Canine Cephalic Blood Draw

[@randicooper2372]

I was taught to place my thumb of the hand stabilizing the leg along side the vein and insert the needle from the other side of the vein, “imagining the vein as a highway and the needle is the car merging onto the highway.” I was also taught not to poke too slow because the chances of the vein moving are higher.

[@sandrameek3821]

Curious why you didn’t clean the shaved area with an alcohol or antiseptic wipe?

[@randomina465]

We don't always do that

[@randicooper2372]

That’s a good question.

[@mrsflamesodessa8224]

You don’t typically have to, as long as you can accurately find the vein, we usually only shave pre/post surgery due to sterile reasons. But keep in mind some clients don’t went their animal shaved

[@vovet777]

Nice. Small q: On which paw or in which area to look for a vessel in dogs with thick skin, for example, the pug breed. Because it’s not so easy to find cephalic vine throw thick skin. Thank in advance)

[@prisnad7906]

Excellent demo, thanks for sharing. Do you have any tips for when the blood slows down, like it was doing there? I feel it would be hard to get 3ml in this case...TIA!

[@katiecrake4502]

Sometimes it can help to squeeze, bend or wiggle the paw around just a little bit as this stimulates blood flow

[@randicooper2372]

Ideally, you wouldn’t use the cephalic vein for getting more than a drop or two. You would want to use the jugular vein for larger quantities of blood. That’s how I was trained at my hospital.

[@khymanser391]

I hate blood test