RANT HERE thread

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I can't explain the rage I felt this fall when the shelter we work with for 3rd year spays made my group give our spay dog back to them intact when we found out she was pregnant. They said "she's really cute so the puppies will be very adoptable!" I'm sorry, is your shelter empty? I don't think it is... And this was only after my group did nearly a week of patient care AM/PM, pre-op labs, etc etc. Glad you could sell her puppies for $300 apiece though, who's "shopping" now?
Was this dog from the shelter in town? Cause they also do annual kitten showers when they get pregnant cats in and it makes me so mad. They often had left over kittens that would be there through winter or spring before they got adopted. You do not need more freaking cats in this tiny ass town😑
 
Ah, I see they’ve “leveled up” from the parvo wagon they were 8 years ago when I was an intern in your area. I swear like most of our parvo puppies were from that type of rescue.

Practically every dog coming out of the local shelter (like goverment run shelter) has a medical disclosure for exposure to parvo, distemper or both.
 
CONGRATS! That is so exciting.

Cavaliers are another breed on my list of wanting to own. (The list might be a bit embarassingly long to be honest. :laugh:)

I'm definitely a convert. The two I have are great lovebugs. Though they don't quite have as many brain cells as my golden does.
 
I can't explain the rage I felt this fall when the shelter we work with for 3rd year spays made my group give our spay dog back to them intact when we found out she was pregnant. They said "she's really cute so the puppies will be very adoptable!" I'm sorry, is your shelter empty? I don't think it is... And this was only after my group did nearly a week of patient care AM/PM, pre-op labs, etc etc. Glad you could sell her puppies for $300 apiece though, who's "shopping" now?
😬😬😬 This is horrible. If I were the professor in charge of coordinating this I would tell them they can take that dog back at the expense of severing the working relationship and not receiving presumably free S/N from the school ever again.

Although honestly I usually just tell people up front that if they're pregnant I will spay abort and tell you about it afterward, you either agree to move this animal through the HQHVSN clinic or you don't use our services.

But then again, I'm not in charge of these things. 🙃
I think all of us agree with you, especially if the client is self aware enough to know what they can and cannot handle. I think was DVMD is getting at is that many shelters/rescues are turning shady in a big way to where it's difficult for well educated clients to find the appropriate dog. This doesn't even take into account the uneducated clients.

As a +1 to the discussion, starting last summer, there was an increase of illnesses in shelter dogs in the Denver area with things like distemper. What was found was some local area rescues getting rescues from the usual suspects (Texas, New Mexico) and "adopting" them directly off the van. No quarantine. No time in a brick and mortar location of any kind. The department of ag straight up implied that if we're going to hold pet stores to lofty goals of good care and humane treatment before, during, and after acquisition, shelters need to meet those same standards. Our number of rescues has doubled since 2015. That's shady.
I (semi-)jokingly tell people that if they want to embezzle money, they should start their own rescue. It is SO easy to commit financial crimes in those smaller 501(c)3s imo. And I think it contributes to the power trip these types of people are usually on.

Working in shelter med for so long has given me a bit of DGAF attitude with these people. At the end of the day, no amount of their time, financial resources, or pettiness is ever going to equal the usefulness of my veterinary degree (let alone my additional training) and people who want to try to **** around very quickly find out.

I am generally very easygoing, and people tend to confuse being easygoing with being a doormat, so it always startles them when I put my foot down.
 
I (semi-)jokingly tell people that if they want to embezzle money, they should start their own rescue. It is SO easy to commit financial crimes in those smaller 501(c)3s imo. And I think it contributes to the power trip these types of people are usually on.
The CO rescue my husband acquired our Pittie through is sketchy AF and I wonder if this is part of it. Not going to publicly name them on a forum, but would be willing to discuss my misgivings through messages.

Another point of contention I have is contracts, both breeder and shelter. I want to see some of these parameters taken to court. These contracts are a free for all.
 
I would love to create a centralized shelter system. All animals are checked thoroughly for microchip on entry, if no chip is found, one is placed immediately upon arrival to shelter/rescue. All information about the animal is documented in the centralized system. Pets are identified by microchip number. All medical information, treatments, behavior evaluations, behavioral problems, concerns, etc are documented in the system and can't be removed (similar to vet medical record systems). This way even if a pet is transported from a shelter in Texas up to one in New York the shelter workers and vets in New York can view, see and evaluate all of that pet's history. Bite history can't be "lost" in transport. Helth information can't be "lost" in transport.
 
The CO rescue my husband acquired our Pittie through is sketchy AF and I wonder if this is part of it. Not going to publicly name them on a forum, but would be willing to discuss my misgivings through messages.

Another point of contention I have is contracts, both breeder and shelter. I want to see some of these parameters taken to court. These contracts are a free for all.
Oh yeah, crazy people put all kinds of stuff in contracts. I have no idea how much is actionable depending on the state. I imagine most haven't been litigated purely because it's a financial sinkhole to do so
 
Another point of contention I have is contracts, both breeder and shelter. I want to see some of these parameters taken to court. These contracts are a free for all.
**** like “must only be given 2 half doses of DHPP vaccines as a puppy, RV at 1y and no earlier (yeah, because that’s definitely legal 🙄), and no future vaccines and have to titer in the future or all health guarantees are null and void. Oh and you MUST keep feeding my ****ty MLM supplement and use our breeder code (so we can get kickbacks, DUH) or the warranty is also null and void”
 
I would love to create a centralized shelter system. All animals are checked thoroughly for microchip on entry, if no chip is found, one is placed immediately upon arrival to shelter/rescue. All information about the animal is documented in the centralized system. Pets are identified by microchip number. All medical information, treatments, behavior evaluations, behavioral problems, concerns, etc are documented in the system and can't be removed (similar to vet medical record systems). This way even if a pet is transported from a shelter in Texas up to one in New York the shelter workers and vets in New York can view, see and evaluate all of that pet's history. Bite history can't be "lost" in transport. Helth information can't be "lost" in transport.
I'm a vet student involved in shelter med and I've been following along with this discussion and quietly nodding along, but I felt like adding this in. Our shelter in the Northeast gets a handful of transports from the South throughout the year. Personally, our shelter does a lot to be transparent and we absolutely do behavioral and medical euthanasias. But the transport companies/Southern shelters are so incredibly sketchy. For each animal, we get the signalment and a single, often outdated puppy picture. Sometimes we'll get a little bit of a heads up about major medical conditions, but otherwise, we don't get any medical or behavior record until the day of when the animals are already en route, and often we don't get their full medical or behavior record until they show up with papers attached.

In our last transport of only five dogs, we received the records upon their arrival and found documented in their history but untreated: giardia, 2+ months of diarrhea, ringworm, kennel cough that started three days before transport, heartworm (yes this happens but to know and not tell us beforehand?), and bite wounds. And this is by far not the worst we've received. We've had one transport dog die in foster care despite specialty treatment at the vet school. Why this is even allowed by the transport company, or how health certificates are signed when the animals are in this state, I just don't understand.

I wish that the Southern shelters understood that they only harm their relationship with us when they send up dogs that never should have gotten health certificates. We stopped taking transports for a while because of the total lack of information shared ahead of time.
 
Oh yeah, crazy people put all kinds of stuff in contracts. I have no idea how much is actionable depending on the state. I imagine most haven't been litigated purely because it's a financial sinkhole to do so

**** like “must only be given 2 half doses of DHPP vaccines as a puppy, RV at 1y and no earlier (yeah, because that’s definitely legal 🙄), and no future vaccines and have to titer in the future or all health guarantees are null and void. Oh and you MUST keep feeding my ****ty MLM supplement and use our breeder code (so we can get kickbacks, DUH) or the warranty is also null and void”
Even simple stuff like in our pitties contract like not changing the microchip to us; technically "had" to stay in the "rescue's" name. Uh, no. She is my dog now and animals are property. Come at me. If that dog gets out on accident or stolen, she's coming back to my house, not your sketchy rescue.
 
Even simple stuff like in our pitties contract like not changing the microchip to us; technically "had" to stay in the "rescue's" name. Uh, no. She is my dog now and animals are property. Come at me. If that dog gets out on accident or stolen, she's coming back to my house, not your sketchy rescue.
That is absolutely RIDICULOUS. I think I’ve seen sometimes contracts say where they have to be the secondary contact or something like that and owner is first, but I’ve never seen one flat out say that it cannot be put in the new owners name.
 
Happy birthday to me... I got an abdominal explore that ended up being a linear foreign body.

Oh yeah, and the weather was crap so I had a bad drive home and then had to shovel a bunch of snow out of my driveway meanwhile it's still snowing so I'll be getting up early to lather, rinse, repeat that.

(Not everything about the day was bad, just parts of it)
 
I will say that outrageous contracts is also an issue in the purebred world too. My dog has a very reasonable contract (do all the vaccines your vet recommends, keep them fed/watered/clean/healthy, spay/neuter preferably after 18 months if it isn’t a breeding prospect, return the dog to the breeder if i can’t ever keep him…that kind of thing) but even among well bred purebred dogs I’ve heard of doozies with outrageous demands.
 
I will say that outrageous contracts is also an issue in the purebred world too. My dog has a very reasonable contract (do all the vaccines your vet recommends, keep them fed/watered/clean/healthy, spay/neuter preferably after 18 months if it isn’t a breeding prospect, return the dog to the breeder if i can’t ever keep him…that kind of thing) but even among well bred purebred dogs I’ve heard of doozies with outrageous demands.
Yeah both mine and my moms were similar contracts. I think my moms didn’t even require spay/neuter and left that up to the owner but gave limited AKC so they can’t register puppies if they were to breed them against the contract or anything.

My previous reply was definitely about the ridiculous purebred contracts out there 😂😂
 
And relating to the crap weather finny mentioned, my allergist is closed tomorrow because it is currently raining ice on this side of the state and has been for 9 hours (so I get why they’re closed for their safety) but I am annoyed because this means it will be more than 2 weeks between injections for me bc of my schedule AND it was supposed to be a dr visit tomorrow, not just an injection so now that gets pushed out until who knows when 😩😩😩
 
I'm a vet student involved in shelter med and I've been following along with this discussion and quietly nodding along, but I felt like adding this in. Our shelter in the Northeast gets a handful of transports from the South throughout the year. Personally, our shelter does a lot to be transparent and we absolutely do behavioral and medical euthanasias. But the transport companies/Southern shelters are so incredibly sketchy. For each animal, we get the signalment and a single, often outdated puppy picture. Sometimes we'll get a little bit of a heads up about major medical conditions, but otherwise, we don't get any medical or behavior record until the day of when the animals are already en route, and often we don't get their full medical or behavior record until they show up with papers attached.

In our last transport of only five dogs, we received the records upon their arrival and found documented in their history but untreated: giardia, 2+ months of diarrhea, ringworm, kennel cough that started three days before transport, heartworm (yes this happens but to know and not tell us beforehand?), and bite wounds. And this is by far not the worst we've received. We've had one transport dog die in foster care despite specialty treatment at the vet school. Why this is even allowed by the transport company, or how health certificates are signed when the animals are in this state, I just don't understand.

I wish that the Southern shelters understood that they only harm their relationship with us when they send up dogs that never should have gotten health certificates. We stopped taking transports for a while because of the total lack of information shared ahead of time.

It is really sad. Like really sad. I honestly can't understand why the change, why stop being honest and realistic about shelter medicine. I get shelter medicine sucks at times. Making some of the calls isn't for the faint of heart, but dumping off problems onto other places without disclosing those problems is wrong. It is just wrong. As you said, it damages that relationship. The problem is, eventually, they will damage their relationships with the public enough they won't even be able to adopt out the dogs that are healthy and have good behavior. They have become their own worst enemy.
 
I will say that outrageous contracts is also an issue in the purebred world too. My dog has a very reasonable contract (do all the vaccines your vet recommends, keep them fed/watered/clean/healthy, spay/neuter preferably after 18 months if it isn’t a breeding prospect, return the dog to the breeder if i can’t ever keep him…that kind of thing) but even among well bred purebred dogs I’ve heard of doozies with outrageous demands.

I have seen some of the things out there and holy yikes. Definitely going to have to find a breeder that is ethical and has a reasonable contract. None of this "feed your dog my MLM food/supplements/vitamins or your health guarantee is void" BS I have seen. I have already started to notice with some of the herding breeders (more so collies and aussies) are super misinformed about MDR1 and have a giant list of meds you can NEVER give to a dog. So there will be some navigating around that issue as well, because my dog is getting HWP.
 
I have seen some of the things out there and holy yikes. Definitely going to have to find a breeder that is ethical and has a reasonable contract. None of this "feed your dog my MLM food/supplements/vitamins or your health guarantee is void" BS I have seen. I have already started to notice with some of the herding breeders (more so collies and aussies) are super misinformed about MDR1 and have a giant list of meds you can NEVER give to a dog. So there will be some navigating around that issue as well, because my dog is getting HWP.

On that note, I got a couple things changed in my health guarantee for one of my girls because they didn't really make sense. Getting it changed was literally as simple as asking and pointing out why they didn't make sense. So don't be afraid to try and negotiate a dog contract if you really like the breeder.
 
I met my bf at the beginning of last semester and he moved states when he graduated in December. We both knew that I was gonna be at vet school for another 3.5 years. I thought since he was moving he’d visit me and we discussed that. Now it’s come to light that he’s saying he’s upset and feels like I’m not doing my part in taking turns in visiting each other.
He says those at his job are in long distance and they rotate. Like great for them they’re not in vet school. I literally don’t have the time even if he pays for my plane ticket.
I tried to say some of the stuff when we last talked last night but I don’t know. I knew long distance was gonna be hard but he has the means and the day job.
 
I met my bf at the beginning of last semester and he moved states when he graduated in December. We both knew that I was gonna be at vet school for another 3.5 years. I thought since he was moving he’d visit me and we discussed that. Now it’s come to light that he’s saying he’s upset and feels like I’m not doing my part in taking turns in visiting each other.
He says those at his job are in long distance and they rotate. Like great for them they’re not in vet school. I literally don’t have the time even if he pays for my plane ticket.
I tried to say some of the stuff when we last talked last night but I don’t know. I knew long distance was gonna be hard but he has the means and the day job.
I'm sorry; that really sucks. I'm normally team "you can do anything in vet school as long as you prioritize it" camp, but this is one of those exceptions to me. I went from Colorado to Illinois for vet school and my man knew I would only be home for major breaks. No three day weekends, no surprise visits, etc. Communication is so important for any relationship and vet school LDR especially. I hope y'all are able to get back on track
 
I'm sorry; that really sucks. I'm normally team "you can do anything in vet school as long as you prioritize it" camp, but this is one of those exceptions to me. I went from Colorado to Illinois for vet school and my man knew I would only be home for major breaks. No three day weekends, no surprise visits, etc. Communication is so important for any relationship and vet school LDR especially. I hope y'all are able to get back on track
Thanks. Definitely agree. Gonna have to have the tough convo soon. Even tho I want the relationship to work I’m 200k down the drain so vet is the first thing.
 
I met my bf at the beginning of last semester and he moved states when he graduated in December. We both knew that I was gonna be at vet school for another 3.5 years. I thought since he was moving he’d visit me and we discussed that. Now it’s come to light that he’s saying he’s upset and feels like I’m not doing my part in taking turns in visiting each other.
He says those at his job are in long distance and they rotate. Like great for them they’re not in vet school. I literally don’t have the time even if he pays for my plane ticket.
I tried to say some of the stuff when we last talked last night but I don’t know. I knew long distance was gonna be hard but he has the means and the day job.
I'm so sorry... I'm not in a LDR and in the first few months of starting school I even had conflicts with my bf where he felt like I wasn't spending enough time with him. I told him I missed spending more time with him too, but I really had to prioritize studying and getting to know my classmates in order to set myself up for success. I could not imagine also having to travel to see my significant other.

I've also been on the other side of things so I understand where your bf is coming from - my ex was in the military and we did the long distance thing for ~2 years. I too felt like my ex wasn't putting in as much effort as I was, but I couldn't possibly understand what his situation was like. I was the one who would visit him mostly (and that was fine with me since he was so busy), but my issue was when he would have designated time off and expect me to take off from work or skip classes to spend that time with him.

If you guys continue your relationship, maybe you can work it out so you visit him on longer breaks when classes aren't in session and he makes the trip to see you on weekends when you're in the middle of a semester/quarter. School is tough as it is though, so make the best decision for you
 
Was this dog from the shelter in town? Cause they also do annual kitten showers when they get pregnant cats in and it makes me so mad. They often had left over kittens that would be there through winter or spring before they got adopted. You do not need more freaking cats in this tiny ass town😑
Negative, one of the central WA shelters. Admittedly she was the cutest darn thing I've ever seen (think Winn Dixie but l like 18 lbs). It seemed like the shelters asked for at least 1 dog back per spay block in the fall 😵 (pregnancy or other reasons). Ours was about 56 days gestation when we US her with therio for fun before she went back to the shelter. They did send us pictures of her puppies and they were also the cutest things I've ever seen so I almost feel bad for wishing they were never born. 😬
 
I'm so sorry... I'm not in a LDR and in the first few months of starting school I even had conflicts with my bf where he felt like I wasn't spending enough time with him. I told him I missed spending more time with him too, but I really had to prioritize studying and getting to know my classmates in order to set myself up for success. I could not imagine also having to travel to see my significant other.

I've also been on the other side of things so I understand where your bf is coming from - my ex was in the military and we did the long distance thing for ~2 years. I too felt like my ex wasn't putting in as much effort as I was, but I couldn't possibly understand what his situation was like. I was the one who would visit him mostly (and that was fine with me since he was so busy), but my issue was when he would have designated time off and expect me to take off from work or skip classes to spend that time with him.

If you guys continue your relationship, maybe you can work it out so you visit him on longer breaks when classes aren't in session and he makes the trip to see you on weekends when you're in the middle of a semester/quarter. School is tough as it is though, so make the best decision for you
Thanks. That’s true, it’s hard for the other person too. Taking turns like that would be a good idea.
 
I wish I could feel this way…. still waiting on one more school and hopefully it’s “the one”. I fantasize about having this weight lifted from my shoulder and I told myself I’d get a puppy when I get in. The ‘finish line’ is ahead of me and I am very jealous of you right now. Lol. I’m just really tired of having this feeling of waiting and anticipation. Im tired of feeling this way. My s/o and family is very supportive but I just feel like I’m gonna let them down.
I am in the exact same predicament as you are. I feel as if I’m letting my fiancés parents dorm because I’m choosing to follow my dreams.
 
This is horrible. If I were the professor in charge of coordinating this I would tell them they can take that dog back at the expense of severing the working relationship and not receiving presumably free S/N from the school ever again.

Although honestly I usually just tell people up front that if they're pregnant I will spay abort and tell you about it afterward, you either agree to move this animal through the HQHVSN clinic or you don't use our services.

But then again, I'm not in charge of these things. 🙃
Seriously, this is absolutely abhorrent. I understand different regions don't have the overpopulation problems we do in the South, but if she's a shelter dog at the vet school to be spayed, she should be freaking spayed without regard to pregnancy status.
 
Someone asked me what my hands-on experiences have been like as a first year student.

At first, I'd say great. I get to participate in a lot of necropsies. I get to work at TNRs and do cat neuters. I get to assist in all of the medical care for my foster pets through the school. But then I realized those experiences are not part of the curriculum. First quarter we focused on SA, so we got to practice physical exams on cats and dogs. Second quarter we focused on horses, so every week we had different labs with our school's horses. Super basic stuff like a behavior and physical exam lab, putting a halter on, tying a quick release knot, bandaging. The vets demonstrated blood draws and IV/IM injections etc., we practiced on models. We had both a written exam and OSCE for this class.

There were four stations at our OSCE and not a single live horse:
1. Dosage calculation. Why couldn't this be on the written?
2. PCV/TP/hematology
3. Dental stuff. A skull with a sticker on it and you name the tooth. Also questions about drugs and instruments used. Again, why couldn't this be on the written? A picture of the skull would have been the same.
4. A model of a horse with stickers on it and you have to write down which stickers are the best locations for IV catheter placement, IM injection, etc. Again, this could've been on the written.

Is this normal for first year students? I know there's over 100 of us, but we could have still done bandaging or injections on the models. I was not expecting the OSCE to be so hands-off. It was frustrating and felt like they're not taking us seriously
 
Someone asked me what my hands-on experiences have been like as a first year student.

At first, I'd say great. I get to participate in a lot of necropsies. I get to work at TNRs and do cat neuters. I get to assist in all of the medical care for my foster pets through the school. But then I realized those experiences are not part of the curriculum. First quarter we focused on SA, so we got to practice physical exams on cats and dogs. Second quarter we focused on horses, so every week we had different labs with our school's horses. Super basic stuff like a behavior and physical exam lab, putting a halter on, tying a quick release knot, bandaging. The vets demonstrated blood draws and IV/IM injections etc., we practiced on models. We had both a written exam and OSCE for this class.

There were four stations at our OSCE and not a single live horse:
1. Dosage calculation. Why couldn't this be on the written?
2. PCV/TP/hematology
3. Dental stuff. A skull with a sticker on it and you name the tooth. Also questions about drugs and instruments used. Again, why couldn't this be on the written? A picture of the skull would have been the same.
4. A model of a horse with stickers on it and you have to write down which stickers are the best locations for IV catheter placement, IM injection, etc. Again, this could've been on the written.

Is this normal for first year students? I know there's over 100 of us, but we could have still done bandaging or injections on the models. I was not expecting the OSCE to be so hands-off. It was frustrating and felt like they're not taking us seriously
Our OSCEs last semester included phlebotomy on models, putting that blood in the correct tubes for the required blood work, running a PCV/TS, and handling a live horse and dog property. This semester it is placing an IV cath on a model horse and dog.
 
Someone asked me what my hands-on experiences have been like as a first year student.

At first, I'd say great. I get to participate in a lot of necropsies. I get to work at TNRs and do cat neuters. I get to assist in all of the medical care for my foster pets through the school. But then I realized those experiences are not part of the curriculum. First quarter we focused on SA, so we got to practice physical exams on cats and dogs. Second quarter we focused on horses, so every week we had different labs with our school's horses. Super basic stuff like a behavior and physical exam lab, putting a halter on, tying a quick release knot, bandaging. The vets demonstrated blood draws and IV/IM injections etc., we practiced on models. We had both a written exam and OSCE for this class.

There were four stations at our OSCE and not a single live horse:
1. Dosage calculation. Why couldn't this be on the written?
2. PCV/TP/hematology
3. Dental stuff. A skull with a sticker on it and you name the tooth. Also questions about drugs and instruments used. Again, why couldn't this be on the written? A picture of the skull would have been the same.
4. A model of a horse with stickers on it and you have to write down which stickers are the best locations for IV catheter placement, IM injection, etc. Again, this could've been on the written.

Is this normal for first year students? I know there's over 100 of us, but we could have still done bandaging or injections on the models. I was not expecting the OSCE to be so hands-off. It was frustrating and felt like they're not taking us seriously
This sounds like our OSCEs, though Illinois's are 2nd and 3rd year. Some exceptions were putting a halter on a horse/cow, listening to the heart for heart rate, etc.

It is frustrating to not use the skills you've practiced. Likewise, OSCEs are just a standardized test forced on us no different than the NAVLE to me. You'll get to use these skills during clinics and ec labs. Don't overthink the OSCEs.
 
Someone asked me what my hands-on experiences have been like as a first year student.

At first, I'd say great. I get to participate in a lot of necropsies. I get to work at TNRs and do cat neuters. I get to assist in all of the medical care for my foster pets through the school. But then I realized those experiences are not part of the curriculum. First quarter we focused on SA, so we got to practice physical exams on cats and dogs. Second quarter we focused on horses, so every week we had different labs with our school's horses. Super basic stuff like a behavior and physical exam lab, putting a halter on, tying a quick release knot, bandaging. The vets demonstrated blood draws and IV/IM injections etc., we practiced on models. We had both a written exam and OSCE for this class.

There were four stations at our OSCE and not a single live horse:
1. Dosage calculation. Why couldn't this be on the written?
2. PCV/TP/hematology
3. Dental stuff. A skull with a sticker on it and you name the tooth. Also questions about drugs and instruments used. Again, why couldn't this be on the written? A picture of the skull would have been the same.
4. A model of a horse with stickers on it and you have to write down which stickers are the best locations for IV catheter placement, IM injection, etc. Again, this could've been on the written.

Is this normal for first year students? I know there's over 100 of us, but we could have still done bandaging or injections on the models. I was not expecting the OSCE to be so hands-off. It was frustrating and felt like they're not taking us seriously
Every school does OSCEs wildly different. For our first year equine OSCE, each person had a randomly assigned set of handling/PE tasks. I think there were only three or four tasks. The first one was always just to walk into the stall and place the halter on correctly. I believe I had to take a respiratory rate, report it to the supervising professor, and tell them if it was normal or not. Then place my stethoscope in the correct place to auscultate a cecal flush. And maybe something else.

Dosage calculations and dental anatomy were part of different courses. Equine IV venipuncture was practiced on live horses in labs but not something we were examined on. QATs was a small animal thing that we needed to practice on our own pets. We didn't even learn bandaging in first year!

Every vet school curriculum should cover everything you need - some of them just in different times and ways than others.
 
Negative, one of the central WA shelters. Admittedly she was the cutest darn thing I've ever seen (think Winn Dixie but l like 18 lbs). It seemed like the shelters asked for at least 1 dog back per spay block in the fall 😵 (pregnancy or other reasons). Ours was about 56 days gestation when we US her with therio for fun before she went back to the shelter. They did send us pictures of her puppies and they were also the cutest things I've ever seen so I almost feel bad for wishing they were never born. 😬
Damn! I think on my block we had a few that ended up going the next week because of URI signs, but I don’t remember any being pregnant. Honestly I am surprised they even sent a dog that obviously pregnant to the school in the first place. She must have looked like a bowing ball 😂
 
Damn! I think on my block we had a few that ended up going the next week because of URI signs, but I don’t remember any being pregnant. Honestly I am surprised they even sent a dog that obviously pregnant to the school in the first place. She must have looked like a bowing ball 😂
She really didn't look very pregnant when she arrived! When we did the PE on the first day I could have sworn I palpated a fetus so we brought it up to the professor and arranged to US her with therio to see if she was pregnant/how far along & for the experience. We weren't expecting her to be so close. I think she only had 3 pups. She had some mammary development but we knew she had puppies before because she was there to be spayed with her daughter 😅
 
I feel like that if I don’t get As on every exam I don’t deserve to be here, and it’s destroying my mental health. I don’t know how to get out of this mindset. I shouldn’t be upset to get a B. I don’t even want to specialize. I feel like I need to keep up and be at the top though. It’s so dumb.
I feel like I’m going to cave under the pressure of trying to do everything in my life perfectly atm.
You’re doing great :biglove: it can be a battle to remember that but you’ll keep working through it and one day wake up and realize you made it through.
 
You’re doing great :biglove: it can be a battle to remember that but you’ll keep working through it and one day wake up and realize you made it through.
Thank you! ❤️ I’ve been making progress on this. I made time for the gym and the pool today even though I have a final tomorrow. Btw love the Dimitri pfp I’m obsessed w him.
 
When the city plows and it actually makes your life worse because it creates a snow wall that you can't just drive over at the end of your previously shoveled driveway. And not nice powdery snow, icy heavy clod type snow.

And I hear we're possibly getting hit with snow again soon? Make it stop. My back can't handle this much shoveling.
 
I don't understand why employers reimburse CE expenses and license/membership fees, but don't reimburse pre-exposure rabies vaccines for staff :shrug:
I don't understand why health insurance isn't required to pay for a CDC recommended vaccine for people in this industry. 💩
 
advice on maintaining a healthy relationship in vet school with your significant other? Important to note that I am aware that vet school can really test relationships and I am also aware a lot of couples don’t make it! I have heard this for years and was told it even today! I understand that it’s a possibility but I am looking for any solutions/ ideas for combating this from anyone and everyone who has gone through vet school with someone. I’m am incredibly type A like most of us and I think I’ll continue to have anxiety over it until I have some solutions and ideas that I can write down and introduce PRN lol.

Some backstory on us:
We have been together for 5 years and we are getting married in 2024. We have lived together for years and he is completely supportive and understanding that i am never home or available to do much because of school, working grave shifts in ER, and juggling several extracurriculars and internships. He also has known from the start that school and career are deeply important to me and he would never get in the way of that. He has his own job and hobbies and is totally cool with being alone. But this is a big change so I want to go in with some tools!
 
advice on maintaining a healthy relationship in vet school with your significant other?
Communication. Having solid communication will prevent the vast majority of problems and solve the vast majority of problems that actually occur. I was long distance with my now husband. We have known each other since middle school, but started dating early vet school. We established immediately that school would be the big priority day to day. However, we actively made time for date night over Xbox live or phone calls. Texted throughout the day. If we thought something was wrong, we asked each other directly.
 
advice on maintaining a healthy relationship in vet school with your significant other? Important to note that I am aware that vet school can really test relationships and I am also aware a lot of couples don’t make it! I have heard this for years and was told it even today! I understand that it’s a possibility but I am looking for any solutions/ ideas for combating this from anyone and everyone who has gone through vet school with someone. I’m am incredibly type A like most of us and I think I’ll continue to have anxiety over it until I have some solutions and ideas that I can write down and introduce PRN lol.

Some backstory on us:
We have been together for 5 years and we are getting married in 2024. We have lived together for years and he is completely supportive and understanding that i am never home or available to do much because of school, working grave shifts in ER, and juggling several extracurriculars and internships. He also has known from the start that school and career are deeply important to me and he would never get in the way of that. He has his own job and hobbies and is totally cool with being alone. But this is a big change so I want to go in with some tools!
Just seconding what battie said. Hubz and I were long distance for undergrad and the first year of vet school. And sometimes it felt like we were long distance for other parts of vet school even when we were living together lol
Communication, checking in with each other throughout the day, and we tried (and still try) to have a date night/day once a week. Seriously the most important thing is talking to each other though. You can't work out issues if you don't know there are issues brewing. It's good that you've already started setting expectations for how things are going to be.
 
advice on maintaining a healthy relationship in vet school with your significant other? Important to note that I am aware that vet school can really test relationships and I am also aware a lot of couples don’t make it! I have heard this for years and was told it even today! I understand that it’s a possibility but I am looking for any solutions/ ideas for combating this from anyone and everyone who has gone through vet school with someone. I’m am incredibly type A like most of us and I think I’ll continue to have anxiety over it until I have some solutions and ideas that I can write down and introduce PRN lol.

Some backstory on us:
We have been together for 5 years and we are getting married in 2024. We have lived together for years and he is completely supportive and understanding that i am never home or available to do much because of school, working grave shifts in ER, and juggling several extracurriculars and internships. He also has known from the start that school and career are deeply important to me and he would never get in the way of that. He has his own job and hobbies and is totally cool with being alone. But this is a big change so I want to go in with some tools!
I wasn't even in a relationship in vet school but will third the suggestions to communicate well. If anything, it's important to simply be intentional about time for your partner and determining the best ways to prioritize that time for them when you know it will be a limited resource. I know it sounds like a weird recommendation, but I would consider looking into some type of couples counseling to go to every so often - they're there for more than just people who are in rocky times in their relationships, and can be helpful for making sure you're not only communicating well but also feel like your needs are being heard and assessed. I'd think of it like dedicated time to your partner/relationship and a way to build skills for when other (inevitable) challenges pop up throughout your lives. Not to mention, it's something I recommend anyway for anyone soon to have a huge transition period in their lives - say, getting married or having a child - to keep yourselves on the same page through big changes.
 
1.) The majority of DVMs will not work in that type of setting.
2.) It is a nurse. I will not fight with you on this, I earned my title. We use this term for the nursing care we provide and considering a CVT is the direct equivalent of an RN I find the term nurse is quite appropriate.
3.) I have also been in this field for multiple years. Met many doctors at different levels and it is immediately obvious which ones are new to the field.
4.) I am aware of this but GPA is a raw number that does not take into account the multitude of nuisances that which could affect that number such as personal income, the university attended, and health issues. How well one did in physics and organic chemistry simply shows they can pass difficult courses, an important skill for vet school absolutely but still should not be looked at on its own as the only merit for moving forward in the cycle
I work in both clinical and non-clinical jobs simultaneously so I guess I’m unique that way.

For my clinical job-can I do all the tech stuff-yes. Should I?-no! That’s not the best use of my time tbh. I sometimes volunteer to intubate a kitty or get blood from a tiny wiggly dog which I can do. To make sure I still can do those things. Again not the best use of my time as I also have charts to write up, callbacks to do and cases to review/procedure to do etc. The best use of a DVMs time is doing those things.

I will try to say this as diplomatic as possible. I have been in this profession since the mid90s starting off as kennel then assistant then tech and csr intermittent. Now dvm. Never a pm though. Every time I hear - why do they admit these students when they can’t understand/do anything clinical are from frustrated techs who have applied unsuccessfully multiple times to get into vet school. Ok so there are factors that go into why someone has a certain gpa but all the schools do factor those in. Love it or hate it schools across the world all look at gpa for admittance etc. Reality is that a student should show in undergrad that they can handle a rigorous scientific curriculum on par with human medicine before going into the DVM program. It’s just the way it is. I have mixed thoughts about sunsetting the GRE/standardized tests (for many school’s requirements), but that’s another topic for another time. Reality is that I have heard what you said coming from frustrated people in the field who were unfortunately unsuccessful applicants. Again I’ll try to be diplomatic: if these folks still want to be a DVM then look at your application and see what can be improved. Unfortunately it is almost a game that you have to play. Not a fun game but the hoops need to be jumped through if anyone really wants to be a DVM. Ok done with my very itty bitty soapbox.
 
Ok slight rant. Ever since I had covid I’m sick of having a scratchy throat and the snowy cold weather isn’t helping. I’m glad spring is right around the corner.
 
Reality is that a student should show in undergrad that they can handle a rigorous scientific curriculum on par with human medicine before going into the DVM program.
I also don't think a lot of American students realize other places in the world determine if you even are "allowed" to apply to vet school at all. Their teens take standardized tests to determine what they can do in their adult lives. As far as I'm aware, the US in one of the only places where anyone can try to do anything. Makes sense with how other governments subsidize advanced education compared to the US; it's protecting the interests of tax payer funds. But it also means those with lower equivalent grades very well may not even get the chance to apply.
 
I also don't think a lot of American students realize other places in the world determine if you even are "allowed" to apply to vet school at all. Their teens take standardized tests to determine what they can do in their adult lives. As far as I'm aware, the US in one of the only places where anyone can try to do anything. Makes sense with how other governments subsidize advanced education compared to the US; it's protecting the interests of tax payer funds. But it also means those with lower equivalent grades very well may not even get the chance to apply.
Yes and I did part of my undergrad in Europe. That was fun applying to get school with two undergrads on two continents lol. Anyway Europe is even more challenging for many reasons I won’t get into here. We in America have more options if things happen or if we change our minds. But all the countries I went to school in (2 countries plus one I hung around in for a class) used gpa. Also they only had ONE exam for a whole class. So if you have a bad day during exam day you’re SOL. There’s ways around it but it’s harder over there IMO.
 
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