Although here at Woodland Veterinary Hospital, we are thankful for our amazing technicians every day, this is a special week taken each year to recognize all of the amazing things that they do. If doctors are the brains of the hospital, and receptionists are the face, then our technicians are the hands.
Being a tech is so much more than just playing with puppies and kittens. They are the unsung (and often unseen) heroes of the veterinary world, doing the vast majority of the “dirty work” and heavy lifting behind the scenes of every practice. Very often, their job is not glamorous – it’s hectic, dirty, demanding, and sometimes dangerous. But it can also be incredibly rewarding, and they have the satisfaction of being a crucial part of patients’ day-to-day care.
We love our technicians, and we thought you might like the chance to see and appreciate all of the things they do (some fun, some not so fun) on a daily basis here!
Audrey and Jenni administering a sedative for a pet prior to his mass removal.
Audrey dremeling a pet’s nails to smooth out any rough spots that might be left after trimming.
Chelsea and Stephanie working on a jugular blood draw to collect a sample for this cat’s wellness bloodwork.
Rosa checking that all the intubation tubes are in proper working order prior to surgery.
Rosa drawing up vaccines for a patient.
Jenni preparing a fecal sample that she just extracted (yes, exactly how you think) for testing.
Rosa intubates a kitten for anesthesia prior to his neuter.
Rosa monitors a dog’s vital signs while Stephanie cleans and scales a his teeth during an anesthetic dental procedure.
Chelsea and Stephanie doing a rear-leg blood draw on a patient.
Jenni and Audrey team lifting a sedated patient to transfer him from a treatment table to the recovery ward.
Audrey trimming a dog’s nails as part of a sedated procedure.
Stephanie is cracking some of the tartar “barnacles” off of this dog’s teeth prior to taking dental x-rays. Removing these larger pieces makes for cleaner x-rays that will be easier for the doctor to read.
Rosa monitoring and comforting a kitty who is waking up in a warm recovery box after anesthesia.
Chelsea and Rosa preparing a cat for a neuter by shaving the surgical site and ensuring that all anesthesia monitoring equipment is working properly.
Stephanie setting up an anesthetized patient for digital dental x-rays.
Rosa setting up our digital x-ray unit for some hip x-rays.
Stephanie is scoring a pet’s teeth as part of a dental procedure.
Chelsea taking vital signs on an urgent care patient.
Audrey administering vaccines to a patient while Chelsea holds her steady.
Chelsea and Jenni take a moment to cuddle a patient after taking digital radiographs. Those lead aprons are very heavy!
Jenni filling prescriptions for some of the day’s patients.
Jenni holds a pet so Dr. Dennie can ultrasound the bladder to do a sterile urine draw.
Stephanie using the ultrasonic cleaner to remove tartar from a pet’s teeth during an anesthetic dental procedure.
This is just a small sample of what our techs do here every day! Their hard work helps keep our hospital running smoothly! If you get a chance this week, make sure to thank them for all of the hard work that they do!