If animals could talk, the world would lose its best listeners
Robert Breault
Hello there!
I’m Sophie, a registered veterinary nurse (RVN) from the UK. I created this veterinary blog in November 2020 and have loved watching it grow.
Here you will find veterinary professionals sharing their “tails” of life at work or their experience with animals.
The blog aims to inform and inspire those already working within the veterinary sector and those thinking of it as a career.
I invite you to meet the writers. And maybe it will encourage you to write your story as I believe we all have something to share.
A Vet Working as a Remote Pet Insurance Claims Handler
Gabi qualified as a vet from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland in 2015. She has since worked in permanent and locum positions in small animal practices across the UK. In 2019, Gabi stepped into the world of medical education and worked as an online medical tutor for four years. She is currently…
A Vet Nurse Working As A Social Media Content Creator
Emily qualified as a registered veterinary nurse (RVN) in 2017 after completing her honours degree at the University of Coventry. She has worked in small animal practices in her homeland of Derbyshire where she now resides on the edge of the Cotswolds. In 2018 she joined a multidisciplinary referral centre and from there, she began…
A Vet Talking About Confidence
Liz graduated from Bristol University in 2005 and worked as a small-animal assistant. She then became a “career-locum” – who liked her clients and did good CPD. She spent six weeks photographing the feet of donkeys in Japan, married a climber and had a couple of babies, walked for weeks on end across the Alps…
10 Different Ways to Volunteer to Gain Animal Experience
The veterinary world is certainly a competitive one. As well as having the required qualifications, some veterinary employees look for applicants with animal experience. Looking after your own pet may not be enough! It is actually a university requirement that you have a certain amount of documented hours of voluntary animal experience. I was extremely…
A Vet Nurse Undergoing Surgery after a Cat Bite
Meet Sophie: Day three into locum life as a vet nurse, after being out of work due to travelling for one and a half years, a female cat strikes! She sinks both her canines into the palmar aspect of my left index finger as I attempt to position her legs forward and tilt her chin…
A Blushing Vet Nurse
Blushing is the most peculiar and most human of all expressions Charles Darwin Meet Sophie: This will be by far the most stripped-back story I will personally publish on this blog. And to be fair, the most in-depth account I will ever share. Social media has made me brave enough to write this. Plus, today…
A Vet Nurse Working at Pet Blood Bank as a Regional Phlebotomist
Pet Blood Bank is a UK charity that provides vets with a blood service for their patients. Meet Lydia: Let me start by saying how amazing this position is! Not only do you get to cuddle, fuss over and give unlimited treats to some of the sweetest, most well-behaved lifesavers, but you also get to…
Which Training Route to Study for Veterinary Nursing in the UK?
There are only two ways to train as a student veterinary nurse in the UK. This is done either via further education or higher education by organisations accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). Click for the list of RCVS-accredited organisations for further education and higher education. Both routes involve: But which route…
A Vet Nurse Working at Pet Blood Bank as a Veterinary Manager
Pet Blood Bank is a UK charity that provides vets with a blood service for their patients. Caroline qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2002 having studied at Bicton College whilst working for the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA). Since qualifying she has worked in both charity and private practice, leaving full-time clinical nursing…
Pictures of Veterinary Practices from Around the World
Whilst travelling in different places, I often stumble across veterinary practices. One day I may be cheeky enough to ask to go inside! I will continue to update the page as I travel around.
Designing Bandage Art for Health Care Professionals
Jack is currently a human nursing student. He is a qualified firefighter and paramedic and has worked for five years in a trauma and pediatric emergency department in America. Meet Jack: I am the director of Bandage Art. We design decorative patches out of self-adhesive bandage wrap that is applied to splints and casts. We…
A Vet Nurse and Her Diabetic Dog
Canine diabetes mellitus is a common condition diagnosed in veterinary practice. Diabetes develops when the body makes too little insulin or has an abnormal response to insulin. Insulin is a hormone which is produced by the pancreas to help regulate the body’s blood sugar (glucose) levels. A lack of insulin results in a build-up of…
A Vet Nurse Fostering Animals
Sinéad qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2018. Her training practice was a small, first-opinion practice with a reasonably varied caseload. On qualifying, Sinéad moved to a large first opinion and referral hospital to further her nursing skills and knowledge base.She enjoys out-of-hours work and is due to start the Vets Now animal emergency and…
A Vet Nurse Providing Education on Brachycephalic Canines
Hannah qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2019 from Edinburgh Napier University. Straight after graduating, Hannah went to Bermuda for a locum position. There she stayed at the practice for two months before moving to another small animal hospital on the island, staying for another year. She moved back to Cardiff in November 2020 and…
A Vet Nurse Supporting with Workplace Mental Health Issues
Shaan has been a veterinary nurse for twenty years, working in many different areas including general practice, specialist surgery, emergency and critical care and management. She has also taught veterinary nursing and animal studies to students at technical college. She is a qualified counsellor and is now focused on providing mental health services and training…
A Vet Nurse’s Career Spanning 4 Decades
Meet Judith: My career in veterinary nursing began on Monday, 1st December 1980, when I secured a job as a trainee “animal nurse” at a Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) hospital in London, UK. The RSPCA are the oldest and largest animal welfare charity in the UK with many hospitals…
A Vet Nurse Making Memorial Jewellery
Briony started her journey towards becoming a veterinary nurse in 2005 and became registered in 2015. At present, Briony is out of practice. She is a fully qualified pet bereavement counsellor who makes bereavement jewellery. Meet Briony: During my time in practice, I always wanted to go that step further for grieving clients, whether that…
A Vet Nurse Volunteering at a Wildlife Centre in Malawi, Africa
Nicole qualified as a registered veterinary nurse (RVN) from Harper Adams University in October 2019. She currently works in one of the UK’s leading charity hospitals while studying for her graduate certificate in anaesthesia. Eventually, once she has gained her two graduate certificates, Nicole wants to study for a master’s degree in Veterinary Nursing. Meet…
A Vet Nurse Working with Anxiety
Lauren graduated from university in 2016 and has since been working at small animal practices in the North West. She is passionate about all aspects of nursing, particularly animal welfare, feline and exotic nursing and nurse consulting. Meet Lauren: Anxiety is a perfectly normal emotion to feel. For example, sitting an exam or starting a…
Steps Towards Becoming a Student Vet Nurse in the UK
As simple as these steps may be, it can still be a challenge to get your foot in the veterinary door. But don’t give up. Working with animals is a very rewarding role. Here I will advise you on the best way possible to get on your way to training as a student veterinary nurse…
Coby – The Golden Doodle Assistance Dog
Dog A.I.D (assistance in disability) is a charity helping physically disabled people train their pet dog to become their fully qualified assistance dog. Hi! I’m Talya, a student veterinary nurse hoping to qualify this summer, and this is my assistance dog, Coby! I got Coby with the intention of training him to help me with…
How Much Does a Vet Nurse Earn in the UK?
When I decided to seriously look into veterinary nursing as a career, I was told by someone “you won’t be on great money” and that someone, who didn’t even work within the veterinary profession, was right. However, having a job which paid thousands was never a priority of mine; it was more about having a…
What a Vet Nurse Can Do in Practice in the UK
Under the guidance of a veterinary surgeon, a registered vet nurse (RVN) in the UK can do the following in a veterinary practice: Schedule 3 exemption 18.3 The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (Schedule 3 Amendment) Order 2002 provides that veterinary surgeons may direct registered or student veterinary nurses, whom they employ, to carry out limited…
A Vet Nurse Experiencing Workplace Bullying
Meet a vet nurse: For those of you living through dire days due to workplace bullying, here is my story… Be they peers or bosses, bullying colleagues unquestionably make you dread walking into work. I’m here to tell you that, if you believe in yourself, your mental well-being does not have to suffer, and there…
A Vet Volunteering at a Cat Neutering Clinic in Ithaki, Greece
Heidie qualified as a vet from the University of Liverpool in 2011. She has since worked at small animal practices in Staffordshire and Merseyside. In 2016, Heidie stepped into the locum world and worked as a locum vet for four years. Her special interests are in shelter medicine and animal welfare. She is currently studying…
Working at the PDSA as a Vet Nurse
The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) is the UK’s leading veterinary charity, founded in 1917 by Maria Dicken. It provides free and low-cost treatments to animals whose owners are on benefits and live within the catchment area of one of the 48 PDSA pet hospitals. Besides treating sick and injured animals, they also provide…
My Time as a Locum Vet Nurse in the UK
Meet Sophie: Deciding to locum in 2012, a year after having qualified, was a daunting thought for me. My training practice, which I am still grateful for to this day, gave me very little opportunity to utilise or develop my nursing skills. During the brief time I worked with a locum nurse at my training…
A Vet Nurse Working in Oman
Sarah is a qualified registered veterinary nurse (RVN) for six years. She has been in practice for thirteen years and has experience in first opinion, emergency critical care (ECC) and referral nursing. Her particular interest is in surgical nursing. Sarah has spent two months in Africa, wildlife nursing. For the last three years, she has…
Studying as a Mature Vet Nurse Student in the UK
Meet Emma: I was 28 years of age when, two years ago, I started training to become a veterinary nurse in the UK. Before this, I was on my way to becoming a solicitor. I was working five days a week in a busy office, working weekends to pay for law school and attending college…
A Vet Nurse Working as a Sales Representative in the UK
Meet Stella: I decided I wanted to work with animals after going home for lunch from working for a photo gallery and watching the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) animal rescue show back in 2007. I wasn’t looking to be a veterinary nurse as such, but my first role threw…
How I Became a Vet Nurse in the UK
Meet Sophie: Back when I was in primary school, a girl and I would often say “when we are older, we want to work in a vets”, she as a vet and I as a vet nurse. I never once had any desire to be the vet. The many pets we had at home (countless…
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