Technicians

Senate may dissolve RVT committee, add member to California veterinary board

Muscle wasting and other abnormalities may be lying just beneath the surface.

Providing appropriate treats for pets doesn't have to be tricky.

How to conduct an effective interview with clients.

This tip from Firstline Live helps veterinary team members stay positive in the face of negativity.

When a doctor does too much, use this strategy from Shawn McVey and Firstline Live at CVC in Kansas City.

Online program offers veterinary team members bachelor's degree in animal advocacy and shelter management.

Using videos as a social media tool helps you create more emotional connections with clients.

Analyzing the demographics of your veterinary practice's Facebook fans ensures you're talking about what they want to hear.

Chair of the new Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians, Kara Burns, left, stands with the chair of the NAVTA Committee on Veterinary Technician Specialties, Amy Butzier, CVT, (VTS Equine).

Every team member can be a leader, according to new research that explores the growing trend and benefits of a concept called shared leadership.

In this video Karyn Gavzer points out that the emotional aspect of dealing with clients is extremely important.

Demand for veterinary technicians leads to new programs.

Theft and embezzlement are on the rise. Are you doing everything you can to make sure your practice isn't affected?

Take a little bit of your time to show some newbies the ropes, and you'll make a positive impact on their careers.

When "big-boned" doesn't cover a pet's condition anymore, veterinary team members say conversations about pet obesity are important ... but not with every client.

Veterinary clients are turning down therapeutic diets for pets, complaining that they're too expensive. Are you the reason cats and dogs aren't getting the food veterinarians say they need?

Basic lung function is designed to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. In order to transfer oxygen from atmospheric air to the blood stream three functions must be in place: ventilation, diffusion, and perfusion. Ventilation is the process of air moving into and out of the lungs.

Many hospitalized and critical care pets are at risk for becoming severely malnourished because they lack the appetite or the ability to eat. By instituting nutritional support you want to meet the pets' nutritional requirements, and if possible prevent additional deterioration.

Technicians familiar with cardiac emergencies can respond quickly and appropriately to minimize suffering and maximize the chance of success of treatment for the patient.

Pain management is more than the latest popular terminology. It is an important part of veterinary dentistry. Many of the procedures performed on animals are painful and it is our duty as technicians to ensure that our patients are as comfortable as possible. The deliver of local nerve blocks prior to performing many dental procedures or oral surgery is a great way to create preemptive analgesia. This can often be incorporated into a multimodal plan for pain control.

We already know that the way we each perceive pain will be different depending on our past experiences. The way we respond to that pain also varies from person to person. These two points make recognizing and treating pain difficult, especially in regards to our veterinary patients.

It is important to be able to identify oral pathology and anomalies. It is equally important to correctly record the pathology on dental charts. A thorough dental examination includes both conscious and anesthetized examinations as well as charting disease processes, pathology and anomalies, and treatment plans.

MYTH: Meat by-products are inferior in quality compared to whole meat in a diet.

In their natural environment, cats are an obligate carnivore, meaning that their nutritional needs are met by eating a diet that consists of animal-based proteins (i.e. mice, birds). How have our efforts to domesticate cats been affected by this dietary requirement?

Dental radiographs are in essential part of the oral exam. The crown is just the tip of the iceberg. Approximately 42% of dental pathology is found subgingivally. Radiographs will help diagnose pathology that is not visible from the surface, confirm suspect pathology as well as help demonstrate the pathology to the client.

Addressing the nutritional needs of our hospitalized and critical care patients can dramatically improve their outcomes, but also allows them to return home sooner. Oral enteral nutrition is the ideal route, but if the patient is unable or unwilling to consume at least 85% of their calculated resting energy requirements (RER) than another route needs to be utilized.

Unlike the popular home and garden channel TV shows that boast remodeling of room or house structures, remodeling of fluid compartments within the critical care patient is not the effect a clinician desires. Unfortunately, many of our critical patients have trauma or disease processes that result in an imbalance between fluid compartments.

Congenital cardiac defects are those present at birth, and are most often from a genetic cause. In addition to genetic causes, they can also be from infectious, environmental, pharmaceutical, or a variety of causes.

People have spent much time and energy over the years molding dogs into various shapes to suit our needs; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds lists 91 hound breeds, 43 working breeds, 44 herding breeds, 49 gun dogs and 31 terrier breeds. Due to our changing life style, many of these breeds are no longer needed for what they were bred.