SVN 2 RVN

19/08/2024

The next part of the digestive tract is the stomach, it is located in the cranial part of the abdomen between the diaphragm and intestines on the left hand side of the body. It is secured to the dorsal body wall by the omentum. The stomach is made up of three parts the cardia, fundus (body) and the pylorus. The mucus membrane lining produces gastric secretions including chyme, hydrochloric acid, pepsinogen, gastrin and lipase. The stomach can dilate and distend as it is made up of rugal folds. From here we move on to the small intestines which are located under the omentum in the middle of the abdomen, and stretches from the pylorus of the stomach to the caecum. It is made up of the duodenum (the pancreas sits’ in this) then the jejunum and finally the ileum. It is connected to the circulation, lymphatic and nervous system by the mesentery. The internal surface of the small intestines contain villi which contain lymph vessels called lacteals. The small intestines allow for absorption, the produce intestinal juice, secrete bile and secrete pancreatic juice. The digesta then moves on to the final part of the digestive system the large intestine also known as the colon, which extends from the caecum to the a**l sphincter. There are four parts to the large intestines caecum, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, it is supported by the mesentery. The colon is used to absorb water, electrolytes and water soluble vitamins, followed by the production and elimination of faeces.

16/08/2024

We often talk about petechial haemorrhage, but how often do you here about or see Ecchymosis? So I thought I would share a photo of an extreme ecchymosis in this patient who was suffering with thrombocytopaenia.
Ecchymosis is extensive and purplish bleeding. It appears as an irregular patch and usually has a diameter of over one centimetre. It can occur under the skin or mucous membranes.

12/08/2024

The digestive system begins are the buccal (oral) cavity. It is made up of the upper and lower jaws, hard and soft palate, teeth and the tongue. It is lined by mucus membranes and the various structures are made of bone, muscle and connective tissue. Its function is to physically breakdown food with mastication (chewing) to begin the chemical process of digestion and to pass the food into the next structure and section of the digestive tract, the Pharynx. The pharynx is common to both the digestive and respiratory system, is has a muscular wall which is mucus membrane lined that is continuous with all connected structures, it also contains the tonsils and other lymphoid tissue. As the bolus of food passes the naso-pharynx is protected by the soft palate and the larynx is protected by the hyoid apparatus moving the epiglottis. The food then moves into the oesophagus. The oesophagus travels along the dorsal aspect of the trachea through the hiatus in the diaphragm, it is mucus membrane lined and is made up of connective tissue and a muscle layer, movement of the food is via peristalsis.

10/08/2024

Instrument Flashcards - limited stock

Over 30 different instruments, picture on front and some tips or pointers on how to remember them, then answer on the back, fully laminated.

£10 per set plus postage - interested? comment below or message the page.

05/08/2024

Today sees the start of the digestive system focus and we start with some commonly used digestive definitions.

Definitions:
- Absorption – uptake of materials by organisms for use in their cellular processes.
- Amino acid – a water soluble organic molecule which make up proteins.
- Carbohydrate – organic molecule – sugars.
- Deglutination – the act of swallowing
- Digestion – where food is broken down physically and chemically
- Disaccharide – two sugars combined such as sucrose
- Enzyme – a biological catalyst produced in cells
- Monosaccharide – a simple sugar molecule such as glucose
- Peptide – the intermediate stage of digestion, composed or 2 or more amino acids
- Peristalsis – the waves of contraction which move digesta along the digestive tract
- Polysaccharide – many sugars linked in a chain, such as starch
- Villus – processes on the inner surface of small intestines, which are concerned with fat uptake

04/08/2024

Quiz Question.....Answer

The name for the appearance of these intestines is Plicated - the definition of which is folded, crumpled or corrugated.
This type of presentation is seen in linear foreign bodies, such as yarn or cotton, or I have even seen it with an ingested pair of tights!! One end of the foreign material starts to travel through the intestines but the other end remains stuck (normally in the stomach) and the intestines continue to peristalses and move causing the intestines to "bunch up" on themselves.

02/08/2024

Quiz Question.......
This can often be the appearance of intestines when there is a linear foreign body present. What is the name for this appearance of intestines?

29/07/2024

Our final endocrine feature is the Adrenal Glands
The Adrenal Gland
Animals have two adrenal glands located just in front of each kidney. Each is made up of a cortex and medulla. The cortex is made up of three zones – zona glomerulosa, zona fasiculata and zona reticularis. Many different hormones are produced by the adrenal glands but only a few are important and they can be divided into three groups:
1) Mineralocorticoids – aldosterone is most important – functions include protection against hypotension, protection against hyperkalaemia, water and electrolyte regulation.
2) Glucocorticoids – cortisol is most important - many functions including carbohydrate metabolism, protein metabolism, fat metabolism, anti-inflammatory effects.
3) S*x hormones

28/07/2024

Anyone in the south west coming to Vetcpd Congress at Sandy Park Exeter I’ll be there heading up some workshops on one of my favourite subjects. ❤️‍🩹🤕🩹

Join Shelly Jefferies and the Bandaging Angels for hands-on wound management workshops at the VETcpd Congress. Limited spots are available for practical sessions on suturing, case studies, and more.

📅 Date: 25th-26th September 2024
📍 Venue: Sandy Park Conference Centre, Exeter

There will be three sessions on the first morning, which will be repeated in the afternoon and again on the morning and afternoon of day two to give the maximum number of people the chance to learn about improving their wound management techniques.

Secure your spot now and learn from the best in the field! 👉 https://www.vetcpdcongress.co.uk/

26/07/2024

Tourniquets.
Do you use Tourniquets in practice?
If you do are all your staff fully aware of the precautions which should be employed when using them?
Tourniquets come in various different sizes and forms, as well as "home made" versions. They are often used to aid in raising of veins for solo performances or in collapsed patients, however they are also used to stem bleeding. As a tourniquet by it's nature compresses blood vessels it must be used with care to avoid irreparable tissue damage. When using a tourniquet to stem bleeding you should note placement time, a tourniquet should not be left in place for more than 20 minutes maximum, with 15 minutes being an ideal cut off time. If at this point the cause of haemorrhage is not controlled the tourniquet should be released slightly for 1-2 minutes to allow tissue perfusion to maintained.

22/07/2024

The Thyroid Gland is the next endocrine focus.
The thyroid gland is present in the ventral neck between the sternothyroideus muscle and the trachea. Two lobes are present one on either side of the midline. In healthy animals the thyroid gland is not palpable. The thyroid tissue is made up of follicles which produce thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones effect virtually every organ in the body! And their effects include:
- Growth and development
- Metabolism
- Activity levels
- Thermogenesis
- Sympathetic nervous system – heart rate, blood pressure and anxiety
- Skin and coat characteristics
One internal and one external parathyroid gland is associated with each thyroid lobe. They produce parathyroid hormone and is stimulated by low blood calcium and magnesium levels, if the parathyroid are damaged or removed during thyroidectomy low blood calcium levels can occur.

19/07/2024

***SPECIAL OFFER***

Having a bit of a clean up and sort out!
Revision Word Boards - set of five word boards ectoparasites, whelping, endocrine hormones, cranial nerves and anatomical directions.
Now just £2.50 plus postage......
Interested just comment here or message the page.

15/07/2024

Our next Endocrinology focus is......The Pancreas

This V shaped lobulated organ is located in the cranial abdomen. It is a mixed endocrine and exocrine gland, it has two ducts which discharge exocrine secretions into the duodenum. The endocrine part of the pancreas is formed by the Islets of Langerhans, the islets consist of alpha and beta cells, with a small number of delta cells. Alpha and Beta cells produce two hormones:
- Insulin – this is secreted in response to hyperglycaemia and has many actions which will lower blood glucose.
- Glucagon – this is secreted in response to hypoglycaemia, its action oppose those of insulin and so promote the increase in the blood glucose.
Delta cells produce one hormone – somatostatin which is important in controlling levels of insulin and glucagon release.

08/07/2024

This weeks endocrinology looks at the brains involvement:

Posterior Pituitary Gland
The posterior pituitary gland is linked to the hypothalamus, which is located at the base of the brain and is connected to the pituitary stalk. The hypothalamus is involved in regulation of hunger, thirst, temperature and sleep behaviour. It also produces the following hormones which are transported to and stored in the posterior pituitary gland (which is also known as the neurohypophysis):
- Antiduiretic hormone (ADH, vasopressin) – as the name suggests, this hormone is released in response to water deprivation or dehydration. It acts to allow water re-absorption in the kidneys producing concentrated urine.
- Oxytocin – this causes ejection of milk from the mammary glands and also stimulates the contraction of the smooth muscle of the uterus.
Anterior Pituitary Gland
Also known as the adenohypophysis, the anterior pituitary produces the following hormones:
- Growth hormone – produced by cells called somatotrops. It is important in growth as the name suggests, but its role in adult animals is not fully understood.
- Adrenocorticotrophic hormone – (ACTH) produced by cells called corticotrops. ACTH stimulates glucocorticoid secretion by the adrenal glands, the main glucocorticoid is cortisol.
- Prolactin – produce by cells called mammotrops, it is important in initiating and maintaining lactation.
- Thyroid stimulating hormone – (TSH) produced by cells called thyrotrops, it is important in the stimulation and release of thyroid hormones from the thyroid glands.
- Melanocyte stimulating hormone – stimulates melanin synthesis by melanocytes.
- Follicle stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone – these produced by cells called gonadotrops and the hormones collectively are called gonadotrophins. In females FSH stimulates growth of ovarian follicles and LH stimulates ovulation. In males FSH promotes spermatogenesis and LH stimulates testosterone production.

07/07/2024

Calculations......the things that makes people sigh frequently!
I attend a clinical coach congress the other day and whilst attending an OSCE lecture it was made very clear from the lecturer that calculations in OSCE's are often a problem.
So I have got some more copies of my calculations booklet available.
Just £7.50 plus postage, these will help anyone struggling with calculations of all kinds, with step by step demonstrations, practice calculations and explanations.
When I first bought this resource out the review below was one I received:
"Can highly recommend this fantastic calculations booklet, one of the best I've seen, trust me every students needs one of these👏👏👏👏👏👏"

To order simply comment here or message the page.

05/07/2024

Chicken bandage for a chicken patient, what's not to love!!!!

Any of you who know me know I love wound care and I am part of the Bandaging Angels team, so I jumped at the opportunity to bandage this little fluff ball!

01/07/2024

Throughout July I am going to help you with some endocrinology revision and today we start with.....
Endocrinology Definitions
-Endocrine system – refers to the system of glands that produce hormones
-Endocrine glands – these are ductless glands that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream
-Exocrine glands - organs or glands which discharge their secretions through ducts, which open on an external or internal surface of the body
-Mixed gland – an organ that contains both endocrine and exocrine tissue e.g. the pancreas
-Hormone – a chemical transmitter substance, a bit like a messenger, which is produced by cells of the body and transported by the bloodstream to the cells and organs, where they have a specific regulatory effect
-Target organ – organ/s where the hormone has a specific effect. This can include other endocrine glands
-Endocrinopathy – a disease of the endocrine system
-Steroid – a group of compounds, with a complex ring structure. Most hormones are steroids

28/06/2024

What a whopper of a splenic mass that was.....weighing in at just over 1.5kg!!
The dog was showing no clinical signs except they weren't eating as well as normal, the owner was very attentive and knew there was just something not right. Blood tests were all normal, we did an abdominal ultrasound and could see a mass, so the dog was taken to surgery. No wonder she wasn't eating normally the mass was taking up so much room, there was no space left for her stomach to expand.

25/06/2024

Do you ever nebulise your feline respiratory patients?

We have a little hand held childrens nebuliser and use it to steam nebuliser some of our respiratory patients and as you can see with Daisy they love it!!

18/06/2024

Such a cute little ferret boy - just 12 weeks old, so gentle and playful.
I love seeing animals we don't treat every day.
This boy potentially has some nutritional deficiences which we are addressing.

14/06/2024

FLASHCARD FRIDAY!!

I have a new restock of my ever popular flashcards.
Laboratory = £10
X-ray positioning = £6.50
General nursing = £6
All prices exclude postage - am happy to do deals for more than one purchase.
Interested? Message the page or comment below.

11/06/2024

Have you ever seen a flail chest?
This poor dog was kicked by a horse and had sustained flail chest. This occurs when there are fractures to the ribs, resulting in a movable section of the thoracic wall.
These cases can take a lot of nursing - managing respiration and saturation, treating any potential concurrent injuries such as haemaothorax and ensuring a suitable, multimodal pain plan was in place.
I am pleased to say this patient did recover well and actually once a suitable pain control protocol was in place, she was remarkably happy!

09/06/2024

Make your patients needs clearly recognisable with these cage labels.

Twelve in a pack covering behavioural needs, medication and laboratory needs and nursing needs. With the bright colours of these cage labels it makes it easy to see any patient specific instructions, plus they bring a little bit of humour in their descriptions.

There are two options available:
- with cage clips (I only five sets left) these cost £7.50 plus postage *** SOLD OUT ***
- without cage clips (so you can put them on your patient clipboards or peg to kennel) these cost £5 plus postage
Also whilst stocks last there will be a special little surprise gift in the orders for these.

Interested? Message the page or comment on the post below.

07/06/2024

We all know vet nurses love an abscess, so I just had to share this with you!!

Soooo satisfying!!

03/06/2024

Our final infectious disease is.....
Feline Leukaemia Virus
Commonly known by the abbreviations FELV, this disease has 3 presenting formats:
- Immunosuppression
- Proliferative – neoplasia and leukaemia
- Degenerative – anaemia and leukopenia
The disease does not survive well outside of the body or bodily fluids, therefore survival on fomites such as food bowls is negligible. However it is important to be aware that large amounts of the virus is shed in saliva and it can also be shed in urine and milk. The general incubation period between infection and viremia is 2-3 weeks. It is also important to remember that FELV positive cats can remain healthy for months-years before external clinical signs develop, during this time if you know the cat is FELV positive then they should be isolated from other cats as it is still possible for healthy, positive cats to transmit the disease. Whilst there is no treatment as such, there are some control measures to improve the patient’s quality of life including:
- Interferon-omega
- Antiretroviral
- Avoid immunosuppressive medications
- Blood transfusions may be required in anaemic cats
- Chemotherapeutic of lymphoma
Vaccination is recommended for any cats who will be going outside and mixing with other cats, with vaccination starting from 9 weeks of age. Diagnosis of the condition is often done in practice using immunomigration tests e.g. snap tests, these can give false negatives and false positives so if suspicions are high then diagnosis via PCR or virus isolation is recommended. It is important to consider testing any feline patients who are seen repeatedly for pyrexia, non-healing abscesses and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections.

31/05/2024

It's the last day of and I wanted to reiterate how proud I am to be an RVN.
Receiving my certificate from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons was one of the proudest days.

29/05/2024

What does a vet nurse do when she has a couple of days away in York??
Visit the James Herriot Memorial Centre!!
This was a great little place, lots of interesting artifacts and information, I would highly recommend visiting this place if you are ever in Thirsk.

27/05/2024

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus
This disease is commonly known as FIV, when HIV was first mentioned in humans there was a similarity pulled between that and FIV, but it is important to ensure owners realise this disease is not zoonotic. The disease is transmitted primarily through saliva so the most common cause of contracting the disease is following a bite from another cat, which is also why it is more common in male than female cats as they tend to fight more. The good thing regarding the virus is that it cannot survive outside of the body, so fomites contaminated with saliva tends not to be a concern. Once the cat is infected with the disease they have it for life, often for years they are asymptomatic. Once the disease progresses clinical signs which may develop include:
- Gingivitis
- Pyrexia
- Recurrent infections
- B cell lymphoma
There is no treatment for the actual disease, but interventions to help with clinical signs can help and tends to be symptomatic and supportive. Commonly in practice diagnosis is obtained using immunomigration tests e.g. snap tests, however as there is a chance of a false negative or false positive so often a PCR test is then used as a formal diagnosis.

24/05/2024

The smell from this poor stray cats head was like nothing I have ever smelt before, I LOVE wound management and have been an RVN for well over 20 years now but even I was shocked by "Ferdinand"
This boy came into us with his head literally rotting off, he was found lying in the middle of a country road, he was so weak and emaciated he couldn't stand. Yet he was still purring and trying to do paddy paws when ever anyone was near him.
Despite our best efforts no owner could be located and he unfortunately never recovered from this serious infection and injuries. We had all grown to love Ferdi (despite the odour that accompanied him) and were so upset when he passed away, but at least he had a full belly and lots of cuddles. 🥲😿😽

22/05/2024

My little RVN box is something I cherish deeply and something which when I may be having a bad day I will look at and remember all the things I have achieved and patients I have helped.
I have kept badges, lanyards from speaking appointments (something which if you asked me 10 years if I would do I would have said no way!) and most importantly for me I have kept Thank you cards from owners of patients I have nursed - these are so special to me, I don't do the job for the Thanks I do it for the patients, but sometimes it is so special for someone to Thank you and appreciate what you have done.
Be proud of what you do, be proud to be an SVN or an RVN.