Tag: Dogs
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Hidden heroes
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I’m sure we all know some of the crazy places “stray” animals end up – ducks nest in strange areas, cats crawl into tiny hidden spaces and can’t get back out, and, recently, a stray dog shut down Waterloo train station. I’m sure you all have more stories on where pets and wildlife have been…
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Dishing the dirt on anal glands
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It’s strange that the second thing people always say when they hear you’re a vet (the first is generally to inform you how much money you’re earning) is “oh my goodness, do you have to stick your arm into a cow?!”, as if it is the most disgusting thing another human could possibly do. That…
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Ludicrous layouts: no space for anything and everything out of place
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I’m probably going to come over all “feng shui”, but working in some different spaces recently has got me thinking about how we choose where things go in the veterinary clinic – especially in converted buildings that were never intended to be a veterinary practice. Do we really “choose” where things go, or do we…
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AFAST, part 1
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AFAST = Abdominal Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma In the emergency setting, focused ultrasound examinations are increasingly being used as extensions of the physical examination. The goal is the identification of life-threatening conditions – such as internal bleeding or organ rupture – but can also assist in tracking conditions over a period of time.…
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Nail clipping
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“Clip nails” It seems innocuous. It looks so simple and routine on the consulting list – no worrying about history taking, no complicated diagnoses or treatment plans – just clip the nails. A quickie that may even give you a chance to snatch a few minutes back so you can stay on time: this is…
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Keeping pets happy in the heat
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The English summer, though tardy as usual, has finally arrived – and while this is cause for celebration among humans, I thought it best to share a few words of caution about keeping our furry friends equally happy as the temperatures rise. Around this time of year, vets get a surge of patients coming in…
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Head trauma, part 3: hypertonic saline 7% or mannitol?
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As discussed in part 1 and part 2 of this series, many dogs and cats can recover from severe brain injuries if systemic and neurological abnormalities are identified and managed appropriately and early enough. The initial trauma to the brain parenchyma is followed by secondary damage resulting from haemorrhage, ischaemia and oedema. As the brain…
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Always on: a new perspective
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It was a couple of weeks before I set off for Bristol and an uncertain, but exciting life on the vet course that my mother – who’s been a member of the medical field for many years – began pointing out various dogs and cats to me as we passed them, stating that, once I…
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Staying motivated
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When your course is a minimum of five years long, and your days are filled with lab work, lectures and study, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture – the real core driver behind why you wanted to be a vet in the first place. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but…
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The mistakes that haunt us
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More than any other group of people I know, vets are good at beating themselves up after mistakes – world class, in fact. We make mistakes because we’re human. But, because we’re also medical professionals, sometimes the mistakes we make lead to a death, and that’s a very hard thing to deal with – particularly…