “How old are you exactly? Can’t we ask for another vet, perhaps a male one?” in an exam room. 

10:25 AM: Hit by car rushed into the back. Check vitals, do diagnostics, stabilize. Looks like leg is broken, too. Surgery transfer tomorrow for this little one. 

11:00 AM: Go through treatment options of kidney failure from cancer in a cat with the sweetest people. They cry, and ask me what I would do if it was my cat. They cry again. Tissues and a soft, compassionate voice is all I can offer them, but I wish I could offer them more. 

12:05 PM: “Room 4 is ready.” I know that line. I grab the solution, I walk into a room with sobbing owners, and I guide them through one of the hardest decisions they will ever have to make. 

12:08 PM: I exit room 4, a little shaken. I get a hug from my tech, and then eat a granola bar as I look through the 16 pages of history for my next case that is having difficulty breathing. Has had a liver mass removed, and has chronic allergies, and has seizures, and the list goes on....

2:01 PM: Attack by dog brought to the back for bleeding excessively. Work on a sedation protocol and then go see a possible Parvo in room 11.

2:10 PM: Get screamed at for “being in it just for the money” even though I severely discounted the exam fee even though I wasn’t supposed to and gave them donated medications and fluids completely free of charge. 

3:00 PM: Finish up the laceration repair, work on some discharges and other medical notes. 

3:30 PM: Talk to owner regarding her heat stroke dog, not realizing until afterward that I still had blood on my shirt from the laceration repair. 

3:50 PM: DOA (dead on arrival) hit by car. I am pulled from a room into this one, which is full of disbelief, anger, and sadness. Their screaming follows me into the hallway.  

4:00 PM: I try to eat a little snack as I have time to stew over a mistake I made a few days ago. The nightmares at night are telling me that I’m not over it. I put down my snack.

4:10 PM: See an “emergency” rash on a dog. Owner also lifts shirt to show me her “emergency” rash as well. 

4:20 PM: Paperwork. 

5:30 PM: Become a little giddy. Only 30 minutes left until freedom!

5:55 PM: A dystocia (trouble giving birth) walks into the door. And there goes my chance to leave at a decent time. 

6:30 PM: The puppies aren’t coming, and ultrasound shows fetal distress. Time to kick it into high gear and get our butts into surgery. 

7:00 PM: It doesn’t matter that I’ve done it before. My palms are still sweaty, and I feel like I might puke. “Don’t mess this up, you bumbling idiot,” says the voice in my head.

7:20 PM: With shaking hands, I have the puppies out.  I try not to hope too much, but I hope they are okay as I suture up the Momma. 

8:00 PM: I walk out of surgery with bated breath. I hear squeaks as I round the corner, and I’m handed two pink and happy puppies. And I smile, perhaps for the first time in a while.  

9:00 PM: Leave work. 

9:20 PM: Kiss hubby, shove some fast food in my mouth while we chat about our cases from the day (he’s a vet too!)

9:45 PM: SLEEP. 

[soontobedvm]

I'm a pre-vet student and I think I'd really like to specialize in emergency medicine someday. However, I'm not a big fan of a lot of the larger companies that run small animal ERs. I've worked as an ER vet nurse and a lot of the companies I've worked for really treat their non-degreed employees (assistants, nurses, etc) badly. (fired without notice, minimum wage, no benefits) I was wondering if this was a trend in vet ER practices or if there are some companies that treat their employees well?

Hi there anon! 

Honestly, I think it is very hospital and location dependent. As a vet student who externed at a ton of ER clinics with various corporate umbrellas, it really just depended on the specific hospital I was at. The ER hosp I am at now is trying really hard to boost morale and take care of their employees (full time benefits, wage is more than minimum- though could be better, they are discussing increasing it, and they always get multiple chances before firing). 

A good ER hosp is out there (yes, even corporate), you just have to find it :) 

[soontobedvm]

How Punny

*While examining an adorable and happy Collie in a room with the owner*

Owner: I have melancholy.

Me: Oh I'm so sorry to hear that.

Owner: *smirks* No, this is my Collie and his name is Melon.

[soontobedvm]

Sacrifice

Today I euthanized my personal friend’s dog that was dying of cancer.

As an ER veterinarian, I’ve seen it all. From stiff silence to violent sobbing, I am not phased. And I am always stable. I am always there for them. I am always steady. I am always their guide. I am always their rock they can depend on.

Until today, I felt the pull. Felt the pull into the darkness of grief. And it pulled me hard. My heart was broken. And I let myself grieve with them. 

I still see it as a gift, to give as peaceful as a passing as possible. But it’s a sacrifice. Each one, takes a little bit of my soul with it. 

Any you know what? For those wonderful, innocent animals we have the joy to call our own, it’s worth the sacrifice.  

[soontobedvm]

have you heard of the successful stories of removing heartworms in a cat? I'm curious as to how treatment works differently from case by case. I've seen meds to kill heartworm treated via iv, but is there a surgical procedure? -signed, a vet receptionist who doesn't want to sound stupid in her clinic

Hello there anon!

Surgical removal of heartworms is something that is more commonly done in dogs, though I would say that surgical removal of heartworms even in dogs is very, very, very rare. For the most part, they are treated by injection (This injection CANNOT BE USED IN CATS however). They would only consider removing the worms surgically (essentially reaching down the jugular vein with an instrument into the heart and grabbing the worms), if the animal was exhibiting caval syndrome (an acute syndrome that is caused by a very large amount of worms). This is unlikely to happen in cats, since most cats only have 1-3 heartworms, as opposed to the many and many and many dogs can get. 

So in summary: It’s possible, but not at all likely, that you could surgically remove heartworms from a cat. 

[soontobedvm]

How to Get Into Vet School Master List

After several months of writing out posts and collaborating with the vet community on Tumblr, I am happy to say that my mini-series on how to get into vet school is complete! I hope it was helpful, and I hope this post will continue to get spread around so new batches of pre-vets can see what this process is all about! The following is a list of links that connect directly to all of those posts. Definitely check out all of the reblogs and comments from the rest of the vetblr community as well, they all have great advice to add! If you have any remaining concerns or questions past these posts, please feel free to message me! 

1) What to Major In During Undergrad

2) How to Pick an Undergrad University

3) One of the Most Important Things to Do in High School and Undergrad 

4) How to Obtain Veterinary Experience and How to Record it

5) A Sample 4 Year Undergrad Plan

6) How to Study in Undergrad/University

7) How Vet Schools Break Down Applications

8) What you Need to Know About GPA

9) What You Need to Know About Letters of Recommendation

10) How to Write a Personal Statement

11) What You Need to Know About the GRE

12) What No One Tells You About Applying to Vet School

13) Vet School Interview Tips

14) What You Shouldn’t Say or Do in an Vet School Interview

15) Popular Questions and Answers When Applying to Vet School

16) What to Do if You Get Rejected

[soontobedvm]

Hello I just switched from a focus in human medicine to animal medicine. I know I made a right decision in that but I am very overwhelmed with information online and I wanted an insiders opinion on this. Do you think a science degree like chemistry or biology is more likely to impress Vet schools than a pre-vet degree? Does it matter at all? Thank you and hope you have a lovely night

Hello Anon! 

Your undergrad degree, as long as you get the pre-requisites done, does NOT MATTER. I promise you. I had classmates that majored in Spanish, Sociology, Mechanical Engineering, etc. 

Here is my master-list on how to get into vet school as well.

P.S. If you haven’t, start looking into shadowing a vet and getting veterinary experience as soon as you can!  

[soontobedvm]

Hide your puppies, it’s...

Demodectic MANGE! From your friendly mite, Demodex! 

Fun facts:

Demodex is NOT contagious to other dogs or people. This isn’t sarcoptic  mange, thank goodness. 

Demodex looks like a little cigar, in my opinion. 

This little mite can cause MASSIVE amounts of damage, including widespread crusting, alopecia (hair loss), and secondary bacterial infections. 

Teeny tiny mite with a big attitude. 

[soontobedvm]

My Moto as an ER Veterinarian: