A quick and easy way to de-stick medical tape

When an intravenous (IV) catheter is taped too tightly to a pet's leg, loosening the tape is like scraping sticky taffy out of a child's teeth. But Stephanie Harden, RVT, a veterinary technician at Happy Tails Veterinary Emergency Clinic in Greensboro, N.C., found the solution was only a cotton swab away. "Simply take a cotton-tipped applicator and dip it into animal adhesive remover and slide the swab under the tape while rolling it from side to side," she says. "This will make an opening under the tape so you can cut the tape to loosen it without taking the chance of cutting the patient. This also works when an IV catheter needs to be removed."