7 Important Reasons You May Or May Not Be A Vet Tech

It is wrong to assume that everyone who has a passion and love for animals would be fit to become a veterinary technician; I know of a few people that have switched to other industries even after graduating from a school of veterinary technology. 

Important reasons you may not be a vet tech:

1) It is very difficult to console the owners on euthanasia. Though relieving pain and suffering is our calling, and there is some comfort in watching a struggling old patient stop struggling and be at peace, it is hard for most people to be reminded of this pain day after day.

2) The veterinary technical profession is unfunded, has no medical insurance coverage, no government assistance, no public funding whatsoever, and every dollar that is earned comes directly out of an owner’s pocket. Most vet techs work a bit over the minimum wage, so being a veterinary technician is a career of choice, a career of passion, hard work and sacrifice, with nobody in it for the money.

3) Pain is a part of the life as a vet technician. It feels really helpless seeing a pet in pain; some may quietly hide their suffering, some may not understand the reason and feel scared and you may have no way of explaining to them. There is always some small part of you that thinks the animal is blaming you for their pain, even though it’s not really your fault they got sick.

4) It is heartbreaking to see the animals come to your office with fear and a feeling you are trying to kill them. They have no concept of what a hospital is, or that you here to help. The sounds are strange, the people are strange, the smells are strange, and people are touching, lifting, poking, and prodding them.

5) This fear in the vet’s office could make the animals scratch and bite you; it pains deep in the heart to know that you got scratched or bitten by an animal you love, and were just trying to help.

6) It takes a special kind of crazy to devote you to animals; it’s odd for a veterinary professional to understand why someone wouldn’t want fur all over their house. To a veterinary technician, cleaning up a sick pet’s mess makes them feel sorrier for the pet, than for themselves for having to clean it up. That’s a special kind of love right there.

7) Veterinary technicians are truly the most patient, understanding, caring people you will ever meet; every day vet techs are faced by people who have been given incorrect information by someone else, and have to persist on behalf of the animal, sharing knowledge with patience and understanding, to correct that knowledge.

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