RAVE HERE thread

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
HALO 5 XBOXONE ARRIVED TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Members don't see this ad.
 
This is a bit of an odd rave, I suppose, but in the "euth can be a good thing" category....

.... I had a txfr last night of a dog in respiratory distress thought to be from rodenticide toxicity. RDVM didn't have aPT and was basically going off the quick onset of signs, dog vomiting yellow stuff that looked like the yellow rodenticide found at the house, other bloodwork unremarkable except for some elevated liver stuff .... all pretty reasonable given an otherwise reportedly unremarkable history.

Anyway, I get the patient and run an aPT anticipating I'll need to do a plasma transfusion, but the aPT is normal. Even with the Vit K that the RDVM gave, it shouldn't be normal yet if it's rodenticide. I start talking to the owners and getting a timeline and the whole rodenticide thing isn't adding up - clinical signs are too soon after potential exposure. And the dog isn't coughing - it's just super exertional, and most rodenticides that bleed into the lungs cough.

So I shoot rads. Major right sided heart, possible left-sided. Perihilar nastiness. The biggest liver I've ever seen in a dog. Almost definitely effusion in the abdomen. So I call it heart failure and start lasix, which doesn't really help. aFAST the abdomen and find fluid that turns out to be blood. Now it's looking like this dog probably has a bunch of downhill nastiness - heart issues, pulmonary issues, liver issues, hemoab, etc. I share all that background just to convey that this dog was headed down the tubes pretty swiftly and there comes a time when the problems just become overwhelming.

Dog lives through the night and goes back to the RDVM on his last legs (last night I was at a non-24-hr facility, we have to ship animals off in the weekday mornings, which can REALLY suck if they are O2 dependent). I get a call from the RDVM today to let me know they euthanized him.

The owner is from out of town and in-town because her father died Sunday night. His wake was today. And now she had to euthanize her dog today in an out-of-town hospital with just her and her friend to send the dog off. Apparently the dog had a favorite song that the staff at this clinic pulled up on their treatment room computer outside the O2 cage and the owner sang the song to the dog while they euthanized him.

Talk about a literal "euthanasia". Rather than make the poor animal suffer its way out gasping for breath, they sang him a song and ended his suffering. Really, a beautiful thing. I feel absolutely horrible for this owner, who was a sweet, kind woman who lost her father and companion animal all at the same time. But talk about sending the dog out with compassion ..... really amazing thing.

Wouldn't it be great if we could do that with people? I sure wish that's how I could go out - with someone singing me my favorite song before I suffer overly much.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 16 users
LetItSnow said:
This is a bit of an odd rave, I suppose, but in the "euth can be a good thing" category....

.... I had a txfr last night of a dog in respiratory distress thought to be from rodenticide toxicity. RDVM didn't have aPT and was basically going off the quick onset of signs, dog vomiting yellow stuff that looked like the yellow rodenticide found at the house, other bloodwork unremarkable except for some elevated liver stuff .... all pretty reasonable given an otherwise reportedly unremarkable history.

Anyway, I get the patient and run an aPT, which is normal. Even with the Vit K that the RDVM gave, it shouldn't be normal yet if it's rodenticide. I start talking to the owners and getting a timeline and the whole rodenticide thing isn't adding up - clinical signs are too soon after potential exposure. And the dog isn't coughing - it's just super exertional, and most rodenticides that bleed into the lungs cough.

So I shoot rads. Major right sided heart, possible left-sided. Perihilar nastiness. The biggest liver I've ever seen in a dog. Almost definitely effusion in the abdomen. So I call it heart failure and start lasix, which doesn't really help. aFAST the abdomen and find fluid that turns out to be blood. Now it's looking like this dog probably has a bunch of downhill nastiness - heart issues, pulmonary issues, liver issues, hemoab, etc. I share all that background just to convey that this dog was headed down the tubes pretty swiftly and there comes a time when the problems just become overwhelming.

Dog lives through the night and goes back to the RDVM on his last legs (last night I was at a non-24-hr facility, we have to ship animals off in the weekday mornings, which can REALLY suck if they are O2 dependent). I get a call from the RDVM today to let me know they euthanized him.

The owner is from out of town and in-town because her father died Sunday night. His wake was today. And now she had to euthanize her dog today in an out-of-town hospital with just her and her friend to send the dog off. Apparently the dog had a favorite song that the staff at this clinic pulled up on their treatment room computer outside the O2 cage and the owner sang the song to the dog while they euthanized him.

Talk about a literal "euthanasia". Rather than make the poor animal suffer its way out gasping for breath, they sang him a song and ended his suffering. Really, a beautiful thing. I feel absolutely horrible for this owner, who was a sweet, kind woman who lost her father and companion animal all at the same time. But talk about sending the dog out with compassion ..... really amazing thing.

Wouldn't it be great if we could do that with people? I sure wish that's how I could go out - with someone singing me my favorite song before I suffer overly much.
Click to expand...

Gave me goosebumps. This is the type of thing that makes the hell worth it to me. Thanks for sharing this story, it's worth the rave.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Members don't see this ad :)
Who's cutting onions in here?

Thanks for sharing the story LIS. There's a fair number of well-deserving people that I wish we could provide that sort of send-off for.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
I had a very good euthanasia a few months ago. A 10 year old dog with nasal adenocarcinoma who got acutely worse (bilateral hyphema one morning, acutely blind). Lovely summer day, but he was a nervous dog at the best of times and even more so when he suddenly couldn't see. Would not walk into the clinic for love nor cheeseburgers. Ended up taking him around to the back parking lot, and he went peacefully next to his owners sitting in the grass in the sun. All I could think was, "If I had a choice, that's probably what I'd pick when it's my time."
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
LetItSnow said:
Wouldn't it be great if we could do that with people? I sure wish that's how I could go out - with someone singing me my favorite song before I suffer overly much.
Click to expand...

Beautiful post. In response to this quoted part of it, you might find this TED talk enjoyable. I did.

PS: Dude's sweater is on point.

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Day 1 of clinics in the books and I am exhausted!! Gotta get some work done so I can go to sleep and do it all over again tomorrow!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Members don't see this ad :)
wheelin2vetmed said:
Hey babaaay, wanna go flyin in my aero-plane?
Click to expand...

So, I dunno if yer married ... but I'm just gonna say this. Very early in our relationship, I flew my wife from Minneapolis to Chicago and had a limo waiting for us at the airport to chauffeur us downtown for dinner, and then flew us back ... it was all pretty slam-dunk downhill after that.

@StartingoverVet ... did you do something similar? :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Jilary said:
So you use your service dog to pick up girls? Nice!
Click to expand...

It's the only reason I have him, can't stand the dog. Same reason I'm trying to go to vet school: animals are lame, but I'm going to be so rich and get so many girls.

Thug life.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7 users
LetItSnow said:
... it was all pretty slam-dunk downhill after that.
Click to expand...

Well duh, only thing that could've made you even more of a baller is if you found a wounded unicorn on the side of the road and nursed him back to life in 20 min with her watching over your shoulder.
 
LetItSnow said:
So, I dunno if yer married ... but I'm just gonna say this. Very early in our relationship, I flew my wife from Minneapolis to Chicago and had a limo waiting for us at the airport to chauffeur us downtown for dinner, and then flew us back ... it was all pretty slam-dunk downhill after that.

@StartingoverVet ... did you do something similar? :)
Click to expand...
Nah. I was living in Tokyo. Flight there was impractical, but I am impressed.

Although I did rent a plane in the U.S. when I took her there on vacation, and then flew her to the Florida Keys, but that was more of a test to see if she "qualified to be my wife".
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
StartingoverVet said:
Nah. I was living in Tokyo. Flight there was impractical, but I am impressed.

Although I did rent a plane in the U.S. when I took her there on vacation, and then flew her to the Florida Keys, but that was more of a test to see if she "qualified to be my wife".
Click to expand...

I think that qualifies. I flew down to Key West for vacation, and I felt like that was a beautiful flight. For some reason, I found the terrain confusing .... seems like with the land/ocean interface it would be easy, but ... I dunno. I guess maybe just because it was a different type of terrain than I was used to.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
So the clinic I had a working interview for has offered me an assistant position and I start next week! And, the wildlife research non profit I have been working for is going to have me as a "wildlife health intern" during this winter where I can do some data analysis type work from home and maybe come in occasionally to help with necropsies!!! Yay for getting the opportunity to bump up my vet experience before I start applying in the summer! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I'm picking up the lamp parts of my costume today. They look amazing and exactly like the mock-up I posted. I searched a very long time for a smoke machine and ended up coming across a battery powered one by a company called Look Solutions:



They're extremely expensive and hard to find. I called a rental company out of Los Angeles, but they only rent to agencies and the entertainment industry. I ended up calling Look Solutions directly and a lady gave me about 10 phone numbers. Every single company I called either didn't rent the unit, required crazy insurance policies that are, I guess, super common in the industry, or didn't rent to individuals. I called the lady back yesterday, told her I was SOL, and she said to try again today because the president of the company would be in.

I called 5 times this morning and didn't get through to anyone. 15 minutes ago, I decided to call back one more time before scrapping the smoke machine portion of my costume. Low and behold, the president of the company picked up. I explained to him my situation and how I really wanted this costume to be over the top.

Not only did he apologize that I couldn't find a unit from any of the dealers, he's sending me one as a rental (which they've never done before) for cheaper than I would get anywhere else. Talk about phenomenal customer service!

This costume has gotten way out of hand and is now comically expensive. On the back of my wheelchair I'm attaching a sign that says "This costume is paid for by Federal unsubsidized student loans."

The company wants video and pictures for their website, so I'll be finding a few people to help with that. Next Friday or Saturday you all will see the aftermath.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 9 users
PrincessButterCup said:
I feel silly, but . . . what's a base salary?
Click to expand...

So vets get paid in a few different ways. Some get paid straight salary. Others are on some sort of production system so they get paid usually between 18-22% of the revenue they bring into the hospital plus benefits.

I'm on a prosal (production-salary) system, which means that I'm guaranteed to be paid a base salary each month, so that if the hospital is slow or I get sick/take vacation or something and need to take time off, I still get paid enough monthly to pay my bills. Each month, my production (revenue) is assessed, and anything I make over my base salary is paid as a bonus.

Example:
If your guaranteed base salary was $60,000 with 20% production, it means your monthly salary is $5,000. That means that you need to raise a revenue of $25,000 each month to meet your production ($25k x 20% = $2,000).

So if you actually bring in a revenue of $35,000 one month let's say. That's $10,000 in excess of your base salary, so you get 20% of that as a bonus, or $2,000. A total of $7000 instead of $5000 for the month.

Some places will pay production quarterly instead of monthly. Some places will hold a "negative" production against you such that you need to make it up the next month. Others don't.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Minnerbelle said:
So vets get paid in a few different ways. Some get paid straight salary. Others are on some sort of production system so they get paid usually between 18-22% of the revenue they bring into the hospital plus benefits.

I'm on a prosal (production-salary) system, which means that I'm guaranteed to be paid a base salary each month, so that if the hospital is slow or I get sick/take vacation or something and need to take time off, I still get paid enough monthly to pay my bills. Each month, my production (revenue) is assessed, and anything I make over my base salary is paid as a bonus.

Example:
If your guaranteed base salary was $60,000 with 20% production, it means your monthly salary is $5,000. That means that you need to raise a revenue of $25,000 each month to meet your production ($25k x 20% = $2,000).

So if you actually bring in a revenue of $35,000 one month let's say. That's $10,000 in excess of your base salary, so you get 20% of that as a bonus, or $2,000. A total of $7000 instead of $5000 for the month.

Some places will pay production quarterly instead of monthly. Some places will hold a "negative" production against you such that you need to make it up the next month. Others don't.
Click to expand...
I got a little lost...Where did you get the $25,000 production goal from?

Edit: It just clicked in my head once I posted. This sounds like 20% commission with a guaranteed base amount. I would have thought prosal would be more like a base salary plus a certain percentage of all production. Interesting.
 
Stb1473 said:
Edit: It just clicked in my head once I posted. This sounds like 20% commission with a guaranteed base amount.
Click to expand...

Yeah... That's what prosal means usually.

Stb1473 said:
I would have thought prosal would be more like a base salary plus a certain percentage of all production. Interesting.
Click to expand...

Some places will do a percentage on top of your base salary, but no way in all hell will it be 20% on top of base. That means they're paying you upto 40+% of what you generate. Industry standard is like 22-25% including all benefits.

Whatever compensation system you're on, it's fair as long as you're getting that 22-25% total. It's just a matter of how transparent the system is, and how to minimize damage due to slow times, etc...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Minnerbelle said:
Yeah... That's what prosal means usually.



Some places will do a percentage on top of your base salary, but no way in all hell will it be 20% on top of base. That means they're paying you upto 40+% of what you generate. Industry standard is like 22-25% including all benefits.

Whatever compensation system you're on, it's fair as long as you're getting that 22-25% total. It's just a matter of how transparent the system is, and how to minimize damage due to slow times, etc...
Click to expand...
That makes sense. 40% would be a lot! I have 4 hours of class tomorrow on contracts and negotiations so maybe I'll get to learn more about it!
 
Stb1473 said:
That makes sense. 40% would be a lot! I have 4 hours of class tomorrow on contracts and negotiations so maybe I'll get to learn more about it!
Click to expand...
I'm getting paid like almost double now what I was getting paid on salary at my first job. I was super underpaid.

If you ever take a salaried position, you want to make sure that at least at the end of the year, you can see your production numbers to make sure no one is seriously cheating you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Minnerbelle said:
I'm getting paid like almost double now what I was getting paid on salary at my first job. I was super underpaid.

If you ever take a salaried position, you want to make sure that at least at the end of the year, you can see your production numbers to make sure no one is seriously cheating you.
Click to expand...
I forget, do you have on call shifts where you work at the moment?
 
wheelin2vetmed said:
Like OFF off, or just off?
Click to expand...
Like super duper off ;)

Sometimes if there's a case where I personally want to deliver news to an owner I'll call from home out of my own volition. But even for ongoing cases, I'll round with the other doctors that will be there on my days off so they can take over from there. Whoever makes the phone call for lab results get paid for it, so it works out really well.
 
Minnerbelle said:
Like super duper off ;)

Sometimes if there's a case where I personally want to deliver news to an owner I'll call from home out of my own volition. But even for ongoing cases, I'll round with the other doctors that will be there on my days off so they can take over from there. Whoever makes the phone call for lab results get paid for it, so it works out really well.
Click to expand...

Doesn't it feel good?! Every once in awhile the girls at the office call or email me with a question, but I love getting to leave work at work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Minnerbelle said:
Like super duper off ;)

Sometimes if there's a case where I personally want to deliver news to an owner I'll call from home out of my own volition. But even for ongoing cases, I'll round with the other doctors that will be there on my days off so they can take over from there. Whoever makes the phone call for lab results get paid for it, so it works out really well.
Click to expand...

This is my personal goal someday. You are my herrrooo
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
There was a kangaroo in the clinic I work at yesterday! :love: These girls who work at a wildlife preserve in Louisiana were traveling with him, and he was pretty sick. I took the call and said "well, we do see exotics, but I'll have to go ask about that one!" :laugh:
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I'm another that's super-duper off when I'm off. I do have on-call work (one of the realities of living in a very small city). But when I'm not on call and I'm not at work, I'm off and I pretty much don't think about work.

Also, tiny rave: One of my favourite clients (in fact, the one who I wrote about earlier whose dog was euthanized outside) came in with their new dog yesterday. It's a senior Beagle with wicked skin issues that they adopted from the shelter. There's very few people who would adopt that dog, and they did, and that makes me happy. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Had an appointment yesterday with a client whom I had had the end of life conversation with 6 months ago. Her dog is doing fantastic enough on metacam to tear a toenail and frisky enough to try to bite me! And the owners feel that she is doing so well that they are considering cataract surgery.

For some reason, I'm always bizarrely excited about the super old dogs who feel good enough to still try and bite.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
katryn said:
Had an appointment yesterday with a client whom I had had the end of life conversation with 6 months ago. Her dog is doing fantastic enough on metacam to tear a toenail and frisky enough to try to bite me! And the owners feel that she is doing so well that they are considering cataract surgery.

For some reason, I'm always bizarrely excited about the super old dogs who feel good enough to still try and bite.
Click to expand...


My very first lymphoma dog that I diagnosed a few weeks after I started practicing came in last week for a vaccine appointment. still alive, running around, eating great! made me happy since I told them <3 months
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Minnerbelle said:
Yeah... That's what prosal means usually.



Some places will do a percentage on top of your base salary, but no way in all hell will it be 20% on top of base. That means they're paying you upto 40+% of what you generate. Industry standard is like 22-25% including all benefits.

Whatever compensation system you're on, it's fair as long as you're getting that 22-25% total. It's just a matter of how transparent the system is, and how to minimize damage due to slow times, etc...
Click to expand...
We did end up talking about prosal in class this morning! Our speaker mentioned though that the avg compensation is dropping towards 17% :( I'm not sure if that number included benefits or not.
 
LyraGardenia said:
There was a kangaroo in the clinic I work at yesterday! :love: These girls who work at a wildlife preserve in Louisiana were traveling with him, and he was pretty sick. I took the call and said "well, we do see exotics, but I'll have to go ask about that one!" :laugh:
Click to expand...
Was it Barn Hill Preserve? I used to intern there!! I got to spend time with joeys too :love: so adorable while theyr'e still tiny and harmless! I hope this one's okay!
 
Stb1473 said:
We did end up talking about prosal in class this morning! Our speaker mentioned though that the avg compensation is dropping towards 17% :( I'm not sure if that number included benefits or not.
Click to expand...

Whaaat? that sucks. If it makes you feel any better, I get 20% + benefits, and I had a couple other offers with the same.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Stb1473 said:
We did end up talking about prosal in class this morning! Our speaker mentioned though that the avg compensation is dropping towards 17% :( I'm not sure if that number included benefits or not.
Click to expand...
The more I think about this the more I'm bugged about it. average compensation of whom? All associates? Small/large? And is he including people on straight salary (i.e. people who are ripped off?). Or is he strictly talking about people on a production system? Cause if the average was 17% and most people I know are at like 20+% as new/recent grads, that means some people must be at like 15%. Who signs a contract like that? Is that really common?

There are fine details, like some clinics won't include refill prescriptions, euthanasias, cremations, OTC products, prescription diets (or pay at a reduced percentage for those things), etc... but still... Where is that number coming from???
 
20151023_124853.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7 users
Minnerbelle said:
The more I think about this the more I'm bugged about it. average compensation of whom? All associates? Small/large? And is he including people on straight salary (i.e. people who are ripped off?). Or is he strictly talking about people on a production system? Cause if the average was 17% and most people I know are at like 20+% as new/recent grads, that means some people must be at like 15%. Who signs a contract like that? Is that really common?

There are fine details, like some clinics won't include refill prescriptions, euthanasias, cremations, OTC products, prescription diets (or pay at a reduced percentage for those things), etc... but still... Where is that number coming from???
Click to expand...
It has a citation for DVM360 Karen Felsted but I'm not sure of what particular article it came from. I"ll try to look for it tomorrow!

Edit: J/k I already found it. The number appears to come from pie chart in this article: http://veterinaryteam.dvm360.com/5-reasons-your-boss-isn-t-paying-you-more?pageID=1

It looks like it does not include employee benefits. I'm not sure where the author got the number from though. Our speaker was was a DVM, JD from a veterinary business advisory/consultant business. She expanded on the 17% for a little bit saying she has noticed a trend that way too. She had a later slide that mentioned 16-22% for small animal plus benefits or 22-25% without benefits are the "norms". For large animal she said 24-25% plus benefits or 29-30% without benefits. Seems she had two different sources. Feel free to PM if you wanted more info!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

kaydubs
Melee WW Game Thread-April 2024
27 28 29 30 31
Replies
2K
Views
9K
samac
samac
kaydubs
Lucky 7777777 WW Game Thread-Non Champs April 2024
5 6 7 8 9
Replies
424
Views
2K
kaydubs
kaydubs
kaydubs
WWhat Theme? Game Thread
9 10 11 12 13
Replies
603
Views
22K
samac
samac
Zenge142
MaWWke YoWWr OWWn WW - Game Thread
152 153 154 155 156
Replies
8K
Views
156K
supershorty
supershorty
supershorty
SHWWENANIGOATS: The Unauthorized GGOATS Sequel - GAME THREAD
28 29 30 31 32
Replies
2K
Views
15K
sheltermed
sheltermed
Top