What are disadvantages in a vet career?

Answer 1

animalscan get messy they stink sometimes and sometimes you have to see blood and that's nasty cause im scared to see alot of blood ... animals might not be tamed and they might bite you. but other than that if you love animals the job will be fun and sometimes easy....lol.... im juss playin im not a veterinarian im still in high school but i do plan on being one or a singer just so you know!

Answer 2

The three biggest hazards that veterinarians contend with are slips/falls, animal bites and scratches and accidental needle sticks. Other hazards can include radiation exposure and thermal exposure (weather-related, usually).

Answer 3

You have to be willing to put in long hard hours of work, just as a physician does. When you have an animal in critical condition that needs constant monitoring, you will quite often have to either stay overnight at work, or go in several times during the night to check on the animal. You also have to have a lot of patience and compassion; animals don't understand you are helping them, so they get scared and panic or try to fight you.

You have to be able to put your entire arm inside the back end of a cow, horse, etc. to examine/treat them, so if you are squeamish, this could be a problem for you. And be prepared to deal with a lot of animal poop, urine and blood getting on you daily. You will also need a lot of patience to deal with some animal owners. They tend to give veterinarians more stress than the animals do.

Many people expect the vet to put their animal above the rest of the vet's patients, not realizing (or caring) that the vet has to triage animals, just as an emergency room at hospitals do, and they can get rather testy when their pet doesn't get priority. So in addition to loving animals, you also need good people skills.

You will sometimes get bitten by scared or agressive animals, but mostly the scared ones. Since they don't understand you are only trying to help them, their natural instinct is to 'fight or flight' and since they can't flee, then that leaves the fight response.You will also have totend to all sorts of animals, some of which may be a bit intimidating to you, such as pet snakes and other reptiles, arachnids, etc.

Dealing with large animals, such as cattle and horses can be dangerous at times, as well. One kick from one of those large animals can cause serious injury. But in vet school, you are taught ways to avoid injury and precautions to take.

But if you love animals, as most vets do, then you will accept this as just part of the job. After all, there are many jobs that have far more 'negatives', and a lot less rewarding.

Answer 4

From a DVM:

Unless they are in a large city where there are specialty emergency clinics, veterinarians must be on call at least some of the time. That means being available after normal business hours to handle emergencies. This can be very disruptive to their personal or family life. However, they knew that would be required when they took the job or started the business, so they can't complain. They don't have to like it, though.

I think some veterinarians resent the fact that they perform the same procedures, using the same skills, requiring the same materials and drugs, that are done by M.D.s, but at a fraction of the pay. If a woman has a hysterectomy or C-section, the surgeon charges thousands of dollars, and he doesn't do the prep, anesthesia, etc. If a veterinarian does a spay (ovariohysterectomy) or C-section on a German Shepherd, he gets paid $100-200.

Veterinarians dislike having to euthanize healthy or treatable animals because the owner can't afford to keep or treat them. It's not so bad when the animal's quality of life has deteriorated and he is relieving the suffering.

A veterinary practice is a business, where there are business, supply, and personnel costs. People who don't or can't pay their bill are a real hassle, but that's true in most service businesses.

Any profession has benefits and detriments. When you commit to being a veterinarian, there are a lot of good benefits, which hopefully will outweigh the parts you dislike.

Answer 5

This is somewhat dependent on the type of practice the vet is working in, but in general these are the largest concerns:

1. The hours can be very long, particularly if you are on emergency call overnight. I once worked with a veterinarian that worked almost 20 hours straight - appointments all day, emergency late afternoon farm call, emergency C-section surgery at midnight on a dog in the clinic - I and a vet tech were catching puppies in the early hours of the morning.

2. There is relatively little vacation time. A "standard" benefits package would be 5 vacation days per year, no carry-over from year to year.

3. Even when you are "not on call", you are on call. Your clients often expect you to be available to them 24/7, and some will deliberately try to take advantage of you. Vets often get asked pet-related questions while shopping, going to the movies, eating out with the family, etc.

4. There are few retirement plans in the world of private practice - you have to save for the day you don't want to practice out of your own pocket.

5. Other benefits (health insurance, sick days, etc.) are highly negotiable - depending on the practice you may get some or none of these.

Answer 6

getting bittin by an animal,the animal could have a disease or virus,raibees,aids,etc.

Answer 7

additional time & money