A Hands-On Sort of Day

I spent most of yesterday hanging out at the vet clinic (yay!), and apparently it was a good day to have done so! I walked in at 8:20 and the intern was at the desk and said "oh good! you're here! we could use another set of hands today- [the receptionist] is gone today". A moment later the vet comes up front and says "i'm glad you're here! we've got 8 surgeries this morning!". Yowza! Considering I have been there morning with no surgeries, I'm usually lucky to get 2 or 3 to watch-- 8 is unheard of at this little 1-vet clinic! It's always nice to feel welcome and useful there.

Turns out we had six 5mos old farm cats dropped off to be fixed (sponsored by the Spay Dakota program). There was also a 7th cat about the same age that needed to be neutered, and a boxer needing an exploratory to check a mass in the left rear paw that was causing swelling (also yay- something that wasn't a spay/neuter for once!).

Due to the receptionist being gone the vet tech was running the desk so the intern & I got to handle the rest. This means I got to get very hands-on today! It was my first time getting to help in surgical prep procedures; I was glad I had been paying attention so that when the vet asked me to do something I was able to say how it should be done to verify before she instructed me- which let her know I've been observing not just her but everyone and every little detail. We also did a sort of "bucket line" of cats to neuter- there were 5 altogether. That was interesting because she was neutering as quickly as I could sterilize the next cat! haha

Also, turns out I knew the boxer! She was a regular at the doggy daycare about 4yrs ago (her and her surely long since deceased sister), they got blacklisted when the boxer (who was just 1-2 yrs old) got stuck trying to squeeze through a gate and bit the pet tech trying to free her- it was a technicality- obviously not the scared puppy's fault she bit the tech. It was a sad day when we had to turn those 2 away. It was good to see her again! The mass turned out to be a cyst- just fluid so nothing to remove.

There was also a rescued kitten that was in to get it's Leukemia test & rabies that was hanging out at the clinic for the day until the rescue group came back for it-- which it didn't get a chance to because it went home that afternoon with a nice family in with a sick kitty. Gotta love happy endings! (and those pretty blue eyes!)

There was also a kitten with a (previously) broken leg that was in for a follow-up: x-rays to check the progress and a re-bandaging. I bring up this kitten because the last time I saw it, it got it's new sock and walked around no problem-- this time (and apparently every other time than the time I saw it) it gets its new sock on and would take a step or two and then just plop over onto it's side! It was adorable- like a fainting goat- only it was a kitten and wasn't fainting lol It was just being over dramatic, but so cute!

UPDATE:: And to update my previous blog on the negligence- it turns out the emergency vet thought the puppy was a patient of the vet I am shadowing with. My vet used to work with the emergency vet & his clinic, so he was apparently holding a grudge and refusing to treat the puppy because he thought it was one of my vet's patients! How unprofessional can you get??? Holding a grudge against a vet for leaving your practice to start their own. There's a reason I didn't enjoy my time shadowing at that clinic a few years ago!

A Case of Veterinary Negligence?

So I worked this weekend at the doggy daycare, it was a pretty busy weekend (35-ish dogs) but I only had a real problem with one dog- the 4mos great pyrenees puppy I mentioned/pictured in my previous blog.

Sunday morning I caught the puppy with it's face buried in the mop bucket drinking the soapy/bleachy water!!! I immediately got it out of the bucket and filled a bowl with fresh water for it to drink. Long story short it spent the next 2 hours drinking then vomiting water. After these 2 hours I contacted my boss and we opted to try giving pepto bismol to prevent vomitting before calling the vet. 40 minutes and 3 piles of cherry-scented pink vomit later my boss called the vet and here's where I get to my point:

It was a Sunday so all of the vet clinics were closed and we do not have an emergency clinic in town. However, one-and ONLY one- clinic in town keeps a vet on-call for emergency purposes when the other clinics are closed. The vet did not answer and my boss left a message- this is pretty common. The problem is that we didn't hear back after an hour- left another message, didn't hear back the next hour-left another message--it took nearly 5 hours before the vet even returned the call! Next issue: He asked if his clinic had seen the puppy before-no-then said that his clinic isn't "credited" to see pets they haven't seen before and that we should take the puppy to see it's own vet. A) This has never been a policy of theirs as they are the ONLY emergency service in town, they have always been available to any emergency (this very vet just saw my cat for an emergency call in March w/o having ever seen him before) & B) He is well aware that he is the ONLY vet available on a Sunday! He kept saying it would be $150 just to come in and see the puppy and my boss kept saying money wasn't an issue we just wanted the puppy checked and he ultimately refused to see the puppy even though my boss was willing to pay the emergency fee!

Does anybody else feel this is negligence on the part of the vet? Albeit I was pretty sure the puppy only needed some antiemetics and fluids (after approximately 8hours of vomitting), but had this been a life-or-death emergency that dog would have been dead hours before the call was even returned! I think if the vet is the only on-call vet he has a responsibility to keep his phone with him, answer/return calls as soon as possible and offer emergency care to anyone willing to pay the emergency fee (especially since that has been the policy for as long as I have lived here-15years- & I have shadowed at this clinic in the past so I know what their rules are unless they've changed drastically since March).

That's my rant-- I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Also, I am happy to say the puppy started keeping food/water down later that evening and other than a minor infection (no relation to the bleach) the puppy was all clear at her vet check the next morning.