Get your tech nerd on with 3D printing in your veterinary hospital

As frustrations with little annoyances at her veterinary practice mounted, Tammy Razutis turned to 3D printing for a solution.

For instance, Razutis, a veterinary assistant with a Banfield pet hospital in Idaho, was tired of the SevoFlo bottle being constantly knocked off the dental cart. She turned to her husband-who owns a $3,500 3D printer-to manufacture a bottle holder using a design from Thingiverse.com.

Tammy Razutis made a bottle holder with a 3D printer to keep the bottle in place. All photos courtesy of Tammy Razutis.

Razutis created a marker holder to replace plastic bags that often ripped. Next, Razutis focused her attention on the Expo dry-erase marker holder to replace a plastic bag. “[It] wasn't very convenient as the bag would rip when you would stick your hand in it, and we had to replace it often,” Razutis says. “So I went home to the husband, and he fixed that for us as well.” 

Razutis' husband designed the white centrifuge tube rack himself and printed it.

Razutis says she would recommend 3D printers to practices.

“The printer is expensive, but it's an investment,” she says. “The possibilities are endless. The plastic is very reasonably priced, and it's biodegradable. You can even build a filament maker that helps recycle used [3D-printed] plastic if you have a print that didn't turn out as you had intended.”

Although her practice team members were initially skeptical of the technology, they've now bought into 3D printing.

“When I told them about 3D printing, many thought it [sounded] silly,” she says. “After seeing the end result, they have all opened up to the idea of it and have requested printings for themselves personally.”

(Want to learn about more uses for this technology? Click here to read about another practice's experience with 3D printing.)