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Tag: tips

  • Top dressings tips

    I attended a meeting held by the RCVS with representatives from the Veterinary Defence Society who warned that dressings can be problematic in terms of complaints and litigation.

    Cat with bandaged leg
    Image ©iStock.com/pyotr021

    I’ll be totally honest here: I don’t like doing dressings.

    I was talking to Laura the other day (one of our team of fantastic RVNs) and, because she’s excellent at dressing wounds (her skills easily surpass mine), I thought I’d ask for her “top tips” on the subject.

    Expert advice

    Laura’s words of wisdom were:

    • The right materials are key – she prefers cotton wool for Robert Jones type dressings.
    • Think of the pressure points in advance – how is the limb going to move (or not move) under the dressing with even pressure. Good to pad between the toes, and so on.
    • Ideally, leave the toes out so regular checks can be made to make sure no problems are occurring.

    Of course, a compliant caregiver at home really helps too.

  • Don’t remove a mass without knowing what it is

    I came across a paper that advised we should know exactly what a mass is before surgery. The rationale being as follows (Ettinger, 2015):

    “Do something: aspirate or biopsy, and treat appropriately.

    Needle biopsy
    Vet performing a needle biopsy on a cocker spaniel. Image ©iStock.com/Paolo_Toffanin

    “Why diagnose early? Obtaining a definitive diagnosis with cytology or biopsy early and before excision will lead to improved patient outcomes for superficial masses. Surgery is likely curative for the majority of superficial tumours when detected early, when they are small – especially benign lesions and locally invasive tumours with a low probability of metastasis. If tumours are removed with complete surgical margins, the prognosis is often good with no additional treatments needed.

    “Pet owners need to be aware of the ‘pea’ size requirement to have masses evaluated, and veterinarians must measure and document the size of the mass to compare growth.

    “If more than 1cm (or the size of large pea) and present for a month, the mass should be aspirated or biopsied.

    “Knowing the tumour type prior to the first surgery will increase success of a curative-intent surgery.”

    In all honesty, I rarely do this for masses booked in for surgery and I suspect as lipomatosus, and for masses that visually appear consistent for histiocytoma – but there are tips here I will follow in the future.

    Reference
    Ettinger S (2015). Top Ten Oncology Mistakes and How to Avoid Them, North American Veterinary Conference: Small Animal & Exotics Proceedings, Gainsville, Florida.

  • Tips to get the best from your microscope

    microscope
    Image ©iStock.com/The-Tor

    I do a fair amount of dermatology in our practice, so I use the microscope on a regular basis. I recently came across these top tips to keep your microscope in good working order, so thought I’d share them.

    1. Keep the scope clean. Twice-daily cleaning is ideal – along with cleaning whenever the scope is used. In addition, it’s helpful to have the scope professionally cleaned and lubricated once or twice a year. It will make a huge difference in the functionality of your instrument.
    2. Keep the scope covered when not in use. All hospitals tend to be dusty and have hair floating about, which can damage the scope.
    3. Use a different microscope for faecal examinations. Faecal solutions (sugars, salt solutions, etc) are quite caustic if they come in contact with the microscope lens or get “spilled” onto the slide platform.
    4. Adjust the scope (at least once daily) for Köhler illumination. This will help to “focus” your scope for use.

    However, after reading through these, I realise it’s a case of “doing what I say and not what I do” – so I’m off to give the microscope a good clean!

    References
    Noxon J O (2015). Cytology and Cultures Successful Tips and Techniques to try tomorrow, Small Animal and Exotics Proceedings of the North American Veterinary Conference, Gainesville, Florida.

  • Using a probiotic and antibiotic at the same time

    Probiotics vs antibiotics
    Image: source unknown

    I had the privilege of attending the North American Veterinary Community Conference in January. The experience provided me with a number of top tips, which I thought I would pass on to you in the coming few weeks.

    For those of you who are skeptical of the role professional experience plays in establishing evidence, many authors accept that not all evidence is derived from academic sources, for example, Schon (1984) and Bolton (2000) to name just two. I have still included reference to the appropriate sessions to keep those of you happy.

    Have you ever pondered when treating cases of diarrhoea with an infectious origin as to whether there is any point in using a probiotic at the same time as a course of antibiotics?  Well yes, you can.

    I attended a joint session hosted by Mike Lappin and Stan Marks. Although it is not possible to say definitively for all probiotics and all antibiotics, Dr Lappin has conducted work to show the strains in Purina Fortiflora are unaffected by metronidazole at doses up to 20mg/kg. Good to have this confirmed, as this is a strategy I often use.

    References
    Lappin M and Marks S (2015). Quench the Stench: Strategies for Control of Diarrhea, North American Veterinary Conference, Orlando 2015.

    Bolton G (2000). Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development, Paul Chapman Publishing, London.

    Schon D (1984). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Practice, Basic Books.

  • Top tips from the reception desk

    Communication is key. Image ©iStock.com/DenGuy
    Communication is key.
    Image ©iStock.com/DenGuy

    As I’ve done quite a few clinical tips now, I thought it would be interesting to ask our receptionists what their top tips from the front line would be.

    Sara, one of our excellent branch manager team, says communication is essential. Passing on as much information as possible to the clinical team can sometimes be challenging if presented with a very worried or upset client on the phone.

    Sara also says remaining calm is key, and she always does her best to reassure clients and ensure the patient turns up at the right surgery at right time.

  • Immunotherapy in atopic dogs is a valuable tool

    Canine atopy
    “Canine Atopy” with dermatitis around the eye, caused by rubbing. Via Wikipedia Commons.

    My colleagues and I use immunotherapy on a fair number of dogs to treat atopic dermatitis. Research tells us it can be a valuable tool in some dogs, but at the same time up to a third of dogs respond poorly.

    We are lucky in our practice as anecdotally we find the majority of dogs do well, and we only get 10% to 15% that do not respond. This may be because:

    • We are really hot on parasite control in our practice – we have a large urban fox population and see cases of angiostrongylosis – so we advise Advocate on a regular, monthly basis. So it is unusual for us to see atopic dogs that flare due to concurrent parasite infestation.
    • We strongly advise owners to do and/or preserve with food trials – and some, okay, just one or two, do respond and relapse on challenge.
    • We also try to make sure we keep the perpetuating factors, for example, pyoderma and Malassezia dermatitis, to a minimum with medicated wipes and shampoos.
    • The older the dog when it starts immunotherapy the less likely it is to respond and we advise our owners accordingly.

    Good luck with those frustrating allergy cases – hopefully there are some tips here to help. And cats also do well on immunotherapy.

  • The key to your new career

    The key to your new career

    Find Job
    vetsonlinejobs – the key to your new career
    Image © iStockphoto.com/scyther

    Regular vetsonline users (or at least those with an interest in changing their career path) may have noticed a change to the site in the past couple of months – specifically our recruitment section.

    What was initially a fairly basic affair with a handful of job listings has been transformed into an all-singing, all-dancing recruitment platform that is set to revolutionise the veterinary recruitment process for both employers and job seekers.

    For those looking to hire new staff, vetsonlinejobs makes it simpler, easier, faster and cheaper to find the right person for the role. For job seekers, the site – which can be found at www.vetsonlinejobs.com – offers the ability to upload your CV and search the very latest job ads from around the country.

    More than that, however, we’ve tried to make sure vetsonlinejobs is a site that suits ALL the needs of the employment seeker. As such, we also offer a growing selection of articles to help you win the job of your dreams – from basic CV writing tips through to advice on what to wear to your interview (not a clown outfit, apparently – but then, you probably already realised that!).

    Some of our latest articles include:

    • vetsonlinejobsInterview nerves? How to calm yourself before an interview – If sweating and nerves can cause a politician to lose a presidential election, then they can surely hurt your job interview. Simple techniques to control your nervousness in interviews are available.
    • Creating an alluring covering letter – The main aim of a covering letter is to encourage recruiters to read your CV. However, it needs to do a lot more than say, “here is my CV!”. In short, it is the biggest chance you have to sell yourself.
    • Jobseekers: be prepared for the tough questions – Interview jitters can make it difficult to come up with great responses on the spot, so try to anticipate the questions your interviewers will ask you and have the perfect answers ready in advance.
    • Creative approaches to bagging that perfect job – The weird and wonderful methods potential employees have used in an attempt to help them get noticed… but not always for the best!

    More articles are being added on a weekly basis, so be sure to visit vetsonlinejobs regularly. Alternatively, get them posted straight to your social media streams by following @vetsonlinejobs on Twitter, or “liking” www.facebook.com/vetsonlinejobs, which both also feature the latest job listings.