The Savvy VetTech

As you have likely noticed in your pharmacology courses, there is a long list of cardiac medications that can be used to treat a wide variety of cardiac conditions. 

If you find yourself working in veterinary cardiology, you will likely become familiar with many of these medications.

If you opt to work in general practice, though, you really only need to be  highly familiar with a handful of cardiac medications. While you may occasionally encounter patients taking other medications, it will likely be rare enough that you can consult a reference as needed.

While controlled drug logs are primarily the responsibility of the veterinarian (after all, it’s their DEA license that’s associated with the controlled drug box), many vet techs also play a role in logging controlled drugs.

If your responsibilities include anesthesia and/or surgery, you will likely be handling controlled drugs on a regular basis, and you will need to log them accordingly. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s a helpful image: 

This particular image is relatively useless at first glance, because it contains a lot of information. If you take the time to actually trace the flow of blood through the heart, however, it can be very helpful!

A 9 yo MN mixed breed dog, weighing 72 pounds (32.7 kg), presented for a recent onset of panting, shortness of breath, weakness, and episodes of syncope. On physical examination, the dog’s heart rate was 160 bpm, his mucous membranes were pale, and his pulses were weak and thready. An ECG was immediately performed. On the ECG, the veterinarian noted an absence of P waves accompanied by wide and bizarre QRS complexes. Based on the ECG findings, the dog was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia.

As a vet tech working in general practice, you will probably discuss dental care with nearly all of your patients.

Whether you’re recommending home care to a new puppy owner, recommending a dental cleaning to the owner of a middle-aged pet, or calling a client during their pet’s dental procedure to recommend extractions, it’s important to be comfortable making recommendations in a way that improves client compliance.