The Veterinary Technology Blog

A degree in animal behavior can give aspiring animal psychologists the opportunity to explore many things of interest about animals: how they avoid predators, choose their mates, find their food, and reproduce and care for their young.

Who’s to say a vet tech internship can’t be educational, rewarding, and cool all at once? These internships provide some interesting twists on the traditional. Many are based in zoos or animal rehabilitation facilities, and offer an opportunity to provide supervised, hands-on animal care to a diverse variety of species. Some cater specifically to large farm animals or marine mammals.

Many veterinary potentials are intrigued by the care, biology, and future of animals like zebras, ocelots, and lemurs. And, while many colleges provide excellent veterinary courses that define and familiarize students with these creatures, only a small number of schools provide on-site zoo animal experience.

As the nurses of the animal medicine world, veterinary technicians are an essential part of the animal healthcare team. By taking on administrative, customer-facing, and routine clinical tasks, vet techs extend the capacity of a veterinarian to focus on diagnosis, surgery, and treatment planning. While many vet techs enjoy fulfilling careers working as generalists, some find that there is a specific arm of animal medicine in which they’re particularly interested and skilled. Vet techs who wish to follow their passion into a specialization will find that they can level up...

Although animals were purely functional for much of human existence, now they play a huge part in our social and emotional well-being. Instead of just being animals we keep for safety and transportation, animals have become like family members to many.

Most animal behavior programs are offered in conjunction with a school’s psychology department and enable students to learn many different aspects of animal behavior. Take a look at this list of 7 top animal behavior and psychology programs to learn about available degree offerings.

Veterinary technician anesthetists—also called vet tech specialists in anesthesia (VTSA)—occupy a growing specialty in animal healthcare careers as more people invest in life-saving surgeries and procedures for animals.

Just as the human body needs specialists for different injuries, animals often require a wide range of medical attention. Additional expertise on the anatomy, pathology, behavior, and even nutrition of our pets is learned by becoming specialized in one of the veterinary technician careers. We’ll break down the five top-earning jobs among these, outlining areas of expertise and salary.

Established by Congress in 1961, its goal is to raise awareness, reduce unintentional poisonings, and promote poison prevention. Poison prevention is particularly important when it comes to our animal companions: in addition to the dangers of stray medications and household cleaners, several substances which are non-harmful to humans pose a significant threat to pets.

Pet dental care is as important (and should be as routine) as dental care in people. Both cats and dogs face many of the same dental issues that people face, including periodontal disease, broken teeth, and gingivitis. To help keep pets healthy experts are working hard to change the way pet owners think about dental health.

Clinical obesity in pets can lead to a series of secondary health concerns, and contribute to a reduced quality of life and a shorter life expectancy. For humans and dogs alike, regular exercise, along with a healthy diet, is the answer. But the responsibility rests primarily on dogs’ human companions to set up healthy habits that both can enjoy and benefit from. And veterinary technicians, veterinary assistants, and other veterinary professionals can play a vital role in helping those pet lovers keep their pets happy and healthy.

Often, it can feel possible to carry on a conversation with the furry members of the household. But is that what is really happening? Dr. Leslie Sinn, a veterinarian and animal behavior expert, says it’s a little more complicated than one might think.

About three million cats and three million dogs go into U.S. shelters each year; however, 71 percent of these cats are euthanized as opposed to 56 percent of dogs. This amounts to the euthanization of about 850,000 cats annually.

Explore similarities and differences between veterinary assistants and veterinary technicians to determine if either of these careers is right for you. View our side-by-side comparison chart before making a final decision.

Although the number of euthanized dogs has declined since 2011, due in part to an increase in pet adoption as well as an increase in the number of stray animals successfully returned to their owners, close to 400,00 dogs are still euthanized each year in US shelters.