I am in complete support of increasing the mandatory education hours for veterinary techs from 6 hours per year to 8 hours per year and here is my reasoning:
We took our healthy kitten for a routine spay
At 1130 am, her surgery ended. No post op note written
At 2:30 pm, we were told her surgery “went well and she was waking up fine.”
An untimed notation that “Ketofen sq” “not given.” No time was documented and no reason was documented as to why the medication was not given.
At 4:40 pm a licensed vet in Virginia wrote in her chart that Molly was “non responsive in her cage.” That vet did nothing except to turn the lights off and leave Molly alone to die in the dark.
At 9 pm, a vet tech came in to check on Molly. She noted Molly “responsive when stimulated” eg unresponsive. So now, Molly is 9 + hours post-op and her neuro status has been determined twice not to be normal. The vet tech also turned all the lights and left Molly alone in the dark to die.
We filed a complaint with the vet board:
.Against the vet who did Molly’s surgery and did not write a post-op note
Against the vet who noted Molly was “non responsive” and did nothing
Against the owner of the clinic for negligent supervision
Against the vet tech, who also failed to call the owners to notify us that Molly needed immediate care. The vet tech also failed to call a veterinarian to ask for advice.
Had the vet tech called us, we would have immediately gone to the clinic and took Molly to an overnight facility for emergent care and treatment.
Some of the problems with the investigation into our complaint
Just maybe if this vet tech had more continuing education, she might have had the critical thinking that the vet lacked in recognizing that Molly was suffering and dying.
The above is what passes for a reasonable standard of veterinary care in VA.
I am willing to share Molly’s record with anyone who would like to review it.
I can be contacted at Mollymittens7@gmail.com
Respectfully submitted
Molly Mittens Mom