Personal Narrative: My Time As A Veterinary Technician

My time as a Veterinary Technician taught me many things. From how to draw shots to how to take x-rays. One of the most common lessons I learned was how to spay a female canine. Although the Veterinarian is the only one allowed to be “hands-in” during surgery, I learned a lot from watching the procedure.

Surgery preparations begin the day before. The patient in question is dropped off and spends the night. Vet Techs are busy cleaning and “cooking” surgical tools and cutting drapes. Also, Techs are to make sure all other supplies are stocked and ready for the coming morning. Early the next morning, a Tech will take the patient outside in hopes that the patient will empty their bladder. The Vet then draws the sedation shot and injects the patient. It normally takes around five minutes for it to kick in depending on the size of the animal. After animal is sedated, Vet and Vet Tech transport the animal to the surgery table where they will insert a breathing tube and where the hair in the incision area is to be shaved off. After …show more content…
First, we have to sow up the incisions. The Vet administers several stitches with dissolvable stitching on both the fatty layer and midline layer of skin. On the epidermis, however, the Vet uses non-dissolvable stitching. The stichting process usually takes forty to forty-five minutes. Once stitching is completed, clean up can begin. The incision area is cleaned by the Tech with medical grade disinfectant and bandaged. Then shots are administered by the Tech. Any extra services such as ear cleaning, nail clipping, and blood tests are done at this time while the patient is still sedated. After that the breathing tube is removed. It is at this time a reverse sedation shot is administered and the patient is returned to a kennel. It normally takes fifteen to twenty minutes for the patient to fully wake up. The patient will spend the night again and be picked up by their owner the next