Being a veterinarian, your career is highly specialized and requires very specific equipment and veterinary instruments. Just as with any medical professional, there are certain “must-have†tools you need to be able to run an efficient and effective veterinary office.
Here's a look at the five essential veterinary instruments that will keep your patient’s tails wagging.
Portable Ultrasound Scanner
If your practice has you making house calls, especially to rural patients, a portable veterinary ultrasound scanner is a tool you can't function without. By giving you real time results of an animal’s condition it allows you to make quicker, more sound judgments on treatment options even when you may be far away from a full service clinic. This tool is especially crucial for vets during breeding seasons as it makes it far simpler to check up on gestating animals.
Cauteries
If you do any sort of surgery in your clinic, a
cauterizing machine is one of the best tools you can have to assist in sealing and closing off wounds. There are many options available and many even come as simple penlight lasers. But however simple or complex, they're certainly useful in many procedures and situations. From stopping blood loss and exsanguination, closing amputations, or even coagulating a superficial lesion or wound, having the right cauterizing machine makes all the difference. The most popular versions among vets are those which allow you to change the size of the tip and replace the batteries to ensure your investment can be used for all your patients and for a long time to come.
Anesthesia Machine
Obviously, you don't want animals to suffer from the pain of surgeries and procedures. That is why they invest in high quality anesthesia machines. Considering the delicate and difficult balance required for proper anesthesia, it makes sense that animals require specialized anesthesia equipment. After all, if dosages vary widely amongst humans, the differences among animals can be quite extreme. So you need to ensure your equipment does the job properly. Anesthetic equipment in a vet’s office will ensure that four basic functions are being performed properly: providing oxygen, mixing the anesthetics properly (gases and vapors and their concentrations), enabling ventilation and breathing for the patient, and minimizing risks by automating much of the process. Depending on the amount of surgeries a your practice perform, this could be the most important and essential tool you own.
Veterinary Stethoscope
Nothing fancy, nothing sophisticated, but essential all the same. The stethoscope is a basic tool of all healthcare professionals, but
vets need specific veterinary stethoscopes for their patients. These stethoscopes allow you listen to the heart and lung sounds of animals small and large. They have specially designed acoustic cups to help you clearly hear and diagnose the animals in your care. These stethoscopes are designed to the same standards as those for physicians and nurses, so you'll never have to doubt the quality of your tools.
Calculator
Were you expecting something more fancy and complex?
Vets use calculators constantly. Much of what you do requires
converting measurements between pounds and kilograms, millimeters and centimeters and meters and inches, liters and milliliters, and more. While for most vets this math comes naturally, sometimes you need a little help. For such important work, it's essential to be certain of all calculations, because some measurements can mean the difference between life and death. For this reason you know to always check to ensure they are correct. A basic calculator is a veterinarian’s best friend when it comes to ensuring proper measurements.
What essential veterinary instruments and other tools are your must-haves? Please share them with us in the comments. We would love to hear what your favorite, essential tools are!
