Vet Times

Tag: Sedation

  • Two cats: a tale of diametric treatments

    Two cats: a tale of diametric treatments

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    I thought I would take well to emergency work; I’m a night owl, and when animals crashed or bled in general practice I kept my cool and worked logically, but quickly, to discover the problem and fix it – or at least, attempt to. I had recently left my post as clinical director, and picking…

  • Remember, remember, the 5th of November… in June?

    Remember, remember, the 5th of November… in June?

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    It’s that time of year – the daylight is getting shorter (though I somehow ended up with an extra hour on call when the clocks went back, for the second year running), the relentless summer heatwave burned itself out and, with bouts of snow at the weekend, winter seems to have appeared from nowhere. In…

  • Importance of pet MOTs

    Importance of pet MOTs

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    The annual vaccination appointment is important for a number of reasons, there’s no denying that. However, it should be considered an annual health check or pet MOT, as many owners like to put it, rather than a yearly visit to the vets – a distinct difference exists. By law we have to take our cars…

  • Occupational hazards

    Occupational hazards

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    Before I started vet school, I attended a workshop for aspiring vets where students shared anecdotes about the various occupational ailments they had experienced or witnessed over the years. Despite having to defer the start my veterinary degree due to a horse-related incident, I got through university largely unscathed by veterinary-related disease. I contracted a…

  • Aggressive patients

    Aggressive patients

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    I’ve discussed before the massive emotional shift that seems to occur in the transition from a student to a new graduate – namely due to the responsibility – but the transition to being an actual vet also means being on the front line when it comes to aggressive patients. As a student, you are often…

  • Professional conduct

    Professional conduct

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    “Profession” – here’s what the Oxford English Dictionary has to say about the subject: “[noun] A paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification.” And on “professional”, it says the following: “[adjective] Worthy of or appropriate to a professional person; competent, skilful, or assured.” That doesn’t cover all of it, of…

  • Role recognition: credit where credit’s due

    Role recognition: credit where credit’s due

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    Bloggers Jane Davidson and Nick Marsh team up to consider how much of each task on a typical invoice for surgery would, and could, be undertaken by a VN or vet. It reveals how, despite its importance, the role of the VN goes unnoticed and unrecognised. When Jane suggested writing a blog together, I thought…

  • Supporting the whole team

    Supporting the whole team

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    While the nursing profession progresses with the protection for the title in the code of conduct and #VNFutures, we still have a shortage of RVNs, and while veterinary care will always a be a team effort, this shortage means care assistants can feel they are taking on a bigger role within the team than first…

  • Standing surgery

    Standing surgery

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    On my latest EMS placement at an equine hospital, I’ve seen a number of surgeries – some done under general anaesthesia (GA) and others under standing sedation. After getting over the fact a horse can stand half asleep while having its face drilled into and not really seem to care, I started wondering about the…

  • Proscription medicine

    Proscription medicine

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    There’s a bit of a trend for blog titles at the moment – not mine, I generally go for puns. Everyone likes a good pun. Except… well, everyone except me. Anyway, for normal people’s blogs, the trend a few years ago used to be “The five best reasons why you should change your oven colour…