Heya! I was wondering if anyone here was a Vet or workerd with animals, because i am still at secondary school *won't say what age*, i don't have to make any 'big' decisions about it yet but i like to have an idea and they sais we should start thinking about it. Anyways, i may want to pursue a career with Animals.
I was wondering if you are a vet, do you enjoy it, is it rewarding? Any advice?
If you work with animals, if so what do you do etc.
Thanks so much!

No-one?

Not me. But you'll be well paid though!

Again, I'm not in the industry, but I do know that veterinary courses are very tough work (a bit like medical degrees but with more scope!) - you'll be expected to have the relevant A-levels in biology or related sciences, and subjects which you feel would give you competitive advantage in trying to get on a veterinary degree course.

Check out http://www.rcvs.org.uk for advice.

To be a vet you need exceptional A-level/Higher results, in some cases it is even more competitive than medical school. I didn't get good enough grades to do it which was just as well really because I did work experience in a vet and hated it. Watching animals die and not being able to do anything is awful. Also looking on as over 100 cows are given TB injections whilst covered in cow pats wasn't great either. I ended up doing a degree in zoology at St Andrews which was ok but tended to cover some animals more than others. For example, I remember three lectures on barnacles and several on seals but none on terrestrial carnivores or birds, because in the grand scheme of things they are not that important.

Hope this helps...
ps. You could also try vet nursing.

I'm a secondary school teacher. That close enough?

Thank You everyone!
Well yes, i know it is tough, that's why i want to hear from people! Because i thought if i put my head down and start trying hard now it may pay off, well what io want to do is leave school so i can CHOOSE what i want to do instead of only doing what my grades allow me, i'm a few years off of leaving yet though.

I'm talking to a teacher! he he.
erm..do you have any advice or have you seen students who wanted to pursue any careers with animals or anything?

Anyone got any other ideas for working with animals?
I'll check the posts tomorrow after school i'm off to bed in a minute! he he.

you could maybe start asking in local pet shops/vets ect to see if they have any saturday jobs going (depending on how old you are to work in a shop) or if you can do work experience

you can also go to colleges that teach animal care and work up from there

also with the colleges you do so many work experience placements in petshops ect, the longer you are there the more weeks you do

My nephew is doing one of those courses and while I'm in no way putting them down, to be a vet you would need to get good A level grades and do a degree. The work experience isn't a bad idea but it's not really relevant to getting the good science A levels and degree you would need to be a vet.

no butits a start and you can move up and get the grades

Concentrate your subjects on the sciences as well as English and maths. Aim REALLY high on these. Anything else is a bonus.

I wanted to be a vet (many moons ago) and RCVS at the time told me the above - plus for some odd reason they said languages as well (which I did not enjoy doing).

You should ask if any local vets to you have any work experience opportunites. Voluntary work at any animal shelters will also look good on your future CVs/application forms.

And if you have no experience of animals now - spending time helping to look after animals will prewarn you if you have any unknown allergies! The last thing you want is to discover you have an allergy once you get into vet school!

Thank You everyone, yeh i have been thinking about it and maybe it's not the job for me, i mean i am in the Top Science class and top English and 2nd Maths, but i'm nothing special..work experience would be fab. Or getting a Saturday job would also be great, i don't think i'm old enough yet though, how old do you have to be?
You may think i'm too young to be thinking about it and stuff but the teachers saids we should start to I'm just starting my GCSE years.
Thanks everyone and i would love to keep hearing the comments - every little helps!

I begged my local vets for experience...they wouldn't let me go until I was 13 (I had wanted to be a vet since I was 5)...I only lasted a day but they did tell me that they had seen grown men faint or puke at the sight of bloody operations and whatnot in there so I did exceptionally well in the end my priorities changed and my ambitions were lost...BUT you should try and see if a vet will let yous pend a few days there just to give you an insight into what it is like - at least that way you'll know if you want to continue working towards being a vet If I hadn't had my experience, I may have spenta long time working towards something and realising too late that I didn't want to do it.

My friend wants to be a vet and is currently working at a vetinary practice, which she loves. She says it's really really hard work though, in both the sense of having to get good grades and secondarily in having to see animals in pain.

However, if you're determined and don't give up, and organise something to see how it is really, then there's no reason you shouldn't. One thing else is that it is really competitive - There are only 6 vet schools in the country, each taking around 100-160 students every year, and it's a five year course.

Getting good enough A levels is a challenge as you need to be good academically to pass the vet exams as the subject matter is more diverse than human medicine.

As an ex vet nurse I will say that it was extremely rewarding and fun at times but at others it was physically and emotionally very tiring. Some pet owners can be very annoying as well eg the ones who don't see why its wrong to have an obese animal.

Unless things have changed since I applied to uni 7 years ago, Veterinary Science is THE hardest course to get onto. Even more competitive than dentistry and FAR more competitive than medicine.

I believe the reason for this is that there are only 6 universities/colleges in the UK which offer it - and guess what...you have 6 places to put down on your UCAS form! (As I said, things might have changed since then, so apologies if that's wrong).

Because there are so few places and so many people applying for them, competition is tough. Don't bother even thinking about it unless you've been predicted all A's at A level and really have a chance of achieving them. Naturally, there are hundreds of other people out there who are going to get all A's - more people than there are places, so you have to demonstrate that you're different. Which is no easy task.

Here's where the work experience comes in. Start doing it now. And do a hell of a lot of it, and write it all down. Make it varied. Get as much experience as you can with small domestic pets as well as larger farm animals. Offer your services for free if necessary. You won't get in if you've just spent a token week at your local vets. They want to see commitment. So work on a farm, muck out horses and pigs, work as a sheep shearer, work in a cat/dog rescue centre, shadow a PDSA vet as well as a private one.....there are so many things you could do. The more you do the better. And as I say, make sure it's varied. I even heard of a guy who had worked in an abbatoir. As terrible as it may sound, that was probably a good move because it demonstrated that he could deal with death as well as life.

I do not mean to put you off. Far from it, I wish you all the luck. But you need to go into it with your eyes open, knowing how competitive it is. But if you want to and think you can do, there's no reason you won't be one of the elite who make it! Good luck.

And start that work experience NOW! Go on...get on the phone!

Did you get in Ultrasonic?

Ha ha! I didn't apply for it in the end. I wanted to when I was about 14/15, but I didn't have the get-up-and-go at that age to spend every weekend shovelling horse manure (or similar!)

Regrets, I've had a few....

LOL, I considered it for a while, I wanted to be an equine vet. Then my maths and science put a stopper on that

And so they should be, a vet unlike a GP has to cope with all types of animals and birds from horses to mice, from chickens to budgies. Their knowledge of all the ailments of this huge range of animals must be enormous. They have to perform all types of operations and even dentistry. Also there is no passing the buck and refer you to a consultant at the local hospital. Animals also cannot tell where the pains is or their symptoms either.

I have great admiration for veterinary surgeons especially when one did an emergency operation on my dog in the middle of the night with very little notice and saved it from certain death. Over the years I have many dealings with vets and I believe they earn every penny they get.

Wow, you are all so helpful thanks.
Yeh so i might as well tell you how old i am, i'm 14, so would i be able to get work experience do you think?
Thanks so much everyone. I don't have enough time to reply to each and every one as there is homework to do! he he. Thanks so much!

Are you interested in any particular animals? The reason I ask is that there are some very good equine studies courses available (there are some bad ones too!). I know a girl who did equine genetics and reproduction at Cirencester and thoroughly enjoyed the course. She now has a very well paid job.

Even if you don't go on to do a Vet degree, helping out at your local animal shelter/rescue would be much appreciated.

I used to want to be a vet and was very good at 'O' level sciences, but 'A' level sciences (apart from Maths) bored me rigid. My degrees and job don't have anything to do with animals but I've been involved with animal rescue for many years - it is very rewarding although you do get involved with sad cases and go to the vets to put animals to sleep.

Hiya beccaxx

I have just graduated from University studying animal biology. At the moment there is a lot of competition for jobs in conservation - which I am finding out at the moment. There is lots of ways were you can work with animals from wildlife park, zoos to rehoming animals. On my degree course I was working with people studying zoology, animal welfare, animal behaviour, wildlife biology, ecology and many others. I found the degree very interesting. However I would recommend if you want to do this type of degree course to get work experience whether working in an animal park or an RSPCA centre. I joined RSPB and did some voluntary work before my degree course. There is lots of conservation groups around specialising in different animals and projects. You could even check your local council website in the environmental sector you can find out if they have any groups or are looking for volunteers.

You would need very good A'levels to get on any degree course and exceptional results to become a vet. Many of the students whom were on my course decided to do zoology or related subjecst because they failed to get the grades needed to get on to a veterinary degree course. I know someone who decided to do the zoology degree first and then moved on to a veterinary science . If you want to be a vet then prepared to work very hard - but if that is what you want to do go for it.

I would also suggest even though it is early days yet and a few years off from leaving school go online visit some of the universities web pages and look at what they are offering, were the degrees could lead you - it may give you something to aim for when you finish your A'levels and ideas for careers working with animals.

If you do decide to do a similar degree to myself you may have to consider studying a MSc or similar courses.

Any way good luck. If you do decide to study an animal related degree you will find it fascinating.