The Vet Tech Cafe's Podcast

Hey Caffeinators,

We attended another NAVC HiVE event and recorded a live episode. This was the last HiVE event of the year but we will be back in MN for the first one of next year. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to record with us!

Recording note: It got very loud about 10 feet from our recording spot towards the end of the recording so we had to edit out the last 5 minutes of the audio.

Caffeinators, you know we love to talk to veterinary technicians or nurses who have started their own businesses, and this is one of those episodes! Brandon Dutkiewicz reached out to us recently to see if we'd be interested in talking about the anesthesia monitoring app he launched, and our response was when can we schedule that! It was a fascinating discussion of how he learned how to write an app, how he tests it on real patients with his co-workers and patients and how this can help us provide better care and improve outcomes for our patients. It''s really cool to see all the amazing things our colleagues are doing in their careers and this is just one more example. Give it a listen!

Show Links:

Levika website: https://levikavet.com/ Levika FB page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61590465585873

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, we hope your passport is still valid because we're going back down under for this one! We recently went to Australia (virtually) to chat with Laura Bennington. She has a unique career path in that she originally became credentialed in Scotland, then moved to the UK and obtained some additional credentials, and now lives and works in Australia and has obtained her VTS(ECC). We talked about what vet med and working look like in those three countries and compared and contrasted that, along with the types of cases she worked/works on. It was a fascinating discussion on how variable vet med can be around the world, depending on the country you're in and the credentials you hold. Definitely tune in for this one!

Show Links:

Laura's Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/laurarvn.vest/ Handle: @laurarvn.vest VEST online CE site is: https://invest.thinkific.com/

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, are you ready to talk behavior? We recently had a great conversation with Monica Henderson you don't want to miss! We talked all things certifications, the VTS (Behavior) process, as Monica is going through that right now, pharmacology, and so much more. We also talked about what a credentialed veterinary technician wished we all knew and how we can better support them and their patients. This is one you don't want to miss-we think we could ALL do better in this realm for our patients.

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, you have remember back in 2023 when we had Brian Goleman on as a guest. He'd recently started Brian's Bandages, and we talked all things bandages and bandage education. We learned a ton from just that episode, and he has gone on to do INCREDIBLE things in the 3.5 years since. He is now a very highly regarded speaker nationally on bandaging techniques and uses a lot of point of view to help illustrate what he's talking about. He also does a lot of great bandaging content on social media, so be sure to check him out there as well. It was really cool to catch up and hear the trajectory his career has taken since our first conversation! Don't miss this one.

Show Links:

The Boy Who Bandages

https://www.instagram.com/briansbandages/

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

We were Live at HiVE East in Charlotte NC! We love this conference and we're so happy they've invited us to join them. We did our second Live episode from the exhibit hall with some great guests that stopped by

We will be at HiVE West in October and we''ll have another Live at HiVE episode

Here's the link to sign up: https://experience.navc.com/event/HiVEWest2026/summary

Remember to use our discount code CAFE to save 20% off registration

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, you know we love to talk about education and all kinds of different educational models and ideas. For this episode, we were put in touch with Clair Sauer (HUGE thanks to Tasha McNerny for the rec!) and it kind of blew our minds. She is currently finishing up her SECOND Master's Degree in in Education, and she is in a program that teaches Doctors how to teach Doctors, and is the first veterinary technician to be accepted into that program. We cover everything from teaching abroad in Japan to being in a program with human doctors that are learning how to teach future human doctors. This discussion was FASCINATING. Don't miss it! Follow her on IG @vettechteacher

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, you know her content, you love her videos, so you're going to love this episode with THE Sarah Parsons! Sarah has a great story and puts out really fun content, and we talk all about the WHY. We also talk a lot about creating this kind of content, the pressure, the work, and fun and the perks too. This episode is a lot of fun. Keep an eye out for her at your favorite veterinary conference. She also talks about a few other accounts we should be following on social media, AND she just got back from a spay/neuter trip to Costa Rica that we talk all about as well. Don't miss it!

Show Links:

Pets Rule Care Project: https://www.petsrulecareproject.org/

HiVE East - Use our Discount Code CAFE to save 20% off registration: https://navc.com/hive-events/east/

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

HiVE East is in two weeks! Dave and Jeff will be at HiVE and we hope you can be too! If you're planning on attending, use our discount code: CAFE to save 20% off registration. Here's the link to sign up:

https://navc.com/hive-events/east/?_gl=1*1kyubna*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjw6_HSBhCpARIsANvVltb_1la-ZPRBHgZXEaUppNumkA5zy0U7WjMJhf7YEu8ByBrBqV3KSjoaAp-LEALw_wcB&gbraid=0AAAAAqAESzssCpU6Os696wT1qiEb0xnYi

In this taproom we talk about upcoming conferences we'll be at and recap some of our latest episodes

Get in, Caffeinators!!We’re off to Sweden!! We recently spoke with Ellen Lundquister Udd about life as a veterinary nurse in Sweden. We covered a lot of ground in this one including specialization and the increase in demand for high quality care and what veterinary medicine looks like in Sweden. She also gave us a fascinating comparison of the cost of veterinary care to the cost of human medical care in Sweden. Don’t miss it!

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, get a bottle Bailey's because we're going to Ireland! Susan Ryan stopped by the Vet Tech Cafe, literally today, to talk all things veterinary nursing in Ireland! She talked about getting a lot of her education and experience in the UK because it wasn't available in Ireland, but how Ireland is moving forward in the veterinary profession. She compared and contrasted working in the UK vs. Ireland in terms of what veterinary nurses can do and education/certification/title protection. This is a banger of an episode and really inspiring to hear how the profession is moving forward in Ireland. We think you're really gonna enjoy this one!

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, guten tag! The Vet Tech Cafe is on the road again! This time we are headed to Switzerland! We recently sat down with Natasha Summerfield to talk all things life as a veterinary technician and VTS in Switzerland. This was a great discussion and she talked to us about education and credentialing, utilization and collaboration, public perception, and so much more, including her travels and work so several other countries. You don't want to miss this one. We hope you're enjoying our international series as much as we are!

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Have you ever considered leaving vet med? Like actually leaving the field completely? Tune in to hear our thoughts on this topic and our perspective on our most recent episodes with two veterinary technicians that did just that.

Also - what's your car's name?

Caffeinators, to finish our Mental Health Awareness Month series, we finally connected with Tosha Zimmerman! We were working on having Tosha as a guest a few years ago but she lost her job and she moved into a different field. We've wanted to talk to her for a long time, and time was right to talk about looking for work in another field, and transferability of skills and all that was the focus for our series! And what a great conversation through all of that. Many of us have peaked over the fence at other professions but often think none of our skills are transferrable, or we'll have to start at the bottom, or nobody will hire us. News flash: Many of are skills transfer quite well, we can be trained to do anything, some professions bottom of the totem pole is higher than our top, and we're hirable. So, if you find yourself thinking it's time to move on from this career, this episode is a must-listen.

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, if you've been following us for a while, you may remember an episode from FIVE years ago with April F. Bays. Well, she has left the profession, and we focus this episode on the why and the what now. We've long avoided this topic because we didn't want to be seen as "encouraging" people to leave the field. But for some, that may be the last option to save their sanity. We see lots of discussion surrounding the ideas that "you'll have to start at the bottom" or "none of my skills are transferrable", etc. Some of that may be correct, some not so much. You were trained once, and you can be again. AND, the top of our field may just be entry level somewhere else. Tune in with an open mind and let us know what you think!

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, get in-we're going to the land down under! For this episode, we headed all the way to Sydney, Australia to chat with Melissa Shoard! Melissa is a VTS(ECC) with a whole bunch of other credentials that we asked her to explain. We chatted about education and credentialing in Australia, her work with the VNCA, her podcast that she records, and so much more! This was such a fun episode, you definitely want to check it out. These stories from our colleagues around the world are not to be missed.

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Caffeinators, get in we're going to Budapest! You know we love to talk about veterinary medicine around the world. At our last staff meeting, we went through the AVECCTN membership list and reached out to everyone that works in a country we hadn't featured yet. Miklós Róth from Hungary was the first to write back and what a fun conversation this is. We talked about what vet med looks like in Hungary, his mentor who is the lone specialist veterinarian in the country, lack of formal education, all of it. Miki shared with us how he built his knowledge and skills base by traveling to other countries to learn, and also how he discovered becoming a VTS and what that process looked like and the difficulties he encountered-spoiler alert, he wrote 75 CASE REPORTS. You've got to hear his story!

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

Welcome to the taproom! We've got a lot of upcoming international guests that we're really excited about. We also talk about the big news with Chewy. And of course dinner party questions!

What do you want to be remembered for?

What's your favorite sandwich?

Let us know in the comments!

Caffeinators, get ready to get your nerd on for this one. Carolyn Tai recently came by the Vet Tech Cafe. She's a double-boarded VTS in ECC and SAIM, and is a dialysis technician at the veterinary school at Tufts University. We talked ALL things extracorporeal therapy. Dialysis, TPE, hemoperfusion, etc. She shared a few crazy cases she's worked on recently and what her role is in this setting and how she helps manage these patients, and data collection for research. Not very many technicians have access to that level veterinary care, let alone ever work on a patient that needs it, but this is her every day. It was another fascinating discussion around all the cool things we can do as veterinary technicians.

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe

We recorded our first live episode at NAVC's HiVE Midwest conference in Covington Kentucky! We had some great guests stop by to chat with us about the conference. We're hoping to do this again at future HiVE conferences.

Show Links:

Hive South: https://experience.navc.com/event/HiVESouth2026/summary

Hive East: https://experience.navc.com/event/HiVEEast2026/summary

Beckie Mosser GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-beckie-after-house-fire

Our Links:

Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe

Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg

Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/

Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch

If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do. 🐾

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/vettechcafe