Large animal/job/etc

[bayarea15]

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Just looking for some opinions/advice. I've got about 1100 hrs small animal vet exp, 3 hrs zoo animal vet exp, and want to get some large animal/food animal next. I work at a small animal hosp, but am paid min wage, and due to finances and having to move, I am going to need to bring in twice or three times as much income.

The hosp is not keen on promotions, and have a raise freeze for the past 3 years.

Should I go back to my old job, where I was financially better off, and try to keep the vet job for the wkends?

I would love to find a large animal job, but I don't think its even a possibility for me.

Thanks for your help 🙂

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[breenie]

Should I go back to my old job, where I was financially better off, and try to keep the vet job for the wkends?

I would love to find a large animal job, but I don't think its even a possibility for me.

LA vet jobs are hard to come by since many practitioners don't use techs/assistants the same way SA vets do, so you're probably right on that. It's not impossible, but just unlikely.

Take the money. You've got a significant amount of experience now (more than many successful applicants), and you can still accrue a lot of experience on weekends. I'd go for the job that supports you best at this point, especially if it leaves weekends open.

Maybe try volunteering with a LA vet on the weekends instead of just getting SA hours? Some more variety would do you good. 🙂

 

[Fly Racing]

Maybe try volunteering with a LA vet on the weekends instead of just getting SA hours? Some more variety would do you good. 🙂

This might be difficult. Most LA vets (even at bigger clinics) don't have weekend hours (just for emergencies).

 

[breenie]

This might be difficult. Most LA vets (even at bigger clinics) don't have weekend hours (just for emergencies).

Huh, wasn't my experience in Wisconsin at all. I rode along on Saturdays with multiple clinics. 🙂

ETA: Usually we were booked only for the morning ours, but ended up with "emergency" (off hours) calls all afternoon.

 

[VetDrKate]

I would agree with breenie. I worked a summer at a LA vet M-F and took weekends off to help out at the ranch that was providing my room and board. But the LA vet was actually open M-Sa. I think his Saturdays weren't necessarily as busy as the rest of the week, but he still had the clinic open and most weekends had something scheduled and saw a fair amount of clients. I would go for the higher paying job during the week and find a LA clinic for weekends that'll maybe let you shadow for a while. Depending on how far you have to travel, you might also be able to have them call you when they have a weekend appt or "emergency" come in.

 

[bunnity]

Research involving LA is probably your best bet for making decent money.

 

[bayarea15]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I am going to have to find a la vet. I could change my schedule so that I would be able to go to the la shadowing on a wk day, and do the sa on the wkends.

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