Blood drawn from the chest?

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Tina and Gracie (GA)

Tina and Gracie (GA)

Member Since 2017
I meant to post this sooner, but of course I forgot.

When Gracie was at the vet last week they did some blood work. When the technician brought her back into the room I noticed her chest was wet and smelled like rubbing alcohol. I also saw a wrap about her lower limb.

The technician explained that they tried to get blood from her chest first, but Gracie was not having it. This was new to me. I expressed some concern, as she was now licking the area. Yeah, maybe I’m being over-protective, but how common is this (poking the chest)?

Also, is it appropriate for me to say something? My gut says yes, but I also have a tendency to snap at times.

In the medical world, we can only poke twice (unless it is an emergency). I just assume that if I don’t know the patient I better be able to get it on the first try, or find a more experienced phlebotomist. Poking a patient twice can upset the patient. I assume there would be common sense in veterinary world too.
 
The preferred location for a vet blood dray for a lab work is the jugular vein in the neck. Vets typically spray the are with isopropanol as both a disinfectant and to mat the fur so that the jugular can be more easily located. Next preferred location is the back leg (Saphenous) vein. Last is the front leg (Cephalic) vein. The last two are not preferred since they are also used for IV injections and one does not want to "use up" those veins.
http://www.gatlineducation.com/demo/Vet_Assist_DEMO/JSCTP/html/L21/L21CH02P01.html
when I worked at the vet I could never get blood for the jugular of cats. Get blood from the jugular of dogs was easy.
 
Is absolutely normal. To get the most accurate readings they get blood from an artery in th chest near the neck.
When taking fluffy for her vet gb and then full blood panel they got blood from there. Just a friendly “ oh wow, that is different! Why do you guys get blood from there?” Got me all the answers. :). After chewy passed away and vets never found the answers to what was wrong, but they were always eager to charge, I decided I would ask all the questions in the world. Our babies safety is worth way more than me or them being uncomfortable or feeling questioned.
 
If a vet or MD is distressed by questions, I'd consider changing providers:) 1) I want to know when I ask questions 2) if they get huffy, are they ignorant, or insecure?
 
To be fair it was Tina who said she had "a tendency to snap at times", not the vet. I've had a lot of vets over 40+ years and I understand why they get distressed by many things. Stupid questions with self evident answers would be one thing, an animal in distress left too long (or too late) by the owner is another. While some are simply having a bad day they put up with a lot of crap from people who think a clinic is a charity or why they haven't gone to the front of the line.
Many owners who have never been behind the door would be shocked by what happens. We had a cat who was a known biter who had to wear a hood over his head to keep him from mauling techs.
You're right about ignorance and insecurity, diabetes is not taught well in vet college and like many doctors they hate being challenged. I have a one in a million neurological condition and when I tell an ER intern their information is out of date they get red in the face.
We use two vets and it's no secret. They're both fine with that but many might see that as being disloyal. Kind of childish if you ask me.
 
Yes, it was me who has a quick reaction.
I don't think it would be fair of me to fire the vet if he/she seemed distressed by the patient asking a bunch of questions at once. It can be overwhelming if the patient is coming at you going 45435345 mph. Noah said it nicely. The vet could be having a bad day; however, if this was a routine thing then I might consider finding a different vet.


I know doctors are trained on how to deal with patients like this, and I would assume veterinarians are too. Who knows though?


@Noah & me (GA) funny you bring that up. I now see two dentists. They are literally next door to each other. This was not intentional. My filling fell out a while ago and my regular dentist couldn't get me in soon enough. I reached out to the other dentist. She had seen me previously for cosmetic work. She told me to come in and she would work me in.

I feel bad, but not much I can do about it. I felt like I was cheating.
 
Some vets can be total wankers about this, not transferring files etc. This place is still small enough I can catch up on vet related gossip when I go in, real soap opera stuff.
 
blessings be upon my new vet -- she LISTENS to me, she's willing to learn NEW things, after expressing uncertainty about human-meter testing, we did a simultaneous test with my meter (ReliOn Confirm) and hers (Alphatrak) so she could see the difference, she also took a look at my spreadsheet to understand the tendencies; she's now okay with human meter testing at home

blessings too, to all of you, especially the information I've learned, to pass on to her

at first she said, we only inject insulin in single units (1, or 2 or 3) but after a short discussion, she realized that perhaps 1 unit was a bit too much for Catcat right now, and told me to evaluate the test results I was getting, and inject whatever level of insulin seemed to fit, enough to be effective, not so much as to put him in low-normal levels, based on the careful testing scheme I showed her I was using -- obviously with the U-40 syringes she uses and sells, without half unit markings, she is correct to say it is difficult to shoot in between the unit markings

she's on board with possibly switching him to Lantus, knowing there will be considerable work on my part to find the correct dosage, if I can find some within my budget, she'll write the script for it -- since she knows it's a financial juggling act amongst proper food, proper supplies, vet charges, and human food (etc)
 
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