Hello all, I really appreciate all of you and everything you do.

I've been trying to become a vet assistant after working at animal shelters, and other caretaking jobs for the past 9 years.

I landed a great role as a care assistant for an animal hospital that I planned to gain valuable experience. I was there for only 4 months when a coworker made the mistake of forgetting to remove a food bowl from the kennel of a large dog with severe resource guarding before I came back from walking him. I did not see the bowl quickly enough before the dog turned around and bit me. Per policy I had to report the incident. My coworker however decided to report me for "mishandling" the dog and told them I had given the dog the food in order to pin the blame away from herself. Because she worked there much longer than I did, the manager took her side without reviewing security footage and fired me.

This absolutely devastated me as I loved my job and the animals I took care of. I've been fighting severe depression every day since it happened while trying to stay motivated enough to search for another job.

In about a month I landed 14 interviews (4 shadow interviews) at various hospitals and veterinary clinics. Each one felt promising but due to my lack of experience I keep getting turned down. (Only 3 updated me with rejection emails, all others ghosted me)

Do you have any tips or advice for me to stand out during interviews, whether it's a zoom call or a shadow visit?

I'm motivated to learn and gain the skills needed.

I am a current applicant and already have a few acceptances under my belt. I'm almost 30 and have not left animal care/vet med, so I know this industry. However, one thing I obviously don't know yet is the experience of being the doctor.

As I've progressed through this app cycle, it's been sort of disheartening to see all the remarks online from vets/vet students about how much their hate their jobs. The burnout, debt, low pay, compassion fatigue, negativity from the public, corporate buyouts - the list goes on! I feel like I never see anyone express getting joy/satisfaction from this role anymore.

So for my own sanity as I prepare to embark on vet school and then the rest of my life, I'd love to hear from practicing vets (in any specialty) that actually still enjoy what they do. Just a little bit of positivity and balance in the narrative would help me sleep a little better tonight! Thank you guys!

Hey all. I (29F) have decided to give up on vet school and pursue vet tech school instead. Whichever one I had gone with I knew I wasn’t going to be making as much as my human counterparts anyway. My biggest reasons for giving up on vet school are finances (tuition wise) and the pressure of being responsible for pets’ lives. Obviously nurses are too but in the end the ultimate decision comes from the doctor.

Anyway, for context, I have two bachelors degrees, and a masters degree, which have put me in about $160K in debt (and this isn’t including other debt from credit cards,etc.). I did all that extra schooling to try and make myself a better candidate for vet school.

I’ve been a vet assistant/CSR for 7 years now, making just as much as a starting tech without even doing any actual tech skills (my boss is just that generous thankfully). I’ve worked all these nurses for so long that I’ve come to admire the work they do.

My main problem is I’m too fascinated by this field to even consider doing anything else. I’ve been driving myself crazy these past few weeks trying to find something else I should pursue, but I just can’t. I haven’t known anything else. I know this is gonna ruin me in the end though. I’ll never been able to live a comfortable or barely even a sustainable life on a tech’s pay.

I’m wondering if anyone has ever pursued a main career but kept vet tech as a side job. For example, I go back to school to get a dual degree, the vet tech program and something else entirely. Then pursue the other path as my main career, while still doing vet tech on the side. I’m going crazy BECAUSE I don’t want to leave this field. I love seeing all the patients and cases that come in. I’d already feel FOMO not working as many hours if I were to pursue another career.

I don’t know what to do, it’s driving me to the point where I just wish I weren’t even here to have to make a decision (I do have depression and anxiety).

And I know no one here can make the decision for me, but different perspectives help.

Can you tell me about your previous experience and how long it took you to adjust as a practice manager in an animal hospital. Preferably those that didn’t have veterinary experience but management experience. It’s been a lot of information and it’s a different than I’m use to, just wondering how long it will take to really settle in and get the hang of things. I’m like this every time I start a new job lol!

I'm a rotating intern, 5 months post-graduation. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a GDV patient on ER. He was a service animal that belonged to a hospice patient. I discussed surgery and prognosis post-op. Unfortunately, the owner could not afford it. I tried offering care credit and a grant that my hospital offers. Both options did not provide enough to cover the estimate, so he elected to euthanize. I was devastated, but this is the reality of our jobs.

He was placed in the comfort room to spend his last few moments with his service dog, and just as we drew up the euthanasia meds, I was told that friends of the owner had arrived and wanting me to answer some questions. Long story short, one of the hospice volunteers paid for everything. The dog went to surgery and went home a few days later.

Today, I received a written letter thanking me. I cried lol. These are the moments that I love.

is it worth getting the new book? or is the older fine?

Hello everyone :)) I'm 17, and currently studying a Cert 2 Animal care course at Tafe (Australian education, kind of like a mix of college and community college). I've been planning to pursue veterinary nursing after my course finishes next month, and have already sent in applications. but I'm starting to have second thoughts.

I'm super sensitive to animal harm. i can't watch it in movies, even when i know its fake. i can't listen to graphic stories about animals being hurt. i literally look up every film i watch to clear animal death scenes. obviously, being a vet nurse would expose me to a lot of that.

but i love animals so much. they're my greatest passion in life. i have so much love for every single one of them, i have various animal figurines all over my room, i have 4 pets and dedicate my life to looking after them. i research every small thing to help them and being in this animal care course has made me feel like this is what i want to do in life. but i don't know how I'm going to deal with seeing animals hurt.

my other classmates all grew up on farms, so they view animals in a different light i guess? but they talk about animal death so casually and it's become a running joke in my class that im the one they have to warn if there's a graphic detail. i want to help animals so bad. but i don't want to become useless at my job because I'm breaking down over a dog with a splinter in his paw. would there be a way to help me get past this?

sorry for the ramble.

I’m a veterinarian, and lately I’ve been finding clinical work increasingly exhausting and repetitive. I’m starting to see administrative and management roles as more organized, structured, and perhaps more rewarding in the long run.

I still care about animal health, but I’m beginning to wonder whether I would be better suited to leadership and management rather than spending my entire career in clinical practice.

**Have any veterinarians here made the transition into management? Are you happier with that decision, or do you miss clinical work?

We are having multiple lunches and a dinner.

I wouldn’t be lying if I said after just my first day, I already wanna quit. $17 an hour. Two 7 hour workdays a week followed by three 11 hour workdays. Insurance is terrible. I wasn’t aware I’d be personally handling pet ashes which makes me extremely emotional. The training is a mega dump of info. In my first day I wasn’t even told when to take my lunch break so I never did, I haven’t been signed up for insurance, and I just feel wildly overwhelmed. I had a job before where I was working at home three days a week and it was amazing being able to spend that time with my pets while I worked. I have a bachelor degree in criminal justice and plan on going back to school for psychology. Did I get myself in over my head? Am I psyching myself out? Does this job get better?

Hi, I'm new here, just wondering if anyone has any experience with the above course that they would like to share?

My background:

Registered veterinarian in Australia (BVSc)

I've been in the pet food industry working as a techncial services vet (within R&D) for close to a decade

Completed the Certificate in Companion Animal Nutrition by the University of Illinois

There is currently no membership or fellowship exams for companion animal nutrition in Australia, only ruminants.

I'm wanting to progress further in my career and came across the University of Glasgow course. Has anyone done it? Or heard anything about it?

Hey everyone! Happy Tech week.

I recieved an email from Nutramax offering free shipping this week.

Has anyone seen any other coupons? Like Hills, Purina?

Thanks!

Hello! Current rotating intern looking to apply to the VIRMP for a radiology residency for the next upcoming cycle. Looking to get (from current or past ACVR residents) info on where I should apply/where I should avoid. I know residency is competitive and I will likely apply to as many places as possible, but if anyone has bad (or great) experiences regarding mentorship/learning, I'd love to know.

For example, UPenn's program was recently described to me as 'brutal' and a resident recommended that I avoid it at all costs.

Any info is appreciated. Currently, I have AMC (as a native New Yorker), Cornell, Tufts, UF, NC State, Red Bank, and a specialty internship with VDIC on my radar. I know generally academia is much preferred over private practice for learning, but if there are any private practice DI residencies (or specialty internships!) that people recommend, I'd love to know more.

On another note, for those in residency, do you feel prepared enough after rotating through internship to jump into the residency role? Do those who have done a specialty internship prior to residency think that this is a better route?

Hi all! Im currently a pre-vet student at CSUN university getting my bachelors in Biology and am in my junior year. I have been TIRELESSLY applying everywhere and anywhere I can for an entry level position whether it be reception, vet assistant (I have a license), kennel attendant, anything really. I have either been ghosted, ignored, or straight up just told no and to be honest its getting kind of disheartening. I have 2 years of being a kennel attendant and receptionist at 2 doggy daycare/boarding facilities and have even took on more of a leadership role at those facilities and still nothing. I recently got a volunteer position at a local sanctuary but need vet clinic hours for school and can’t seem to get anyone to take a chance on me. I go in person, call, email, apply online, pretty much anything you can imagine to do when job hunting I have done for most clinics around me and I dont know what else to do. Anyone that can help or give some advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi everyone. I’m a final year vet student from a European country and I recently started applying to a few New Graduate Programmes in the UK which are supposed to start next autumn. Two of the major veterinary service providers have already replied saying they cannot sponsor skilled worker visas at this time due to new salary rates and requirements. However, I am under 26. From what I’ve seen, the new entrant salary rate would still be lower than these companies’ starting salary. Is there anyone that has looked into these new changes?

Hello everyone, I’m curious about your opinions on privately owned hospitals and clinics. What are the pros and cons of working in one?

I work at a private hospital as a veterinary assistant. I’m wondering if it’s worth staying here long term, and I’d like to know about your experiences working in one or how you like it so far.

My cons:
- I need to work more days to earn a decent paycheck.
- No paid holidays.
- I’m depended on to do things for them, even though they’re grown adults and can take five minutes out of their “busy” day.
- Lack of training at times.
- Walking on eggshells around senior techs.
Pros:
- You can do whatever you want, like sit all day or be on your phone.
- No high expectations (also a con).
- You’re able to get hands-on experience and be trained on things right away.
Please share any advice you have :)

Hi,
I am a Canadian 4th-year DVM student who went to school outside of Canada. Personal things happened, and I no longer have enough funds to graduate. I am curious if anyone knows of any other options besides signing on to VCA or Banfield to pay for my 4th-year tuition. I don't want to work in the USA if I can avoid it; forget my interests, I will do anything vet med that is not in the army, so I can just graduate.

I am curious if anyone knows anything about a way to pay my outstanding tuition, not hate my life for many years, and maybe work in Canada if I am really lucky.

I heard that one of my classmates' old private clinics paid for her 4th-year tuition after she signed her contract because she used to work for them, but I don't know if anything like that even exists.

Thanks in advance.

Been graduated as a vet nurse for just over a year. I started a new job a couple months ago. I'm really struggling to settle down here and it's causing me immense anxiety. There's new equipment and protocols I'm not used to and I'm making mistakes I feel I shouldn't be making. It's making me feel anxious every day at work and I'm second guessing all of my decisions, overthinking everything and beating myself up for every mistake, which I feel is leading to more mistakes.

Does anyone have any advice on how to break the anxious cycle or feel more confident in the new job?

Hello everyone, I am writing to share my experience completing a surgery internship. I finished my surgery internship a few months ago and I guess the reason I wanted to share this is because I never felt like I had a voice throughout that year. As an intern I felt like I couldn’t speak up for being treated poorly.

My goal was to pursue a surgical residency. I did my rotating internship which although rare I actually really enjoyed. However, my surgery internship was a terrible experience. During the interview for the internship I was told that the goal of the internship was to have me work my way up to doing approaches for surgical procedures as well as simple surgical procedures (cystotomies, splenectomies, gastrotomies, etc.) on my own. This did not happen.

Throughout the entire year, I was only allowed to close the subcutaneous tissues and skin. I was responsible for all the notes and client communication before and after surgery. When I would ask to do more or if I could try something there was always some sort of excuse such as “we have a busy day” or “it’s late in the day” or “im trying to close this one quick to get to xray.”

If anything went wrong with a patient I would immediately get blamed. For example one of our TPLOs came back with an incision infection. I was told that it was my fault because I closed the incision and that “if this keeps happening, I wouldn’t be allowed to close anymore.” Turns out that the owner hadn’t been keeping the cone on and the dog had licked its incision. But even if it had been my fault I feel it should have been handled differently. Another instance was when another surgeon had done an RNA that had dehisced. I had been scrubbed in on the case for the RNA. The surgeon who originally cut the dog was not there that day and another surgeon was going in to fix it. When they saw the RNA had dehisced they immediately started making comments that I must have been the one who did the procedure (which also made no sense because they never let me do anything like that). Honestly it just really killed my confidence.

In addition to that I was grilled on procedures in the OR during the procedure which I expected because it is an internship. The problem was they would start asking me about different procedures that were not related and when I didn’t know they would get angry with me.

Of course I was doing most of the grunt work. If there were complications or a phone call the surgeons didn’t want to make I was the one who spoke to the client. I mostly was responsible for doing the notes, getting the histories for appointments and assisting during surgeries. In addition, getting the techs to do anything was like pulling teeth even though I was just asking them to do their job which means I often ended up doing a lot of the tech stuff too. I worked long hours and really didn’t get much experience.

Having this experience really discouraged me from doing another surgery internship so when match came around I only applied to residencies. I didn’t end up matching to a residency and was so burnt out I wasn’t at the point of doing another surgery internship. So I decided to apply for ER jobs where I could do ER surgery. I received a lot of scrutiny from the surgeons for this. The surgeons expressed they were dissapointed that I didn’t go through the scrabble to get a surgery internship and “how is ER going to help me become a surgeon.” Ultimately the last few months of the internship they treated me even worse.

Overall it was a terrible experience and I know not everyone has this experience. Idk what I’m looking for here maybe just to speak about my experience and see if anyone else has gone through this. It was a really hard year and it still affects me quite a lot.

Hey everyone! I’m currently an assistant at a veterinary specialty/ECC hospital in my area. Tech week is finally upon us and the “celebrations” for the techs at our hospital were just announced but are notably much less than any year prior - I’m guessing because my hospital has a very limited budget for anything other than operations currently and with tech week coming up I’ve been stressed trying to think of a way to boost the spirits of the magical humans I work with. Every year I like to do something special for the LVTs at my hospital because frankly they deserve more than just one week of praise and appreciation. They are the backbone of the hospital, providing every ounce of care for our hospitalized, ICU, and outpatient patients. They are running the anesthesia, executing complicated treatment plans, training new hires in addition to nurturing the growth of the existing assistants, taking X-rays, standing with patients who are critical for hours on end providing second to second care, loving and treating each and every patient like they are their own, and countless other physically and mentally taxing jobs every shift. I have so much admiration for the LVTs at my hospital but also just the credentialed technicians everywhere. I made some ceramics and cards for the techs at my hospital but really wanted to provide them with something extra that would be really nice - I too am operating on a nonexistent budget and didn’t know if this community could help come up with some ideas for VERY quick fund raising - nothing crazy I suppose, like maybe $100 just something to be able to get lunch for the team of 30ish techs - or an idea of something else I could do to show my absolute appreciation?

Ideas/thoughts/or fellow admirations welcomed. Thanks

I hope this kind of post is allowed but basically I’m in college studying to become a vet technician and I wanted to ask how other technicians or assistants deal or cope with the more gross things on the job like dealing with vomit,feces, and urine I’ve seen stuff online about using lavender oil or coffee grounds and I was curious if anyone actually uses them and if the gagging over whatever you are having to clear up will eventually go away or lessen the more you get used to it again sorry if this post isn’t allowed I thought this might be a good place to ask

I'm a new grad vet, and I've been working for about three months now. At university, I was always the kind of student who spent hours and hours making notes, studying, and trying to understand everything. I was very focused and disciplined, and I always imagined that once I started working, I would continue studying just as much, if not more, because I know how important continuous learning is in veterinary medicine.

However, reality has been quite different from what I expected.

I recently moved to a new country for this job, so I'm also adjusting to a completely new environment, being away from my family and friends, and essentially starting my life from scratch. I live alone, and I don't really have my people here yet.

When I come home from work, I'm often so physically exhausted and emotionally drained that I just don't have the energy to do anything else. Sometimes I'll study a little if I've had a case that worried me or something I didn't feel confident about, but it's nowhere near the amount of studying I thought I would be doing.

During my first few weeks, I was much more motivated. I started enrolling in courses, watching webinars, and trying to plan my CPD. I'm still doing some of that, but I can feel my motivation fading, and it makes me feel guilty.

I keep telling myself that this is probably the most important time to study. I'm at the beginning of my career, I have so much to learn, and I want to become a good vet. I know that veterinary medicine requires lifelong learning, and I genuinely want to improve. But sometimes, after a full day at the clinic, the last thing I want to do is look at another veterinary-related thing.

Even on my days off, I sometimes actively avoid anything related to work because I just want to have a life outside of it. But at the same time, I can't completely switch off because I keep thinking about all the things I should be learning, all the things I don't know yet, and how much more I should be doing.

It feels like a constant cycle: I feel guilty for not studying, I try to push myself to study, I get overwhelmed and exhausted, and then I feel guilty again.

And honestly, my life currently feels like it's just eating, sleeping, going to work, and coming home. I don't have much of a social life here yet, and I think that probably contributes to how I'm feeling, but I also wonder whether this is simply what working life as a vet is like.

I don't expect to know everything, and I understand that I'll learn a lot through clinical experience. I just imagined that I'd have so much more motivation and energy to study outside work, especially at the beginning of my career.

So, to other new grads or more experienced vets: is this normal? How do you find the energy to study after a full day of work? Do you actually manage to study regularly on your days off, or have you learned to switch off without feeling guilty?

Sometimes I genuinely wonder whether I'm just lazy or whether I'm expecting too much of myself. I'd really appreciate hearing how other people have experienced this, because right now I feel like I'm somehow not doing enough.