Staff Meetings
Our practice has monthly meetings that include the entire staff. We've found that doctor-only and technician-only meetings can also be very helpful. All our meetings can be an opportunity for in-house continuing education. Routine doctor–technician meetings allow discussions of new protocols and medications as well as updates on diseases, parasites, and cases. They also allow staff members who have attended a seminar to share their new knowledge with other staff members. This is very helpful in a large practice like ours.
Jennifer Walters
Perry, NY
Dental Photos
To show clients how bad their pet's teeth were, we take before-and-after photos of all patients that undergo dental prophylaxis. Many clients have difficulty evaluating their pet's teeth, so the photos confirm the need for the prophylaxis. The photos are also useful for future reference in patients' medical records.
Rosanna Gestwicki
Kalamazoo, MI
Urine Collection Kits
For clients who have to obtain urine samples from their cats, I assemble urine collection kits that contain Nosorb litter, a pipette, a sample collection tube, and directions for collecting urine. This helps the doctors get the best samples for urinalysis and frees up technicians who would normally have to search for supplies for each patient. In addition, clients appreciate the clear instructions and feel more comfortable collecting urine.
Julie Carlson, CVT
Phoenix, AZ
Reducing Feline Stress
Hospitalized or boarded cats are often scared and stressed, which can reduce their appetite. To decrease their fear and stress, we keep our hospitalized and boarded patients in species-specific rooms. We coax cats to eat by petting them when we feed them. In addition, we ask clients to bring in their cat's food and a familiar item (e.g., toy, clothing with the client's scent). We also encourage clients to visit during hospitalization. Keeping cats active with toys can also reduce their stress. Basically, we treat patients like we treat our own pets, doing our best to keep them happy and healthy.
Jennifer Walters
Perry, NY
Helpful Hair Clips
We keep a supply of inexpensive claw-style hair clips around the hospital to control cables when equipment is not in use, to attach monitor cables to surgery blankets so the cables don't slip off the table, and to hold long ears out of the way during dental prophylaxis.
Heather Riggs, CVT
River Woods Pet Hospital, Provo, UT
