#mixed practice

[drferox]

Anonymous said: How common is it for people with multiple species of pets to go to several different vets for different animals? Are there many clinics that see both exotics and livestock?

It’s quite common for people to go to different clinics for their exotic pets and their more common pets.

While there are some vets who will see dogs & cats and exotics, they’re usually a dog & cat clinic which has branched out rather than any kind of exotic specialist.

Exotic animals require different hospital set ups and equipment. Surgery on a cat, even a little 1kg cat, is vastly different to a 50g budgie. Also, many exotics are prey species and they do not appreciate barking dogs or the smell of cats at all. Even rabbits and ferrets need different wards, because housing them next to each other is like placing a lion next to a gazelle. Nobody is calm and relaxed in that scenario.

Some clinics will see exotics and livestock, especially in rural areas where there just isn’t another choice. Are you really going to send a macaw with respiratory stress on a three hour drive to the bird clinic down south, or are you going to pop it in oxygen, get on the phone and ask that clinic for help? In rural practice it’s quite possible to be up to your shoulder in cow in the morning and cursing a cockateil’s cloaca in the afternoon.

[iheartvmt]

Today my smallest patient was a 4 lb mini schnauzer puppy, and my largest was a 1000+ lb Andalusian gelding. Gotta love the variety in vet medicine!

[iheartvmt]

Cute pair of pygmy goats in for routine exam and vaccines ^.^

[drferox]

Hi there! I was just wondering, as I think I remember you saying you did some mixed practice work, what the client base was like in mixed practice/large animal? I always hear about the... uncooperative, so to say... client stories in small animal practice. I work in a smallies clinic currently as a Cattery Attendant, and certainly have dealt with some interesting clients. Do you find the same in large animal practice? From, a curious Vetling that (at this stage) wants to do mixed practice! :) x

Uncooperative clients are everywhere.

You cannot escape them.

You have only two options:

Retrain them.

Change jobs to a far away clinic to avoid the one in particular that drives you inside.

Mixed animal practice has a special type of uncooperative client which owns both large animals (cattle, sheep or horses) and small animals (dogs or cats). They often come in with their dogs on a horse lead or lunge rope.

Large animal practice and small animal practice work a little differently, and some of these clients expect more from a clinic than typical clients would. Things that I’ve had happen include:

Arguing about the price difference between a consultation fee for a dog, which was seen in the practice building, and a consultation fee for a horse which was seen at the owner’s properly half an hour away.

Picking up parasite products for their dog or cat, but also wanting prescription products for their horse, which we have not examined, which is illegal.

Taking phenylbutazone for their horse and administering it to their arthritic dog, just because they decided it was a good idea, and inducing kidney failure.

Crazy cat ladies (or gents, etc) I can handle, but crazy horse people were something else entirely.

[iheartvmt]

Why I love my job!

Today I placed an IV catheter and got fluids and antibiotics started in a 50# angus calf with scours, and got him tucked in with warm blankets and supplemental heating.

Then I drew blood for an FIV/FeLV test and ran anesthesia on a 0.8# kitten while Doc enucleated both of his eyes (he was found with ruptured corneas due to severe URI). He’s currently recovering while snuggled up in my lap, and I’ll be fostering him until he’s well enough to go to his new home =^.^=

[drferox]

Hey, I think I've read that you worked with farm animals too in your first years out? What are your most interesting memories/cases from that time? Did you mostly treat cattle or small ruminants? Do you sometimes miss that aspect of vetmed? Did many of your female colleagues switch to small anmials after working in mixed practice for a few years? And do you know any vetblrs who work with Livestock? Greetings from a new grad / cattle enthusiast :)

My first two and a half years after graduation were spent in rural mixed practice. It was admittedly mostly small animals, with a smattering of horses, wildlife and farm animals to keep it interesting.

There were more horses than cattle, but I tried to avoid horses after a little while. I didn’t really like them a whole lot, and horse people drove me nuts. I miss cows though, even if the cow didn’t like you very much, I liked them more than horses. 

Cattle certainly leave you with stories to tell.

To be honest, most of my colleagues who started in mixed switched to small animal practice after a few years, regardless of gender.

Small animal practice pays better, and you’re generally closer to your support networks. There is real difficulty retaining vets in rural settings, partly due to lower pay, increased after hours, less access to continuing education and less facilities for raising families.

Goats were a close second to cattle. Baby goats are great, and goats of valium are hilarious.

I’m sure any vetblrs that still work with cattle will shout out in the notes below.

[thehappyvet]

If the calf sucks on your finger with its bum it's alive and well

Reproduction lecturer on how to determine if a calf if dead before performing a foetotomy.

[iheartvmt]

Gotta love a job where you're out in the muck trying to pull a piglet stuck in a sow one minute, then the next you're doing QC/maintenance on dental and lab equipment!