Vet Times

Tag: Pain Management

  • Managing owners of farm pets

    Managing owners of farm pets

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    Farm vetting is incredibly multifaceted. Outside perception of our work can be a little skewed by unhelpful stereotypes of gruff farmers with tight purse strings and no emotional investment in their animals. This is not generally my experience, yet the stereotype prevails, which is possibly why it may come as a shock to some that…

  • The wild

    The wild

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    I can recall a story a friend of the family once told me, about a baby bird they found on the edge of the pavement. It was a tiny thing – pink, featherless, barely able to make a noise. By the time they had found it, the bird was already freezing cold and very weak.…

  • Tree of life

    Tree of life

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    Seeing a “tree of life” can be an intimidating sight. When you see this number of pumps for one patient, you instantly know things are pretty serious. This sight is almost a daily occurrence in our ICU. Now, your first reaction may be to turn around and walk quickly in the other direction. However, rather…

  • Hollie: a cautionary tale

    Hollie: a cautionary tale

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    “For Hollie, my soulmate, my daemon, my constant shadow”   I saw this today – words I had written elsewhere, but forgotten about – and the stoic face I had worn for the past few months melted away. Hollie died in October and I have been in a strange state of denial, relief and grieving…

  • The plasticity of dogs

    The plasticity of dogs

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    “Man’s best friend” we call them, and, in retrospect, cosying up with Palaeolithic humans was the wisest move dogs could have ever made, although neither species realised it at the time. In transitioning from annoying scavenger to faithful friend, canis familiaris earned the protection of the human race as well as, for the most part,…

  • ICU later

    ICU later

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    In a few recent blogs, I have reminisced nostalgically about how things have changed in the profession since I qualified in the distant misty-swirled lands of the last millennium. However, there’s something I don’t miss: blearily sleepwalking my way through morning surgery in the numb haze only familiar to chronic insomniacs, those with young children,…

  • Reflecting on the good moments

    Reflecting on the good moments

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    As me and my (non-vet) partner sat down for a rare mid-week breakfast together, I made an offhand comment about “having” to vaccinate 15 puppies that day. “What do you mean ‘have to’?” was his response. “Most people would love that, and you get paid for it.” I considered this – and, while I’m more…

  • The only way is ethics part 2: inequality

    The only way is ethics part 2: inequality

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    I’ve written about one particular coincidence before on this blog. It’s not much of an anecdote, but it stuck with me because, in many ways, it gets to the root of one of the peculiar hypocrisies that pepper our relationship with animals. I had just finished my consultation with a long-standing feline patient – a…

  • Spoonies: welcome to Janesville

    Spoonies: welcome to Janesville

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    I’ve said before about my lack of love for Facebook, but my social media heart has warmed up a little towards it – not because I think their exposure will create a better platform or that people will ever stop posting the same meme 50 times a day. No, it’s much simpler and closer to…

  • The only way is ethics part 1: meat

    The only way is ethics part 1: meat

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    I had expected the smell, of course, although it was worse than I imagined. What I hadn’t expected was the speed of it all – the sheer mechanisation of the destruction. We had already visited the sheep and pig sections of the massive abattoir – myself and a small huddle of veterinary students on a…