Think back to the last time you took your pet to the vet. Do you remember the person who guided your pup into the exam room or wrangled them onto the scale to get their weight? Or the person who magically calmed your kitty before the doctor came in? It was probably one of your hospital’s many veterinary technicians (AKA ‘vet techs’)!
This October, Pumpkin is celebrating Vet Tech Appreciation Week by spending the day with one of our vet tech heroes, Cory Day, from Mariners Mile Pet Clinic in Newport Beach.
In this article, we cover all of the incredible work Cory does in his day-to-day to showcase how invaluable vet techs are. Scroll down to the bottom of the article for an incredible video that recaps Cory’s day!
A typical day for Cory Day, Veterinary Technician
For Cory, every morning starts with a hot cup of coffee and a walk for his two dogs Anita and Mama Tulia. They may enjoy a quick morning nap, but as soon as the leashes get clipped on, it’s go time around the block. After a walk, Cory heads over to the clinic (in style on a skateboard no less!)
This day was a special day in the clinic because the team had a radiologist in to do a couple of exams including ultrasound and other diagnostics. The first half of the day included prepping medication, administering vaccines like bordetella for protection from kennel cough, and walking us through how his team was using serum from a pet’s blood to treat an eye scratch.
After some lunch, Cory brought us over to a microscope to talk to us about cytology. Cytology is the study of cells usually from a fluid. He says the most common cytology tests he performs are ear and skin. Cory says he averages six skin and/or ear tests a day, five days a week.
Cory shared with us that one day he was reviewing a slide and said “this is just not right”. The morphology of the cells was something he had not seen in his years in Southern California. He invited all the doctors to look and they agreed something was off but they couldn’t put a finger on what. They sent the slides out for review and received a diagnosis of Leishmania. Leishmania is a disease caused by protozoal infection most commonly seen in the Mediterranean, not in Southern California. It turned out that the dog was adopted by a family visiting Turkey. Cytology was the first step to putting the pet on the correct treatment protocol and the problems were resolved quickly. The incredible attention to detail and desire to use science to get to the bottom of a pet’s problem is what vet techs do every day to keep our pets happy and healthy.
This next part of Cory’s day was certainly the most fluffy and adorable! Cory regularly does vaccine clinics in downtown Los Angeles where he is one of many volunteers helping to bring veterinary care to underserved communities in LA. On his last trip, Cory left with eight adorable puppies that brought lots of energy and excitement to the clinic. He shared the excellent news with us that all of the puppies were spayed and neutered and quickly adopted up.
As we wrapped up the day with Cory, we got to meet a cat cowboy (watch the video to see what we mean!) and other team members who have devoted their lives to helping pets get and stay well. Cory cleaned up the clinic and headed home to rest up for another day of making a difference in pets’ lives.
A huge thank you to Cory for sharing a day in his life as a veterinary technician and giving Pumpkin and our readers a peek into everything that goes into a vet tech’s role! We appreciate all you do for veterinary hospitals and our pets.
Check out Cory’s day-in-the-life of a vet tech video below. And make sure you watch until the end for an overload of puppy cuteness and a cowboy cat!
