Vet Times

Tag: neutering

  • Get ready for the grads

    Get ready for the grads

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    It’s that time of year again – with vet school graduations done and dusted, new graduate vets up and down the country will be embarking on their first steps into the world of veterinary. The first few weeks are crucial for both the new grads and the practices employing them – this time frame can…

  • Staying motivated

    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…

  • The client from hell

    The client from hell

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    “Never work with children or animals,” advised WC Fields – I think I’d be inclined to add “the public” to that. While, on the whole, my client interactions have been good, every now and then you do get the occasional nutter. I’ve had drunk clients, barely able to stand up, let alone comprehend their half-bald…

  • What’s in a name?

    What’s in a name?

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    We put a great deal of thought into naming our pets. We want something that will suit them – be that their breed, colour or personality – but it can be difficult to come up with something suitable, especially if they’re young kittens or puppies and you aren’t sure what they’ll look like in adulthood.…

  • Practicing practising

    Practicing practising

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    I found my final year university yearbook the other day. In it, I couldn’t help but notice I had been voted the person most likely to write their practice car off in the first year of practice. Now, while this wasn’t entirely fair (I didn’t write off a practice vehicle until my fourth year as…

  • Regaining surgical confidence

    Regaining surgical confidence

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    Having worked at my latest practice for three months, I had something of an epiphany while in surgery. It was a routine cat spay, which I performed entirely unaided and, while this may sound like nothing out of the ordinary to most experienced surgeons – or even other remotely confident new grads – it seemed…

  • The only way is ethics part 3: pets

    The only way is ethics part 3: pets

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    I spent much of my childhood badgering my parents to get us a family pet. I loved animals, but – aside from the odd hamster, stick insect or bucket of frogspawn brought home from my mum’s classroom (she was a teacher) to spend the summer holidays with us – we didn’t get a “proper” (in…

  • Am I still a new grad?

    Am I still a new grad?

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    I find it hard to believe students from the year below me at vet school received their finals results last week. It doesn’t feel like a year since my friends and I were sailing down the Kelvin for the infamous Glasgow raft race on results day. Well, there was more falling into the river than…

  • Cat cafes – a pawsitive or negative?

    Cat cafes – a pawsitive or negative?

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    Cat cafes are popping up all over the UK and, while they may seem like a novelty for cat lovers, I had to wonder how ethical these feline havens really are. As vets, we believe cats are inherently solitary animals, and often become stressed when multiple cats are in the same household or when new…

  • Supporting new grads: are you up to the job?

    Supporting new grads: are you up to the job?

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    As I discussed in my previous blog post, if you are a boss, partner or practice manager, it’s important to consider whether your practice is suitable for a new graduate, before taking one on. Perhaps you’re considering taking on a new grad for the first time, or maybe you’ve employed them before, but are struggling…