Surgery is a major part of the clinic, they do all kinds of surgeries. Some of the main ones that they did when I was there were Spays, Neuters, and removing growths. The surgeries I watched were both spays. At first I was really scared, I don’t know why but I got a feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I watched the tech shave the area that the vet would be cutting and then use alcohol scrubs to clean the dog, using a circular motion starting on the inside and working her way to the outside of the dog’s stomach. Dana the tech was one the main person who let me try things, she asked me if I wanted to try it and told me how to do it. After the dog was clean and all the supplies were ready for use the doctor came in to start the procedure. I sat in the corner on a stool observing as he made the first incision, there wasn’t as much blood as I thought there would be, but he made the second incision on what I think was the uterine wall and stuck his fingers in the whole, he pulled out the uterus and started clamping and cutting. After about 20 minutes he was done and put what was left of the uterus back in and got a piece of surgery string and closed up both insitions.
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Milo is a golden retriever puppy, he is very squirrely and adorable. When I touch his fur it feels like I’m touching a fluffy cloud. He came in for his first visit check up, he is about 8ish weeks old. He needed flea medication, a feces sample, some vaccines, and a microchip. When I try to hold him against my chest I can feel him squirming to get out, as he squirms his nails scratch my arm but I don’t mind, it doesn’t hurt and I understand he’s uncomfortable, someones sticking a stick up with but and it’s uncomfortable, anyone would squirm and try to get it out. Then he needs Bordetella, a vaccine for kennel cough, it goes in his mouth so the tech opens his mouth as much as he can with Milo’s squirming and presses down on the syringe. He needs flea shot which he yelps a little during, the sound of a puppy when they get poked with a needle is a lot worse than with dogs because they cry at everything. The worse one of all comes when we give him the microchip, it’s a slightly bigger needle and gets injected between him shoulder blades, so the tech finds the spot as I hold him as tightly as I can so he doesn’t run away while i’m trying to hold him, the sound of his yelp stuck with me for a while. It’s over in a matter of seconds, then it’s time for him to go back up to his mother.
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Dental are done pretty regularly in the clinic. February in dental month across the country for vets, they give discounts when you do it during February, it's a way they promote getting your pet's teeth cleaned. It is against California law to have an animal awake during a dental procedure, so we have to put a catheter in them then put in the anesthetic. This is Raul doing a dental on a dog, I got to help in the room when they do dentals and on the first day I saw a dental Dana, one of the techs, let me clean a tooth to show me how it feels and how much pressure you're supposed to put. She says you're not supposed to put too much pressure because it can cause tooth damage and you can see it when they come in again the next year.
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Sabrina is the clinic cat, her fur makes her look like a brown and black tiger. She was brought to the clinic as a patient the owner wanted to put her down instead of putting her on a diet. The clinic took her in instead because they believe no animal deserves to get put down due to the owner’s laziness to put their animal on a diet. She lives in a kennel under the receptionist desk, and likes to come out of her home when there are other cats around. They usually are getting their blood drawn, so Sabrina just sits and watches as they stress out. She comes out on occasion and likes the attention. When I try to pet her she leans into my hand, I feel her soft fur tickle my hand as she gets more into the pets as I stroke her till she decides she’s had enough. I can see her head come toward my hand in what feels like slo-mo so I quickly move my hand out of her line of fire. That’s when know she’s had enough for now.
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For almost everything that we do at the clinic you need an appointment with a doctor, this is Dr. Braunstein doing a check up on a Boston terrier. The only things you don't need an appointment for are getting stitches out and getting refills on some medication depending on what it is. But if you need more heartworm medication your pet would need to have an up to date heartworm test, you need one once a year to get heart guard. When we do appointments the tech gets the animal and their owner and does weight and temperature, they find out all the information possible about why they came in so they can tell the vet and get them up to date as well as put all the information down on the chart and on the computer for records, then the doctor comes in and does the checkup and gives their best assessment and gives them the best treatment options
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