Dear Pet Owners,
Most of the vet techs in your local hospitals are not college educated and we are likely more experienced than most registered techs. Does this surprise you?
I started working in animal hospitals when I was 14 years old - as a kennel assistant. I'm 36 now and have only worked with 2 registered technicians in 6 hospitals in my career. AT 16 I was learning how to administer anesthesia, placing IV catheters, using a vacutainer to draw blood, reading stool samples, running Idexx machines, looking at urinalysis results and other things I was not supposed to be doing until I was 18 by law.
Still by laws in some states, including Maryland, unregistered technicians (or assistants) are not supposed to administer anesthesia or medications - yet we do day after day.
I've spent a decade of my life on overnight shifts with no one else in the building except me. I've lost 6 animals in those years. Most of them were not a surprise though there were a couple that were.
The thing I will miss the most aside from the animal interaction is the discounted veterinary care. With 6 cats vaccines alone are a small fortune. Hopefully I'll be able to barter work for care if I should need it and for annual vaccines. With my resume I don't think it will be an issue.
The awesome thing about being an ex-veterinary worker is I still have friends in the field who can get me the stuff I need. A friend of mine is donating some small saline bags that will expire in the next 6 months for my first aid kit as well as getting me a few of the large sturdy cooler boxes that refrigerated vaccines and medications come in.
Now that I know I only have 30 days to find a vehicle before I am truly homeless I need to start selling my large appliances - the washer, dryer and fridge are going. I don't want to purchase a cooler in case I end up in a RV that has a fridge. Why spend money if I don't need to? The weather has gotten cool enough at this point that I can leave anything I need refrigerated outside in a cooler. A couple of bungee cords embedded in the thick styrofoam will keep any small critters from easily getting in. It;s a temp fix for a couple weeks until I know for sure what I need to get.
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