Katnipcrzy, one of the Forum Leaders is a vet tech. You can always PM her direct if you like. I’m not sure when she’ll next be on but she might miss your post here.

Your background with psychology would always come in useful I would think. If you do decide to resume your bachelor studies in the future, can you do a focus on animal behaviour?

KimWho? I worked as a Vet Assistant for 2 years. I was seriously considering a career as a Vet Tech and looked into schools and available jobs. From my research on job sites and Vet Tech specific job search engines, it appears that if you are a certified vet technician you are in fairly high demand and are paid pretty well, depending on location. This was about a year ago when I did this research, but I imagine it’s still the same. From what I saw, many people think they want a career in a vet office, working with animals, but it’s a hard job, like being a people nurse, and not everyone is cut out for it. Which thus puts Vet Techs in higher demand.

I graduated with a degree in music, and after graduating had a really hard time finding a job, and because of my love for animals, thought it wouldn’t hurt to find a job in a vet office. I was lucky enough to have friends who were friends with a veterinarian and got a job with an office willing to train me, on the job. I loved it there. But I missed being a musician, and music won out. I decided to follow a master’s in music.

I would definitely advise someone who was interested to follow the career of Veterinary Technician. It’s very rewarding helping animals, who can’t speak for themselves, feel better. However, it’s also not easy. It’s definitely a dirty job. And strenuous. I worked in a very busy clinic and was constantly moving all day. I wanted to be a Vet Tech rather then just an assistant cause you get to do cooler stuff. Less cleaning up poop all day. You have to be able to handle getting dirty, blood, horrible smells, the occasional maggot flesh, euthanasia and much more. You will be bit and scratched inevitably at some point.

Perhaps a vet office will let you come in and shadow a vet tech so you could get a feel for the job? I totally understand the frustration of figuring out what you want to do! I have found that school is almost always worth it, if you can afford the cut in your work hours. It’s also possible that there is a vet office that would be wiling to have you work while you are becoming certified and going to school. There was a lady at my work who was working towards becoming a certified vet tech online, while being able to work at the vet office. It’s also probably possible to work on your Bachelors, in whatever, and work as a Vet Assistant first. That way you can decide if you want to go further as a Vet Tech.

These have been my opinions, I hope it was helpful!

I would recommend shadowing or working as a vet assistant first to see if you like the job.  There are wonderful moments about being a vet tech or assistant- and there are other awful moments like euthanasia and owners that either will not treat their pet or cannot afford to treat their pet.

It is true- there is not necessarily a lot of room for advancement as a vet tech- you might get moved up to Lead Vet Tech.  It seems like most office managers or practice managers come from the receptionist/customer service side of the business.  Most employers do not want to pay a vet tech to do administrative work- since there specialized skills are in the hands on animal work.

One thing I have noticed and this does vary- most clinics I have worked for either do not offer health insurance or it is crazy expensive since most as small business and do not have many people that enroll.  And most of my co-workers, myself included, have spouses that have full time jobs for major companies and carry our insurance thru them.

Depending on the area where you live- it could be really tough to make a living as a single income as a vet tech.  I am not a licensed vet tech- I have all on the job training- but we do have some licensed vet techs at work- and yes, they do make more.  But it was not enough more for me to go to school full time, not working full time hours as school is during the main vet office hours, pay for school, etc.  It was not worth the pay off for me.  And since I herniated a disc in my back and will not longer to heavy lifting or large dog wrestling it turned out to be a good choice for me.

I would recommend finding out what a vet tech can make in your area and determine if you can live on that, the cost of schooling, etc.

I have a husband that is a paramedic- so I had the opportunity to work at a Humane Society (huge paycut from admin asst) and work my way up to a vet clinic, receptionist- to hands on vet assistant and now switching to more admin stuff like medical records at the clinic due to back injury.