RANT HERE thread

[vetmedhead]

Also, there's a reason that we call it practicing veterinary medicine. You're never going to make the perfect decision perfectly 100% of the time. The goal is to learn from these mistakes and use them to improve and cultivate how we practice over time. When we catch these mistakes when they're made by our colleagues, I think it's important to approach them from a place of understanding and a desire to build them up to improve and do better in the future.

I think it also helps to think that 90% of people are doing their best 90% of the time. Give people the benefit of the doubt.

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[Karabiner13]

Quality of life discussions are very emotional and not every client is ready to make that decision despite what you say. Some even try their hardest to get you to say their pet is fine and can go on living at home (or twist what you say to fit what they want to hear). Others don't want to make that decision no matter what you say and want them to die in their sleep at home

Not everyone has a good idea of what a good quality of life is. To some, just being (eating and going to the bathroom) is a good quality of life. This is something to keep in mind whenever having these discussions. Talking to a vet and finding resources to help with awareness of what a good quality of life actually is can be a great step in a quality of life discussion. In the end, you have to keep in mind that not everyone is ready to make that decision no matter what you say even though it can be super frustrating

 

[vetmedhead]

I think I used to have a much more rigid perspective on quality of life and end of life care, but discussions with a lot of veterinarians in the hospice field have really changed my perspective on what good end of life care looks like, and how to approach those conversations with clients.

I think a lot of the struggle isn't getting clients to understand the objective situation, but rather in helping them navigate the grief process quickly and thoughtfully enough for them to be able to make that decision in a timely fashion. Some clients are very easy to work with to come to that decision, and for others letting go is a much more difficult process and helping them get to the point where they're ready takes much more work. It's difficult when you have a time-sensitive medical issue and a client who wants a ton of time to make the ultimate choice.

 

[Dinashadow]

My 2 year old male cat blocked and had to get surgery today. Like I was about to leave the house this morning and noticed he was squatting and just dribbling a few drops of urine. He did a really good job hiding he was in pain so I'm thankful I caught it.

He has some history of inappropriate urination for a while but we had just gotten that cleared up with fluoxetine and some environment modifications (more litterboxes, feliway, etc.)

His kidneys and renal values looked good on bloodwork so I did catch it early luckily.

I was supposed to be teching in surgery today too but had requested off to go to admitted applicants day at Tufts. It's probably for the best though that I wasn't as I sometimes fall apart when my own animals are sick.

 

[vetmedhead]

My 2 year old male cat blocked and had to get surgery today. Like I was about to leave the house this morning and noticed he was squatting and just dribbling a few drops of urine. He did a really good job hiding he was in pain so I'm thankful I caught it.

He has some history of inappropriate urination for a while but we had just gotten that cleared up with fluoxetine and some environment modifications (more litterboxes, feliway, etc.)

His kidneys and renal values looked good on bloodwork so I did catch it early luckily.

I was supposed to be teching in surgery today too but had requested off to go to admitted applicants day at Tufts. It's probably for the best though that I wasn't as I sometimes fall apart when my own animals are sick.

I'm sorry about your kitty. Hope he has a quick recovery.

 

[Dinashadow]

I'm sorry about your kitty. Hope he has a quick recovery.

Thanks! He's doing good now and is enjoying all his meds he's gotten today haha.

We're pulling his urinary catheter tomorrow and I'm crossing my fingers he won't block again.

 

[DVMDream]

My 2 year old male cat blocked and had to get surgery today. Like I was about to leave the house this morning and noticed he was squatting and just dribbling a few drops of urine. He did a really good job hiding he was in pain so I'm thankful I caught it.

He has some history of inappropriate urination for a while but we had just gotten that cleared up with fluoxetine and some environment modifications (more litterboxes, feliway, etc.)

His kidneys and renal values looked good on bloodwork so I did catch it early luckily.

I was supposed to be teching in surgery today too but had requested off to go to admitted applicants day at Tufts. It's probably for the best though that I wasn't as I sometimes fall apart when my own animals are sick.

Hope all is well with your kitty.

I still to this day can't handle it when my own pet has an issue. I won't even do a dental on her myself..... I drop her off with another vet and run away.

 

[ajs513]

My 2 year old male cat blocked and had to get surgery today. Like I was about to leave the house this morning and noticed he was squatting and just dribbling a few drops of urine. He did a really good job hiding he was in pain so I'm thankful I caught it.

He has some history of inappropriate urination for a while but we had just gotten that cleared up with fluoxetine and some environment modifications (more litterboxes, feliway, etc.)

His kidneys and renal values looked good on bloodwork so I did catch it early luckily.

I was supposed to be teching in surgery today too but had requested off to go to admitted applicants day at Tufts. It's probably for the best though that I wasn't as I sometimes fall apart when my own animals are sick.

Hope he recovers quickly! At least you caught it early, so that’s really good! Sorry you had such a rough day today

 

[Dinashadow]

Hope all is well with your kitty.

I still to this day can't handle it when my own pet has an issue. I won't even do a dental on her myself..... I drop her off with another vet and run away.

The other day at work my current vet made a comment about how when I graduate I'll be able to take care of my own pets if I want and I was like no thanks I'm still going to bring them to you.

It's really hit or miss for me. On one hand I don't want to trust anybody else with my pets but on the other hand I know my judgement will get cloudy if i do it.

 

[nyanko]

I hope that my own specialized field of knowledge is never needed in my pets' care. I am more than happy to let other people take care of my pets for all of the other fields.

 

[cdo96]

I hope that my own specialized field of knowledge is never needed in my pets' care. I am more than happy to let other people take care of my pets for all of the other fields.

I took a clinical neurology elective this course and I too hope my pets never need you.

Basics of neurology (from a non-neurologist)- just about everything is bad and most everything is lost to follow up

 

[nyanko]

Basics of neurology (from a non-neurologist)- just about everything is bad and most everything is lost to follow up

Whoa hold up here, we make paralyzed dogs walk again on the daily. It's just that it isn't cheap or easy.

 

[SquirrelSam]

My graduate program director won’t let me graduate without a one-week session on campus that’s the week after vet school starts...Now I’m going to have to ask about deferring my acceptance to January.

 

[SkiOtter]

Tbh I’d see if there’s any way to petition the school because of vet school because that’s ridiculous.

 

[Skimble]

Whoa hold up here, we make paralyzed dogs walk again on the daily. It's just that it isn't cheap or easy.

Hey, treating myasthenia gravis is usually pretty rewarding!

 

[Trilt]

Old dog vestibular and back pain are basically the only routinely rewarding neuro things in GP imo. Otherwise it's like, well, steroids and abx may or may not fix this please go to a neurologist with the money you don't have if it doesn't thanks.

 

[Trilt]

Hey, treating myasthenia gravis is usually pretty rewarding!

Our n=1 suspect one at my clinic since I started didn't have money for confirmatory testing and never followed up after starting pyridostigmine so... Can't say that's very rewarding lol.

 

[nyanko]

Hey, treating myasthenia gravis is usually pretty rewarding!

Unless they have megaesophagus that never resolves and repeated episodes of aspiration pnuemonia, or bad adverse effects with Mestinon.

In fact, the only real "rewarding" myasthenic I've ever treated was a GSD that I diagnosed during my neuro internship, who had plasmapheresis twice and finally resolved the megaesophagus after 1.5 years.....then was diagnosed with splenic hemangiosarcoma 1.5 years after that.

My long-term ICU managed coonhound paralysis patient (one of my first cases of my residency!) was taken to the lake and left alone too soon after discharge while she didn't have enough function back yet and drowned, otherwise that might have been pretty rewarding too.

 

[that redhead]

Unless they have megaesophagus that never resolves and repeated episodes of aspiration pnuemonia, or bad adverse effects with Mestinon.

In fact, the only real "rewarding" myasthenic I've ever treated was a GSD that I diagnosed during my neuro internship, who had plasmapheresis twice and finally resolved the megaesophagus after 1.5 years.....then was diagnosed with splenic hemangiosarcoma 1.5 years after that.

My long-term ICU managed coonhound paralysis patient (one of my first cases of my residency!) was taken to the lake and left alone too soon after discharge while she didn't have enough function back yet and drowned, otherwise that might have been pretty rewarding too.

Not many things break my heart anymore but add that one to the list

 

[nyanko]

Not many things break my heart anymore but add that one to the list

Trust me, I did NOT expect that my 2 month follow-up call for the coonhound paralysis dog would bring me that particular news....I was expecting to hear about how well she was doing in PT and stuff.

 

[grebes4lyfe]

I'm kinda annoyed bc I'm working 50h this week (i'm technically only PT, but normal work week is still 30-ish hours).
i thought i had yesterday off so i put off laundry, studying, and grocery shopping on monday, and was gonna split those things between yesterday and today.
then yesterday morning my roommate woke me up at 6:45 like "..... why aren't you awake?? we have to leave?!" so i got ready for work in 5 minutes (literally 5 minutes. she woke me up at exactly 645, we locked our apt at 651) and worked 10h + an hour commute each way.
so now I'm tired from work, had to try to cram 2 days of studying into one (taking a self-paced micro class online and I'm trying to do a chapter a day, so today i have to do 2 chapters to stay on track... I've gotten 75% of it done...?), now i have to buy food for the next 4 days since my fridge is empty, but i also have to do laundry so that i actually have scrubs to wear for the next 4 days, and finish these chapters for micro (i have shared laundry, so i can't just start my laundry and leave. someone will steal my stuff).
mehhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[DVMDream]

I'm kinda annoyed bc I'm working 50h this week (i'm technically only PT, but normal work week is still 30-ish hours).
i thought i had yesterday off so i put off laundry, studying, and grocery shopping on monday, and was gonna split those things between yesterday and today.
then yesterday morning my roommate woke me up at 6:45 like "..... why aren't you awake?? we have to leave?!" so i got ready for work in 5 minutes (literally 5 minutes. she woke me up at exactly 645, we locked our apt at 651) and worked 10h + an hour commute each way.
so now I'm tired from work, had to try to cram 2 days of studying into one (taking a self-paced micro class online and I'm trying to do a chapter a day, so today i have to do 2 chapters to stay on track... I've gotten 75% of it done...?), now i have to buy food for the next 4 days since my fridge is empty, but i also have to do laundry so that i actually have scrubs to wear for the next 4 days, and finish these chapters for micro (i have shared laundry, so i can't just start my laundry and leave. someone will steal my stuff).
mehhhhhhhhhhhhh

Can you get grocery delivery in your area? I use instacart and have my groceries delivered. I think your first time they waive the delivery fee, so just a tip for the delivery person.

 

[grebes4lyfe]

I just got in my car to go to the store and it started pouring.

I’m so unamused rn.

Should have done delivery (I already have used instacart once and the deliver fee is like $15 here and I’m too cheap for that. It was a good suggestion though, thank you!)

 

[SkiOtter]

I just got in my car to go to the store and it started pouring.

I’m so unamused rn.

Should have done delivery (I already have used instacart once and the deliver fee is like $15 here and I’m too cheap for that. It was a good suggestion though, thank you!)

Do you have the Walmart grocery pick up??? Similar thing where you don’t have to shop, but you have to go pick them up. Buuuut you don’t have to leave your car so it’s just the drive to and from Walmart.

 

[imdyinscoob]

I dropped my free ice cream cone from Dairy Queen

 

[grebes4lyfe]

Do you have the Walmart grocery pick up??? Similar thing where you don’t have to shop, but you have to go pick them up. Buuuut you don’t have to leave your car so it’s just the drive to and from Walmart.

oooh i didnt know that was a thing. ill check it out. thanks!

 

[DVMDream]

I dropped my free ice cream cone from Dairy Queen

RIP Dairy Queen ice cream cone

 

[Barkley13]

My dog jumped off the couch and now has a stiff neck and won’t look to the left and can’t get comfortable and won’t eat so now we’re heading to the vet later

 

[grebes4lyfe]

My dog jumped off the couch and now has a stiff neck and won’t look to the left and can’t get comfortable and won’t eat so now we’re heading to the vet later

Sorry barks!! Hope (s)he’s ok!!

 

[altadama]

Very whiny rant...but just really missing my fiancé a lot and feeling lonely. Being apart for school is even harder than I expected. Have 4 more exams to study for but all I want to do is go home for a weekend and see him and my family.

 

[Dinashadow]

My dog jumped off the couch and now has a stiff neck and won’t look to the left and can’t get comfortable and won’t eat so now we’re heading to the vet later

How's your pupper doing?

Very whiny rant...but just really missing my fiancé a lot and feeling lonely. Being apart for school is even harder than I expected. Have 4 more exams to study for but all I want to do is go home for a weekend and see him and my family.

I'm going to be going through this in a few months and not looking forward to it.

 

[Barkley13]

How's your pupper doing?

She's much better! She's back to running around and being crazy

 

[capri1722]

Y'all my boyfriend was humming 7 Rings and I asked him if he'd ever seen The Sound of Music and he was like "yeah, that's the one with Robin Williams and the kid from A.I. right?" One of those people wasn't even born yet…

Side note we have no effing clue what movie he's thinking of but it's definitely not Mrs. Doubtfire. Apparently the kid goes around making music from city sounds or something…?

 

[grebes4lyfe]

Y'all my boyfriend was humming 7 Rings and I asked him if he'd ever seen The Sound of Music and he was like "yeah, that's the one with Robin Williams and the kid from A.I. right?" One of those people wasn't even born yet…

Side note we have no effing clue what movie he's thinking of but it's definitely not Mrs. Doubtfire. Apparently the kid goes around making music from city sounds or something…?

I’m sorry wut like... even if you haven’t seen sound of music you know what it is???
This makes me sad

But also August rush?

 

[sheltermed]

Y'all my boyfriend was humming 7 Rings and I asked him if he'd ever seen The Sound of Music and he was like "yeah, that's the one with Robin Williams and the kid from A.I. right?" One of those people wasn't even born yet…

Side note we have no effing clue what movie he's thinking of but it's definitely not Mrs. Doubtfire. Apparently the kid goes around making music from city sounds or something…?

You like
My hair
Gee thanks
Just bought it

 

[capri1722]

I’m sorry wut like... even if you haven’t seen sound of music you know what it is???
This makes me sad

But also August rush?

He says that's it. I don't see the correlation between that and TSoM though

 

[grebes4lyfe]

The prof for my online micro class has the worst voice. It’s terrible. And her pronunciations make me v angry.
She says “aquAYtic” instead of “aquAHtic”
She just called trichomoniasis “tri-cho-mo-ni-AH-sis” instead of “tri-cho-mo-NI-ah-sis”
There was some other prononciation too that made me cringe.

She also got sturgeon and surgeonfish mixed up. She said (and wrote in the lecture slide itself) that Epulopiscium are symbiotic with sturgeon fish. They’re symbiotic with SUGEONfish.
TOTALLY DIFFERENT FISHES!

Made me cringe so hard.

She’s also just so. Freakin. Monotonous.


Edit: omggg and she says “Naegleria fowl-ER-i” instead of “fowl-er-I”
Head-desk-ing so hard

 

[emlady09]

Got my baby doggo’s hips x-rayed yesterday. Radiologist came back stating she has bilateral hip dysplasia, she’s only 2!

 

[vetmedhead]

Got my baby doggo’s hips x-rayed yesterday. Radiologist came back stating she has bilateral hip dysplasia, she’s only 2!

I'm sorry about your pup my parents' dog was diagnosed when he was 8 months and it's such a hard diagnosis to wrap your head around from a quality of life perspective

 

[Squeaksmom]

Got my baby doggo’s hips x-rayed yesterday. Radiologist came back stating she has bilateral hip dysplasia, she’s only 2!

I'm sorry! Mine was diagnosed with unilateral at 2, and there was already evidence of degenerative joint disease. She's also overweight (I strongly suspect thyroid) so not ideal to manage. With that said, it is manageable, but you might want to chat with your vet about options.

 

[izzie.holly]

Got my baby doggo’s hips x-rayed yesterday. Radiologist came back stating she has bilateral hip dysplasia, she’s only 2!

We had a 85lb Chocolate lab that lived to 12 who never showed any symptoms of hip dysplasia but was unilaterally dysplastic and the other side fair. She was probably an anomaly but she hunted hard and loved life while not requiring any meds. Just have to be observant and see what works for her! Sorry to hear the news though.

 

[sheltermed]

I h8 boiizz

 

[capri1722]

I h8 boiizz

Shamelessly stealing from the meme thread:

But really. Whoever he is, he sucks. (hugs)

 

[jaboo]

I actually had time for myself tonight and decided to watch The Notebook since I hadn’t seen it in like 5 years. And like... I know how it ends. I know the whole plot.

And yet here I am, tears streaming down my face, missing my SO who’s several states away right now. I’ve never watched that movie having experienced deep, meaningful love before. Dammit LDR’s suck. As does Alzheimer’s. I just want a hug from my boyfriend

 

[orca2011]

My cat puked up what looked like a round worm this morning...I’ve already dewormed her three times since taking her in. She’s lucky she’s cute cause that’s disgusting af.

 

[jaboo]

My cat puked up what looked like a round worm this morning...I’ve already dewormed her three times since taking her in. She’s lucky she’s cute cause that’s disgusting af.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

When people who want to "save all the animals", hate "kill" shelters, and have no clue what it takes to run an open admission shelter make decisions...



Full PACFA report at the bottom of the FB post.

I think one of the most disturbing things is the poor dog missing half of its jaw that wasnt euthanized.

This is very hard for me to digest as I know the veterinarian who used to work there when HSPPR ran it- I feel bad for her as I know her heart is broken.

I also know the president of the board of CASP and know she would never intentionally want to cause any animal pain and suffering. Theres just so much to this I cant comprehend.

@vetmedhead I'm sure this is being talked about at CSU

 

[genny]

People who snore are the worst. Especially if they went to bed early and you're forced to stay up and let the doggos out for their last nightly pee, or risk being awakened at 4:30AM.

 

[sheltermed]

don't be nice to people. it isn't worth it

 

[Stroganoff]

don't be nice to people. it isn't worth it

Strongly disagree. If there's one thing I've learned in my short life so far, it's that following both the Golden Rule to treat others as one would want to be treated (which is secular and spans dozens of faiths) as well as taking it a step further and following the 2nd Great Commandment to unconditionally love others as you love yourself lead to a certain degree of inner peace and contentment than simply adopting a selfish "**** em all" way of seeing the world and treating others. It's hard to explain, but at least from where I'm standing, being kind to people and loving them -- even when they kick you in the teeth -- is worth it.