What does /an/ think about becoming a vet? I did good in classes like ap bio and I like animals and I browse /an/.
>>2131356
If you're fine with the messy aspects of it you should be good.
>>2131356
If you're only just deciding now then it's probably too late. Regardless, it's a grueling job, only go into it if you're ok with chopping up and performing surgery on animals, and if you can come to terms with constant death around you. I only did a week in a vets as work experience, and it really hit home how depressing a job it would have been.
>>2131356
>I browse /an/.
that alone is probably enough to disqualify you.
why aren't you doing math and chemistry and memorizing anatomy between volunteering at a shelter and practicing giving shots? You shouldn't have time or energy left to browse /an/.
>>2131356
What a cute chinnie, looks like my little Odin.
If you work your ass off, and can handle putting
animals down and such go ahead to go vet school.
>pic related, Odin and mother Valerie the day he was born.
>>2131356
Almost went that path myself.
Can you be calm is the face of utter stupidity and cruelty on the part of pet owners?
Do you realize you will spend about between 60% and 80% of your practice hours spaying and neutering animals and cleaning/extracting teeth?
What will you do when people want you to declaw their cat?
How do you feel about performing an amputation? It has some really distinctive odors. I have a very strong stomach and it sent me outside vomiting 3 times during the course of the operation.
How's your GPA? You're not getting into vet college without a 4.0. Not gonna happen. And even then, you're still going to have to apply for a spot and compete for a spot among very many qualified students.
I almost walked this path. The things that made me realize that I could never be a vet are owners and that fucking amputation. And have prepped and assisted during many surgeries, but amputation is a whole different level. OMG the smells. And the dog was so much happier afterwards. There is no doubt in my mind that the dog desperately needed that amputation. But goddamn. I'm glad I was just assisting.
>>2131556
Damn, I was thinking of quitting my soul-less job and becoming a veterinary assistant.
Kek, there's this vet clinic near where I live. If you're a new vet tech (mostly high school, college kids) you euthanize your first animal during your first week. Lmao, it's how they weed out the weak, fucking savage ass initiation.
>>2131556
Wew lad. Thank you for such an insightful reply
Have fun being in debt FOREVER
>>2131617
Don't do this either. People dump their pets at the vet office when they decide they don't want to pay the bill. You will end up with 20 different pets by the end of your 1st year. And you'll hate people with a passion.
>>2131617
It'd be an awesome job except for the owners. After a while you really start to hate people.
I volunteered with my vet office for about 3 years with the plan of using that experience to give me an advantage for applying to vet college. It was the amputation that finally made me give up and walk. I was planning on being a large animal vet (mostly livestock) so that I wouldn't have to deal with owners too much. But that amputation made me realize that I would have a really hard time in the field in some situations. Simple surgeries didn't phase me a bit, but large surgeries can be harrowing. And as a large animal vet, there's no getting out of that. Not gonna happen.
>>2131356
Enjoy euthanizing cats, op.
>>2131556
Do you know any agricultural vets? I've thought about going into that.
>>2132724
Just the ones that would work with my and my grandma's livestock. They seemed pretty chill but the one's I know aren't terribly social and don't really do the small talk. Probably went into large animal for the same reason I was considering it.
>>2132713
If you want to be a livestock vet, that's pretty much the only vet field that makes any money. But you will be inseminating large herds of cows most of the time. So be prepared to be shoulder deep in cow vag all day, every day for months at a time. And that's just beef cattle. Dairy cows all year long. You'll also get calls from horse folks, hobby farmers and small farms but if you want to actually make money, cow vag.
>>2132777
Oops! Forgot one.
Every spring, you're going to spend about one month doing nothing but castrating livestock. Castration is really simple and fast but you're going to be castrating hundreds of animals every day. But you can keep the testicle. Do you like Rocky Mountain Oysters?
And birth assisting. Once again, shoulder deep in cow vag. Only this time you get to use ropes too.
Physicians are twice as likely to commit suicide and veterinarians are twice more as likely than physicians (so 4x more than a person not in the medical field)
It's a stressful and grueling job. You have to study more than a doctor for humans would since you have to be familiar with several animals instead of only one yet you get paid much less
I'm a tranny and mentally ill so there's already a high chance of me killing myself but I honestly believe humans are on the same level as other animals and I want to do something for a cause I care about
If I could have any job I'd want to be a vet that works in third world countries where there are little to no animal care laws and a desperate need for veterinary care but I think for the aforementioned reasons that's probably not a good idea
I shadowed at a vet when I was 13 and I along with a bunch of spaying/neutering I watched a dog get his back leg amputated and a cat with FeLV (they obviously didn't make me but I wanted to) The owners crying in the examination room and kissing their cat goodbye hurt badly and I went over to the cat's cage and pet her before she went to sleep and she was so friendly. I think that's what really made me determined to become a vet. You're around a lot of gore and death, but more animals would suffer and die if not for veterinarians
This got more personal than I intended it to be but I'm currently in college for veterinary medicine so I thought I might as well talk about it
>>2131356
If it's your calling go for it but there are some things to consider:
>Almost as much effort (training, education) is required to become a vet as becoming a doctor
>Your skills don't need to be as refined as a surgeon and the pressure to not fuck up isn't as heavy but you'll have to memorize vastly more information to be competent treating many species of variable physiology across several taxonomic orders
>The job market is highly competitive and saturated
>You're going to have to work with animals that have been abused/neglected by borderline retarded owners, daily
>You're going to have to euthanize people's pets and then tell them
If you don't have a cognitive disconnect for gore and absolutely heartbreaking shit you won't make it. I could personally never be vet because of that. Try for a specialized biology degree if that doesn't sound appealing. Your options will be much less limited.
>>2132713
I would recommend raising livestock or getting a relevant Bio degree and getting one of the thousands types of jobs that let you work with animals but don't require vet school.
>>2132823
>You're around a lot of gore and death, but more animals would suffer and die if not for veterinarians
This is my thinking too, it's sad seeing suffering but the ultimate goal is helping. And there are owners who genuinely love their pets who want the best for them.
>>2131556
>you need a 4.0 to go to vet school
Let's not exaggerate. I know people who got into Harvard Medical (like for people) with 3.75 and 3.81
>>2132823
I started volunteering with my vet when I was 12. Gave it up when I was 15. During that time I also started doing basic first aid and field medicine for my families animals. I even fixed and saved a goose that got torn up and partially eaten by a racoon (damn, I'm good!).
Anon, you rock. You're a stronger person than me. I just couldn't follow through. It was that stupid amputation that did me in. Sweet dog, hind left leg.
>>2132966
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/09/16/how-to-be-a-veterinarian/
>That’s not to say that only the students with the best grades are accepted… I’m living proof of that. I had a solid 3.4 GPA going into interviews. I was going up against 4.0 honor students
>>2132974
Damn. When I was looking into it in my preteens and early teen years it was a hell of a lot harder. That's why I started volunteering with my vet when I was 12. I would kill myself with classes and homework too because I desperately wanted to be accepted. Starting getting references at a stupidly young age too. I started taking nothing but science electives in junior high and when I hit high school I was taking all AP classes with all science electives too. I had a thick folder for of recommendations, a strong history of volunteer work (also volunteered at my local hospital in the pediatrics oncology ward). I was still terrified that I wasn't good enough to make the cut.
>>2132966
>It's a hell of a lot harder to get into vet school than medical.
Flunkee trying to justify not making it detected
>>2131556
Amputation put you off? Surprised you said amputation in comparison to say abscesses. In fact the noise was more off-putting than the smell in my first amputation, that bone grinding noise!
Good job you didn't ever enter a dissection room. We had our safety officers out in the first few weeks triple checking the formaldehyde level was acceptable for us to be in our dissection room, and lets not even talk about some of our 'fresher' materials.
I'm a vet student, I love my degree dearly but I also know it's not for everyone.
Have you shadow'ed a vet yet OP? That really needs to be your first port of call if you're even considering this field.
But, feel free to ask any questions!
Pick related: currently revising for my neuro exam. Also thrown in throw away email, would love to get in contact with >>2132823 and any other vet students/vet tech etc to exchange useful study bits!
>>2133838
Abscesses are nasty but they're fast enough to work through. I was assisting on a dental visit and this cat's mouth was fucking nasty. It ended up having all but a few teeth pulled. Ugh. It smelled terrible. I felt so bad for that cat. There was also a dog (lab) that kept coming in every few months with these benign tumors. So much cutting and stitching on that poor dog. She was the sweetest thing though, so I totally get why her owner never gave up. We also had the hell cat of pain. Her owner was fucking nuts and kept bringing her in almost monthly. She wanted teeth cleaned, claws clipped, blood work, and she was constantly terrified the thing was dying of something. I got so good at making the cat burrito. We could actually pull blood without getting our asses handed to us by this tiny, very angry cat. Cat had good cause to hate us though. All those fucking blood draws.
Not much really bothered me. I was a fixture in that clinic for years and loved being there. I saw/smelled/had to clean up some really nasty things, but it was totally worth it. I thought I was on the right track and totally good to go. When I started out, they just had me doing post op care and cleaning and stuff. By the time I was totally sure this was my path, I was in charge of the autoclave, pre-surgery prep, intubating, had performed some spays and neuters under direct supervision, stitched under supervision, biopsies, you name it. I was happily rolling right along.
The only thing that truly bothered me was the amputation. I held on for a while after, but it just did me in. It was like my world broke. I had a lot of conversations with my vet about it and tried to work my way through it. Just couldn't get past it.
>>2133844
Strange! Mind if I ask what you are doing now?
>>2133848
I got an Anthropology degree and I work as a System Administrator.
When I lost my drive to be a vet, I immediately started repairing electronics, refurbing circuit boards (used to be easier back in the day because those solder points were so big and beautiful). Built my first computer in 1994.
So now I'm just another tech geek.
>>2131556
why does it smell? I don't understand. Dead animals don't smell when you cut their legs off. Like if you hunt.
Is it because you cauterize it?
>>2133869
My guess is there was some necrotic tissue present as otherwise, you're right, there's not really much of a 'smell'.
Admittedly, my nose might be royally messed up as I spend a few days of my week with fresh/formaldehyde specimens, but when I've taken part in a few amputations I don't really remember a smell. As I said before, what did hit me the first time was the noise.
Quite a few people expect operations to 'smell', but even some of the most invasive procedures don't tend to have a smell accompanying them unless something has gone necrotic/ you get something GI/ abscess related.
However, upon saying all of that- I know some people have really sensitive noses.
I'm in the process of getting myself a cert IV in vet nursing and I'm about to start work experience. Anyone got any tips for me?
