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Which animal is the hardest to work with?
#veterinarian #animal-health #animals #veterinary-medicine
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Ashley’s Answer
Every animal is going to be unique and will respond differently to each person. It all depends on how you view the work and the animal. So there is never going to be a specific answer to that question. Every person is going to be very different.
There are various factors that could affect your view. Here are a few examples:
- Intelligence level of the animal
- Natural behaviors/history - is the animal a prey species and therefore very flighty?
- Your relationship with the individual animal - the stronger your relationship, the higher the trust the animal may have with you the better they may shift, train, etc., for you then other members of your team
- the level of training that animal may have - if its a new animal or an animal that has had very little training, they might require more time, relationship building, etc.
- Gender and size - working with prey species and only having female keepers in my area, sometimes men or larger stature people can be scary to the animals.
There are various factors that could affect your view. Here are a few examples:
- Intelligence level of the animal
- Natural behaviors/history - is the animal a prey species and therefore very flighty?
- Your relationship with the individual animal - the stronger your relationship, the higher the trust the animal may have with you the better they may shift, train, etc., for you then other members of your team
- the level of training that animal may have - if its a new animal or an animal that has had very little training, they might require more time, relationship building, etc.
- Gender and size - working with prey species and only having female keepers in my area, sometimes men or larger stature people can be scary to the animals.
Updated
Kimberly’s Answer
It depends on what type of animals you work with and their personalities and behaviors. As a small animal Veterinarian, really large dogs who were aggressive were tough. and juvenile iguanas- they were aggressive and would bite. Let’s just say any aggressive animal, regardless of size can be difficult. Having good support who know how to hold and restrain the animal for you, and proper sedation to treat it is key! I would say that if you were a Veterinarian who worked with Zoo animals, they would have different animals that they find difficult. They would probably say that any animal
that has aggressive behavior would still be tough to treat and handle. Every person and every animal is different, so how difficult the animal is based on each person’s experience.
that has aggressive behavior would still be tough to treat and handle. Every person and every animal is different, so how difficult the animal is based on each person’s experience.
Updated
Courtney’s Answer
After interning in a vet clinic and then working as a zookeeper, I find exotic animals harder to work with than domestic ones. As a zookeeper I provide medical care to our animals. Personally, I find our male Kangaroos to be the most difficult to work with. They're very fast, and like to box. Our black bears will walk over to the fence and let us give them an injection but our male kangaroo just wants to wants to box everyone.
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