When it comes to a veterinarian, their work is perceived as giving shots or making sick pets better, which is only partially accurate. In fact, veterinarians face many more challenges in their day-to-day work, including diagnosing complex diseases, prescribing behavioral therapy, and even consulting on dietary needs.
If you are an animal lover, a pet parent, or you just want to learn more about this crucial vocation, you will find something of interest here. Let’s talk about four surprising highlights of a veterinarian’s work.
Becoming a Veterinarian Requires Dedication (and Comes with Reward)
If you’re thinking about becoming a vet, remember that it’s not an easy path, but it’s a fulfilling one. It takes years of schooling, in-office training, and a genuine love of animals. You’ll need to take courses in biology, chemistry, anatomy, and other courses before even applying to veterinary school, which, as you might guess, is quite competitive. When you do get in, get ready for an intense program with both classroom study and real clinical experience.
But if you’re willing to do the hard work, the payoff is well worth it—helping animals have healthier lives and serving those who love them. You can go through vet salary statistics to see how much money you can earn if this is your career of choice. For most vets, however, the greatest reward is making a difference every day.
Vets Are More Than “Animal Doctors”
When you hear someone mention a “vet,” you can likely visualize a person wearing a white lab coat giving injections or stitching up a wounded dog but their job is more intricate than that. Veterinarians train to know complicated animal physiology, to make diagnoses of all types of illness, to perform surgeries, and to even perform emergency care. They will even teach pet owners how to address issues like nutrition, exercise, and behavioral problems in animals.
Most vets specialize in something as well, like dermatology, cardiology, or even behavior. So yeah, the work does include regular checkups and shots, but it also includes a solid grasp of science, good people skills, and an abominable amount of compassion.
Preventive Care Is a Huge Part of Their Work
One of the most important things that veterinarians do is keep the animals healthy before anything goes wrong. Preventive care is all about preventing things from arising in the first place. It can be things such as routine wellness check-ups, vaccinations, parasite prevention, and teeth cleaning.
A veterinarian also teaches pet owners how to take care of their pets daily, from choosing the right food to making sure that pets get enough physical and mental stimulation. Much of their work is picking up on subtle signs of disease or distress that will not be noticed by the average pet owner. Through preventative care, vets enhance the quality of life for pets and prevent expensive and traumatic procedures later on.
They Work with More Than Just Dogs and Cats
Yes, most vets actually deal with cats and dogs, but their expertise can be used on so many other creatures. Some veterinarians deal with exotic pets like reptiles, birds, or small mammals. Others deal with working with livestock, helping farmers take care of cows, pigs, goats, and chickens. There are also wildlife vets, caring for injured or orphaned wildlife, and working with conservation organizations.
All of these specialties require special handling skills and knowledge. So if you thought that a vet’s day was all kittens and puppies, then you’d better think again—they may be operating on a parrot in the morning, a horse in the afternoon, and a snake before they close up shop.
A veterinarian doesn’t just keep ill animals well – they’re the ones working hard to ensure animals remain healthy and fit every day of the week. From consulting on how to properly care for them right through emergencies and surgery, their work is one of duty and variety. They’re also the ones who advise us on tough decisions and lead us to think about what our pets truly require. If you just observe all the work they do, it becomes quite easy to understand how important their work is. So when you’re at the vet next time, don’t forget to consider how hard they work backstage for the wonderful pets.