Buy Healthy Foods
If you’re still buying whatever the cheapest brand of pet food is for the month, you need to think about upgrading. Yes, this will raise your bills a bit, but that is for the greater good. If you can sacrifice a few extra dollars for some high quality pet food, you will see a significant change in your pet’s fur. I used to feed my cat Science Diet, but he didn’t really like the taste of it. I switched to Purina Pro Plan Selects, and he eats like a starving toddler now. Look for foods with all-natural ingredients, and see if you can find something that is formulated to improve your pet’s coat. The right food will provide a great foundation for you to build on.

Bathe Your Pet
You shouldn’t have to worry about bathing a cat if you have one, but you will have to think about bathing a dog. Some people only do this once every few months, but you need to try a lot more often than that. Think about how nasty your hair gets after not showering for a few days. Your pet’s fur gets the same way if you go weeks on end without bathing him or her. You need to make an effort to wash your pet down at least once a month, if not every other week. That will ensure that your dog looks his best at all times.

Brush Your Pet
Try to run a brush through your pet’s fur a few times a week. If you have a pet with long hair, you may want to make that once a day. When the hair gets matted, it can start to frizz and get coarse. That will not make for a soft or shiny coat. Some pets love to be brushed, and others absolutely hate the experience. You just have to hope that your pet loves being brushed. I had one cat that would literally attack me if I came near her with a brush, but my current cat begs for the same experience. You’ll have to see how your pet reacts.

Clean the Bed
If your pet has a special bed that he or she sleeps in, you need to keep that area as clean as possible. You wouldn’t go a month without washing your bed sheets, right? Why should your pet have to? Ideally, you need to get a cover for the bed that you can wash like a pillow case, or you need to have a bed that can be folded to fit in the washing machine. That will depend on how large of a pet you have. I have a small white bed for my cat that is about the size of a large pizza box. I usually wash it with my white bath mats so I can take care of two problems at the same time. Just make sure to wipe out the hair when you take the bed out of the washer so that it doesn’t get on your clothing in the future. Do this often enough, and you should be able to keep your pet’s coat healthy, shiny, and soft.

Different Types of Veterinary Degrees

Ever wonder what you can do with a biology degree? Believe it or not, you could use that to start a career in veterinary medicine. This is one of many degree programs that you could use to start your career, so you might want to check out your options. Here are some of the many degrees you might pass through on your way to working as a vet:

Bachelor’s Degrees

• Bachelor of Science in Animal Biology
• Bachelor of Science in Animal Science
• Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• Bachelor of Science in Biology
• Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences
• Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Medicine
• Bachelor of Science in Zoology

Master’s Degree

• Master of Science in Physiology
• Master of Science in Veterinary Medicine

Doctoral Degrees

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Animal Science
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Biology
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Biomedical Sciences
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Chiropractry
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Pre-Veterinary Medicine
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Science
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in Zoology

Courses in Veterinary Degrees

Every degree program is a little different in terms of the courses that it will contain, but the information you learn for veterinary medicine should be the same across the board. The chart below shows some of the most popular classes in vet degrees, just so you can get a feel for what may be in store for you.

If you really want to go with this career in the near future, start looking for a school that can help you succeed. With the right educational program backing you, you should have no trouble working as a veterinarian in the future.

Veterinary Industries

There are many industries that vets can work in, more so than most people realize. If you are thinking about becoming a vet in the future, you might want to explore several areas of the job market when you do so. Possible industries of employment include:

• Animal Shelter
• Education
• Healthcare
• Hospital
• Medical Research
• Veterinary Care

Veterinary Employers

Some vets work on their own, but others find employment wherever they can. You might be surprised by the sheer amount of employers in your area that have veterinarians working for them. Here is a quick list to illustrate this:

• Colleges
• Companies
• Animal Hospitals
• Government Offices
• Foundations
• Franchises
• Law Enforcement Offices
• Non-Profit Organizations
• Private Practices
• Personal Vet Clinics

Veterinary Benefits

If someone goes through the effort of learning how to become a veterinarian, they can look forward to a variety of benefits in their career. These benefits tend to increase their pay rates, as well as their incentive to stick with the career. Here are just some of the benefits you might find in veterinary studies:

• 401(k)
• Education Reimbursement
• Life Insurance/Disability
• Malpractice or Liability Insurance
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Sick Leave
• Pets/Dog at Work

Veterinary Salary

I always thought that vets made just as much money as medical doctors, but that’s not the case. They get paid well, but not nearly as well as I would have expected. You can see that for yourself in the charts below.

Salary by Years of Experience

• Less than 1 year of experience: $39,199 – $78,894 per year
• 1-4 years of experience: $44,386 – $84,880 per year
• 5-9 years of experience: $46,227 – $101,022 per year
• 10-19 years of experience: $47,205 – $108,762 per year
• 20 years or more of experience: $50,120 – $119,028 per year

Salary by Company Size

• 1-9 staff members: $40,670 – $89,499 per year
• 10-49 staff members: $49,604 – $96,782 per year
• 50-199 staff members: $39,149 – $113,767 per year
• 200-599 staff members: $45,958 – $121,013 per year
• 600-1999 staff members: $42,200 – $115,224 per year
• 2000-4999 staff members: $37,500 – $133,500 per year
• 5000-19999 staff members: $50,417 – $105,417 per year

Well, I think that does it. Now you know all the little info surrounding the career of a veterinarian. The only thing left is to do is assess the career on your own and possibly jump into it. Think you can handle that? If so, I wish you all the best in your professional pursuits.

Before you decide to spend hundreds of dollars from your medical assistant salary on an aquarium, you may want to figure out what you are getting yourself into. Let’s look at the basics of caring for fish to determine if you are cut out for the job.

Daily Feedings

Fish obviously need to be fed at least once a day, and some of them have to be fed multiple times to stay healthy. Goldfish, for instance, don’t have a regular digestive system, so they basically pass food straight through their bodies. As a result of that, they need to be fed several times a day to sustain their body weights. If you have aquatic frogs mixed in with your fish, you may need to feed them directly to ensure that they get food. Otherwise the fish will eat their food. If you cannot handle feeding animals on a regular basis, fish are not the right choice for you.

Tank Cleaning

Cleaning an aquarium is a lot harder than it looks. If you have rocks at the bottom, you have to use a special tool to vacuum the poo from between the rocks. If you don’t have algae eaters in the tank, you may have to scrub the sides down in order to keep it clean. There are some magnetic devices that you can use to make this process easier, but it can still be a pain in the butt. Only take on the responsibility of fish care if you can truly maintain a tank the way you need to.

Temperature Maintenance

You have to keep a certain temperature in your fish tank at all times. Water is more susceptible to temperature fluctuations than air is, so your tank water may be significantly colder than your home. You can keep the balance with a heating device in the tank, but you still have to make sure that the heater is working. I got one from Petco that didn’t work for a couple days, and all of my fish died. I didn’t know that until it was too late. This is just something you always have to worry about as a pet owner.

pH Balance

You also have to maintain the pH levels in your tank in order to keep your fish alive. If there is a chemical imbalance in the tank, your fish could die from living in a bad environment. You have to test the water constantly to make sure that everything is the way it needs to be, and that can become a big hassle really quickly.

You may be the perfect fish owner, so don’t let all of this information discourage you. I just want to make sure that you know how much of a hassle fish care can be. If you cannot take care of the fish the way you need to, you could literally kill them. That is why you have to weigh out all of the factors to make sure this is the kind of pet you want to have. If you think you can handle all of this and more, I wish you luck with your little swimmers in the future.

Do Not Feed the Pet before Leaving the House

If you know that your pet is going to get car sick, avoid feeding him or her before you leave the house. It may be the time of day when you would normally feed the cat or dog, but he or she is just going to throw all the food up anyway. You might as well not give the pet the food so that he or she has a minimal amount of it in the stomach. I did this with the dog I had problems with, and it helped her stay calm in the car. I had much less to clean up whenever we got to our destination.

Keep the Animal Caged

If your cat or dog is small enough to go in a pet carrier, you need to keep him or her there. This will limit the amount of movement the pet has, and it will ensure that any vomit will be contained in a small area. The last thing you need is for your pent to crawl in the back seat and just puke all over the place. That can smell really bad, and it may put a stain in the car’s interior. You have to think about the events that will happen in the car and reverse them as much as possible, even if that means caging your pet for the drive.

Avoid Bumpy Roads

Car sickness is a form of motion sickness, which means that it can be aggravated by excessive motion. If you have alternative routes to take to get to your destination, try to find the one that is going to be the least bumpy. That way the pet does not have to roll around in the cage and get even sicker than he or she is. This may cause you to drive longer, but it will improve the overall feelings that your pet has.

Turn on the Air Conditioner

Motion sickness can be somewhat relieved with cold air. I know this because I go through it a lot. Try to put the air conditioner on, and point the vents on your pet. This may not get rid of the problem entirely, but it will certainly help. You may be able to do this long enough for your pet to fall asleep. Then you can drive and hope the pet stays asleep for the whole ride.

Pet car sickness is never easy to deal with, but it is more common than you would think. If you are really concerned about your pet’s health, you can talk to your vet or pharmacy tech about possible treatment options. He or she may be able to recommend a medication to give to the pet for the problem. If you care about your pet, you will find a way to get this situation taken care of.

Check the Ingredients

One of the first things you need to do when picking the perfect for your pet is check the ingredients. Make sure that real meat is the first ingredient on the list, not chicken meal, turkey biproduct, potato starch, etc. the ingredients are listed in order of prominence, so the first ingredient is the one that makes up the largest portion of the food. A lot of pet food manufacturers have changed their recipes around to make meat the most important ingredient in their products, so you should not have trouble finding several options to choose from.

I try to buy all natural food for my cat, or at least food that is pretty close to all natural. That gives him the best source of nutrients and all the good stuff he needs to stay fit and thin. You don’t have to use this kind of pet food because it can get expensive. It is just something to keep in mind. Some pets actually prefer the taste of processed pet food, so you may not have an option but to buy something that isn’t all natural. You just have to look around and see what you find.

Test the Flavors

Pets can be just as picky as humans when it comes to the foods they eat. Most people think that they can just give their pets whatever they want and they will eat it. This is partially true, but most pets will only go to food they don’t like if they are starving. Do you really want to put your pet in that sort of predicament? Wouldn’t it be better to get him or her something that he or she actually enjoys eating? Of course it would be. Test out small bags of different flavored food and see what your pet likes. That way you know which direction to go.

Consider Activity Levels

Indoor cats and dogs tend to be less active than outdoor pets. Thus they need different food to keep their bodies lean and healthy. You should be able to find a pet food that is specifically formulated for your pet’s activity level, health conditions, and other character traits. If you need something really specific, Science Diet has a huge assortment of specialized pet food to choose from. You can get something for indoor pets, baby pets, senior pets, diabetic pets, and anything in between. Find the food that is specific to your pet’s lifestyle so he or she can get the best nutrition possible.

Find What You Can Afford

At the end of the day, you need to make sure that you can afford to keep your pet on a certain type of food. If you think you will only be able to buy him or her great food one time, you might as well buy a ton of crappy food to last you a little while. Ideally, you should invest as much money into your pet as it takes to keep him or her healthy. You have to assess the budget and see if it is possible though. Hopefully you can find something that works for your pet and your wallet at the same time.

Laser Tag

Perhaps the easiest way to get your cat up and moving is to play laser tag with him or her. Just buy a little handheld laser and point it on the floor. 99% of cats will try to catch the red light that comes out. You can move that light all around, and your cat will chase it like a bug. My husband used to have our cat run up and down the stairs with the laser when we lived in our townhouse. Now that we live in a ranch-style home, he just moves it around the living room floor. Our cat gets a kick out of it still.

We used to have a floor plan that basically formed a look. Where the kitchen and the downstairs bedroom had a bathroom that connected them in a straight path. My husband would sit in the living room and shoot the light into the guest room, and then my cat would run all the way around to catch the light in the kitchen. Little things like that will keep your cat active, even if you have a small apartment or house to work with. If you get creative enough, you can keep your cat thin with a laser alone.

Healthy Food

The food that you feed your cat may also make a big difference in his or her weight. You are probably buying whatever you can afford on your paralegal salary right now, but you need to think about the health of your cat. There are tons of different cat foods in the world, and some of them have significantly better ingredients than others. I feed my cat salmon flavored Purina Pro Plan because it has a lot of natural ingredients and it still tastes good enough for my cat to enjoy it. I fed him Science Diet for a long time, but he really hated the way it tasted. The second I put the Purina in his bowl, he stopped what he was doing to eat. That was all the confirmation I needed. If you feed the cat something healthy that he or she loves, you will see a big difference in weight over time.

Kitty Games

Sometimes all you need to do is play games with your cat to keep him or her thin and healthy. My cat will run under the bed when I’m putting the sheets on, and we play a game where he taps on my feet as I move around the edges. It’s something simple like that that keeps him moving around enough to stay thin. My cat is a year and a half old now, and he is literally the perfect weight for his age (according to my vet). Keep the tips above in mind, and you will have a healthy cat to call your own.

Pick up. Pet. Put down.

The way I got my cat to start trusting me is by picking him up, holding him for a moment, putting him down, and petting him to show that everything was okay. You obviously can’t do this with a huge dog, but you can with a lot of small pets. This shows your pet that you aren’t necessarily picking him or her up to put him or her in a cage or something. You just want to show him or her a little love. If your pet gets used to this idea, he or she will be more likely to come to you in the future. This will help you guys warm up to one another in the end.

Play Games from a Distance

Another way that I got my cat used to human contact is by playing games with him that did not require direct contact. For cats, this is something like laser tag or playing with a string on a stick. For dogs, it may be more like playing fetch or spraying the dog with the sprinkler. If you can get the pet to play from afar, you may be able to get him or her to play up close. Then you will allow him or her to be more and more familiar with working with humans.

Introduce the Pet to Other People

If your pet is comfortable with you but not anyone else, you can use your powers to help him or her get used to other people. Whenever I know someone is coming over, I will pick up my cat and let that person pet him on the cheek. The cat fights this at first, but eventually he gives in and at least tolerates the petting. By showing my cat that I trust someone else, I give him the confidence to trust that person as well. I tested this with my mother one time, and he was sleeping on her lap before the day was up. With a little bit of effort, you can make a big difference in the way your pet reacts to people.

Some cats and dogs never get over whatever happened in their past to make them skittish. Others just need to see that humans are good people, and then they turn right around. If you adopt a pet from a rescue shelter, just expect him or her to be scared for the first few days. Hopefully you can eventually turn your pet into the social butterfly you want it to be. My cat has done well with the tricks above. Maybe yours can too. You won’t know that though until you actually give them a try.

• Cats: Cats, in my opinion, are the easiest pets to take care of. All you have to do is provide adequate food and water for them and clean out their litter boxes periodically. For long haired cats, you will need to brush their fur to avoid matting. Other than that though, you just have to keep up with their shots like you would any other pets.
• Dogs: Dogs are a little harder to take care of than cats because they have to go to the bathroom outside. Some dogs do fine when their food and water is left out all day, but others will overeat if given the chance. A dog needs to be bathed regularly, whereas a cat will bathe himself. As a whole though, dogs are relatively easy to care for.
• Fish: With fish, you have to worry about keeping them fed and keeping their bowls clean. I’d consider the work level about the same as that of a dog. If you have algae eaters in the tank with the fish, you can usually minimize the cleaning time for them. Then you just have to worry about maintaining the pH levels and temperature in the water.
• Birds: Birds require a lot of work, mainly in cleaning their cages. Feeding them isn’t exactly hard, but keeping their cages poo-free is far from easy. You also have to worry about letting them out to fly periodically, which is not always convenient to do.

• Reptiles (turtles, lizards, geckos, snakes, etc.): Reptiles require a certain amount or heat, darkness, water, and humidity in order to survive. You have to basically create a mini rainforest in your home. This is very time consuming, and it is not something I would recommend for a novice pet owner.
• Amphibians (toads, frogs, newts, etc.): Like reptiles, amphibians must have a certain amount of heat and humidity around them at all times. Feeding them is not tough, but maintaining a healthy environment for them can be. If you’re looking for a low-maintenance pet, this is not the option for you.
• Hermit crabs: Hermit crabs are super easy to care for. Jus provide a wet sponge, some food, and some shells for them to potentially move into. You’re good to go from there.
• Rodents (mice, hamsters, gerbils, etc.): Rodents are incredibly time consuming to care for, more than most people realize. They poop and pee all over the cage, and they fling their bedding all over the place. You have to clean out the cage and the bedding regularly, on top of feeding the rodents and maintaining water levels. This just isn’t an ideal situation for everyone.

Think about the amount of time you could logically spend on pet care and select the right pet for you from there. Here are some other articles I have written about this process, just to help you truly find the perfect pet:

• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Cats, Dogs, and Fish
• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Rabbits, Rodents, and Reptiles
• Picking the Perfect Family Pet: Birds, Bugs, and Hermit Crabs

Salary by Years of Experience

• Less than 1 year: $39,199 – $78,894 per year
• 1-4 years: $44,386 – $84,880 per year
• 5-9 years: $46,227 – $101,022 per year
• 10-19 years: $47,205 – $108,762 per year
• 20 years or more: $50,120 – $119,028 per year

Salary by Industry

• Animal Shelter: $40,963 – $96,972 per year
• Education: $44,385 – $112,100 per year
• Health Clinic: $42,668 – $103,646 per year
• Healthcare: $44,698 – $103,042 per year
• Hospital: $47,971 – $97,658 per year
• Medical Research: $38,810 – $112,341 per year
• Veterinary Care: $46,032 – $96,110 per year

Salary by Company Size

• 1-9: $40,670 – $89,499 per year
• 10-49: $49,604 – $96,782 per year
• 50-199: $39,149 – $113,767 per year
• 200-599: $45,958 – $121,013 per year
• 600-1999: $42,200 – $115,224 per year
• 2000-4999: $37,500 – $133,500 per year
• 5000-19999: $50,417 – $105,417 per year

Salary by Employer Type

• College or University: $24,433 – $96,329 per year
• Company: $46,913 – $100,115 per year
• Contract: $44,797 – $82,629 per year
• Federal Government: $30,639 – $111,573 per year
• Foundation Trust: $53,945 – $71,216 per year
• Franchise: $30,521 – $59,145 per year
• Hospital: $43,723 – $99,505 per year
• Non-Profit Organization: $40,789 – $103,664 per year
• Private Practice: $48,194 – $93,446 per year
• Self-Employed: $38,978 – $108,775 per year
• State & Local Government: $35,759 – $124,483 per year
• Team: $24,000 – $50,868 per year

Salary by Gender

• Male: $58,928 – $85,590 per year
• Female: $57,810 – $78,698 per year

Salary by Specialty

• 401(k): $50,081 – $100,652 per year
• Education Reimbursement: $51,229 – $99,340 per year
• Life Insurance/Disability: $49,164 – $101,753 per year
• Malpractice or Liability Insurance: $49,945 – $96,798 per year
• Paid Holidays: $50,720 – $98,507 per year
• Paid Sick Leave: $50,653 – $99,839 per year
• Pets/Dog at Work: $49,213 – $97,129 per year

Salary by Location

• California: $48,379 – $107,183 per year
• Florida: $45,891 – $101,779 per year
• Illinois: $45,907 – $91,660 per year
• New York: $49,931 – $107,198 per year
• North Carolina: $48,586 – $91,964 per year
• Texas: $40,133 – $91,300 per year
• Virginia: $49,105 – $97,283 per year

Salary by Annual Company Sales

• Less than 500k: $48,697 – $98,848 per year
• 501k-1999k: $49,316 – $99,362 per year

Veterinary medicine may not be the best paying career in the world, but it can definitely be considered one of the most rewarding ones. Good vets don’t work for the money. They work to help animals live the best lives possible. If that sounds like something you may want to do, this could be a great profession for you to be a part of. You can assess the salary statistics above, but the real determining factor is going to be what you want to do in life. Let your heart tell you if this is a good career for you.