What are the pros and cons of working as a Veterinary Technician?

Question

To anyone currently working as a Veterinary Technician (or previously worked as one), this question is for you.

I am considering becoming a Vet Tech and would love some personal feedback. So, could you please answer the following questions?

1. How long have you worked (or did you work) as a Veterinary Technician?
2. What are the things you like (liked) the most about working as a Vet Tech?
3. What are the things you dislike (disliked) most about being a Vet tech?
4. Do you have any advice you wish someone gave you before starting this job?
5. Do you have any other comments about working as Veterinary Technician?

Thank you in advance. I appreciate your time and response.
(I will choose a best answer.)
-Brit

Answer 1

Good morning!

As you might have figured, I am a Veterinarian Technician (shocker, I know, haha) and I truly LOVE what I do. Often, there are days where I literally feel as though I need to pinch myself because there is no way I am blessed enough to have the best job in the world!

I will answer your questions to the best of my ability, however, feel free to contact me if you have any further questions, OK?

1) I have been working as a Veterinarian Technician for several years. Time flies when you are having fun! In all seriousness though, there is not a day that goes by where I do not learn something new. That is the beauty of my career... I am constantly learning, there are constantly changes in the field, and we are constantly coming up with new techniques to save/help our patents. It is exciting!

2) Like's: (in no specific order)

- The obvious: working directly with animals. 99% of my time is spent with the furry kids. Whether I am administering vaccines, drawing blood, aministering fuids, restraining, anesthezing, intubating, assisting in surgery, performing cystos, suturing, expressing anals (yum), clipping nails, performing dentals, taking vitals, etc... I am responsible for our patients.

- Client-tech relationship (it is a very nice feeling when clients call the office and specifically ask for you!). I believe it is extremely important to establish strong relationships with your clients. They are trusting you with the well-being and safety of their 'baby'. I always, always, always make sure to go that extra mile in talking to our clients, answering any questions, explaining what I am doing step-by-step, and really making myself availiable at all times. It is critical to gain their trust. I am the comedian around the office, so I am always the one making everyone smile, it is really important to be down to earth. People want to be able to relate to you.

- SURGERY! Surgery is my niche. I love surgery! I spend most of my time in surgery. Which brings me to my next point, find a focus and constantly take courses to continue your education in your 'speciality'. I have great interest in surgery and pathology (it is SO interesting!), so I take several courses a year based on my interests. Not only do you learn a whole lot, but the vets really respect and acknowledge you when you are going 'above and beyond' (by taking courses, attending lectures, mentoring students, for example). I always take the new information I gather from these experiences and present them in staff meetings, ezpecially if there is something I believe we could all benefit from. For instance, I attended a few lectures on the uses and benefits of a laser machine for our office. I presented all my information and worked hard to get the veterinarians involved... and about 2 months later our practice purchased a laser machine! Everyone loves it and we use it atleast every single day in surgery. Everything from wound repair, to gum repair, to declaws, to cropping ears. Makes the surgeries a LOT easier on our patients. Less blood loss, less pain, less recovery... happier us!

- Lab work, I love running lab work. We run everything (blood work, urine analysis, cultures, sensitivities, fecal flotations, etc.) in house, so it is a wonderful experience. It is extremely interesting and rewarding to be able to diagnose!

3) Dislike's: (in no specific order, again)

- Euthanasias. I ALWAYS request to be present in assist in the room. That is something I need to do. Usually I am crying just as hard to harder than the owner, but I feel as though I need to be there to offer my experiences, support, and I like to make sure everything is done just how I would like it if it was my animal. Some techs bag too quickly or rough and THAT bothers me, so the vets know I am the one in the room. I treat those animals as if they were my own. Especially considering my good relationships with clients they often ask if I can be a part of it, because I have been such a big part in their pets life. As hard as euths are, you do feel at peace afterwards. (This is important: my office will only euth a pet in PAIN, we are not one of those vet practices that will euth anything claiming animals are property. It is really going to be up to you whether or not this is something you will be looking for when you start applying to hospitals.) You know the animal was begging to cross into Heaven, they DO get a look in their eyes when it is time. All vets and techs can tell you this. When it is time, we know by looking into their eyes.

- Clients, some clients are going to piss you off, make you want to scream, and make you want to take their animal away from them. It is the clients who refuse treatment or are just jerks and don't believe their pet deserves care. You will see EVERYTHING, like it or not. I have called Animal Control several times on clients and have refused to return their pets to them. I have even called the police on clients. You do what you have to do to protect your patients. I have been threatened, swore at, yelled at.. you name it. You need thick skin and need to know when to bite your lip!!

- Anals, blood, vomit, diarrhea, urine, puss, etc. Be prepaired to wear one or all of the above each day! :) Bring a change of clothes always!!!

4) Get ready for the emotional roller coaster :) Some techs have 'trained' themselves to not get emotionally envolved (or maybe they just don't care, who knows) and just keep going on like nothing has happened. That is NOT me. Again, I really put myself in clients shoes and I cannot help but feel what they are going through. For me, this makes me a better technician. It makes me more driven, more determined, and more proactive.

5) It is a lot of work, but a lot more fun! My best advice would be to find a hospital/veterinarians that have the same beliefs, morals, and values that you do. I am very lucky to work in a hospital with the best veterinarians that feel the same way I do. Also, go to school... a 4 year college and then take your boards to be a LVT. You can always fall back on your bachelors degree from college if the whole Vet Tech thing does not work out. I went to college and graduated with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. Also, because of my degrees (I also went back for a masters degree) I had a much easier time finding a job (I was the one who was able to be 'picky') and am the highest paid tech at my work.

I wish you the best of luck in your new adventure!!!

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What are the pros and cons of working as a Veterinary Technician?
To anyone currently working as a Veterinary Technician (or previously worked as one), this question is for you.

I am considering becoming a Vet Tech and would love some personal feedback. So, could you please answer the following questions?

1. How long have you worked (or did you work) as a...

Answer 3

1. I have worked as a Licensed Veterinary Technician for 2 years.
2. I love my job because I get to work with animals every day. I love seeing the new puppies come in, I love watching them grow up. And I love when a scared owner comes in with a sick dog, and I KNOW we can help them. I also form relationships with the clients that come in. It is also interesting to assisst during surgery, take a diagnostic X-Ray, and watch as your skills develope in drawing blood, placing IV catheters etc.
3. The part I don't like about my job is euthanasia. It will never get easy. Sometimes my co-workers tell me to 'buck-up' because I still cry every time. But I can't just 'buck-up,' I truly feel for the owner and pet involved. Another hard part is when owners aren't able to afford veterinary treatment.
Some people think that it is gross (you deal with a lot of blood, feces, urine, and vomit), but that stuff doesn't bother me.
4. I would advice you to focus in science in math in school, and start getting involved in working with animals now. You can volunteer at a local animal shelter or get a job as an assistant/kennel help at a local vet clinic.
5. I make $12.50 an hour, so this is not a job to go into if you are looking into making a lot of money. And you will also want to look into the different fields available for a veterinary technician. I work in small animal practice, but you can get a job working with exotics, at a zoo, with large animals like horses and cows, at a research lab, at a drug rep company, or with the military.

Answer 4

Working as a vet tech, your senses will be bombarded with the absolute worst you've ever experienced. The smells can be awful. Like blood and feces, for instance. Animals may have an injury that's grotesque.
You will assist in euthanasia. Picking up or holding a dead animal is difficult. Also, there will be occasions where an animal needs medication, or routine care, and the owner wants no part of it. So you will euthanize animals that didn't necessarily have to die. That's hard to do.

Answer 5

1. several years
2. working hands-on with animals, teaching the public, learning so much from the vets...specifically, i enjoy surgeries, labwork, doing x-rays, caring for the animals after surgery best.
3. seeing animals in pain is hard esp if it's a difficult-to-treat case, the pay sucks, people blame you for their animal's problems (it's not my fault that what it takes to care for a sick pet is expensive), not being able to cheat death every time (losing an animal we've seen all it's life is hard on us too).
4. keep the strong love of animals, but grow thick skin...every day brings some sort of heartache and you must do a balancing act or it will drown you: build up a defense against the bad without losing the ability to still feel the compassion necessary to do your job well.
5. it's a wonderful thing to do but not an easy one. schooling is long and expensive. pay doesn't compare to what it should be, but few jobs in the animal care field do. it can be difficult to care for animals whose problems are preventable without wanting to throttle their idiot owners all the time, lol.

it really is a fun thing to do in life, just don't expect it to be all fun and games, and don't expect to get rich off it. good luck and have fun!

Answer 6

1. 35 years
2. working with pets is the best
3. rude, obnoxious clients, clients that wait too long before bringing a sick or injured pet to the vet, having a pet die
4. Be prepared for hard work, long hours , low pay and working with some very rude clients
5. I love being a tech..it is very rewarding to work with pets and to take those that are very ill or injured and nurse them back to health., while the pay isn't that great the rewards more then make up for it.

Answer 7

1.) 4 years. Had to stop due to a serious physical injury, not related to the job.
2.) I personally liked dealing with the clients, and in my experience, most owners will listen to your recommendations. The things I really loved was puppy check ups, educating kids brought along to watch how brave Puppy was getting his shots, surgery, especially when the results were a thousand percent better than when the animal went in, the "miracle cures", where a dog comes in on death's doorstep, and a few drops of calcium or glucose or whatever was needed later, was back to its old self. I also enjoyed large animal practice immensely.
3.) I despised the attitudes of a few owners, like the one who came in with an attitude because the dog warden gave him a few days to comply iwth the rabies vaccination requirement for his dog. He brought the dog in, filthy, matted, flea and tick infested, and on a tie out chain. We tried to educate him about basic shots and flea treatments, and preventing parasites. His response was "Just give the &^%$*!@ thing the shot it HAS to have. If it dies, I can get ten more. Who gives a $h!t?" I hate dealing with people like him.
4.) I got some really great advice before I started college by my interviewer. She told me straight up that it was hard, dirty work most of the time, the pay is never great, so if you decide to do this, do it for the love of it. You aren't ever going to get rich."
5.) Be prepared to buy lots of muscle rub and heating pads. You are gonna pull, strain, or injure something eventually.


I wish you good luck and great success in whatever you choose to do.

Answer 8

One con is that if you answer a question on Yahoo! Answers based on your specialized training and experience, you will get six thumbs down for every thumbs up from all the self-appointed experts here.