‘Out the back’ is a place you may have heard of and is a place of love and cuddles; where the nurses assist the vets with fractious pets or potentially painful (but necessary) procedures, to ensure as little stress and discomfort is caused to your pet as possible. It also ensures that procedures are quick and painless.
You and your pet have arrived for your appointment at the vets and you’re apprehensive as to how the visit is going to go, due to your pet being anxious. You are both greeted in reception by your veterinarian and brought through into a consulting room, where the vet begins to ask you if there is a problem or why you’ve booked in for a check-up (or booster) today, and generally how your pet is doing.
The vet begins to examine him, they have decided they want to perform a ‘quick and easy’ blood test, or need a hand with medicating a worried pet. The words ‘quick’ and ‘easy’ blood test don’t go together in your mind and you start to worry about how your pet is going to react. You agree to the blood test and your vet tells you that they will be back in a moment and that they are taking your dog/cat ‘out the back’. This is so a nurse can assist in the blood sampling or medicating. They explain to you that most animals tend to feel less anxious when they are away from their owners, which makes it easier to perform exams, draw blood or administer a treatment. It allows the veterinarian to accomplish these tasks in a more relaxed, safe and controlled environment.
Whilst you are waiting anxiously in the consulting room, or back out in reception, your pet has been walked/carried down to the back, met two nurses and a receptionist on the way down the corridor; who have all had a quick cuddle. They then enter the ‘prep room,’ which is what your vet is referring to when they say ‘out the back’.
The vet walks into the prep room with your animal and introduces them to everyone (everyone being the nursing team and maybe a few stray vets)…‘Hey guys this is Archie, he needs a blood test’ the vet then decides what type of test needs to be run and what blood tubes we specifically need.
The nurse quickly comes over to give ‘Archie’ a cuddle whilst the vet gathers all the required blood tubes and equipment needed for the blood test. Whilst the nurse is giving him lots of love and cuddles, he has settled and is now enjoying the attention and has realised maybe it’s not so bad after all here. Once the vet is ready, the nurse will then take ‘Archie’ to a quiet secure space on the floor, or place him on the table, on a nice comfy blanket if he is a small dog or a cat. The nurse will then restrain your animal correctly for the blood test; meaning they are experiencing the least amount of stress as possible and that both the vet and nurse are certain they are both safe if ‘Archie’ decides he’s not too happy about this blood test after all!
All nurses and vets have undergone ‘Animal handling’ training and do it all day everyday so this is a breeze. The bloods have been taken and ‘Archie’s’ on his way back to you after having more cuddles and a quick treat. The whole experience has been stress free and quick and they learn ‘out the back’ is full of friends.
Now the nurse, who helped the vet collect blood from ‘Archie,’ has taken his blood tubes straight through to the in-house laboratory, where the tests are going to be run on our high tech Biochemistry and Haematology machines. These take around 30 minutes, once they have been put on to run. There is sometimes a bit of a queue for bloods to be run, especially in the morning, due to pre-anaesthetic blood tests being carried out as part of the pre-operation assessment, so, they may not get started straight away, therefore they are kept safe in the lab with the ‘Lab nurse’ to run once everything’s available. NB Some of the specific tests may be sent to the external lab and may take a little longer than ‘in house bloods’.
This process applies to everything that comes ‘out the back’, whether it be for bloods, claw clipping, de-matting, vaccinating, exploring a sore area, examining eyes/ears, taking a temperature, re-bandaging…the list goes on! We’ve seen it all and it is our job to make your pet feel at ease and to make them feel better!
‘Out the back’ is a nice comfy place and it all revolves around taking the stress out of the event for you and your pet, so please don’t worry when we take your pet ‘out the back’ and why not ask for a tour of the practice if you want to see everything with your own eyes. A tour can be arranged with a member of admin team, or take a virtual tour on or website - http://infohost360.com/boniface/.
