Do you love animals enough to save them? Have you ever wished you didn’t have to walk away from an injured stray? All you have to ask yourself is whether you think you’d be happy treating animals.

A veterinarian’s job is to diagnose and treat diseases affecting animals. He or she administers first aid, performs surgery, prescribes medicines and vaccinates animals against diseases. Veterinary science also helps safeguard human health through the careful monitoring of livestock, pet and wildlife health. Animals nowadays often receive advanced medical, dental, and surgical care including insulin injections, root canals, hip replacements, cataract extractions and even pacemakers.

Vets dedicate their days to improving the health and lives of animals, making sure they have all the nourishment and care they need. Unlike other doctors, vets treat animals from dogs, cats, and birds of all sizes to large farm animals like cattle, horses, sheep and pigs. In the cities, most of their work is related to domestic pets.

In general practice, emphasis is laid on the diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury. Vets also protect animals against catching diseases and advise owners on matters such as food intake and breeding. Vets working with farms are concerned with animal health and welfare, improvement in production, artificial insemination and disease control programmes. You may also teach as part of the faculty in a veterinary institution. Research work is carried out in laboratories mostly run by the government.

All vets must be prepared to work in unhygienic conditions at times and wear protective clothing if required. Anyone in the profession would agree that it may not be the most glamourous job, but it’s definitely rewarding.

Vets need to be dedicated because training is lengthy; commitment and a sense of responsibility are essential. Being able to communicate comfortably with people always helps because more often than not, with every hurt animal comes a worried owner or friend. Like all doctors, they often need to help their clients make difficult decisions like putting an old or sick pet to sleep.

We’re not all Doctor Dolittle but vets need to be able to read and observe an animal to get to the root of the problem. Animals can’t describe their symptoms but a good vet can pick up on various indications and shifts in behaviour for the right diagnosis. Manual dexterity and calm nerves are essential when performing surgery. The work can be physically demanding, particularly when it involves horses or farm animals.

You can go straight for a BVSc and AH (bachelors in veterinary science and animal husbandry) after completing your Plus Two with physics, chemistry and biology. The four-and-a-half to five-year course is divided into two phases, pre-clinical and clinical. The syllabus in the pre-clinical phase includes physics, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and allied subjects. In the clinical phase, subjects covered include animal husbandry, veterinary medicine and surgery, veterinary hygiene and pathology.

In masters degree programmes like the MVSc, a two-year course, with specialisations like anatomy, animal nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, animal reproduction, microbiology, parasitology, surgery, poultry science, food, hygiene and veterinary public health, dairy cattle production and various others are offered. You will not be eligible for the MVSc until you have a BVSc and AH degree.

With emphasis on a scientific approach to dairy and poultry, both in government and private sectors, there is a growing demand for veterinarians in general practice. There are job openings in zoos, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries while commercial organisations like Amul and Parag, specialising in dairy production, also have openings in research and development of improved products.

Some NGOs in the field of animal protection like the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have positions for vets in their project and field work. You could also be a teacher or researcher and if you have enough entrepreneurial drive, you may consider setting up a shelter for animals.

Most vets specialise in something related to public health and research or investigation of animal diseases.

In urban surroundings, vets usually set up private practice dealing mainly with house pets. This can be quite profitable, especially in big cities but work is usually restricted to canine and feline pets.

Vets also educate and encourage livestock farmers to build up the quality of their animal stock and give out advice on animal farm management and animal health problems.

Vets are also needed desperately in the wild. They play an important role in the captive breeding of wild animals, particularly the endangered.

This helps in maintaining an ecological balance and catering to wildlife health.

A recently developing field for veterinary scientists involves cloning and stem cell research.

There are several other related options like agribusiness, wildlife conservation, veterinarian technology and animal biology.