Interview with a Vet, Dr. David W. Bolotin

(Dr. Bolotin also runs his own vet clinic, Just Cats)

Question Answer 1. What is the title of your job? A Veterinarian a. And what does that entail? It really depends on the type, a vet like me (a small animal practitioner) will take care of small animals. Some others will go into research or other types of animals like wildlife, large animals, or food animals. It is really a very diverse profession. 2. How many years of education did you To become a vet you usually need twenty years of education, 12 elementary-high school, four for collage, and four for grad school. I actually need? And what degrees? had a little less as I was accepted for grad school early. The degrees, other than the obvious, really depend on the type of vet you want to become. 3. What kinds of skills are required? People skills for when talking to owners, you obviously have to be good with animals, science, and if you do what I do, you have to be able to run a business. 4. What are your work hours, and is that a I usually work 40-50 hours a week, the number typical amount? of hours really depends on the practice and can be more or less than that. 5. In your opinion, what kind of interests With what I do you definitely have to like would someone need to work in your working with animals, you also have to like profession? problem solving since your patients can’t just tell you what’s wrong, it’s all about gathering evidence and putting together factors. 6. What are some pros and cons of your Pros: I can be very rewarding, sense of career? satisfaction when you half an animal get better, and can be financially rewarding. Cons: Can be tiring, some owners can be hard to work with especially when emotional, can be hard when people have high expectations. 7. On a typical day, what would you do? We actually break things into different days, often I will do surgery in the morning, and that can be really any surgery. Then in the afternoon I will do office appointments. We also have boarding so I sometimes take care of the cats there too. I also run this as an enterprise so I will pay bills, talk to staff, and things like that. 8. How many patients do you typically see Around 30. in a day? 9. When and why did you decide to start I was working at another practice for a while, your own practice? but I didn’t like the way they did some things and I thought I could, so why not? 10. What have been you biggest challenges Well, the same for any other business really, in starting you own business and how raising capitol and marketing, dealing with did you overcome them? permits and regulations and such. You just need to be determined. 11. What made you want to focus on just That is actually a really had question. I just like cats? to work with cats, I also thing that the illnesses and diseases they get are fairly interesting and are like a puzzle to me. 12. What kinds of machines and equipment We use fairly similar stuff to a human hospital do you use? actually, all the basics; reflex hammers, stethoscopes, imaging equipment like x-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, microscopes, machines that test blood, dental equipment, and much more. 13. Do you ever do anything outside the Yes, I do house calls. animal hospital for you job? 14. What do you do when your patients As a vet you learn to deal with slightly un- don’t cooperate? cooperative animals, but if they get really bad then I might have to give then a little tranquiliser. 15. What is the most typical diagnosis (if Common diseases (like a flu for us), dental there is one)? problems, kidney problems, and trauma for outside cats. 16. What is the most exotic or strange thing We see fairly strange things, like things from you have seen? strange tumours or when cats eat toys and such. 17. What are some funny experiences you I actually can’t think of many right now, but have had with your patients? today we had a very funny cat that was constantly playing around. 18. How has your job changed from when New technology mainly. you first started? 19. If someone is interested in your career, To be honest, I can’t really tell you that. I feel is there anything else they should know? like you need to experience it for a while before really deciding to become a vet, I would recommend going for a short internship for a while just to see what is it like and if the profession will work for you - an interview will never really expose you to it properly.