confused on what to do.
okay long post incoming.
i started working at a doggy daycare in 2021 during community college and fell in love with it. i wanted to drop out and work there full time but parents wanted me to go to school. my mom suggested vet tech and i agreed that i would like it and be good at it. i applied in 2023 and got in.
during school, i really liked it and what i was learning and did pretty well, not amazing but good! i would work at the daycare on breaks and if i came home.
my school required 60 hours at a vet so i decided to choose on the ones they are partnered with- it was an emergency vet.
a week into the emergency vet and i started getting panic attacks before work, at work, after work, anytime i would think about going there i would freak out. half my shifts were spent in the bathroom. i lasted a month before deciding it was too much for my mental health.
my school is also partnered with banfield and one of the teacher aids worked there and i liked him so i worked there for probably 3-4 months before i had to go on practicum.
while at banfield though, things were good until i had to do appointments alone and then would go back to vet and they would make me feel like i was bad at my job cause i forgot to ask a question or said the wrong thing to them so then the panic attacks came. i wasn’t going to work during practicum though so i took a break from them before going.
the practicum was 3 months at a large animal hospital and 3 months at a small animal hospital. the large animal hospital was amazing, i loved it so much. my school mainly focused on small animal so none of us were expected to know a whole bunch so it didn’t even feel like a job which could be why i loved it.
the small animal hospital was a little different and i was not as big of a fan. it could have been because it was nearing the end of school and summer time, i’m not really sure but i just wanted to do my stuff and get out of there which is what i did.
either way, i had panic attacks at both places, not nearly as bad at the emergency vet thanks to meds!
my initial plan was to graduate and work at banfield till i got more comfortable and then come to a vet closer to me but i haven’t been able to cause i was scared to go back to banfield and corporate stuff.
i graduated in may of 2025 and took my VTNE in october 2025 and passed (barely). ever since then i have been working at the doggy daycare and am now reaching a breaking point.
the hours, the pay, the staff, the bosses, even the dogs being so bad and no one cares cause the parents NEED them at daycare. i’m so lost but i can’t leave cause i don’t know what else i would do.
i’m nervous to go to a vet and have my panic attacks come back but i also don’t know what other options there are for vet techs who don’t necessarily want to be a vet tech if that makes sense. i struggle feeling like i am start enough to be a vet tech and can’t keep up with others as well. my perfect job is behind the scenes. i can still see the animals and care for them but i don’t have to always deal with people, sometimes is okay but i would to have to option to not if my mental health is bad for whatever reason especially now.
if anyone read all this, please give me advice! i’m struggling so much and feel so lost!!!!!
TLTR: i started working at a doggy daycare in 2021, went to vet tech school, graduated in 2025, passed my VTNE but am still working at the doggy daycare. i struggle with mental health and feel like i’m not smart enough to be a vet tech. i want to get a different job but i don’t know what else to do.