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136 Tasks for the Veterinary Assistant

(a) (b)

(d)

(c)

FIGURE 8.31 Towel wrap.

side of the patient’s head. If you need to you can grasp
the patient around the neck or the scruff if the patient
is going to try to bite. It can be a bit tricky doing that
with the towel in your grasp as well, but if the other
hand is free you could reach around the patient’s body
to control the head. The veterinarian can come up
through the back of the towel for the auscultation and
palpation. A front leg or rear leg can be extruded for an
injection or blood draw from the cephalic, saphenous
or femoral veins (Figure 8.32).
To examine the head, the front legs are covered so
they can’t swipe at the veterinarian when looking at the
structures on the head. You or the veterinarian can grasp
the head with one or both hands and maneuver it in
whatever way is necessary for the exam or treatment
(Figure 8.33).
Sometimes, an animal needs to be laid onto their side,
this is called lateral recumbency. This hold is used for
examinations of the side, abdomen, and prepuce of the
patient, for administering subcutaneous fluids or injec-
tions, cystocentesis and IV injections, or blood draws
from the lateral saphenous vein of dogs and cats or the
femoral vein of cats. This hold is also used to take a lat-
eral or medial view of a front or back leg or a lateral view
of thorax or abdomen. This can be done by one person
on any patient smaller than 45 lb. For larger patients it FIGURE 8.32 Extruded front leg for injection.