Vet Tech Week

Vet Tech Week (October 16th - 22nd)

Starting on October 16th, we will celebrate National Veterinary Technician Week to acknowledge our vet techs for everything they do; we spoke to one of our very own techs at the Zoo, Abigail Nickolopoulos. Her career as a certified veterinary technician began in September of 2010; she started working at the Zoo only a few months later. Nickolopoulos stated that she chose to become a veterinary technician simply because she has always loved animals. And, since her father was a human medical doctor, she was drawn to the medical side of animal care. The veterinary technician career blended her affinity for caring for animals and her interest in providing medical care.

For veterinary technicians, there is no such thing as a typical day. There are countless aspects to being a veterinary technician, including laboratory work, monitoring anesthesia, taking radiographs, assisting in surgery, husbandry care of hospitalized and quarantined animals, dispensing medications, triaging emergency cases, and more as different problems may come up. Every day can be different for vet techs.

Some people have no idea what a vet tech is, what they do, or assume they’re the same as a veterinarian. But they are different jobs. “People often ask if we became veterinary technicians because we wanted to become veterinarians later. The answer to that is a firm no!” Nickolopoulos stated. “There are certain tasks legally only a veterinarian can complete, such as prescribing medications, performing surgery, or diagnosing a patient. However, I enjoy being a

veterinary technician because I get to be more hands-on with the animals and involved in their day-to-day care”. On the job, technicians have to wear many hats, and it can be a gratifying job for people who like to challenge themselves. As a team, veterinary technicians and veterinarians collaborate to provide the best possible patient care for all the animals at Roger Williams Park Zoo.

One of the things Nickolopoulos finds the most rewarding is training animals to participate in their own health care. For example, Laura Isaacs and Kim Warren (two incredible keepers at the Zoo) taught one of our cheetahs to sit still for voluntary blood draws from their tail veins. “Then I can come in and collect a blood sample to monitor the health of the cheetah without putting them under anesthesia more than necessary,” Nickolopoulos said. “Like domestic cats at home,

big cats can get renal (kidney) disease as they age, so these samples will help us detect any issues with our girls even before we see clinical signs.”

At the RWPZoo, we are incredibly grateful to all vet techs who diligently work to ensure our animals’ health and safety. Without their dedication, proper animal care would be significantly more difficult, if not impossible.