Vets Need to Take Blood From a Dog, so They Come Up With Genius Distraction

Being a vet is no easy feat, especially when it comes to performing invasive medical procedures on the often anxious companion animals that they care for.

One veterinary center, Hawthorn Veterinary Surgeries in West Sussex in England, has been praised online for how its staff kept a nervous dog distracted while attempting to take his blood sample.

Staff at Hawthorn had captured the moment when nurses "serenaded" the dog to help him stay calm during the blood collection, sharing it to social media later. The viral video has been viewed more than 800,000 times since it was first shared to TikTok on January 11.

Viewers online were treated to a clip of Hawthorn's nurses singing a quirky tune to the 3-year-old Labrador, while holding him in place during the procedure. The three nurses in the clip are Lauren, Hayley and Alice, who are not only colleagues but also best friends who enjoy working together. According to the veterinary center's director, the trio are often heard singing to patients in the clinic.

"We are an independent family-owned small animal clinic in the small village of Henfield in England," associate director and head veterinary nurse Danielle Kaelin told Newsweek.

"The video features a patient of ours who was in the surgery to be sedated for skin biopsies due to unexplained hair loss on his muzzle. In the video, he is having a pre-sedation blood sample taken. We take these samples and run them in our inhouse laboratory, with results available within 20 minutes, before we sedate him."

"The blood would show his liver and kidney function, look at his red and white blood cells and check for conditions such as diabetes," she added.

Kaelin continued that the dog was "very brave all day," despite the daunting procedure. She cites Hawthorn's team of nurses for keeping him relaxed and calm through song. The nurses were singing to him to help him relax and distract him while his jugular blood sample was taken.

"We have since had that dog's biopsy results back and are all relieved to learn that it is an unusual type of alopecia, but most importantly nothing to worry about and nothing sinister," Kaelin said.

"As a practice we are doing all we can to help reduce stress in our patients. For example in our cat ward we play the cats classical music to create a calm environment. We also use licking mats for dogs and cats to help distract them when they are having injections," she added.

The post had been captioned: "It's important that the our patients feel relaxed and comfortable. This wonderful dog enjoyed a bottom scratch with a chin tickle and along with the song didn't flinch whilst his blood was taken. A gold [star] patient!"

"Serenaded by the nurse team, this gorgeous dog didn't notice his blood sample being taken," staff had shared in the post.

The TikTok post can be seen here.

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