Vetranerian Technicians?

[seann]

Hey I am having major trouble on deciding a future, lol i never thought i'd make i out of highschool anyways i am trying to decide what i wanna do with my life its either a trade or working with animals, so anyone here know anything about being a vetranerian technician? salray info, if there's lots of good opurtunities out their, what education you need ect? i know this has nothing to do with herps lol but any guidance councilors out their?

[C.m.pyrrhus]

Honestly, I took the option just to see what it was like. After I look back, I can tell you I did not like it all that much. I was stuck working with folks that loved lil' doggies and kitties and hated scally animals. Many folks were pretty Pro-PETA and you get to find out that 98% of people should not owner animals. You must be able to multi0task with the best of them, and follow detail very well. There was a lot of cool stuff I did learn, and glad I did do it overall. I was not paid vey well either, but it was better than flippin burgers somewhere. If you do not mind taking fecal saples manually, then it aint so bad. Expressing anal glands was about the only thing I did not care for, everything else was a breeze. I liked helping in surgeries and some of the more "In the hospital" stuff. I had to take care of rooms also, not a lot of fun talking to folks and getting info. Thats when you think to yourself... God, this person is bonkers, no wonder their animal is dieing. Also, I have a bit of a problem with the medical side of things, no wonder I had not a lot of interest after being there after a while.

Anyhoo.....My recommendation is to look at what you want to get beyond being a simple Vet Tech. Look into what kind of animals you would like to work with and go from there (Who says it "has nothing to do with herps ") . It is something that works out if you give it your best and desire something better.

P.S. I have done a lot more trade work and labor work, and for myself, I love it. I like it a lot more than the medical animal field.

[seann]

C.m pyrrhus thanks alot you gave me good vision and i have done my research and will stick with the trades, i hope to be involved with animals in the future that would be great. thanks

[Auskan]

I worked as a vet tech for 3 1/2 years. I loved it. I first worked for a large animal vet, then for a mixed large/small practice and finished with a year and a half in a small animal clinic. During that time it was mostly dogs & cats, with just the occasional exotic.

I'm really glad I did it and I learned a lot. The vet I worked for taught me a lot and even had me do some surgery (cat neuters, abscesses, inserting draining tubes, suturing and so on). He also sent me away to the state university's vet hospital to do externships in various areas, for a week or so at a time, which was awesome.

Anyway, despite how much I enjoyed it, I got out of the field for the following reasons:

* No room for career advancement. Most vet clinics are of limited size and its a case of "once a vet tech, always a vet tech". About the best you can hope for is to work for a larger clinic where there are several techs and you can be the "head tech", but there's generally not a lot of room for going "up the ladder".
* Low wages & benefits. Because of the nature of vet clinics being small businesses, they often can't offer a lot of benefits. I didn't have health insurance, only got one week's vacation to begin with (I think I had to be there about 5 years before I'd get two weeks vacation) and there were certainly no benefits like tuition reimbursement offered, as larger companies are able to do.
* In a smaller clinic you can kind of end up being the "dog of all trades" so to speak. In my last job, I worked for a clinic that was small enough that I was the only employee aside from the vet. I had to work the front desk, check in all the clients, check them out, do the accounting, do the inventory, order supplies, put them away when they arrived, do all the cleaning, send out reminder postcards for shots, keep the computer database up to date, walk the dogs, clean the cages AND perform the duties of a vet tech! Variety in work is sometimes a good thing, but if you are trained as a vet tech and you want to concentrate on that, it can be frustrating to be expected to play receptionist as well!

[HeatherK]

I had many people who knew me (even my vet) recommend a career as a Veterinary Techinician as well. I researched it extensively, spoke to RVTs (FYI, a Registered Veterinary Technician can get a little higher pay, and I believe there are only about 3 RVT courses at colleges in Ontario).

The reasons that made my decision to not choose that path, is the lack of pay for the hard and long hours that I'd likely be working, there really is no advancement available, and I don't think I'd be happy in that kind of environment (sick animals, ignorant owners, emotional and physical stress.. I don't deal well with stress in the first place).

One of the RVTs I spoke to (graduate of St. Clair in Windsor I believe) said that you can expect to earn around $12/hr, that's if you work in Toronto. Not sure if that's straight out of college or once you've been at it for a while.

You will learn a lot, you can also learn a lot volunteering for a vet. That's a great thing to do if you're thinking about this as a career, or even shadow a tech and see what is really involved. Definately not a glamorous job, and the colleges want to know that you realize that and are not thinking it's playing with cute animals all day Some applicants really do think that.

The opportunities are great, you WILL find work. More and more people are owning pets and giving them more medical care. The exotics field is growing as well.

Good luck! It took me years to figure out what I wanted to do, take your time.

[seann]

you people rock thank you so much for listening to me!
Happy Easter!!!!!