Veterinarian Cindy Penrod paused momentarily in the midst of a canine dental cleaning to talk about vet technicians at Midwest Veterinary Clinic.
"Our staff - our technicians and receptionists and everybody - allow us to do our jobs well," she said. "They don't always get the glory, but they are a big part of our team and we couldn't function without them."
It's National Veterinary Technician Week, designated by the American Veterinary Medical Association. All week long, the Midwest clinic's Facebook page has been honoring staff members. Vet techs include Mary Simpson, an employee for 15 years; Morgan Rost, a graduate from the Vet Tech Institute at Hickey College in St. Louis and employee for one year; Sasha Mosteller, at Midwest 10 years but a vet tech veteran of 35 years; and Catrina Sessler, who has been with the practice two-plus years.
Their love of animals initially drew them to the profession.
"I do it because it's amazing," Rost said. "It just feels good."
The work is intense. Sessler said vet techs prep patients and assist in surgery, hold animals during examinations, trim toe nails and draw blood, along with a dozen other duties.
"We don't just get to play with cute little puppies and kittens all day," Simpson cautioned. "You get dirty, too."
There is heartache when a patient is sick and doesn't make it, or a long-time animal friend has to be euthanized.
"The hardest thing about this job is when you deal with an animal for 10, 12 or 15 years, and then you have to let them go," Mosteller said. "But there's so many awesome things you get to do."
Sessler agreed the upside of being a vet tech is helping animals and their people.
She is especially satisfied with her job "when a sick patient comes in and walks out the door a couple days later healthy and happy."
Simpson is a dog person, but also loves cats.
"I love just working with all the animals, getting to know them," she said, adding she learned on the job. "I like it after they come in and are really sick and you don't think they're going to make it, and then you save them. Then you see them a year later running around. It feels good."
Rost said there was never a question of what she would do for a living.
"Ever since I was little, I knew," she said. "I've had everything from birds and fish - I even had a horse once."
All the technicians have pets - and many of those pets had iffy starts.
"I have three cats and two dogs, and everybody's a rescue," Rost said. "And a fish."
The practice also includes two receptionists, Mary Baumhoer and Jennifer Renner, and four vets, including Penrod, Bruce Robinson, Tracy Royer and Angela Humphreys.
The address is 2540 N. Bluff St. in Fulton.