I wanted to become a vet and would have become one, but while voulenteering my time at one of our local humane societies it became apparent that you need to be able to see and breath to be a vet... two things I could not do after a few minutes with the animals I wanted to help.
I headed off for allergy testing. Well 4+ reaction to dogs, cats, horses and sheep, and a 2+ to feathers... that lets me out. I wanted to be, but God must have other plans.

I still have 14 birds, 2 dogs (poodles), 1 degu and 2 fish... and I sneeze and wheeze my way through life. I will probably die young of an lung issue, butI don't care, I do what I can. My goal is to open a sanctuary for geriatric poodles. I already have the Weary wings hotel for homeless and unwanted birds. I put out more money on pet food and vet bills that I do on Vehicle care...But they love me back.

Wish I could be a vet, it would save me on some vet bills, so if you hear of any single vets let me know.

i wanted to be a vet for years, until i discovered that i can't do advanced math to save my life. so i'm currently doing my BA, but I recently rediscovered my love of animal medicine by fostering three little kittens. I think I'll go to school to be a tech once I'm done my degree. I can't wait!

I used to dream of being a vet too, when I was a kid, but it didn't take me long to realize that doing surgeries, or losing patients would just rip me up. Now I know the real reason I don't ever want to be a vet. After my nightmare experience with a local vet, I began researching issues of veterinary quality, the lack of standards pertaining to "technicians' which is a word too loosely used and to great detriment . . . I began talking to people all over the country, and heard horror story after horror story of negligence, cavalier unconcern, disdain for patients and their "owners" and even worse -- abuse -- and much of this coming from people INSIDE the industry. Worse still, I learned that suing a vet for malpractice just isn't feasible and they know it (it would cost more than you could ever recover, no lawyer will take it on retainer, and you better be rich before you even think about it.) No wonder average vet malpractice insurance is still hovering down around $200 bucks. And the "vet boards" that regulate vets? WHAT A JOKE! Animals die all the time due to vet negligence, overdoses, poor monitoring, botched surgeries, and vets all over the country get off, or get fines of oh, $250, reprimands, etc. The arrogance of members of the medical and veterinary professions alike, the defensiveness, the justification of unethical and immoral behavior such as CYA activities after a screw up including destruction, falsification, retroactive modification of records; denying conversations that took place with clients; surgeries without authorization; drug overdoses and interactions . . . mysterious deaths followed by automatic cremation without owner permission or knowledge . . . amazes me. I went to a conference with a bunch of human MDs recently, and we were actually having conversations about WHETHER OR NOT doctors should reveal medical mistakes. Whether it's OK to lie. "EXCUSE me? Are we really debating about whether or not you should tell your patient that while, performing a hip surgery, you sliced through one of her tendons? Are we really having this conversation?"

I dunno, my dad brought me up to tell the truth. My family used to hold doctors -- and vets -- as practically demigods. Now I know. It's not just that they are merely human as we all are. It's that so many of them, think they should be above the law. Think that if they are not gods, they at least are entitled to be treated as such. I guess they get used to being treated like demigods because most people are ignorant and trusting, as I used to be, and they get treated as demigods so long they begin to buy into the hype.

I would never want to be a vet because I would puke daily if I had to be a part of that culture.

Thank you for doing that (warning people away from your less than conscientious colleagues.) I know that you are not "all the same"; my Toonces received excellent and sensitive care from a neurologist who oversaw his care for a whole month at a high-end specialty hospital, because he had to be there for a month to save his life, and even then, he was SO brain damaged. But I DID see people in the vet community close ranks (not her, though), and I DID get the definite impression that the larger veterinary community was more interested in having his back" than in convincing him to do the right thing and take responsibility for what he had done, through negligence, to my cat, and therefore also to me.

After what I have been through though, I have come to believe that vets like our neuro are the exception, not the rule. I also believe (this may be controversial, but so be it) that female veterinarians are more likely to be conscientious and in it for the right reasons than male ones, or at least, the females seem less arrogant.

If I ever DO go into vet medicine, it will be as a tech, and I will do home visit hospice/supportive care, because the stress of those 2 years, and having no one I could trust to watch him (other than my mom), if I needed to leave the house (he required constant care) was awfully stressful, and I know many people with pets that have chronic or terminal illnesses who could use those services.

I know I likely did not have the strength to be a vet as I am very sensitive. The key thing that stopped me, though, was my grades. I did ok in highschool but then due to poor self esteem and just not having the brains, I did very poorly in 1st and 2nd year science. I regret this sometimes. I really think that those that made it thru are very fortunate and should really feel accomplished. They should also honour their profession and treat animals humanely.

I know that a lot of the class work in certain vet schools involves some ethically debatable work. The one in Guelph Canada used to use a pound animal for a year/student and they would have to do all these unnecessary surgeries on them and then euthanize them at the end of the year. They changed that so now I believe 3 students do surgeries, but the animal never wakes up (no post op). This is not all rosey as they stop and then try to start the heart for cardio exercises (for each 3 students). In addition, they also buy specially bred sheep for surgeries and then put them down.

A few pushed for "alternative" studies where they use cadavers etc. (get live experience later with client animals), but only a percentage of students take this route. The faculty seems to prefer the traditional way - using live animals all the time.

So ... I think I would have loved to be a vet, but even if I had the grades, I am not sure if I could have completed some of the inhumane acts that would have been required of me. In addition, I may have fallen apart with some of the related stress that I have heard about.

I've just stumbled upon this website and am thoroughly pleased with it. I think that my insight might be of some use to people who are interested in becoming vets, as I had applied to and received offers from two veterinary schools...and declined them. I can hear the gasping through the internet, but let me explain. I had worked as an assistant--in our state the laws regarding scope of practice for assistants versus technicians were unclear and contested on a regular basis (or so I was told), so I was rather grandfathered in--but had the responsibilities of a tech for seven years, first in a daytime practice and then at an emergency clinic. During that time I was taking my prerequisites and preparing my applications with the intent of using my clinic experience as a boost for the apps. What happened is this: by the time everything shook down, I realized that I was absolutely fascinated by medicine, but simply emotionally incapable of practicing it on animals. Day in and day out, working with patients that could not comprehend the value of temporary pain, patients whose health and welfare would always depend on the milk of human kindness--a milk more generous in some clients than in others, and a knowledge that I would absolutely go empty-pockets broke in the face of the desire to help animals live better, longer lives. Two of my current three cats are hospital rescues...

So where did that leave me? Well, I LOVED the medicine--so I went human. I'm now a second-year osteopathic medical student and thrilled to be such. I look back on my vet years with great fondness and a sober acknowledgement that veterinarians do some of the most selfless work on earth. I'm thankful for many of the personal philosophies that arose as a result of my experiences, not to mention I'm a badass at blood draws and IV starts (and I think I'll have intubation down pat too). The take home message is this: be in the field. Nothing about owning pets, or even volunteering at shelters, can prepare you for what it's like. Do it for a couple of years (don't worry, we'll need you down the road) to make sure that you can handle all of it. I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice, and then think about all the nights I cried myself to sleep because those animals just didn't understand...and breathe a huge sigh of relief. You might be able totake it, and if you can we need you BADLY. I couldn't.

Cheers,

Amy

PS--grades, schmades. What you love will pull you through the toughest classes.

Student Veterinarian Kuran:

Perhaps I was unclear in my admittedly flippant comment about grades, but it sounds like you have proven my point. What is it that keeps you studying? Your love for the profession. Therein lies the strength of being motivated: we discover the tools we need to succeed and move forward with them, rather than hover at the edge of something we think we want to do but can't see a path. Love finds the path.

Cheers,

Amy

I must say grades are the only factor, At only Vet school in Texas, if you do not have a 4.0 you do not get in. Period. My (now) SIL graduated with a aminial science degree. He wanted to be a Vet. He would have been a very good one. His dad is a Vet. A very good one who owns his own clinc. The SIL is not good with Math, also not a great test taker. My daughter cracked the whip and he came out ok. It is a shame that grades and the fact that you can become a "real" people doctor in the same amount of time will keep so many people from becoming a Vet.

I am an international medical graduate, and I am interested in studying veterinary medicine in the United States. I have an MBBS degree, which is equivalent to an American medical degree. I have worked in hospitals (mostly surgery) and I have also taught medical students basic science subjects like human anatomy and community medicine at universities in Asia. I would like to know whether it would be possible for me to get a DVM degree in less than the stipulated four years at an American university since I would guess that many of the classes in the DVM course would overlap with the classes I took during my MBBS days. I know that international students cannot avail of most of the scholarships that are granted to Americans, but would anyone know if my experience in medicine, teaching, etc., would help me get an assistantship in a DVM program?

I was so happy to see your website. I am the mother of a wonderful, intelligent woman who has wanted to be a vet since she was a child. She worked hard in undergrad at a very difficult university with a concentration on science. She graduated with a near 4.0 GPA. She completed all of her necessary job shadowing experience, but was never able to have an actual job with a vet since we live in a very rural area with limited opportunities. Now she is in her first year of vet school and is so discouraged by the extreme difficulty of the classes, and feeling as though her 250 hours of shadowing experience was not nearly sufficient enough to compare with many around her who has so much more hands on experience. She is questioning whether she has what it takes to realize her dream. I really believe she does, but I don't know how to encourage her. I am a nurse who realizes that it is much harder to become a vet than an MD! Any words of wisdom from you would help so much!

Kayla: I decided I wanted to be vet when I was about seven. Once I'd decided, everyone started telling me that it was so tough, so impossible. I hated it everytime someone said it. It made me work harder. Use that ange (if you have to)r to make you accomplish what you need to. It's worth it!

To be a vet was my life's dream even before I was 10 years old. I grew up on a "ranch" (it only qualified as such because it was in the middle of nowhere and my dad couldn't turn away anything).

We had donkeys he got cheap at a government auction; we had some rabbits that he thought to raise for food until we kids discovered this fact; chickens for eggs; a horse that had sand in her gut (bummer). We raised one mean turkey hen every year that my brother and I had no qualms about eating at Thanksgiving. A gazillion mallard ducks that were more-than-successfully raised for food and fertilizer for the garden (from the poop in the ponds, not the meat of the ducks). We had goats the neighbors couldn't keep, and a pig someone gave us at one time. A garden snake lived under our couch to hunt mice, and a tortoise lived by the fireplace. My mom was annually dropper-feeding baby ground squirrels that I'd bring home.

We had dogs that lived under the house and cats that lived up in the roof. Only the female dogs ever got spayed. Hey, it was the 60's! I guess it wasn't worth doing the cats because of the coyotes. But I had one cat for seven years who always had her litters in the vinyl plaid suitcase under my bed.

I loved animals, but I was always fascinated by the cats. I studied everything on cats, from juvenile literature ("Thomasina" made me cry, loved "The Incredible Journey") to college-level husbandry and human anatomy books featuring cats as specimens. I wanted to know cats inside and out. My favorite book was "The Life, History, and Magic of the Cat" from the library. I don't think anyone else ever got a chance to check it out.

(OK, I didn't read everything, because I somehow missed the "Dr. Doolittle" books--could've been my parents' liberalism--and vaguely remember a dumb song from a movie where I think it was Dick Van Dyke "talked to the animals, walked with the animals.")

I must have been pretty young because one of my mother's night-school college friends was impressed that I could even spell "veterinarian."

It was the grades and education that were my downfall. Or you say I lost focus. Public school bored me. I was a troubled teenager. I dropped out of high school after 10th grade. I had already decided college was a waste of time and money better spent on mind-altering substances. Hey, it was the 70's!

When I got a couple of cats in my mid-20's, I found out I couldn't even watch when my vet took my cat's temperature. Those cats, plus a lot of vets, taught me so much empirically over the past 25 years. My curiosity and research is constant and ongoing; I can spend hours at merckvetmanual.com. After six years in cat rescue I can give routine subq vaccinations, pill a cat, and even give a cat an enema, but I still can't take their temperatures.

My vet keeps trying to hire me. She says I explain things well to people who don't understand veterinary medicine, and vice versa. I'm honored and flattered, but I'm too old to support my menagerie on a vet tech's income.

My first dog had to be euthanized in 1981 (and I was 21). Being there for him was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do, but I'm grateful that veterinarians can give that gift of the end of suffering to our beloved pets. I don't think I would have had a problem with humanely euthanising a sick and suffering animal. I always sincerely thank my vet afterwards. There is no way I would do a healthy animal with a chance at a quality life.

One aspect of animal care that interests me now--and this is addressed specifically to Stefani--is "pawspice," hospice for pets. I've had to deal with end-of-life issues with several cats over the years, and I did an informal "pawspice" job--working with a willing vet--for a panicked gal who had a cat with dry FIP. I've had a couple of cats with lymphoma that turned into pawspice situations, before there was such a thing. It's a new, fascinating, and extremely important facet of animal care that is really gaining momentum. It's not for everyone, but if you can do it, it's a great gift to give someone a few extra quality weeks they may not have had otherwise, and really helps them cope when the end does come.

Nikki, thank you for bringing up the subject of hospice for pets. I hear about this more and more, and am happy that it is a new attitude toward end of life care. I hope you and other sensitive people stay involved in it. I have, inadvertantly, through the aging/death of three pets in my family in the last 2 years (my own cat and my moms elderly dogs, one of whom is deceased after 8 mos of cancer and kidney failure, and the other who is nearing end of life). It is a time to learn boundless compassion.

Hershey: I've found that attending a top liberal arts college is a recommendation in itself. Savvy admissions departments know the diffeence between the work completed here and that done elsewhere. If she doesn't get into vet school on the first try, I would have her repeat any of the relevant coursework for which she received less than a B at another school to show she's got the motivation and the follow-through. Best of luck to her!

Linnea, MedCat974, and the host of this website: I have been searching high and low for inspiration and stories about becoming a Vet. It never occured to me while I was in grade school or hgh school. Once in community college I flipped through major like brand new underwear. Never had the motivation for anything till my boyfiend bought me my first dog. I feel in love and began liking into careers in the animal field. But the GPA requirementand the belief in myself that I could actually do it lacked. But I read these blogs and I read Linnea and I'm inspired that I can actually make this work. I have a year and a half to boost my gpa up from a 2.4 to at least a 2.75. I work in a "human" hospital and I see how doctor can be with patient and it becomes all about the insurance ad what the insurance will pay for. And I know some Vets can be that way too. But I won't, and I'm only human and if I have to put an animal down I'll probably always cry and that I believe will always show my client's owners that I'm human and as much as it hurts you it hurts me too. Thanks all for the great blogs and the realization that I'm not alone out there with the same feelings.