Input needed. How to know if being a vet is the right choice for you.

[they'reHISchickens]

Many vet offices often advertise for receptionists and beginning vet techs. You could also volunteer at an animal shelter for experience to see if you really want to get into it.
Asking what surgeries you would get into is like asking what motherhood is like. You never know the full extent until you take that step and then there are still no guarantees. I'm a farm gal and have seen/heard enough horror stories that you would cringe and run screaming. Running and screaming does the animal no good. You have to be willing to get in there and help one way or another.
I think you need to get out and volunteer every place that has animals that will accept you. Clean pens/stables/operating rooms/whatever. In the down and dirty world of aniimals, they poop and mess and spew and it's a stinky, bloody mess sometimes. If you can handle that part, then keep your grades as high as possible. Becoming a vet is harder than becoming a doctor. Getting into vet school is harder than getting into med school. Frankly, from what vets have told me, large animal experience is a plus to entrance because then the vet school knows you are serious and know what you are getting into.
If you can handle both those parts and are still interested, it's a great rewarding career and many places in the country need veterinarians.
My daughter has done vet tech in San Antonio. I originally majored in pre-vet. Have been around vets all my life-- large and small.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
The only thing that holds me back from being a vet, is the surgery part. I mean what type of surgeries would a vet have to do on livestock really? Thank you very much for your input as well. I wish you luck in your search of becoming a vet tech.

They will train you WELL in the surgery part... and the animal will be out cold, so they wont feel it...

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Talk to a vet school. You might be surprised to find what you need to be a viable candidate--ie above and beyond good grades. My niece was interested. She wanted to be a large animal vet but she didn't own any large animals. Didn't grow up on a farm. Didn't train or show anything. Had never worked for a vet. So even tho she graduated in the top 10 of her class and had fantastic SATs, was doing fantastic in her college classes, had tailored her courses, etc. Colorado State passed on her. So did FSU. It is NOT EASY to get into vet school.

Rusty

 

[shober]

They will train you well in the surgery part. But as Rusty Hills said, its hard to get accepted. Of course nothing is impossible if you want it bad enough!! Keep trying and focus on your math and science skills.

Good luck to you! Most of us need a vet in the family!!

 

[braindead101]

Shoot for the stars. You can start by talking with local vets, volunteer your time. It will get you used to seeing and handling the animals. Then see if one of the vets will let you extern for awhile. Check internet sites for information about animal care, schools to visit. To make a good impression be sure to talk to counselors at the schools you are interested in. As for surgery, once the animal is anesthetized it is draped so there is a sterile field around the area to be operated on. It also separates you from that agonizing feeling of digging into its body. Do not equate the patient to a loving pet till after the surgery is completed. Vet techs quite often are needed in surgery so you need to be prepared if that's the vocation you should choose. Good luck. I hope you choose vet med. It's where all the action is.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Quote:
Sorry, but large animal vets don't often get to operate in a surgery setting. All too often what needs doing gets done out in an open field. Many minor surgeries are done with the animal standing there looking at you. The worst example of this that I can remember was a new vet trying to suture the eyelid of one of my geldings. Two HOURS later she had not completed a single stitch. Then the farrier stopped by to see what was going on and HE sutured the eye in about 5 minutes. Or how about the time one of my Percherons colicked. The poor vet was MAYBE 5 feet tall and the Perchy kept picking her up off her feet as she dragged on his halter trying to oil him. Don't even ask about her trying to do a rectal. She couldn't reach that high. The whole thing was a total mess. Exotic animal vets don't have it any easier. Try shooting a lion in the *** with a trank gun. LOLOL I once saw a fellow miss the shot and hit his assistant. Which sounds funny but was actually nearly fatal for the poor guy!

So if you want anything beyond a dog-and-cat practice, please think long and hard about what it actually entails. Don't be swayed by the "romance" of it. Vet work is hard and dirty and can be pretty darn heartbreaking.

JMO

Rusty

 

[swampcat]

I volunteered for a vet for about 6 months until I realized it wasn't for me... why can I deal with people death, but not animal death?

Call a local vet that deals with the animals you are interested in and ask if you can volunteer a few times a week or shadow for a week to get a better understanding of what a vet does. More than likely they will be happy to help you.

Good luck!

 

[AquaEyes]

You can have a job involving animals and you don't have to be a vet. You can look into animal behavior or therapy, zookeeper, researcher, animal training (4H, nature centers, wildlife rehab centers), fisheries & wildlife sciences, ecologist, biologist, forest or park ranger, educator, conservation officer...the list is long!

I want to reiterate this point -- there are lots of careers besides those associated with veterinary practice that will allow you to work with animals. I wish that I was aware of them all when I was in high school, but instead, I was pushed toward becoming a veterinarian. Now, as a student again in my 30's, I discovered that what I really loved to study is encompassed within the area of ethology, and if I was 18 again, that's the field I'd have gone into. A veterinarian is a medical practitioner whose patients are animals. The idea that this is the ultimate goal for people who love working with animals is akin to the idea that being a pediatrician is the ultimate goal for people who love children -- keep this in mind. First and foremost, you must love medicine, anatomy, physiology, and the hard sciences, since that is what you'll be doing for eight years. For me, the deal-breaker was surgery -- I was fine cutting into dead things, but I just can't handle doing it on live things, and didn't realize that until I went to college the first time around.

I have a few "animal geek" friends who have a range of jobs/careers -- one became an enclosure designer/architect for zoos; another is a vet tech but also runs an animal education business with a couple of friends, and they have a menagerie of exotic animals kept and maintained for these purposes; another was interested in animal training (majored in Animal Behavior) and does demonstrations at zoos; another is studying macaques for her doctorate in a physical anthropology subfield -- primatology; and I've been working in a lab studying acoustic perception of birds for research credit at school.

Take a step back from your original post, and instead, tell me what you want to be DOING, not the title of the job/career -- in other words, if you say you want to be around animals and caring for them, that's husbandry. If you want to learn why they do what they do as a species, that's ethology. Only if you're interested in the medical aspects of keeping animals healthy -- including pathology, nutrition, anatomy and physiology, lab work, etc. -- would I say that being a vet is the best choice for you.

Please also see my comment below on a related thread, about whether or not the OP needed to take calculus in high school before attending college and working toward vet school. And feel free to PM me anytime with questions you may have.



https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...o-take-pre-cal-in-high-school/30#post_8293134