vet nurses

[kazza]

im doing an assignment and the senario is - the vet is out -due back in 1\2 hr when an aggressive dog is brought in.the dog has a nail through his paw would a vet nurse be able to give the dog a sedative to either remove the nail or keep the dog calm?

[londondave]

phone the vet on his mobile and ask. unless you are qualified it would not be allowed for you to inject, but it may be ok to give a tablet form hidden in a dog biscuit

[Peter Pedant]

Blimey which course is this? And in which country?

Why would one wish to sedate an animal in pain -surely the ideal drug is a pain killer. The only problem is that if it works in Humans it may not work in animals. Morphine for example excites cats.

I thought the vivisection act stipulated that only vets could treat animals. By the way humans are animals and so a vet can treat a human but a doctor cant treat an animal unless he is also MRCVS. ( Amazingly a General practitioner in Dorset in the 1940s and 1950s was, Herbert Lake MRCVS 1914 MD durham 1922)

So to me it looks as though you are holding the dogs paw until the vet gets back.

OK mobile phone the vet and dispense what he says to give. Then it is his responsibility to tell yo to give the right thing - his problem and not yours.

Keep us posted.

 

[kazza]

Im in Australia, and the assignment is for health and safety from what other people have told me i would be ok giving the dog an ACP tablet,which is a mild sedative,to keep the dog calm while it waits for the vet after getting the vets permission.It is only a senario and the dogs supposidly anti-social-so i reckon they just want to know how we would deal with the situation from a safer lessening risks point of view. thanks for your input.

[tamVN]

give sedative only if under vet supervision - if animal has been recently seen by practice they may allow this to be tho' phone request (any problems that arose would place any liablity with the vet not the nurse).  would be very unadvisable to remove the nail as may be preventing severe haemorrhage.  so best left in place until surgery an option.  dressings can be put on to relieve pressure on the area and prevent further damage until vet arrives.  whilst would be very distressing for the owner to have to wait - better than severe complications later on.  ACP can cause seizures and in a dog already in a 'excitable' state unlikely to work unless higher doses used