Animal careers- salary?

Magenta

Hi all,
I am currently working in the exciting world of banking, however this is not my calling in life. I am considering training as either a dog groomer or a veterinary nurse. I love animals, I have owned pets all my life and I want a rewarding career with a sense of achievement at the end of the day (talking to customers about their mortgages just doesn't cut it there!). I have gone over all the pros and cons of both careers and while I am happy about the majority of aspects, one concern I have is that work with animals is not always well paid and obviously this is something I cannot ignore, especially for veterinary nursing given that there doesn't seem to be much room to advance- there's not many rungs on the ladder unless I was to become a practise manager.
Can anyone tell me what sort of salary I could expect for vet nursing and for dog grooming?
Also, sick animals especially ones with infections can smell bad, and I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone what wet dogs smell like- is smelling like animals all the time par for the course?

Thanks!

M

Ruby Soho

Seriously OP, if you're worried about smelling like a dog, you should really forget about a career in nursing!!
You think wet dog is bad? Try a wound or abscess that you have to squeeze pus out of or one that is overflowing with maggots?? Or a post mortem on a dog that's been dead for two days and has been lying out in the owners garden in the sun. These are things that you WILL come across, and unless you have a stomach like iron (which I think is really necessary for the job) you will have a hard time with it.
As for pay, you're pretty much guaranteed to start on minimum wage. How high that salary climbs is very much dependant on where you work. I'm not going to discuss my salary, but lets just say, in your current line of work, you probably wont want to meet me any time soon!
A modern orthopaedic referral surgery in Dublin will pay you a lot more than a little family run mixed practice in Monaghan.
The job can be tough, and while its usually rewarding, it can be frustrating if cases don't work out as planned. You will be sick of dealing with aggressive dogs and irate owners equally. I love my job, I find in challenging and fun, but its not the fairytale where you sit around playing with puppies and giving them blankets that people think it is. Its physically and emotionally demanding, the hours and pay, for most part, are sh1te.
I can't comment on grooming, but maybe someone else here can give you a few pointers.

andreac

Sorry, but there is very little money in vet nursing and they work extremely hard too.
You will take a huge cut in salary if you want to be a vet nurse, so unless you are able to afford it i wouldnt recommend it.


Im not 100% sure on the salary figure for vet nurses, but id imagine somewhere in the low 20's.

If you work with any type of animal you will smell. You are working with sick, injured and infected dogs so if you dont like getting your hands dirty then its deffo not the job for you. Theres a lot of blood and guts involved too as most vet nurses are assisting on operations so you cant be squemish or afraid of needles etc.

Clare Bear

It depends where you work and who you work for. Some Vets will pay you minmum wage, some considerably higher. I was on what I thought was a very good wage with my last employer, I think people were surprised at what I earned. They have offered me a job back with them in a new clinic next year as their practise manager so if I take that I will be on better money again. So you can work your way up the ladder to a good enough wage. It really does depend on who you work for, there is no set wage.

As for coming home smelling of dog, like Ruby Soho said, there's a lot worse things you will smell of. If wet dog was the worst I smelled of I'd be very happy! We have a shower facility at work and I need to use it every day after work because by the time 5pm comes around I stink.

If you want a fun, happy job working with animals I think the nearest thing you'll get to that is dog grooming. As a Vet nurse you will see an awful lot of pain and suffering and at times it's extremley frustrating. I'm a good few years in to it now and there's still days when I come home crying because of what I've seen or dealt with that day. You often get people thinking because you're "just" a Veterinary Nurse you're not good enough to deal with their animals which can be very demeaning.

A lot of people love animals but not a lot of people are cut out to do this kind of job. If you think it's for you and you understand that it won't necessarily be well paid unless you land on your feet with your employer and can work your way up....and you don't mind smelling bad, being upset on a regular basis and not just getting to play with fluffy kittens and cute puppies then go for it. It's hard work but if you really love helping animals it's a very rewarding job. I love what I do.

Sorry if it feels like we're putting you off, but I often see people coming in to us for work experience and after 10 minutes we always get the "I didn't think it'd be like this" comments. You may be one of the ones that is cut out for it though so if you are interested I'd recommend trying to get a couple of days in a Veterinary Surgery somewhere to show you what it's really like.

Hopefully there'll be someone who does grooming on here who can give you their thoughts on their line of work. Best of luck if you do go for it

Magenta

Hi all
Thanks for your advice so far,
Re the smell- yeah it doesn't bother me so much, its par for the course I reckon! I've had cats with infected abcesses before so I know what it smells like....
I'm not squeamish at all about animal surgery so that's a good thing.

Clare Bear

Magenta wrote: »

Hi all
Thanks for your advice so far,
Re the smell- yeah it doesn't bother me so much, its par for the course I reckon! I've had cats with infected abcesses before so I know what it smells like....
I'm not squeamish at all about animal surgery so that's a good thing.

Could you arrange a few days with your local Vet to have more of a feel about the job before you consider taking it further?

animalcrazy

Clare Bear wrote: »

Could you arrange a few days with your local Vet to have more of a feel about the job before you consider taking it further?

Will some vets actually take you on for a few days? I have wanted to be a vet. nurse for the last couple of years and I'd love to be able to see what it is really like. That would be amazing.

Clare Bear

animalcrazy wrote: »

Will some vets actually take you on for a few days? I have wanted to be a vet. nurse for the last couple of years and I'd love to be able to see what it is really like. That would be amazing.

Some do. If you know your Vet well enough and they're obliging they might, my local Vet let me give it a go for a few days when it was something I was considering and where I work now we take people on now and again for a day or two, though we're too busy with work experience students these days that we aren't able to do it as much anymore. Depends on the Vet I suppose but always worth a try anyway Always a good idea to suss it out for yourself to see if it's for you.

lisajane

Go for it, you won't know unless if you try.

I am going for veterinary nursing myself next year. Well applied for it next year anyway, i hope i get it.

lrushe

animalcrazy wrote: »

Will some vets actually take you on for a few days? I have wanted to be a vet. nurse for the last couple of years and I'd love to be able to see what it is really like. That would be amazing.

I got work experience with the vet I bring all my animals to, when I was in school, loved the work but as others have said the money wasn't great so I've had to work elsewhere and keep my animals as my 'hobby'.