New experiences

Some people have been bugging me to start blogging again. So here it is, my first post of the year.

Recently, I uprooted my life and moved 7 hours away to Marquette, MI. I like it here. The weather is beautiful (at least for right now), the lake (Lake Superior, that is) is amazing, and my new job rocks.

I'm currently working at a little private practice vet clinic in Negaunee, and it's so different than working for a corporation. For starters, it's pretty much stress-free. Once in a while something stressful happens, but you get that with any job. I'm not constantly stressing myself with what I need to be doing at that particular moment, because I can finish one task completely without worrying about what to do next. I see something that needs to be done, I do it. And there's a lot more down time. Time to think, breathe, eat, and relax a little bit before the next few appointments come in. For the time being, no one has yelled at me. I don't know if it's just because of the area or what, but people in general seem to be a lot nicer. Clients are more compliant, and if they're not happy, they simply leave and go to a different clinic. For the most part, no yelling. So that's nice. Another thing I love about working there is that I'm the only tech on staff. At least for right now. So that means I get to do things my way, to a certain extent. I can wrap surgery packs how I want to wrap them; I can set up fecal floats how I want to set them up; and if I want to place an IV catheter in the back leg, well, it's more difficult by far, but if I want to do that then I can. It's kinda fun.

One thing that I get a lot more experience with at this clinic is exotics. Ya know, birds and rodents and reptiles and stuff. A few days ago, this lady came in with three birds. Two of them were pretty small, and then she brings in this big cage with a blue and gold macaw in it. I'll be honest, I'm not much of a bird person, so it was slightly intimidating to me, having never dealt with that species before. Thankfully, it was a nice bird. He did squawk a lot, and chewed a hole through the towel I was holding him with, but I left the room without any personal injuries. So that's a plus. 

I'm learning all kinds of new things, like guinea pigs can get Bordetella (kennel cough). And I'm also getting some practice at interpreting radiographs, which isn't necessarily essential to my career as a vet tech, but it helps to know what's going on. Plus, it's fascinating. I helped with tail docking and dewclaw removals of six boxer puppies the other day, which is something I've never done before. Never seen it performed either. Frankly, I'm not a fan of either procedure, but it was for a breeder, and they have breed standards or whatever. The puppies were 3 days old, so it's not like they'll remember it. Their bones weren't hardened either. I've also gotten peed on three times in the past week. As much fun as it is to be a vet tech, it's certainly not very glamorous. And not for the faint of heart.

So that's my new life in a nutshell. I'll be starting school in January, but until then, hopefully I'll have time to keep blogging. :)