Did you know that anal glands aren’t even glands at all? In this brand new episode of Cone of Shame, Dr. Andy Roark explores – not expresses – the 4 things you need to know about anal glands.
This episode of Cone of Shame made possible by Glandex.
Did you know that anal glands aren’t even glands at all? In this brand new episode of Cone of Shame, Dr. Andy Roark explores – not expresses – the 4 things you need to know about anal glands.
This episode of Cone of Shame made possible by Glandex.
In honor of Check the Chip day, we asked veterinary professionals on the @DrAndyRoark Instagram to share their best microchip reunion stories. Here are two that prove the power of microchipping your pet.
“I was at the Florida vet conference in 2013. My brother was pet sitting for me. He went out for the night, the front door didn’t latch properly and my kitty got out. We live close to some farmland and always see coyotes roaming.
It was really cold, (and) my cat has never been outside before. We also live close to a major highway. We felt so helpless being so far away and not being able to search for him ourselves.
About 48 hours later, I got a call from a vet clinic that was 2 hours north of my home town that someone had picked up my kitty! He had been driven over by 3 cars on the highway, (but) luckily only suffered minor road rash and some nails got torn off.
So thankful that someone didn’t just think he was a stray unowned kitty and took the time to take him to a vet and scan his chip! He was kept safe overnight until my brother was able to pick him up.” – @melski26
(Photo credit: DarbeImages.com)
“I have an amazing (story) of a famous Pomeranian named Austin the Flyin’ Lion. Austin has been in movies, music videos, Olympic games and (he is) famous all over Venice Beach, CA. I was working at a day practice when a client brought in a little Pom that had been to the groomers’ and got a cut on his leg.
I was asking the (owner) about the dog’s (history) when he said he didn’t know much about the dog because his daughter found the dog in southern California. I asked if he ever had the dog checked for a microchip, and he said, “no.”
So I scanned the dog, and sure enough he had a chip. I called the microchip company and got the owner’s info. I called the owner, who started crying, and said I had his famous dog named Austin the Flyin’ Lion. He told me to YouTube him, and I could see who he was. The (owner) had moved back to Louisiana because he had been so lost without Austin.
He had been missing for over a year. Who knew I would find a famous dog in the Central Valley of California!” – @bummers1
Share in the comments below! Be sure to follow the @DrAndyRoark Instagram for your chance to be featured on the site.
Danielle is a veterinary practice manager and the founder of SnoutSchool.com, a website dedicated to teaching veterinary hospitals to use social media effectively. You can get her 5 favorite social media tools here, or follow her on social media to see excessive photos of her Brussels Griffon. She’s @DanielleSnout on Snapchat, Instagram & Twitter.
You might be unsure of whether or not your cat should wear a collar. In this Cone of Shame episode, Dr. Andy Roark reveals 3 reasons cats need collars.
Subscribe to the Cone of Shame channel on YouTube for more videos from Dr. Andy Roark!
Danielle is a veterinary practice manager and the founder of SnoutSchool.com, a website dedicated to teaching veterinary hospitals to use social media effectively. You can get her 5 favorite social media tools here, or follow her on social media to see excessive photos of her Brussels Griffon. She’s @DanielleSnout on Snapchat, Instagram & Twitter.
From rowing to rugby, the summer Olympics in Rio include some pretty epic events for humans. But what if pets could participate? We asked our friends on the @DrAndyRoark Instagram to share the Olympic event that would earn their pet the gold.
Let us know in the comments below. Follow the @DrAndyRoark Instagram for your chance to be featured in a future post!
Danielle is a veterinary practice manager and the founder of SnoutSchool.com, a website dedicated to teaching veterinary hospitals to use social media effectively. You can get her 5 favorite social media tools here, or follow her on social media to see excessive photos of her Brussels Griffon. She’s @DanielleSnout on Snapchat, Instagram & Twitter.
I met a young technician once who was at the end of her rope at work: “I work with three doctors, and they’re out of control!” she said, desperate to get some advice. “They hate each other and now they refuse to work together. They won’t even take phone calls from clients who aren’t ‘theirs.’”
“Have you talked about this with the practice owner?” I asked.
“YES!” she said. “He doesn’t want to hear it. Any time someone brings up the trouble among the doctors, he either starts yelling at us or he gets in his car and leaves.”
He leaves? Where does he go? Does he take his phone? (And does he have a suntan when he gets back?) How long is he gone?
“Sometimes he doesn’t come back until the next day,” she said.
I was standing there trying to imagine what it must be like to work in an environment where personal animosities have gotten so disruptive when the technician asked me: “So — what can I do?”
Part of me wanted to say, “You can do this!” and get her fired up to make changes in her practice. After all, I was sure there were some steps she could take to try to make things better. In the past, I probably would have focused exclusively on those options. But I don’t do that any more.
Harrington Up the Middle
When I was a kid, I occasionally found myself participating in ill-advised, non-parent-approved activities like padless,
helmetless tackle football. On one such occasion, my team included Mike Harrington*, the most obnoxious, perhaps least-liked kid in our entire neighborhood. During the game, the opposing team made it clear that they would very much like my team to hand the football to our unfortunately irritating colleague and send him straight up the field into their midst. So we did. Again and again.
We’d huddle up and someone would say, “You know what’s worked well so far? Harrington up the middle.” Everyone (except Harrington) would agree, clap our hands in unison, and off we’d go. Again and again, the outcome was the same. Harrington got clobbered. Every. Single. Time.
I’m not proud that I participated in this, and I’m grateful in retrospect that Harrington didn’t get significantly injured. I wish I could go back and intervene on behalf of this poor kid, but I was simply too immature and worried about fitting in. I still look back and feel guilty.
But I learned a few lessons from that situation. The relevant one here is: sometimes the deck is so stacked against you that you simply are not going to break through. When that’s the case, the more times you grab the ball and charge right up the middle, the more times you are going to get punished.
The same can be true in our jobs. Some situations probably just aren’t going to get better. In some scenarios, trying to be a hero will only get you ground down. That’s why the goal in life should never be to overcome all obstacles, but rather to recognize which obstacles should be overcome, and which ones you should just turn and walk away from.
You Have Options
Please know that I did not jump to tell this technician that she needed to quit her job. I simply wanted to know why she had not done so already, because she seemed truly miserable. She told me she hadn’t left yet because she had wonderful hours and the pay was quite good.
It’s fantastic to have a “can-do” attitude. I pride myself on having that mentality and generally being a glass-half-full kind of guy. Sometimes, however, we need to remember that we have more options than just “can-do.”
Here are three choices we all have:
We can all agree that if you quit things as soon as they become difficult, you will not get far in your career or life in general. You can miss out on some of the most rewarding aspects of life.
We should also agree that there are some situations where quitting is the best option by far. There is no honor in sacrificing yourself in an unwinnable situation. Martyrdom is not a stepping-stone on the path to career success. If you are in a terrible work environment, there is NO shame in leaving. Be smart and professional about it: do your absolute best to avoid burning bridges, and know where you are going when you leave.
Make the Right Choice for you
After our conversation, the technician told me she wasn’t ready to leave her job. The benefits were too good. Instead she wanted to start by trying to do what she could to improve her situation while accepting the parts of her job she didn’t have control over. She felt much better just knowing she had options.
Too often we convince ourselves that successful people always overcome and never walk away. That’s ridiculous. If you’re getting clobbered in a game that’s rigged, never stop playing hard, but realize that the best thing you can do may be going to play with a different team. That’s a kind of success in its own right.
*Names changed
As a veterinary professional, you encounter a lot of strange, gross and obscure things throughout your work day. That’s all a normal part of the job… until you bring something interesting home with you. We asked the @DrAndyRoark Instagram followers to share the weirdest thing they’ve found in their scrub pockets or purse.
“@dianed83: During vet school found a distal phalanx including the nail from a classmates’ bone box.”
Tell us in the comments below, and be sure to follow the @DrAndyRoark Instagram for your chance to be featured in a future article.
Danielle is a veterinary practice manager and the founder of SnoutSchool.com, a website dedicated to teaching veterinary hospitals to use social media effectively. You can get her 5 favorite social media tools here, or follow her on social media to see excessive photos of her Brussels Griffon. She’s @DanielleSnout on Snapchat, Instagram & Twitter.