Veterinary Medical Practices: Hospital Procedures

Clinic Protocol

1.   Zootonic is a disease which can be transmitted to humans from animals.

2.   Hands should be washed between animal contacts and after contact with blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions and equipment or articles contaminated by them.

3.   It is important to remember, gloves do not replace hand washing.

4.   Another common injury associated with veterinary medicine is needle sticks.

5.   Animals which are known to be contagious should always be isolated with their infection status clearly made known to everyone in the clinic.

6.   Environmental surfaces, such as work areas, surgical rooms and equipment should be properly cleaned and disinfected between uses.

Emergency Protocol & First Aid

1.   Most veterinary clinics have an emergency protocol in place, some clinics provide on-call service for these instances or partner with a 24-hour service clinic in the area.

2.   In the advent of an emergency, common first aid procedures include cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, control of bleeding, and treatment for shock.

3.   During that time we are also giving some emergency drugs including epinephrine and potentially atrophine which increases a dog’s or cat’s heart rate.

4.   We apply pressure and bandages but at the end of the day we try to find the source of the bleeding and control it.

5.   The most common form of shock we see is hypovolemic shock.

6.   Other forms of shock are from pain and in those instances we treat a dog with pain medications as soon as we can.

Animal Care Skills

1.   Veterinarians routinely administer medications and vaccinations which protect the animal and others from the onset or spread of disease.

2.   Bathing and grooming an animal on a regular basis will ensure the absence of external parasites such as fleas and ticks.

3.   Anal glands are located on each side of the animal’s anus and should be expressed regularly.

4.   An enema is a procedure used by veterinarians to administer certain medications or to remove toxins by flushing the lower intestinal tract.

Radiology (X-Rays)

1.   X-rays can be used solely or together with other diagnostic tools to provide causes for a condition, to identify the exact cause of a problem or rule out possible problems.

2.   The most common things we x-ray are a dogs thoraiuc cavity or chest, abdominal cavity or belly and any limbs.

3.   Some diseases we look for in x-rays are heart disease when we are x-raying the chest, lung disease and we look for _____________ like when a dog is blocked in the G.I. tract when doing the abdominal cavity.

4.   The other way to position a dog for chest or abdominal x-ray would be in a _____________ or VD position.

Therapeutic Care

1.   _____________ is an everyday practice in all aspects in veterinary medicine, not just in emergency and critical care situations.

2.   _____________ is an important component of standard supportive care in veterinary medicine.

3.   _____________ is as simple as squirting water on a wound.

4.   In most instances, especially those with a broken bone, we would bandage a joint _____________ wherever the lesion or broken bone is which helps keep the bandage where it needs to be.

5.   The other times we commonly use bandages is for _____________ we do or any dew claw removal on dogs - those are routine reasons we would use a bandage.

6.   Dealing with lower lame injuries in horses, when they are first presented to us, we will evaluate the horse to the extent of the injuries.

7.   We generally use hydrotherapy and a topical antibiotic and allow those wounds to heal with what we call second intention healing where they heal from the inside out.

8.   Deep cuts in muscles where there are big muscles underneath heal really well whether they are sutured or left open to heal.

9.   On lower leg bandages, always bandage all the way down to the foot that way we can apply a little more pressure. If you stop the bandage above the hoof and apply a considerable amount of pressure a lot of times you will restrict blood supply and blood flow to that foot.

10.  Physical therapy is used to enhance muscle strength, range of motion, pain control and speed of recovery.

Reproductive & Genetic Evaluation

1.   Reproductive efficency is important regardless of the type of animal.

2.   Ultrasound machines are also used to evaluate breeding soundness such as ovarian in females.

3.   Rectal palpation, ultrasound, blood or milk pregnancy are our three methods of pregnancy diagnosis in cattle.

4.   Once we collect our semen sample, we will place it on a warm slide and evaluate it microscopically for motility, live sperm, morphology and concentration.

5.   Sperm concentration, or sperm count, is simply the number of sperm per milliliter of the semen sample.

6.   Artificial insemination is a really important tool we use in beef and dairy cattle.

7.   We are going in rectally with our left arm and actually pick up the cervix of the cow, then we will feed the gun with the straw loaded in it through the cervix. Once we are completely through the cervix, we will slowly push the plunger on the gun and insert the semen.

Newborn, Orphan & Recumbent Care

1.   Newborn care in veterinary clinics is likely the result of some sort of emergency, most often dystocia.

2.   Dehydration is the condition caused by the excessive loss of water from the body.

3.   You need to give the neonate oxygen and you can do that with a tube or an oxygen mask.

4.   Check their blood sugar immediately because hypoglycemia is a common problem in these pups.

5.   Orphaned animals often suffer from some of the same neonatal emergencies mentioned previously, however because they have lost their mother providing, nutrition to the animal is an additional responsibility.

6.   Key elements for caring for immobile animals include soft bedding, respiratory care, bladder management, nutritional support and physical/mobility therapy.