Petco Text Logo
Petco Pet Logo

  • Two Easy Ways to Start Earning Rewards!

Want to be a vet? A vet shares job realities, colleges, and advice.

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Pekingese | Male | neutered | 6 years and 3 months old | 15 lbs

Hello this doesn’t involve my dog. But I don’t know anyone that is a veterinarian or a vet assistant. I want to be a veterinarian or vet assistant when I go up. I have question. But I don’t know if you have time to answer them. But I would really appreciate if you did. Here are my questions 1) Is the job worth it to you? 2) Do you have some pets that bite? 3) What are colleges you recommend? 4) Do you love your job? 5) If you talk to your younger self would you pick a different career?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Image profile

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on May 17th, 2018

I am a veterinarian and I would be glad to answer your questions! 1. Yes, the job is worth it to me. I love what I do, and in veterinary medicine, there are many different career paths. I was a small animal vet, but I've since moved into an industry job focusing on food safety and animal welfare. It's not where I thought I would end up working, but I absolutely love it. 2. Ha ha yes, you will always run into pets that will bite in this job! 3. I recommend picking a college that has a pre-veterinary program. That way, it ensures you take the courses you need in order to be eligible for vet school. I went to Purdue University, so I highly recommend that :-) 4. Yes, I do love my job. I have a great work/life balance, my particular sector of the industry is very low stress, and and I find the work interesting. Sometimes I do miss the hands on aspect of working with small animals, but my job is really awesome. 5. I personally wouldn't pick a different career. I hope this helps!

Vote icon

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Questions

Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hell I do not have a pet but I want to be a vet when I get older. I want to know some answers for a project. 1 is how much is an average that you make. What made u interested into this field. What animals do u work with. What college did u attend. H
Hi, I am a vet and I'd be glad to answer your questions! The average a vet makes varies by area and clinics, and the type of animal you work with (i.e. large animal, small animal, equine), but the average starting salary can be around $70k. I've always wanted to be a veterinarian, even since I can remember. It's the only job I've wanted to do since I was a child. I work with small animals and horses. I attended Purdue University for my undergraduate degrees, but i went to Massey University in New Zealand for veterinary school. It's accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association, and I got to move to the most beautiful country in the world :-) It took me a long time to get where I am, as I didn't get into vet school right away. I went and got a master's degree before going back to vet school. If you get into vet school right out of college, it will take at least eight years total (four in college and four in vet school) before you are a qualified vet. I'm not sure w
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
I am a high school student who wants to become a veterinarian and I have to do a school project about the career. I would really appreciate it if you could answer some of these questions. What do you like/dislike most about your job? What types of an
I'd be happy to answer your questions! What I like most about my job is helping sick animals. I work primarily for a home euthanasia service, and while it seems sad that I put animals to sleep, I find it very rewarding to help ease their pain and suffering. What I dislike most is seeing abused animals. It really hurts to see them in terrible conditions. I also love working with horses, and do that as a relief job (meaning I fill in as needed). I would say they are the most interesting work with as a vet. Each animal has their own difficulties with treating them, so I couldn't honestly pick one that is easier or harder. They all present their own difficulties when working with them. I think what makes me a good vet is my compassion and love for animals. The most difficult situation I've faced so far is putting to sleep an extremely aggressive and sick old cat that I couldn't even touch without her trying to bite and scratch me. I had a vet student along with me seeing what
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hello, I'm a college student pursuing a vet degree and I have a project where I have to ask five questions. I'm sorry to bother you but if you could please answer them for me I would greatly appreciate it. What made you decide to be a vet? What would
What an interesting project! Very worthwhile too, to give you some insight into being a veterinarian. 1) I always wanted to be a vet, I can't really be more specific than that unfortunately! I did try a number of other 'career' options but none of them were anywhere as satisfying as I knew veterinary medicine would be. 2) Be very careful about the choices you make regarding school and loans, and work afterwards. The debt load for new grads is extremely high and sadly the veterinary profession has a very high suicide rate because of the mental strain and pressure we are under. Being very self aware and being sure to look after yourself during school and then when you start work is very important. 3) I love helping animals and owners deal with diseases, I enjoy sending home an animal that is now happy and on the mend, when they came in they felt very sick. Owner education is SOOO important. You have to realize that whilst we treat animals, we spend much more time 'treating' owners and
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
I'm a student and need to ask a vet ten questions. Whats the best part about your job? Can your job get stressful at times? How so? What's your favorite animal to work with? Is there ever a time that you don't enjoy your job? What or who inspire
1) Best part of the job is helping make an animal feel better after the owner has lost hope. 2) This job can be very stressful at times. You have to deal with emergencies, well visits, different species, and pet owners who are understandably emotional. You have to know how to do surgery and deal with potential complications. You have to deal with stressful situations like euthanasias. Student loans for veterinary school are extremely high and most veterinary salaries are too low to pay off loans quickly or at all. 3) Dogs 4) I don't enjoy my job when there is a very sick animal and the owners are unable to pursue treatment. 5) I've worked with a few very good veterinarians that inspired me to become a veterinarian 6) Some days are tough but I've never wanted to totally quit 7) Being unable to pay off loans and only being able to live paycheck to paycheck was not expected 8) I dislike the stress associated with owners financial concerns and the stress of surgery. 9) A good veter
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
If anyone is willing to share their information and experiences! 1) Name: 2) Organization you work for: 3) What are some of the activities required by this occupation (Example: giving shots, cleaning, etc): 4) Salary/Hours range: 5) Education level r
I can try to help you, but I will not be giving you my last name or the organization I work for to keep my privacy. I've had people try to track me down outside the site, so I do not want to give too much identifying information. 1. Dr. Melanie 2. Home euthanasia service and locum vet (filling in at vet clinics as needed) 3. With the home euthanasia service, I provide both hospice and euthanasia services. I basically go to people's homes and put their animals to sleep. Our organization only does this for old and sick pets, and having this done in the home is a great comfort to both the owners and their pets. With my locum work, I typically do surgery. I cover for vets who are sick or on holiday, and I perform routine surgeries such as spays and neuters on cats and dogs. 4. The home euthanasia service is as needed and an appointment can last anywhere from 20 minutes to a few hours. It depends on the owner and how long they want me there, there is no set time. The cost of thi
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Can you answer these questions for me? please! What is a typical day like as a veterinarian? What makes being a veterinarian interesting? When did you chose to be become a veterinarian? How did you chose to be a veterinarian with so many options? W
Hello! Sounds like you're interested in pursuing this career choice :-) I am happy to answer some questions for you, but we're limited in the length of our answer in the "free" forum here, so if you'd like a more thorough answer please request a consultation and I'm happy to go into more detail! There are many different types of veterinarians and different careers that can be pursued. I work in a busy small animal practice, and a typical day involves either surgery or seeing appointments. Either way, it's a busy job - lots of juggling scheduled appointments, "add-on" (urgent care style) appointments, drop off hospitalized animals, and phone calls, and LOTS of paperwork as everything needs to be thoroughly documented in the animal's medical record. What makes this job most interesting is the variety, as we see all conditions and never know what the day has in store! You might spend a morning suturing a laceration, managing an emergency, counseling an owner on training a new pu
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
What is the starting salary for veterinarians? How long does it take to get a promotion? Why did you choose to become a vet? What is the hardest and easiest animals to work with? What is the growth of the job like? Is it easier or harder to get a jo
Hi and thanks for your request. The salary and the promotion steps would vary a lot depending on the type of work you are doing (clinical versus public health vs research). The passion for biology and animals and medicine gave me inspiration for choosing this profession. Personal hardest animals are horses. It is quite easy to get a job but that would depend were you work and what type of job you want to do. Passion for animals and learning and perseverance are important in this profession and they are what you have to keep in mind (unwritten rules). I have learned that failure is an important part of this profession and has to be taken with a positive attitude.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hi, my name is Nicholas and I am interested in pursuing a veterinary career. I have always been passionate about animals and they're well being. I am currently in high school and I am having a lot of trouble ensuring this is the right career for me.
Hello Nicholas and thank you for your questions. Every person is different. Certainly the more procedures you preform, the more used to things you become but for some people, the sights and smells may always bother them. Most veterinarians deal with a lot of stress. It's not all puppies and kittens. This is a highly rewarding career but it is absolutely a tough career. Also remember that there are many types of veterinary practices and many types of personalities. You have to find what is best for you. Some of us work on call but that can compromise your quality of life. My advice to you would be to work in a clinic for a few years before making the decision. Make sure you realize the stress levels, time commitment and quality of life compromising that can affect veterinarians. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hi, so this isn't exactly pet related, but I have always wanted to be a vet. I'm fifteen, and was wondering if there were any tips or opinions on how being a vet is that I could get? I don't exactly know a reliable source of information about being a
Thanks for using Boop by Petco! Being a veterinarian is a very rewarding career. It is a long and difficult journey to become a veterinarian but it is certainly worth it if you like it. I would encourage you to start by trying to get more experience in the field. You could consider working with a veterinarian or at least shadowing so that you can get a better idea of how being a veterinarian really is. You can also get more information by looking into veterinary school websites so that you get an idea of the requirements needed to get into school. Best of luck in your journey!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
HI, my name is Jonathan and I am doing a research paper for my school. Can you answer a couple of questions for me? What do you like most about your career? What advice would you give someone who is considering being a Veterinarian? What would you sa
Thanks for using Boop by Petco! What I like the most about my career is being able to help pets in need and support owners through that process. Veterinary medicine is very interesting because of how broad the field is and how much you learn on a daily basis. Anyone interested in becoming a veterinarian should start by getting more experience in the profession by shadowing a veterinarian and also studying very hard and making an effort to learn and get good grades. The most difficult aspect of becoming a veterinarian is continuing to do well in schools which can be quite hard and also being able to balance life outside of school with school work. Also, it is also very costly which puts some pressure on you as a veterinary student as well. Personal characteristics required for this profession include being compassionate, intelligent, curious, motivated and above all caring. Good luck with your project! I hope you get an A!
Updated on September 24th, 2025

Related Searches

Dog Supplies Dog Food Pet Pharmacy Dog Medicine and Prescriptions Dog Health & Wellness At-Home Dog Vaccines Veterinary Diet Dog Food Small Animal Supplies Prescriptions for Small Animals & Other Pets Veterinary Diet Cat Food Vet Worthy Vet Worthy Dog Supplies Veterinary Diet Vetality Vet Worthy Dog Health & Wellness Embark Vet Pet Adobe Veterinary Diets Vet's Best Dog Supplies Vetality Dog Supplies
image
Have A Vet Question?

Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.

Book Now

Sponsored