As Registered Veterinary Technicians, we are often asked to perform unusual tasks. This is just one of them.
Archive for Excerpts from the Show
“In the Beginning”
Here Sandra explains the difficulties mixing an acting career with veterinary technology. The result is hilarious and poignant.
RVTs – the video
I’m delighted to share an excerpt from the show entitled “RVTs”, my tribute to this wonderful profession. I compare it to my other career as an actress, discuss the ups and downs of this job along with interesting statistics and tell why this is a great time to be a SuperVet Tech.
Euthanasia
Hi everybody. Here is an excerpt from my show “Adventures of a SuperVet Tech” entitled “Euthanasia”, where I discuss euthanasia from the view of a Registered Veterinary Technician, people who deal with death and dying everyday.
I also relate the death of my sister, Linda, to this experience.
So many members of the public have come up to me after the show and said, “Thank you so much, I have an old cat and I’ve been so afraid of what’s going to happen. I’m not afraid anymore “.
This re-enforces my belief that a euthanasia done well can be beautiful thing. Please share this with anyone who may be helped with facing such a difficult decision.
The Choice – Video excerpt from the show
So delighted to present an excerpt from “Adventures of a SuperVet Tech” entitled “The Choice”. This is an inspirational and motivational piece paying tribute to my fellow Veterinary Technicians. Enjoy!
The Choice – A poem of inspiration
By popular demand I’m posting the words to “The Choice”. It comes at the end of “Adventures of a SuperVet Tech”, soon to be a Youtube link. Stay tuned…….
The Choice
Had I a choice, a chance to voice, before my day of birth,
To pick my place, my sex, my face, of all the jobs on earth,
If I could pick, now here’s the trick, to chose an occupation,
Where I could feel, my role was real, I’d chose this fine vocation.
The work is tough, pays not enough, our patients bite and scratch us,
All that aside, I say with pride, as techs no one can match us.
Consider this, hypothesis, the range of our ability,
At every juncture, venipuncture, demanding great agility.
From anaesthetics to diabetics, from bots to VD hips,
Giardia to pericardia, from hooves to IV drips.
Who else I ask, can do the task of comforting an owner,
Or reconcile the drug log file, or post-op telephoner.
Medication administration, hemostatic cauterizing,
Auscultation for aspiration, or bobcat tranquillizing.
And in addition, my vet technician, consider at our versatilities.
From clinics all, large or small, to government facilities.
From merchandising to supervising, in schools and universities,
Pounds, zoos, tracks, these are the facts, imagine our diversities.
Now is the hour, with our Super Power, of strength and intellect,
To shout out loud, to tell the crowd, that we deserve respect.
Let’s use our smarts, with passionate hearts, and find the recognition,
Side by side, let’s say with pride, I’m a Registered Veterinary Technician.
Written by Sandra Lean-Leighton RVT, August 2014 for “Adventures of a SuperVet Tech”
My Vets : A Tribute
Excerpt from the Show – SuperVet Techs
SuperVet Techs
Being a registered vet tech is not for sissies! Every vet tech needs 3 essential attributes; a strong stomach, a big heart and a keen sense of humour. Man, if you can’t laugh at the absurdity of some situations, you are dead in the water.
But, if you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind their hands looking like roadmaps from scratches and bites and not just from clients who get an estimate, or thinks nothing about owning 3 cats, 2 dogs, 1 rabbit and 5 gerbils, all rescue cases, or spend more time at work on your hands and knees than……..well other professions, or if you can pick up a piece of poop with your bare hands without thinking about it, you probably have what it takes to be a vet tech. But what makes a veterinary technician a SuperVet Tech?
Well look at Batman, he doesn’t have superpowers, but just like him we’ve got the skills to operate the fancy gadgets and machines. Heck, we do lasers, X-rays, ultrasounds, cat scans.
And just like Spiderman’s and his Spidey sense. We have something I like to call “SuperSenses”. First off, there’s common sense, to singlehandedly fight chaos when all hell breaks loose in the treatment room.
Then there’s the sense of sight, to be able to see when an animal is in pain and needs medication. Or the sense of smell, to be able to detect kidney failure on a cat’s breath. Or the sense of hearing, to be able to hear a heart murmur on a little kitten, or the sense of taste, …… honestly, haven’t I grossed you out enough already? And most importantly, the sense of touch. To touch the heart of a grieving owner and know just the right thing to say. That, my friends takes super sensitivity.
No, with the combination of our experience, skills and SuperSenses, the truth is, all Registered Veterinary Technicians are SuperVet Techs. And you don’t need a cape and funny boots to prove that.