It's Raining Cats and Dogs: Vet Assistant ~ Kyleigh Johnson

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in Veterinary Assistant for a day? Many people have the misconception that all we do is pet puppies and kittens all day, but ... that’s not the case at all.  So what would a typical day be like in this shop?

In Vet Assistance, you'll learn many employable skills. In this particular shop on clinical days (or as we like to name the, "dog spa days"), you'll learn many hands-on skills such as different restraints, proper grooming, nail trimming, blood drawing, and much more!

But hands-on skills are not the only thing you will learn; on theory days, you will use several different hands-on strategies to learn about different types of dog and cat breeds, everything from the anatomy to the different types of systems in the body of animals, medical terminology, and syringe reading. Using technology, you'll play several different types of educational games, and you won't even realize you're learning!

If you choose Vet Assistant, you will be doing different types of tests such as urine and fecal.

While in this shop, you’ll also be learning the different fields you can go into. If you are thinking of working in a veterinary clinic, you would probably consider being a Veterinarian, Veterinary Technician, Veterinary Technologist, a Receptionist, or an Assistant. However, if the clinic doesn’t seem like your type of dream job, there are other related careers working with animals, as well. Those jobs include a groomer, a caretaker for an animal or even an animal trainer! Regardless of your career ambition, this is the shop for any animal lover.

It's not all hugs and kisses and neck scratches and tail wagging and belly rubbing ...well... may be it is a "little" or that, but there is a lot of theory and hands-on training, too!

In a typical day in Vet tech, you would walk into your shop and walk to the back kennels to see what dogs you would be working on. You will notice on whether they may be aggressive or not. If they are, you know to prepare yourself beforehand to grab muzzles for that particular dog. Next, you’ll lead your patient, medical chart in hand, to start you day. You will be preforming many tasks on this animal. You will be checking their heart and breathing rate, checking cleaning their teeth, trimming nails, bathing, and many other tasks. When you complete everything you have to do with your patient, you can then fill out their medical chart and let the animal run and play around.

This shop may seem easier than most, but it's not. With hard work and commitment, if you want a career in this field, it will all pay off. This shop will not only let you see how Veterinary Assistants care for pets behind the clinic doors, this shop will also open your eyes to the many different jobs you can have that have to deal with animals. It will show you how challenging yet enjoyable it is to be apart of a vet clinic team or a groomer; you can be that person who can help make an animal happy and healthy, too!