The Vet Tech Cafe's Podcast

Caffeinators, you know we talk about mental health. A lot. For this episode, Dr. Marie Holowaychuk reached out to us to talk about her book and mental health and well being in our space and this episode is not to be missed. We must say it comes with a trigger warning that we do discuss, albeit very briefly, suicide, so if you are struggling please reach out via *988 or another resource. Through this episode, we spend a lot of time looking at mental health and research among the veterinary technician community and burnout specifically, and how do we start...

Dave and Jeff at IVECCS in San Diego!  Recap of our conference experience.  We loved seeing all our caffeinators... too many to mention.  We've got some great guests lined up from networking this past week that we're very excited to talk to.  Were you at IVECCS?  We'd love to hear how your experience was!

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Caffeinators, do you like cats? That's a dumb question! This episode is all cats, all the time! Caitlin Dutcher-Lundy reached out to us a while back and this turned in to an awesome episode! Caitlin is THE FIRST VTS-CP(Feline) to have successfully applied and passed the examination, and we talked about the process and pathway, and also all the cool things her hospital does-SPOILER ALERT, her hospital sees dogs but that whole area is separate from the cats to keep stress to a minimum. This was a fascinating discussion that brought up a lot to think about when...

As Dave and Jeff prepare for IVECCS they had one final Taproom before heading to San Diego!  What are your thoughts on Space vs. Ocean?  Which is scarier?

We've got a lot of great guests coming up in the next couple months!

HiVE Anaheim: https://navc.com/hive/vet-nurse-and-tech/

Illinois Veterinary Technicians: https://www.isvma.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ISVMA-Title-Infographic-7.25-10.pdf

Union organization shutdown: https://news.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=210&catId=617&Id=12798538

Caffeinators, are you ready to laugh and hear cool stories?! We recently had Chelsey Vanetten over at the Vet Tech Cafe, and she is a VTS in Anesthesia and Analgesia. She told us all about anesthetizing fish, researching large mouth bass, and how she utilizes her knowledge and expertise to elevate anesthesia in veterinary practices in which she provides relief services, and training and education. This is an incredibly fun episode you don't want to miss!

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Been a while since we had a taproom!  We're retiring our "state of the profession" quiestion for all our guests, but we had to let it go out with one last hurrah.  We talk about respect, patient:tech ratios, and surviving in the field.

Caffeinators, does anyone on your leadership team have an advanced, non-veterinary, degree in something to do with leadership? If not, we highly recommend listening to this episode with Amanda Kriesel. She has a Master's degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and did her thesis on OTJ veterinary technicians. This made for a fascinating discussion about leadership. She is also very active with the Minnesota Association of Veterinary Technicians and worked with her group to recently get title protection in their state. We cover a lot of ground in this one, and there are some other really raw emotions in...

Caffeinators, do you know what benefits you receive? Do you understand there are various federal and state protections you're entitled to? Do you understand your benefits package or know where to find the information in your employee handbook? Do you even have one of those? In this episode of the Vet Tech Cafe, we sat down with Andrea Crabtree Wood who is a CVPM and has several HR certifications as well, to talk all things employee benefits. Oh, and if you're provided a benefit for work and are not allowed to use it, you can't be retaliated against either...

Caffeinators, this is a HEAVY episode. But it is one you ABSOLUTELY need to tune in to. You may remember our episode with Kelly Foltz from 2023 where she touched on the idea of futile care and has since been involved in researching this topic (link below). In this most recent discussion we try to define and label this idea, which proves to be very tricky and as yet is still undecided. But the fact remains, as evidenced by her research, we all have, or will, experience futile care in veterinary medicine. That "why are we doing this" patient. This...

Caffeinators, let's talk oncology. And let's have that conversation with Inge Breathnach! Inge (@oncologyrvn) came by the Vet Tech Cafe recently (TWICE due to technical issues!) to talk all things oncology. We discussed the importance of alignment, ethically speaking, between the oncology nurse and the oncology veterinarian, the importance of celebrating your wins no matter how small they may be, and flipping the script from the difficulty that comes with a cancer diagnosis to the impact we can make in helping the patient feel better and improve their quality of life, and give the owner more time with their...

Taproom 51! Jeff has a new baby! We discuss Vet Tech title protection in Illinois and recap of our May episodes. We also discuss time off.. paternity, bereavement.  What else do you get for time off?  Our upcoming episodes are getting scheduled.  Onco, futile care and shelter medicine coming up soon!

Caffeinators, you may remember we recently spoke with Kelly Drescher Johnson and talked about end of life care and grief, and the company she started, Veterinary Chaplaincy Services. During that discussion she mentioned the idea of the "World's Worst Cocktail Party" and grief. We decided to make that a whole episode for Mental Health Awareness Month! This discussion was fascinating and made so much sense how we move through grief and how that applies not only to ourselves, but pet owners in our hospitals as well. This episode had no script-just an incredible discussion about grief and how we...

Caffeinators, you may remember when we had Lynn Blake on in the Summer of 2024. There were a few points in that discussion that made us think she'd be a perfect fit for our May episodes where we focus on mental health in our field for Mental Health Awareness Month. Lynn cam back recently to tell us what she's doing now and we discussed mental health in our field from several different angles, including those that are a result of the current political landscape in the US. There are some difficult moments in this one, but, if you're in a...

Taproom # 50!  Lots to unpack here.  Here's some links we discussed

Minnesota: https://navta.net/industry-news/minnesota-association-of-veterinary-technicians-mavt-update-historic-veterinary-technician-licensure-bill-passed/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKEdsZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE5RkdkN1pOVjJNZFdva2pRAR6BEr4PhIBwEWu4Y8dwWRrIA6c0xlmY4yDXlH_Zw3cZIJYVwS0YooL4G_8gQg_aem_fGQxGLGSOUe9MNS7zcYIFQ

Mid Level Practitioner: https://news.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=210&catId=6958&id=12620873

DEI: https://www.myvetcandy.com/blog/2025/4/25/avmas-council-on-education-cites-federal-pressure-in-controversial-decision-to-eliminate-diversity-reporting-requirements

Caffeinators, you know we love to highlight veterinary technicians and nurses that are out here blazing a path that makes us all better for it. This is another one of those episodes. We recently came across Amelia Sherwood, (@tissueviabilityvetnurse) and looking at her content and what she was doing, we knew we had to talk to her. She was gracious enough to to chat with us, and what an inspiring conversation! We talked all things wound management, healing, and the role of the veterinary technician or nurse in these cases, and how we can advocate for these patients and...

Caffeinators, it's time for another uplifting, inspiring episode. We've had a few people recommend Beth Stark to be a guest on the Vet Tech Cafe, and we finally got to meet her at HiVE Anaheim as the three of us are HiVE Champions. We recently sat down with her to talk about her unique path, her passion for helping veterinary technicians advance their careers, work to prevent burnout, and also her involvement in several organizations. We talked about the importance of being involved and engaged and so many other facets of our careers. We really covered a lot of...

Caffeinators, as you know, we don't have many DVM guests come by the Vet Tech Cafe, but when they do, it's because they have a unique viewpoint on a current issue. This is that episode! Dr. Sam Hollister reached out to us a while back wanting to talk about the "U" word - unionization in veterinary medicine. As a veterinarian, he presented some very unique viewpoints and compelling arguments in support of unionization in our field, and has done a ton of research surrounding the issue as it pertains to our profession. We've long while we want to be...

We're back from Phoenix!  Recap of our annual Phoenix trip and a discussion of the CVT changes in NJ that will be happening soon!  Come in and have a beer with us!

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Caffeinators, are you ready to hear from Megan Brashear? We honestly don't know why it took us so long to have her stop by the Vet Tech Cafe, but we sure are glad she finally did! If you don't know, Megan is one of the OG veterinary technician speakers and educators. She was do a series called On The Floor AtDove long before a webinar format was popular, and it is still very highly utilized on YouTube all these years later. It was great to hear about her unique career path and all the incredible things she's done and...

Caffeinators, by now you know we strive to bring you episodes with awesome guests that are out there doing amazing things as veterinary technicians and veterinary nurses. Sometimes, they're people we know; sometimes, they're people you recommend to us; and sometimes, we just get lucky and come across them. This is one of those episodes. Recently, Dave was working on a lecture and read something that was written by Laura Jones. He reached out to her, and this episode was born! We brought the Vet Tech Cafe to the UK to talk all things small animal internal medicine! Laura...

Caffeinators, you know we love to highlight people in our field that are blazing their own path and starting businesses, and this episode is just that! Becky Lacy and her partner Nikole Hludzik recently came by the Vet Tech Cafe to talk to us about their brand new venture, Animalance RVA! Animalance is an animal ambulance/transport service serving the greated Richmond, Virginia area. They provide inter-hospital transport and transport to and from owner's home. By all accounts this is a very needed service in the area, and they have a ton of support within the local veterinary community...

Caffeinators, we strive to talk to veterinary technicians from all corners of the profession. This episode is a nod to that. Kendra Dostaler, aka Kendra the Vet Tech on social, recently came by the Vet Tech Cafe! She recently added VTS(EVN) to her crednetials-Equine Veterinary Nursing. We talked about all things equine medicine, regulatory affairs, large animal representation on a national scale, and SO MUCH MORE. She has her own podcast, does instructional videos on youtube and more, and we talked about all of it. I would encourage everyone, particularly our small animal colleagues, to give a listen...

Taproom #48.  How is January almost over?  We recap our January episodes with Kelly and Juliann.  One thing that got brought up was CE for CSRs.  Does your hospital provide CE for your CSRs?  They should!  Lots of great episodes in the works for the next couple months, tune in for a teaser!

Caffeinators, it's been a goal of ours to have a guest from each VTS Academy on our podcast to talk about how amazing their Academy is, and this episode is another step in that walk. For this episode, Juliann London came by The Vet Tech Cafe to chat with us about all things Dermatology! ADVT may be be one of the newer and smaller Academies out there, but it is mighty. It was fascinating to hear about their unique application process, and some of the cool things a VTS (Dermatology) can do! You won't want to miss this one!<...

Caffeinators, have you ever found yourself in a situation at the hospital where you have an owner that is very upset about their loss of a beloved pet? And you feel like they may need help but you have no idea how to initiate that conversation or you don't know of any resources to offer, and you've also received no formal training on how to deal with this? Well, this is the episode for you! Kelly Drescher Johnson came by the Vet Tech Cafe during the holiday season to talk about her business, Veterinary Chaplaincy Services, and along the...

Happy holidays Caffeinators!  Last Taproom of the year.  We talk about our favorite episodes of 2024 and talk about a couple juicy controversial things going on in vet med right now.  

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Caffeinators, we hope you're having a wonderful holiday season! For our last episode of 2024, we have another incredible guest for you, from Scotland! Sam Fontaine, RVN, MSc, PGCAP, BSc, DipAVN(Med), FHEA, SFRET, recently came by the Vet Tech Cafe. She launched a Master's in Advanced Practice in Veterinary Nursing program in the UK, that is completely online and takes students from around the globe. It was fascinating to hear about the creation of the program and how adaptable it is to different career paths. We also spent some time talking about life as an RVN in Scotland and...

Caffeinators, we've often said that while we want to be an autonomous profession, we are going to need the help of veterinarians to get us there. Colleen Gallagher, CVT, is going to be one of those veterinarians. This is a unique episode in that Colleen is a CVT in Massachusetts, but she's also a second year veterinary student at Tufts University. So we talked a lot about veterinary technician issues and the landscape of our profession with a future veterinarian! It was a fascinating discussion to see the profession from a couple different angles and Colleen is very passionate...

Dave and Jeff wrap up their first HiVE event from Anaheim CA and discuss some past and future episodes.  Lots of great contacts and future guests at this event!

Caffeinators, by now you've heard or read more than you want to about Proposition 129 in Colorado. For this episode, we spoke with Erin Henninger, BA, RVT, VTS(ECC), who is the Executive Director for the Colorado Association of RVT's (CACVT). While we talked about 129 and how it came to be and the money trail, we tried to not make it the focus of this discussion. Rather, we talked at length about CACVT and the amazing work they're doing to support veterinary technicians and VTS's in Colorado. Erin talked about scope of practice for veterinary technicians and VTS's and how...

Caffeinators, we're going back to Canada for this one, so pack your bags! Or, you can stay remote like Leilani's employees and listen to her talk about Animal HealthLink! Leilani Mustillo has been an RVT for over 15 years, but as many of us have, experienced burnout and due to life circumstances needed to reimagine her career. She had a love of triage, and created Animal HealthLink in 2020, a tele triage company based in Canada. We talked about starting that type of business, logistics, and how it's grown to have helped over 300,000 pets so far. This was a fascinating discussion...

Caffeinators, you probably know Dave works at Action Vet Tech Services, a veterinary technician relief service company based in North Carolina. For this episode, we'd like to introduce you to Jacklyn Phillips, founder of AVTS! This is a great story many of us can relate to-being in this field for a long time, getting burned out, leaving, and trying to find your way back through a better way. She talks about the idea behind AVTS, how she got it started and then grew the business, all the way up to where it is today. She also provided some really...

Happy National Veterinary Technician Week!  

We wanted to share this article we found on LinkedIn (via Liz Hughston) about Vet Tech Week.  It's an interesting stance on the subject.  Give it a read and let us know what you think!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-stand-against-vet-tech-week-meagan-parks-sjcwe/?trackingId=AlLEd73mSeKS4O8Y1fSdQQ%3D%3D

Caffeinators, can you believe the Vet Tech Cafe has been open for FIVE years? As we embark on year 6, we're still going strong and we plan to bring you great episodes every other week. As always, we're starting year 6 with our good friend Liz Hughston. She's been a huge supporter of ours since we hatched this crazy scheme of a podcast, and we've been so fortunate to kick off each year with her on our show. It's always great to check in with her as she has pretty dang good pulse on what's happening in the profession. We cover...

Caffeinators, do you remember a few years ago when we had Tabitha Kucera come by the Vet Tech Cafe? We had a very positive response to that episode, and SHE'S BACK! It had been 4 years since we first chatted and see all that she has accomplished since. She is doing amazing work in the behavior world and if you're not already familiar, be sure to follow her social outlets linked below and her AWESOME podcast, 'Tails from a Vet Tech'. This is an area that we think ALL of us can better incorporate into our daily practices for the...

Coming to you "live" from the St Louis Grand Marriot Hotel for our post IVECCS Taproom.  Were you there?  Tell us what you loved about IVECCS this year.

If you want to see this episode on YouTube, here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/live/YA6XJ558Xd4?si=jXBUaan_OYjG9SKv

Caffeinators, we've talked A LOT about what good leadership and management looks like. And this episode with Lynn Blake is another peak into that world. There was some fascinating discussion in this episode, and some real life examples of what supporting your team looks like and what it can look like to actually be supported by management. This episode is a call to all veterinary practices to look inward and evaluate your processes and procedures and protocols and how those affect your team. We can say this with confidence-Lynn will be back on the Vet Tech Cafe.

Caffeinators, we're going International again! IVECCS is next week, so what better time to chat with Joanna Kaczmarczyk, a veterinary technician from Poland (and still credentialed as an RVN in the UK as well)! She talks about the veterinary technician profession in Poland and also compares and contrasts it to her time in the UK. She is active with PAVECC, the Polish Association of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care, and a part of what will be the FIRST referral hospital in Poland, scheduled to open in September. This was a great discussion!

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Caffeinators, you may remember our episode from a couple years ago with Sam Geiling, where we talked about her work starting a vet tech program in Hawaii, helping form a Hawaiian vet tech association, and much more. Well, she's back! We had a great conversation about her current work with the Government Relations Committee for NAVTA, moving back to the mainland to Minnesota, and her new work with Animal Policy Group and some of the controversy surrounding that. When we think about laws that are enacted that shape our profession, there is often YEARS of work put into it...

Caffeinators, if you've been with us since the beginning, you may remember Liza Wysong as our guest for our 4th episode. We did things very differently back then (almost 5 years ago!) and a lot of has changed at the Vet Tech Cafe, and a lot has changed for Liza too! We checked in with her recently as she is now the program director for the brand-spanking-new veterinary technician program at Rowan College of South Jersey. This program is an extension of the new DVM program at Rowan University set to start in 2025, and it's exciting to hear the ideas...