Is It Worth Being a Vet?
THE DISADVANTAGES
(a.k.a. “Reasons your non-vet friends think you’re insane.”)
1. Studying veterinary medicine = selling your soul to science
Say goodbye to sleep, social life, hobbies, and the part of your brain that used to do fun things.
You will, however, gain the superpower of crying into textbooks at 2 a.m.
2. The salary-to-study ratio is a crime
You study for 5–7 years, survive anatomy, get emotionally attached to a fake cow uterus…
…only to earn the salary of someone who sells artisanal candles.
(But hey, at least you can suture a candle if it breaks.)
3. Everyone thinks you’re “the dog whisperer”
Family, friends, neighbours, random strangers:
“My hamster sneezed once today — can you diagnose him through text?”
“No.”
You: still diagnoses through text.
4. The smell.
You will encounter odours that could knock out an elephant.
Anal glands… necrotic wounds… mystery fluids…
Your nose will leave your body. Permanently.
5. Pet owners: the real challenge
Animals are easy.
Humans?
“I Googled it, and it says my dog has 3 minutes to live.”
“No, Karen, that’s a YouTube comment.”
6. Emotional whiplash
Morning: You vaccinate a fluffy puppy and life is sunshine.
Afternoon: You diagnose terminal cancer in a geriatric cat.
Evening: You cry on your steering wheel in the parking lot.
Night: Repeat.
7. Your back is DONE
Lifting Great Danes who “don’t like the scale,” wrestling 40-kg Labradors who turn into slippery noodles during exams…
Congratulations, you now have the spine of a 95-year-old pirate.
8. The hours
Being a vet means you work:
- mornings
- afternoons
- nights
- weekends
- holidays
- your birthday
- the day you promised yourself you’d finally rest
Time is a social construct anyway.
9. Burnout: the unofficial specialization
You do dentistry. You do surgery. You do dermatology.
But burnout? Oh, that one comes free with the degree.
10. Eating lunch is a myth
Meal? What meal?
You live on coffee, air, and one half of a granola bar you found in your pocket from 2017.
11. You will get bitten, scratched, kicked, peed on, pooped on
The animals don’t mean it.
Your laundry machine hates you though.
12. Everyone expects you to save all living creatures
You take a day off and someone messages:
“There’s an injured pigeon 27 km away — can you come get it?”
No, I’m at the grocery store.
With wet hair.
And emotionally unstable.
THE ADVANTAGES
(a.k.a. “Why vets stay despite everything, like a toxic relationship with passion.”)
1. You GET PAID.
Eventually.
Maybe not billionaire-paid.
But comfortably feed-yourself-and-buy-a-nice-pen paid.
Which is honestly all you need.
2. Animals. ANIMALS. ANIMALS.
Puppies.
Kittens.
Goats that scream.
Snakes that judge you.
Parrots that swear at you like pirates.
The cuteness alone could power your soul for decades.
3. You literally save lives.
You fix broken legs.
You stop infections.
You bring animals out of pain.
You are basically a superhero — minus the cape (infection control).
4. You see species most humans only see on TikTok
Domestic pets → wildlife → farm animals → weird exotic creatures that look like they were created in a video game.
Your job is basically Pokémon but with science.
5. You are officially in the “smart people club.”
Vet school is HARD.
If you survive it, congratulations:
You now have the right to silently judge anyone who says “I could have been a vet, but I’m bad at math.”
6. You make a difference EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Animals don’t fake gratitude.
They wag, purr, nuzzle, chirp, nose-boop, or simply breathe easier because of you.
That is priceless.
7. You find your people
Vet students. Vet friends. Vet colleagues.
The only group that thinks:
“Look at that wound — OMG BEAUTIFUL!”
You will laugh, cry, suffer, and survive together.
8. You never stop learning
Medicine evolves.
Cases are unpredictable.
No two days look the same.
It’s chaotic, stressful, and fascinating.
Perfect for people who fear boredom.
9. Job opportunities EVERYWHERE
Clinics, hospitals, wildlife reserves, industry, research, government, public health, shelters, academia…
If you don’t like where you are, you can change fields or species.
(Or run away into wildlife rescue and never return.)
10. The little victories make EVERYTHING worth it
The puppy that stops crying.
The old dog that walks again.
The kitten whose life you saved.
The scared animal who begins to trust you.
Those moments are the fuel of the profession.
11. You become the “animal person” forever
And honestly?
It feels good.
12. You get to say: “Yes, I’m a veterinarian.”
And suddenly the room goes:
“WOW.”
Because everyone knows vets are tough, brilliant, compassionate warriors disguised as tired humans.
Final verdict?
Being a vet is chaotic, exhausting, underpaid, overwhelming, emotional turbulence…
BUT also magical, meaningful, heart-filling, life-changing, and BEAUTIFUL.
If you love animals, science, and chaos?
It is absolutely worth it.