Want to be a vet tech but worried about pregnancy issues

GoneCountryYall

I want to go back to school and I thought I finally made my choice to be a vet tech. When looking further into it it would near impossible to be pregnant while working. Dealing with the smells, sights, lifting, shots, litter boxes, and the chance of being tripped/rammed by an animal. I've read a few things where women have been fired(I know it's illegal, but they seem to come up with a legal reason to pass it off) over it or had their hours cut. We can't live off of one income and it would be years before I have enough $ in savings for a year of unemployment (9 months pregnant and 3 months maternity). Any ideas or suggestions? I also thought of an office job, but when reading about people's experience it sounds stressful, demanding and feeling unappreciated. Any suggestions or ideas? May I ask what your job/career is? Thank you.

Kadyra

I was a resident while pregnant with DS. Daily 16 hour shifts on my feet all day and lifting patients. Smells galore! Threw up in surgery once. Weekends were 30 hour on-call shifts. Whole time in hospital. It sucks but it's doable. 

I was a vet tech while in undergrad. I originally wanted to do vet school. It was a fun and satisfying job.  

wychets

quinncat:

I think you could do it, lots of people have physical jobs.  I am a nurse and was fine working when I was pregnant.

This. It is exhausting but you do what you have to do:) GL!

brandyleighxx

I am a veterinary technician. First, let me say - vet techs do not get paid enough. I wish I'd chosen a profession that would pay more.

I work at a small clinic... I've been here for over 6 years... and the longest out of all techs... so I get some preferred treatment.

Pre-pregnancy, I was surgical technician but also did things like restraint, radiographs, lab procedures, etc.

Once I found out I was pregnant - I stopped working in surgery, stopped taking x-rays, & stopped handling cat feces. In the beginning I still helped restrain (under 20 lbs.) & did technical duties but just carefully, obviously.

As pregnancy progressed, I stopped helping restraining animals as much.

In 3rd tri, now, I mostly do reception & lab duties (because I sit doing both) & I leave early most nights. 

FYI - it's very long hours. 

LiebeMama

I think you can do it. I guess you could always ask that question in an interview for a vet tech as well.

Lena122

I wouldn't necessarily not pick a career just because it may not be ideal for pregnancy. I'm in law enforcement, which is definitely not ideal for pregnancy, and I managed. Sure there was some stress along the way but it worked out. If being a vet tech is what you want to do I say go for it. You'll figure out how to deal with a pregnancy when that time comes.

chickenlittlenc

I'm a small animal vet who was working FT up until 2 weeks ago (had to go on bedrest due to high blood pressure).  One of my techs got pregnant about a month before I did, and she was able to continue working right up until about a week before her due date.

 

The only restrictions that placed upon us by our doctors were:

- Limit xray exposure. Our OBs (we used two different offices, so different doctors) said we could still take xrays a few times per week as long as we were wearing the standard lead protection.  In reality, though, we both managed to avoid taking any xrays at all.

- No lifting over 25 lbs.

- Limit exposure to waste anesthesia gases.  This means no performing dental cleanings (leaning in the pet's face), recovering anesthetized animals (because they blow off a lot of gas during recovery), and that your anesthesia machines need to be in good condition.

 - My tech was limited to only working 8 hrs/day (our standard day for techs was 11-12 hrs/day) but I was able to accommodate that.  My OB allowed me to continue working 9.5 hrs/day, which was challenging (it's hard to take a lunch break and leave work on time!) but we made it work.

 - Wear gloves when handling litterboxes, setting up fecal samples on cats, etc. 

Otherwise, you can still perform all of your duties.  Is it easy?  Heck, no.  I remember one day where I was treating a nasty infected wound and started dry-heaving due to the smell.  (I had one tech holding a trash can for me in case I puked, and one waving some sort of peppermint-scented lotion under my nose.)  Neither my tech nor I actually threw up at work, but there were a lot of close calls.  My feet swelled like crazy, my back hurt like crazy when I got home from work every day, and things were definitely challenging.  My tech did spend short periods of time working as a receptionist (covering lunches, or if we had an aggressive big dog to restraint we'd bring our receptionist to the back to help and send our tech up front for a bit), but she was mostly able to keep performing her job without any major limitations.  Our coworkers a huge help to both of us - my pregnant tech left all of the aggressive pets to the other techs, and I had to have the techs lift patients > 25 lbs onto the exam tables for me once I got too big to get down on the floor with them.  Still, we managed just fine.

 

Not sure from your post how much experience you've had in the veterinary field, but I'd definitely make sure that you have plenty of vet experience (either paid or volunteer) before investing in tech school.  Lots of people are surprised to find that the veterinary field is not what they expected!!   I'd imagine that most vet techs are significant more stressed & unappreciated than your typical office employee.

lynn3yb00

I work as a CNA right now for a home health care company and come in contact with some pretty nasty smells, I have to do plenty of cleaning/cooking/lifting,  I'm on my feet for my whole shift most days (4-8 hrs, depending on the day) and my hours change constantly (this week is MWF 9a-3p, T&Th 7p-11p, Sa&Su 9a-1p). Other than a little dry heaving here and there, and exhaustion, work has not been an issue. My m/s has been horrible and I have been sleeping most of the time while at home.

As long as your OB doesn't tell you to take off of work, I see no reason why you would NEED to do so (although, if you wanted to totally avoid all the bad smells I can't say I'd blame you). Just take some extra precations when you get pregnant. There is no point in settling for a job you aren't truely interested in because you will just be miserable. Do what you truely want to do.