RANT HERE thread

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I just don’t get people who are hesitant to vaccinate. Not anti-vaxxers who are against every vaccine entirely. I obviously disagree, but I know that they take a stance that any vaccine is bad. I can understand their thought process, no matter how wrong it might be. But I see people come in frequently who are hesitant to vaccinate and will reluctantly do DA2PP, but fight tooth and nail against rabies. Then they’ll do bordetella and not really care because it’s oral and not a shot. It’s like, how did you form these beliefs and misunderstanding of how vaccines work? You’ve never heard of injection site sarcomas so that’s not the reason. Your pet has never personally had a reaction to an injection or an oral/intranasal vaccine so that’s not the reason. And no matter what we do we can’t convince you that your logic is flawed. And while DA2PP is a core vaccine, Lyme is actually a more prevalent disease in my area. You’d think these people would only do the vaccines that their pet is most at risk for. But there’s no rhyme or reason, and I can’t understand that.
I think there's a lot of interesting psychology about vaccines. In my experience most people feel better about oral or nasal vaccines because they perceive them to be less "invasive" since they don't involve any needles. I also think more people are concerned about rabies vaccines because of extensive lore about how terrible they are for people (lots of people are still afraid of the painful stomach shots nowadays even though that's not really done anymore) and lots of anecdotal talk about how hard that particular vaccine is on animals. I've especially encountered client reluctance to rabies vaccinate their animals as they get older, with many saying they didn't want to put their pets through it or suffer a reaction (which, for many clients, includes preventing the patient from being lethargic after the vaccine).
At least here, rabies is require by law and I tell people that, haha. I also remind them the fine and required quarantine protocols if they’re caught and the $30 vaccine doesn’t seem so bad...
Was going to bring this up as well. Nobody likes the $$$ rodeo that is involved when unvaccinated animals bite someone, or worse (from a $$$ perspective) come into contact with a rabies positive animal. I'm most familiar with rabies control in TX, which is Rabies Vector Mecca, and that stuff is taken very seriously and clients will regret it if their pets aren't current.
 
I think there's a lot of interesting psychology about vaccines. In my experience most people feel better about oral or nasal vaccines because they perceive them to be less "invasive" since they don't involve any needles. I also think more people are concerned about rabies vaccines because of extensive lore about how terrible they are for people (lots of people are still afraid of the painful stomach shots nowadays even though that's not really done anymore) and lots of anecdotal talk about how hard that particular vaccine is on animals. I've especially encountered client reluctance to rabies vaccinate their animals as they get older, with many saying they didn't want to put their pets through it or suffer a reaction (which, for many clients, includes preventing the patient from being lethargic after the vaccine).
And this is why I try to make vaccines sound like not a big deal to every client I take a history from. Basically just saying “alright sounds like we’re just due for a couple shots and a heartworm test. Should be a nice easy visit today.”

There is one thing though that I feel sort of strongly about, and I’d like people’s take on it. My hospital does callbacks for most of our patients, basically if they’ve had anything done other than a nail trim, recheck, or something like that. My one coworker feels strongly that we should do callbacks even for patients who only came in for shots that they’ve had in years past. So if a dog comes in for an annual visit and gets DA2PP and bordetella she wants to call and check on them the next day. While I do think clients appreciate being checked on, I think it implants the idea that things can go wrong after shots, which is something I never want a client to think. We tell them the day of the visit that their pet may be a little tired that day and to call if they have any concerns or if their pet has repeated vomiting, facial swelling, etc. But I feel like excessively checking on the pet when the owner hasn’t called with any concerns plants that seed of worry over something that shouldn’t be concerning. Thoughts?
 
And this is why I try to make vaccines sound like not a big deal to every client I take a history from. Basically just saying “alright sounds like we’re just due for a couple shots and a heartworm test. Should be a nice easy visit today.”

There is one thing though that I feel sort of strongly about, and I’d like people’s take on it. My hospital does callbacks for most of our patients, basically if they’ve had anything done other than a nail trim, recheck, or something like that. My one coworker feels strongly that we should do callbacks even for patients who only came in for shots that they’ve had in years past. So if a dog comes in for an annual visit and gets DA2PP and bordetella she wants to call and check on them the next day. While I do think clients appreciate being checked on, I think it implants the idea that things can go wrong after shots, which is something I never want a client to think. We tell them the day of the visit that their pet may be a little tired that day and to call if they have any concerns or if their pet has repeated vomiting, facial swelling, etc. But I feel like excessively checking on the pet when the owner hasn’t called with any concerns plants that seed of worry over something that shouldn’t be concerning. Thoughts?
To be fair, things can go wrong after shots, and it can be beneficial to check in on that proactively rather than relying on clients to report when they may not have always caught mild reactions on previous vaccinations and "suddenly" deal with a serious reaction that there may have been some preludes to previously. I think it's important as well since many animals often show allergic reactions differently from how humans show them, and they can be easy for clients to misinterpret or miss even with education on what to look for when they head home. This is also a good time to identify common vaccine side effects and talk the client through them rather than having the client assume something went wrong (an example I can think of would be a cat being sneezy or having runny eyes after receiving the nasal FVCRP vaccine - this is super common and doesn't mean the vaccine made the cat sick, which can be a good thing to remind clients of in a follow up call).

I also don't know that it's always a bad thing to follow up with clients irrespective of the purpose of the visit - it can be a good way to develop trust with the client and increase compliance and office visits in the future. Sort of a not-so-sneaky way to get them to like you and come back again, if you will.
 
Some of this also goes back to the idea that things that are routine are not the same as things that are benign. There are absolutely risks that can be associated with vaccination, but for most patients and for most vaccines they do not outweigh the risks of not being vaccinated. Vaccination is and should be routine, but it isn't benign and things can happen.
 
I also don't know that it's always a bad thing to follow up with clients irrespective of the purpose of the visit - it can be a good way to develop trust with the client and increase compliance and office visits in the future. Sort of a not-so-sneaky way to get them to like you and come back again, if you will.

This is why I would do the call back and make it sound as if it is a part of every visit, regardless of the purpose. If you do it for everything as policy, it doesn't make any one particular procedure seem any more scary than another.
 
In addition to what's already been said, callbacks are also a way to cover your butt, liability wise. Client comes back saying that your vaccine killed the dog, but if you do callbacks it will be documented that they said the patient was doing okay at that point, as least. Or if there are concerns you can tell them how to address it/come in/etc. Also it's fairly common for the spouse who came to the appointment to forget something the spouse that didn't come wanted addressed, so I think callbacks are a good point to check back in and see if there are other concerns that need addressed that weren't done at the appointment. Yes, they're annoying for the techs to do and take time, but I think they are important. And I agree with bats that if it's part of the routine people won't overthink it and think callbacks are scary...they'll hopefully think of you as caring.
 
I think callbacks for vaccines are a good idea. My cat had a vaccine reaction and I could see a different owner either missing it entirely or not thinking it was a big deal. And I don't know what (if anything tbh, maybe it would have passed?) would have happened if I didn't know something was wrong and call them myself.
 
Now I’m trying to responsibly dispose of random meds that I’ve found while packing and it’s way harder than it should be. Went to a CVS and they said they don’t dispose of meds. Went to a Walgreens, they said the same thing and that the closest Walgreens that does take meds for disposal is 2 miles away (not THAT far, but far enough that it’s pretty out of the way).
I’m trying to do the responsible thing here, esp since one of the meds I’m trying to dispose of is a topical antibiotic and another is hydrocodone, but I’m getting reallll close to throwing them in the trash.
...2 miles? 😛
 
...2 miles? 😛

When I’m running a million other errands the day before moving and it’s literally 2 miles in the opposite direction I’m going, then yes, it’s too far. Normally no, yesterday yes.
 
When I’m running a million other errands the day before moving and it’s literally 2 miles in the opposite direction I’m going, then yes, it’s too far. Normally no, yesterday yes.
Just seemed easier/simpler than most of the other suggestions tbh. Or since you're driving anyway, to just take em with you and figure it out when you get there.

Though I realize I'm late to the conversation.
 
Yeah, agree with TRH, and you surely can call him up and tell him that the cat is getting vaccinated for rabies while there and being groomed, otherwise it isn't happening. Your safety and your staff are much more important than one dingus and an aggressive cat. If you do it "this once" he will expect it again and again and again and become more irate when you say you can't do it without x, y, z in the future. Stick your ground and don't waver. It takes time to build that confidence, but you are right, the cat needs certain things, you are the Dr and the owner can either consent or piss off.

I piss off a lot of people like this that come in with "I only want this and nothing else". I tell them this isn't a buffet and you don't get to pick and choose how/what we do. This is medicine and I am going to do what is best for the patient and for staff safety. If they don't like that, the can exit the building where they entered.

Did he actually agree to blood work and rads or did he decline those as well?
I've been thinking about calling tomorrow and saying something like, hey, sorry, I didn't remember when we were on the phone that your cat isn't vaccinated, we can't sedate/treat/groom the cat unless it is vaccinated for at least rabies. Then see what he says, I know he'll be PISSED.

He did agree to BW & rads, but the appointment isn't until Monday, so not sure what he will agree to at drop off. Oh, and he's uncomfortable dropping off, he'd rather stay even though he knows it will be a few hours.
 
Just seemed easier/simpler than most of the other suggestions tbh. Or since you're driving anyway, to just take em with you and figure it out when you get there.

Though I realize I'm late to the conversation.

Yeah. But I was over everything yesterday. It was almost 5pm and I still had other errands to run since I’d been waiting for UPS all day and had to cram all of my errands into 90 minutes and also had to drive an hour into LA for dinner with my vet so that I could see her before I left. I poured my roommates coffee grounds into them this morning.
Again, normally not a big deal. 2 miles in the wrong direction in rush hour LA traffic the day before I drive cross country? Not gonna happen

I also didn’t want them in my car for the drive since they were unlabelled narcotics. Just in case I got pulled over. Utah has scary laws.
 
And this is why I try to make vaccines sound like not a big deal to every client I take a history from. Basically just saying “alright sounds like we’re just due for a couple shots and a heartworm test. Should be a nice easy visit today.”

There is one thing though that I feel sort of strongly about, and I’d like people’s take on it. My hospital does callbacks for most of our patients, basically if they’ve had anything done other than a nail trim, recheck, or something like that. My one coworker feels strongly that we should do callbacks even for patients who only came in for shots that they’ve had in years past. So if a dog comes in for an annual visit and gets DA2PP and bordetella she wants to call and check on them the next day. While I do think clients appreciate being checked on, I think it implants the idea that things can go wrong after shots, which is something I never want a client to think. We tell them the day of the visit that their pet may be a little tired that day and to call if they have any concerns or if their pet has repeated vomiting, facial swelling, etc. But I feel like excessively checking on the pet when the owner hasn’t called with any concerns plants that seed of worry over something that shouldn’t be concerning. Thoughts?
My clinic has a dedicated call back person who calls every appointment the next day or two (minus tech appointments haha). I think of it more in the customer service way than reinforcing that something is expected to go wrong. Just a little, “how did fluffy do after their visit yesterday?” People are always really appreciative of a call. I also give people the reaction school which saves us a lot of calls on “fluffy is tired!!”
 
I've been thinking about calling tomorrow and saying something like, hey, sorry, I didn't remember when we were on the phone that your cat isn't vaccinated, we can't sedate/treat/groom the cat unless it is vaccinated for at least rabies. Then see what he says, I know he'll be PISSED.

He did agree to BW & rads, but the appointment isn't until Monday, so not sure what he will agree to at drop off. Oh, and he's uncomfortable dropping off, he'd rather stay even though he knows it will be a few hours.
“Hello Mr Dingus! As I was reviewing Witchy’s file in preparation for her grooming appointment on Monday, I noticed that she is not current on her rabies vaccine. As you know, this is required by law and there are some hefty fines for unvaccinated animals. We’ll make sure we get that vaccine up to date for her at her visit. Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns!”
 
When I first got Max, I joined a forum for Chinese Crested. They, as a breed, have issues. Badly bred ones have more. 🙂 I learned a lot on that forum, tho, and I will say that he is a happy boy at almost 12. Yes, he still has acne, and yes, we watch him like a hawk for a few days after any vaccine. I wish we could do what some areas are allowed, with a vaccine one year, then run titers for the next two. But that is just because he stresses so badly after shots. I understand why we can't in our area, and I keep him up to date. I do not want him to have to fight something that I could have prevented with a vaccine. I just wish that there was one that did not have to be yearly.
 
Yeah. But I was over everything yesterday. It was almost 5pm and I still had other errands to run since I’d been waiting for UPS all day and had to cram all of my errands into 90 minutes and also had to drive an hour into LA for dinner with my vet so that I could see her before I left. I poured my roommates coffee grounds into them this morning.
Again, normally not a big deal. 2 miles in the wrong direction in rush hour LA traffic the day before I drive cross country? Not gonna happen

I also didn’t want them in my car for the drive since they were unlabelled narcotics. Just in case I got pulled over. Utah has scary laws.
Forgot you were in the LA area 🙂 i'd probably never drive anywhere lol
 
I read this as Large Animal. Pre-vet has twisted my brain. 🙁
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@Trilt
 
I'm sorry, I know these posts were a couple pages back; I’m just now getting to them.

Hun, you need to be gentle to yourself. You’re not dumb. You’re not a loser. I know how hard it is, but you need to tell those thoughts to **** off when they happen. They’re not true. **** happens and it sucks, and I’m so sorry you’re still struggling with this, I can’t imagine how hard it is. But mistakes don’t define you.
As much as this may sound weird, have you considered unfollowing for a while? It doesn't have to be permanent, but it would be like taking a break from something that is becoming consuming in your life. There is definitely nothing wrong with it in my opinion. I mean, I gave up WW because I have no self control when I play and needed to focus on the next chapter of my life. haha
Seconded. Sometimes the best way to be okay with those things is to stop seeing them altogether for a while. You don’t need to unfriending these people on Facebook. Just unfollow. Or even take a short hiatus from social media (excluding SDN since it seems like this is a great stress reliever for you). It’s gives you a chance to fully heal before seeing those things again.
Thanks for the encouragement and advice, all. I'm actually feeling a little bit better now and I've just sort of accepted that I am going to get upset sometimes and that's okay, even though it's no use because it isn't like I can't go back in time and change the outcome. Even if I could, and I did make through school and became a vet, who is to say that I'd really actually be any happier? I wish I wouldn't have gone through seven years of education and $120k+ of student loans for nothing, but hey... that's just how things went.

Life should hopefully get better soon. I made my last rent payment for the IA apartment last week and am hoping to move back out of my parents' house soon, and I'm currently looking to make a career move into something a bit more lucrative than the barely above minimum wage work I'm currently doing. It'll take time and it'll require me to stockpile some funds for startup + moving costs, but I'm determined to make it happen and I think it is ultimately the best move for me.

There are certainly days and weeks when I still feel worthless and stupid and inadequate and aimless (though the meds are helping), but then I remember how far I've come since December 2017 when I was dismissed and... I don't know. I feel terrible and boastful for saying it, but I'm almost proud of myself for making it through it all. I couldn't see myself still managing to survive and be alright, all things considered, past that month when everything went down, let alone nearly two years later. I do owe a fair bit of that to SDN, though, for providing such great support. I'm hoping to continue to pay it forward to others who are struggling academically and/or psychologically/emotionally in vet school.
 
I used to run cross country and long-distance track (and was actually quite good at them), and I do enjoy running even now, but I do it far too sparingly and for far too short a distance. So I decided that, since I have today off, I’d go outside and alternate brisk walk/jog/run for about an hour and a half... 6-7ish miles round trip.

I very much underestimated two things: 1) just how hot and humid it is here today and 2) just how horribly out of shape I’ve become over the years.

I started audibly gasping for air and had trouble catching my breath on the way back. I think I began full-on hyperventilating at one point because I came super close to passing out on someone’s lawn. By the time I made it home, I was proud of myself for doing it and it felt good, but damn was it a wake-up call. I’ve got to get back into doing it regularly. Haha.
Honestly props to you for being able to do 6-7ish miles even when out of conditioning and in hot weather. I'm not sure I could even do two miles in mild weather right now without having some sort of attack
 
I might delete this later.

My four year old lab Zelda that I was hoping to get started competing in agility with this year has a history of mild hip dysplasia and an iliopsoas injury on the right side. (Have I mentioned before that all my pets are lemons)? She had an issue with in about 1.5 years ago but she's been doing amazingly well since then.

Anyways she's been really off lately and yesterday she was super restless. Plus I swore I saw her favoring that leg yesterday. This morning she is so painful she won't sit down (not even for cookies) and can't seem to get comfortable so I took her into work to see her doctor and Zelda wouldn't let her extend her right hip at all. So now I have to take her out of class, cancel her private lesson, and possibly scratch her from her rally trial this weekend. She's going back to see the PT but they can't get her in until next month.

I'm just really bummed out over this. I hate seeing her in pain and I feel bad that I have to take her out of all her activities. Everyone at work knew there was something wrong with her because usually she's super exuberant and excited to see everyone but she wasn't at all today. 🙁
 
Wow I had a kind of crappy day. Got a flat tire and ended up waiting in a grocery store parking lot for 3 hours for a tow truck (tire couldn’t be patched and for some reason my car didn’t have a spare, nor could my strong boyfriend even get the tire off haha). Then my housing for my externship that starts on Monday cancelled on me. So if anyone knows of a spare room in East Lansing, MI or the surrounding area, let me know!
 
Wow I had a kind of crappy day. Got a flat tire and ended up waiting in a grocery store parking lot for 3 hours for a tow truck (tire couldn’t be patched and for some reason my car didn’t have a spare, nor could my strong boyfriend even get the tire off haha). Then my housing for my externship that starts on Monday cancelled on me. So if anyone knows of a spare room in East Lansing, MI or the surrounding area, let me know!
Have you tried Airbnb? I was able to get housing for almost the entire summer through Airbnb and it was actually fairly affordable. I don't know how long you externship is, but some places offer long term stay discounts if you stay over a week.
 
Have you tried Airbnb? I was able to get housing for almost the entire summer through Airbnb and it was actually fairly affordable. I don't know how long you externship is, but some places offer long term stay discounts if you stay over a week.
Problem is that I have multiple externships and that cost adds up. I did look and the cheapest I found was still almost $700. I’m saving it for a last resort in this instance.
 
Yeah one externship is in Boston, if I stay for two weeks that's a minimum of $500 just for the room, not to mention food and a bloody plane ticket. That's only one! I want to do four :dead:
 
Wow I had a kind of crappy day. Got a flat tire and ended up waiting in a grocery store parking lot for 3 hours for a tow truck (tire couldn’t be patched and for some reason my car didn’t have a spare, nor could my strong boyfriend even get the tire off haha). Then my housing for my externship that starts on Monday cancelled on me. So if anyone knows of a spare room in East Lansing, MI or the surrounding area, let me know!
@finnickthedog @StayingPositive2017 do either of you happen to know anyone still trying to sublet their apartment/house this summer?
 
Problem is that I have multiple externships and that cost adds up. I did look and the cheapest I found was still almost $700. I’m saving it for a last resort in this instance.
That stinks. 🙁 I guess the cost is probably pretty variable and I can definitely see it adding up if you have a few different externships. I hope youre able to find something more affordable!
 
It looks like a lot of people are looking for roommates but not sure how long her externship is for and if anyone is willing to do something short like that
Yeah it’s only a 2 week externship, so that’s why I’m having some issues. I’m sure something will pop up and I’ll figure it out!
 
Had to cancel my tickets to see The Lion King tonight 🙁 I was shadowing in the ER at my new job, and the hospital director told me he wanted me to take a case so I could get used to the computer system and the flow. I got a wound case at around 4:15. Of course NONE of the sedatives I gave this dog were touching it appropriately, and the process was dragged out exponentially. The tickets were for 6:45 showing, and I left at 6:50. Didn't even get to explore the wound, just got a a good clip and clean in and some radiographs to assess its previous fracture, because I never ended up getting the dog sedated well enough. Le sigh.
 
PSA if you don’t know already. If you do good for you, you don’t have to suffer. But do not buy Ford Fiesta’s or Focuses I believe they aren’t going to keep making them which like thank goodness but don’t buy any older models, literally buy anything else. :bang: :bag:
 
PSA if you don’t know already. If you do good for you, you don’t have to suffer. But do not buy Ford Fiesta’s or Focuses I believe they aren’t going to keep making them which like thank goodness but don’t buy any older models, literally buy anything else. :bang: :bag:

Ford is dropping all sedans. All cars, actually - everything but the Mustang.
 
I just had to rush to the vet because Reese (my cat) started wailing and vomiting tiny amounts of white frothy liquid and I have no idea what happened. I’m sitting in the waiting room because a doc isn’t available for 45 minutes (not complaining about that at all, I’m just relieved that they can see me at all on a Saturday with 5 minutes notice) but Reese is so miserable and I don’t know anything about dogs or cats so I just feel lost and helpless and afraid so please send good thoughts
 
I just had to rush to the vet because Reese (my cat) started wailing and vomiting tiny amounts of white frothy liquid and I have no idea what happened. I’m sitting in the waiting room because a doc isn’t available for 45 minutes (not complaining about that at all, I’m just relieved that they can see me at all on a Saturday with 5 minutes notice) but Reese is so miserable and I don’t know anything about dogs or cats so I just feel lost and helpless and afraid so please send good thoughts
I'm so sorry grebes, I hope Reese is ok 🙁
 
I just had to rush to the vet because Reese (my cat) started wailing and vomiting tiny amounts of white frothy liquid and I have no idea what happened. I’m sitting in the waiting room because a doc isn’t available for 45 minutes (not complaining about that at all, I’m just relieved that they can see me at all on a Saturday with 5 minutes notice) but Reese is so miserable and I don’t know anything about dogs or cats so I just feel lost and helpless and afraid so please send good thoughts
@grebes4lyfe sending good thoughts to Reese and to you.

Please let us know how he's doing. Hope he's gonna be okay.

We care!!!
 
Doc is pretty sure it’s just acute gastritis. She was super alert (read: pretty dang fractious) with him and PE was normal. Gave her a shot of cerenia and some cerenia tabs for the next 4 days and if she’s not feeling better Monday I’ll bring her back in.
The only other time I’ve heard her wail like that is when she sees other cats so it really freaked me out.

Thanks you guys!
 
Ford is dropping all sedans. All cars, actually - everything but the Mustang.
Yeah that’s what I thought I’d read, I don’t think all their sedans are bad necessarily but they really did people dirty who bought Fiesta and Focus. And as one of those people I’m just irritated.
 
(Wait why)
They intentionally sold fiesta and focus models with a defective transmission system. There’s been TONS of issues and at first ford acted like that’s the way the cars were supposed to run until enough people complained that there cars were doing the same thing and then they were making people pay for the repairs in some instances even though it is 100% something ford should be covering. Then I think a lawsuit was filed (I think there’s two now) where they’re trying to get ford to pay back/buy back people’s cars. And throughout this whole thing they recalled something related to the transmission once, and for those people the fix at the time actually made their cars worse. Mine personally has had the clutch replaced once, and the transmission reprogrammed at least three times, I bought the car in 2016 and it’s a 2012 so I don’t know if the previous owner had lots of problems before me. Also these are all automatic cars, but the transmission is supposed to be an automatic manual hybrid so it’s faster but more fuel efficient. Then I just read an article that talks about how if the class action even goes through ford customers will probably get even less, because Ford is getting such a good deal vs the 4 billion they’d owe if every owner sued individually.

 
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