A Day in the life of a Vet Tech: A Metamorphoses
7:30 am Arrive at work; clean scrubs, clean face, and smelling like a rose
7:35 am First surgery admit – a sweet little Dachshund here for her spay surgery – a little nervous pee hits my shoe.
7:45 am Second surgery admit – a very handsome St. Bernard – as I place him in his kennel he shakes his head and sprays me with drool.
8:00 am Third surgery admit – not sure if this is a house cat or a tiger in disguise regardless he is not thrilled with being at the Clinic and not having had his breakfast.
9:00 am As my assistant and I lift the St. Bernard onto the prep table his bowels release and as I am holding the back end…
(clothing change)
10:00am While holding our little tiger for the doctor to examine prior to surgery, he decides I am a lot like his scratching post at home, and now up my left arm are drops of my own blood.
12:00pm Surgeries are done my patients are all resting comfortably.
1:00 pm A tech appointment for anal gland expression on a little Miniature Pinscher. These dogs have the amazing ability to get their back legs into crazy positions and my assistant and I appear to be doing an interpretive dance with her. Finally, the glands are expressed, and she is feeling much better but 2 drops of this pungent material have found their way on to me. I can’t find the source but the odor does not lie.
(clothing change)
1:05 pm The clothing change did not help – it must be in my hair. UGH.
1:15 pm The peace officer is here and we need to admit a stray. The dog is a very happy but rather dirty fellow of mixed parentage. While checking for any form of identification (microchip or tattoo) I see a little black speck jump onto my arm. Now dog fleas are not that interested in us but they are creepy and make you very itchy. I quickly treat the dog and get him into isolation but for the rest of the day, I will be paranoid and itchy!
2:00 pm Bills have been completed and client instructions for surgery patients have been typed up. Now it is time to remove IV catheters, take temperatures and heart rates, walk the dogs, offer food, check incision sites and make sure everyone is ready to go. The St.Bernard is still drooling and on our walk, he is still a little groggy and leans against me leaving a large wet spot on my pants in a not so flattering location.
2:20 pm We have a stray kitten that needs to be hand fed with a syringe – she manages to swat the syringe out of my hand and formula hits me in the eye.
2:40 pm Hydrotherapy on a cat with an open wound … I’ll leave that to your imagination
(clothing change)
3:00 pm A quick staff meeting as new staff come on shift to update everyone on the day so far.
3:30 pm Discharge the cat – go over the care instructions with the cat’s owners and place him in his cat carrier. He is still not thrilled with me and manages to create some matching scratch marks on my right arm.
3:45 pm Discharge the St.Bernard – more drool but this time it’s on his owners as he greets them with large sloppy kisses.
4:15 pm Discharge the Min Pin – so happy to see her owners she pees all over my scrub top. That’s o.k. because…
4:30 pm I leave the clinic with my bag of laundry and go home to shower and change again. Exhausted, smelly but happy.
Written by Morinville Veterinary Clinic