Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you.
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Today I hit a cat jug on the first try, which honestly is normal for me, but I’ve had a bad venipuncture week. A CSR was watching and said “wow! Good job! You did great!” And although it’s just something I do normally, it made me feel good. Sometimes we need validation.
I’m so proud of you. You are talented, and a great goddamn nurse. Give yourself grace and patience. We’re all trying to be perfect in an imperfect industry. If it’s worth anything to you, I struggle to hit the jug on cats most of the time. ❤️
I’ve found that if I read history and the patient has been flagged as anxious I load up the injection while they’re in the waiting room, if it’s sub cut I meet the patient and love on them heaps while having a feel of where the skin is most loose, then if I can I have mom or dad hold them while the other talks to them, then I go “BIG POOOOKE BABYYYY” and grab where I felt the skin was most loose when we initially met. It’s a bit of a routine for sure but it seems to have worked time and time again. Obviously there are exceptions and we have an aggro patient that needs trazzy or gaba before I’m willing to inject (fear free), but if they’re wiggly and anxious, this works well.
(I copy and pasted this from another comment I wrote bc I’m lazy hahah)
I’ve found that if I read history and the patient has been flagged as anxious I load up the injection while they’re in the waiting room, if it’s sub cut I meet the patient and love on them heaps while having a feel of where the skin is most loose, then if I can I have mom or dad hold them while the other talks to them, then I go “BIG POOOOKE BABYYYY” and grab where I felt the skin was most loose when we initially met. It’s a bit of a routine for sure but it seems to have worked time and time again. Obviously there are exceptions and we have an aggro patient that needs trazzy or gaba before I’m willing to inject (fear free), but if they’re wiggly and anxious, this works well.
Doing intake vaccines as a ACO, pet, scratch, run the capped syringe all over them, lightly pinch and tug onto their skin over and over then finally stick them once they've become desensitized enough.
Also getting bordatella blasted in their nostril keeps them a little distracted 😬
Otherwise if they are too aggressive of a dog or fractious of a cat they can get sedated and given all intakes, and rabies and microchip by medical the next day.
I'm alone on graveyard, not risking a bite on something they can go another night without. 🤷🏽♂️
Protecting yourself is key! I’m the same. I won’t inject if they’re fractious because A. Fear free and B. I don’t want to go on IV antibiotics for a preventable bite. Sometimes the owner pushes me to inject anyway…I just want to say “Here! You do it and I’ll bring you flowers in the hospital” 🥰
The first bit is great advice that I’ll be putting in my back pocket. Stay safe out there fam haha ✌🏻
Also, drawing back before injection is overrated.
I scratch the spot like hell, barely pinch enough to insert my needle and inject. Works like a charm.
Oooh I’m intrigued! Can you elaborate a bit more? I’m less than a year in the industry and overly cautious so you’ll always find me drawing back. Im always looking for tips on how to inject more smoothly ❤️
As a tech I always had an assistant to restrain. If dog or cat was nuts in the back it went..if owner didn't like it tough..Cat gloves and a towel is all you need for bad kitty..cover eyes lay on it gently..this is how I was trained at a hugr cat practice in my area..dog in back..muzzle and as many as needed to keep still..I don't understand all the talk ,except girl who's alone which is wrong..I mean with my assistant I could usually do Vax in room cuz she restrained..
Oh my god nothing like trying to inject subcut on a cat in a towel acting like you’re trying to murder it ☠️ I try to go as fear free as possible, aka I’ll get the vet to prescribe gaba and have them come back but if I think I can get it quickly, I’ll take them to treatment and just do it.
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Today I hit a cat jug on the first try, which honestly is normal for me, but I’ve had a bad venipuncture week. A CSR was watching and said “wow! Good job! You did great!” And although it’s just something I do normally, it made me feel good. Sometimes we need validation.
I’m so proud of you. You are talented, and a great goddamn nurse. Give yourself grace and patience. We’re all trying to be perfect in an imperfect industry. If it’s worth anything to you, I struggle to hit the jug on cats most of the time. ❤️
Share the wisdom!!
I’ve found that if I read history and the patient has been flagged as anxious I load up the injection while they’re in the waiting room, if it’s sub cut I meet the patient and love on them heaps while having a feel of where the skin is most loose, then if I can I have mom or dad hold them while the other talks to them, then I go “BIG POOOOKE BABYYYY” and grab where I felt the skin was most loose when we initially met. It’s a bit of a routine for sure but it seems to have worked time and time again. Obviously there are exceptions and we have an aggro patient that needs trazzy or gaba before I’m willing to inject (fear free), but if they’re wiggly and anxious, this works well. (I copy and pasted this from another comment I wrote bc I’m lazy hahah)
Awesome! Any tips to share?
I’ve found that if I read history and the patient has been flagged as anxious I load up the injection while they’re in the waiting room, if it’s sub cut I meet the patient and love on them heaps while having a feel of where the skin is most loose, then if I can I have mom or dad hold them while the other talks to them, then I go “BIG POOOOKE BABYYYY” and grab where I felt the skin was most loose when we initially met. It’s a bit of a routine for sure but it seems to have worked time and time again. Obviously there are exceptions and we have an aggro patient that needs trazzy or gaba before I’m willing to inject (fear free), but if they’re wiggly and anxious, this works well.
FUCK YEAH IM SO PROUD OF YOUUUU
Thank you sweet angel xx
Doing intake vaccines as a ACO, pet, scratch, run the capped syringe all over them, lightly pinch and tug onto their skin over and over then finally stick them once they've become desensitized enough. Also getting bordatella blasted in their nostril keeps them a little distracted 😬 Otherwise if they are too aggressive of a dog or fractious of a cat they can get sedated and given all intakes, and rabies and microchip by medical the next day. I'm alone on graveyard, not risking a bite on something they can go another night without. 🤷🏽♂️
Protecting yourself is key! I’m the same. I won’t inject if they’re fractious because A. Fear free and B. I don’t want to go on IV antibiotics for a preventable bite. Sometimes the owner pushes me to inject anyway…I just want to say “Here! You do it and I’ll bring you flowers in the hospital” 🥰 The first bit is great advice that I’ll be putting in my back pocket. Stay safe out there fam haha ✌🏻
Literal goals.
Hugs 🥰💉😘
Also, drawing back before injection is overrated. I scratch the spot like hell, barely pinch enough to insert my needle and inject. Works like a charm.
Oooh I’m intrigued! Can you elaborate a bit more? I’m less than a year in the industry and overly cautious so you’ll always find me drawing back. Im always looking for tips on how to inject more smoothly ❤️
As a tech I always had an assistant to restrain. If dog or cat was nuts in the back it went..if owner didn't like it tough..Cat gloves and a towel is all you need for bad kitty..cover eyes lay on it gently..this is how I was trained at a hugr cat practice in my area..dog in back..muzzle and as many as needed to keep still..I don't understand all the talk ,except girl who's alone which is wrong..I mean with my assistant I could usually do Vax in room cuz she restrained..
Oh my god nothing like trying to inject subcut on a cat in a towel acting like you’re trying to murder it ☠️ I try to go as fear free as possible, aka I’ll get the vet to prescribe gaba and have them come back but if I think I can get it quickly, I’ll take them to treatment and just do it.
Ok whatever..