Vet Times

Tag: neutering

  • Lockdown 2.0 as a vet

    Lockdown 2.0 as a vet

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    During the last lockdown, I wrote about the struggles of working in a veterinary practice through COVID. And while that has changed slightly, it has still been an extremely tough year for all members of staff throughout the profession. In March, practices up and down the country resorted to emergencies only, and postponed all routine…

  • Unintended consequences

    Unintended consequences

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    I just wrote a blog about the schools returning and what a relief it was for those home-schooling. Now, I don’t especially want to wade into the debate over the risk to teachers and families versus the risk to education and mental health of those caught up in the lockdown; however, it’s interesting to see…

  • What would you do?

    What would you do?

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    Having returned from an equine visit, I clambered out of the car in the practice car park and started gathering some equipment that needed cleaning. A few parking spaces over, one of our other vets was stood with her back to me, sporting a visor, deep in conversation with a client via a rolled down…

  • What about vets on the front line?

    What about vets on the front line?

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    Our profession is generally pretty good at pulling together in the face of adversity. I’ve always loved the community feel of being able to go to CPD events, and usually know someone, or have connections with someone, who is there. I love being able to send a message to my uni friends at any time…

  • Commonly held beliefs that don’t do us any good, pt 2

    Commonly held beliefs that don’t do us any good, pt 2

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    Belief #2: if you can’t afford to care for an animal then you shouldn’t have one You, young doctor or nurse – living in your privileged society of excess, with your years of study, working in an industry that exists largely to minimise animal suffering – have certain expectations of what “taking care of an…

  • It’s okay to be a bit hard on yourself

    It’s okay to be a bit hard on yourself

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    I watched the frustration grow on her face as she struggled to lift the ovary far enough out of the abdomen to get a clamp behind it. We were all sweating in the sticky tropical heat, but she was sweating more; it was her first spay, and it wasn’t going smoothly. Eventually, despite a few…

  • Sustainable pet ownership

    Sustainable pet ownership

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    Pet owning is carbon costly – not just in terms of veterinary care and treatment, but also due to their diet and the products we buy for them. But if we look at the bigger picture, we may find that pets could, in fact, reduce an individual’s carbon footprint due to the type of lifestyle…

  • The only way is ethics: neutering

    The only way is ethics: neutering

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    I thought now would be a good time for a brief reprise on my series about ethical dilemmas involving animals, and not because I like the pun in the title. Okay, a bit because of that… In the UK and US, at least, we regard the neutering of canine and feline patients as routine (as…

  • 15-minute consults: a waste of time?

    15-minute consults: a waste of time?

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    Many practices still have 10-minute small animal consultations – mine included – until recently, when we made the move to 15-minute appointments. It was initially debated as to whether we could offer longer consultation times in a specified time block, reserved for “sick pets” only. However, this was decided against due to the difficulty of…

  • EMS: life, death and lost holidays

    EMS: life, death and lost holidays

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    EMS is something I haven’t touched on too deeply, which is odd considering how much of a vet student’s life it takes up. For those not familiar with the term, EMS stands for extra-mural studies: work experience conducted outside of university term time. Each vet school organises its EMS slightly differently, but at Bristol we’re…