Work Experience October 24th- 28th: Heathfield Vets

I had another opportunity for work experience, and this time it was at Heathfield Vets (Brown and Nuttall) in Heathfield, East Sussex. The week consisted of me observing preparation and the aftercare for operations, as well as the actual procedure; as well as looking after the animals, walking them, observing tests in the lab and admin work.
On Monday, I began by having a tour and meeting most of the staff. I was then taken over to the hospital block where I spent the majority of my week. I watched a Black Labrador having a castration, a cat spay, a Labrador having a dental, A golden retriever having blood taken and a cat that needed a skin biopsy. The vets and veterinary nurses informed me of every detail, such as why they use certain dosages for different animals. Why they used a kerotene injection for a cat with ulcers on it's eyes and why they clipped and cleaned the site before operating.
On Tuesday, my knowledge grew further as I watched more operations under the hand of a different veterinary surgeon. I loved to see how their styles differ, it was really interesting! The day consisted of a spaniel being castrated, a weimeramer puppy having a joint tap for possible septic arthritis, a cat for a castration, another cat for a blood test, due to him not eating, and a dog which needed to be spay and a mammary lump removed.
Wednesday consisted of a chicken with a nasty case of bumble foot after bruising it when jumping off a high perch, a cat which needed a spay, a labrador which needed a spay, a golden retriever which had it's ears checked and a dental, and a small setter which needed blood taken for tests.
On Thursday, there was once again a new vet and she had a completely different technique to the other two. On that day there was 3 dogs which all had dentals under general anaesthetic and two of those also had their nails clipped. Then there was a cat from Tuesday back again, a call out for a cow which was having problems calfing and a little dog which had been attacked by another dog. That dog was called Pip and took 1hour of stitching to close all of the gaping wounds.
And finally, on my last day on Friday there was another dog attack, this time on a tiny little Jack Russell x Terrier whom was clipped and cleaned all around his puncture wounds. There was also a huge Blood Hound which was having bloods taken, a small whippet which was having a dental, teeth clipped and skin scrapes sent off for demidex, a golden retriever whom was in for a skin biopsy, a cat and spaniel for castrations and a labrador for a lump removal.
In the afternoon I had the chance to go into a few of the consults with the clients and vets. This helped show me the variation between what I had seen all week in the theatre to what happens in an appointment

I loved my week at Heathfield Vets and plan to go back again next year, when I'm 16 so that hopefully I can go out on visits. I would like to give a big thank you to everyone there, making me feel so welcome.