veterinary assistant

mobilization manager

pet groomer

wellness center attendant

veterinarian

PetIQ

I can't speak for people working on the mobile rigs. I can only speak for the wellness centers. They're a complete joke. 

First, my boss knows next to nothing about animal care beyond flea, tick, and heartworm product. 98% of the job is memorizing the products, what they do, and selling microchips. You will be tasked with mundane quizzes on the axonify app and told to "compete for top spot on the leaderboards" with other centers for absolutely no compensation for doing so. It's literally just for bragging rights. But that's the theme with VIP, you're pushed to do a lot of things (even off the clock) and are given no compensation for it except a pat on the back or a few trinkets from various companies for selling their products for them. That's it. I got pretty irritated each time my boss would harass me via text on my days off to whine about a leaderboard system none of us got compensation for using. I was equally tired of my boss being super passive aggressive at me over it when I would return to work.

Favoritism is a thing as well. Expect to be compared to other employees and made to feel like you can't be trusted. I worked for this company for over 2 years and was prevented from learning how to check-in pets by my boss for the first year because "she didn't trust me" yet I gave her zero reason not to. How can you expect to trust an employee with a certain task if you just won't let them do it, but all the other employees in the center who have less experience in the field and much younger are put on a pedestal? I did transfer centers, but this only transferred me to another supervisor with the same bad attitude and the same obsession for things that didn't matter or compensate their staff as much as it did their ego.

If you aren't "in", you'll know it immediately. If a favorite on your team screws up a 4DX SNAP test by putting it too much or too little diluent, and ruining a test read, you'll be blamed for it. If you need a day off because you are sick, you will have "points" placed on your employee record which prevent you from getting a raise or a good review for an entire year. They wipe your record clean of points after the year is up, it doesn't matter if you have a doctors note or not. So if you get sick, be prepared to sacrifice a raise for the year.

Even if you have exemplary knowledge in the field, you will be treated like a laughable joke if you cannot absorb information about every single flea, tick, and heartworm product that VIP sells within a month or two. You will also get lectured if you do not sell those products to your bosses liking.

I have watched multiple "supervisors", some who have never worked in a veterinary facility before, be trained by both supervisors I worked under and none of them, including the training supervisors, knew a single thing about proper veterinary care and were absolutely aloof to the medications they stocked in their centers. They could give you a full blown power-point presentation on NexGuard but couldn't for the life of them tell you how to properly treat a seizing dog or a cat with toxicity. 

The supervisors have it the easiest, they know the absolute least about actual medical care and let their CA's and the doctors do the workload for them. If you needed help assisting for a hold or cleaning out the ears of a pet, they would be able to help you. But that's about it. Otherwise, they spend the majority of the shift checking people into the center and playing on their phones between answering phone calls. They are just living textbooks for flea, tick, and heartworm prevention. I cannot stress this enough.

When it comes to actual treatment that goes beyond the basics VIP covers, such as cats with an abscess, or an animal who needs senior bloodwork or special antech testing, supervisors tend to rush the process to appease customers who don't want to wait for the doctor and the CA to address a case. Example : There was a day where a dog entered into the center with an abscess in it's cheek due to a scratch from his feline housemate. Usually, VIP doesn't address these kinds of cases but since we were familiar with the client and had helped her before with other pets we decided to drain the abscess, flush it, and charge a specialty treatment charge. This process can take up to an hour depending on how bad the abscess is. We were not busy but we did have two people waiting in the queue. During the whole procedure, my supervisor kept hovering over us at the table which was stressing the dog out and insisted on petting and stroking the dog (and kissing it's nose while it was being lanced in the face with a surgical scalpel and NO LITOCANE. WHICH IS DANGEROUS! SHE COULD HAVE BEEN SEVERELY BITTEN!) during the procedure which did not help. When we began the second round of flushing to clean the abscess, she started asking us how long we would be because we had people waiting. We told her it would be at least another 30 minutes at the most and she kept rolling her eyes and huffing like a child. This was a habit both supervisors I worked for were guilty of. Rushing the procedure, then complaining when there was nothing to do so they make you scrub the whole center 3 times over to pass time that could have been given to pets who needed it. 

And every single time a client would come in wanting one specific vaccination or just a microchip, you'd have a supervisor moping the whole day because "Well, today doesn't matter anymore. Our sales stats are screwed." because that's all VIP cares about. Sales of product and microchips. 

I did not learn much from VIP that would benefit my career long term. If I was only interested in working a retail job posing as a veterinary clinic, I might have learned a lot but this wasn't the case. 

VIP prides itself on only seeing "Happy Healthy Pets" and that right there is part of the big picture. They only want to see happy healthy pets because they can't sell flea, tick, and heartworm product to pets that are sickly or in need of diagnostic care. 

Most wellness centers exist inside of stores who already sell flea, tick, and heartworm products and majority of clients already have "full service veterinarians" that can sell them these products and also offer quality care when they need it. Not just sell them product because "we are a fraction of the cost" but you are SOL if you need REAL help.

I also signed on with VIP because I was promised that there would be a lot of upward mobility. The problem is, if you are not a licensed vet tech then you likely will not get any accolades that will get you a raise or a bonus. Not to mention even if you DO have a license, a lot of the "accolades" will take years to achieve due to the numbers they require you hit before achieving it. And as stated earlier if you get sick, even with a doctors note, you will not have a chance towards those accolades or a raise anyway for a FULL YEAR. All it takes is one point for that to happen. Considering a "unexpected day off" is two points, you do not have a chance anyway. 

And considering the supervisors I worked for, and plenty of them I've seen being trained who I have not worked for, have only worked for VIP for four years before being trusted to run a full center. Because it takes very little, if any that matters, veterinary knowledge to run a center for VIP. But if you are a good salesperson and good at being BUISINESS ORIENTED, then you will likely succeed.

and finally, CA's do not get full time hours. Ever. This was said in front of me by my old supervisor to one he was training. "You can have them working multiple rigs and centers, but they will never actually get full time hours unless they are working for the offices or running the centers.". Which makes a lot of sense because when I was hired by VIP I was told I had to "work my way up" to full time but what he really meant when he told me that was "work your way up to being a supervisor or office worker if you want full time."

All in all, this is not a place for people who want to work in veterinary medicine. It's a place for people who want to work in retail and play doctor's office.

Pros:

-good introductory vet tech 101 job. at the minimum you learn how to draw up vaccines, handle cats and dogs, hold off for blood draws, and understand the basics of preventative care.
-ability to get steady raises through accolades. if you learn how to administer vaccines, handle fractious animals, and/or perform phlebotomy, you get a $1 raise for each skill after doing a certain number of those things and passing a test relating to them. This can add $3 to your base pay in a matter of months
-$2 raise and bonus potential for becoming a supervisor (although the bonus system is changed frequently and is sometimes more difficult to achieve)
-you get paid every time you set foot in the office, whether it's for a monthly meeting, in-house training, shelter training, reviews, etc. 
-full-time staff accrues PTO, gets paid holidays off (if the holiday falls monday-friday), and can sign up for healthcare, dental and vision. 
-10-14 hour days depending on how far away your clinics are; which can be good or bad depending on your preference. you usually walk away with 24+ hours worked in just two weekend days, which is nice for people looking for something part time or just a few days a week.


Cons:

-those 10-14 hour days are Saturday and Sunday and it is MANDATORY to work both days. there are weekday shifts available but they are generally only given to full-time employees. there's no such thing as working only during the week, so say goodbye to your weekends. 
-monthly meetings are considered mandatory and they generally don't accept any excuses to not attend. they don't care if you have class or another job; they say "it's just once a month" and expect you to make arrangements.
-the most current branch manager, who was just downgraded to assistant branch manager, is petty, plays favorites, gossips about people constantly, up to and including private medical information about staff, and has had SEVERAL complaints made about her to HR. maybe things will change now that's she's not the head boss, but she's been at the company for a long time and the culture she's created at that branch is ingrained very deep.
-constant empty promises about promotions, new positions, and generally having people move up in the company. corporate changes their plans all the time and/or the requirements to be given certain positions are always changing. management will string techs along about becoming supervisors and often schedules them as supervisors without being compensated for the difference in pay. 
-there have been a handful of legitimate medically neglectful veterinarians hired to work these clinics, and it takes MONTHS for any action to be taken to fire them, or simply stop picking up their bids for work, despite the fact that many states we work in are at-will, and the vets are contract and not actual employees of the company, somehow a few bad apples manage to continue getting hired for shifts despite SERIOUS complaints against them.
-unless you want to get into management, this place is a dead end. there's only so much you can learn, and there's nothing for you after becoming a supervisor. you'll be in the same place at this company 2,4,6 years down the road as you were 1 year in.
-the training "program" is non-existent. expect to be thrown to the wolves and pray you're on a route that's slow enough for people to have time to really help you. 
-constantly short-staffed and the turnover rate is bad. expect to often be doing 2 people's jobs for no reward or recognition. expect to often be with brand new people who haven't been trained well.

I loved my coworkers I worked with. Beyond that management, how things are run, how employees are treated and vauled, support, recognition and many many other things about this company is horrible. I worked from the very bottom as a chaser to all the way as an FOA. I put my heart, soul, time, knowledge, all my efforts and treated it as if it was my own company. I did anything and everything they asked. Was a lead trainer and trained so many people for them. Created scripts and training structures. Soaked up and learned and excelled at anything they gave me the opportunity to. I put the company's profit, selling, keeping pet parents and partner store relationships strong and happy above anything. Always trying to help improve, sell, bring in revenue and pass on my knowledge and help others for our office to flourish and be profitable. We were one of the most busiest, top selling and highest gross income in the region. I devoted so much of my time and life to this company. For them to offer me the FOA position and then take it away a year later due to budget cuts since they are very money hungry and money driven versus caring and protecting pets. It was very hard to grow once you gotten to a certain point and it seemed as the company didn't want you to grow beyond a certain point as well. There is only one office in IL, everyone above the FOM (boss) at that office is out of state and has to be contacted via email or phone. It was impossible to get ahold of anyone or get a response or help from above the FOM that was at my office. So if you had an issue and were not comfortable speaking with the FOM you were stuck with no other options because there was no other support or care from anyone or department above in the company. Sales, revenue, and your numbers were always pushed, praised and well known that it was the goal to sell and have the best numbers, as you would get rewarded if they were high. Regardless what the pet parent came in to get, it was always pushed to sell as much as possible and to do whatever was needed to keep pet parents happy and spending the most. They were very shady, polices and practices were not established and would praise and push you to do things that you thought was the right way and what you were supposed to do, just to get in trouble for it when you were getting praised for it before. The coworkers are what makes that job
 They are amazing. The company, management, growth, being vauled, being made to feel less than and wrong for things you were praised and pushed to do and the polices and structure was horrible. 

I recently had the unfortunate opportunity to work at PetIQ and wanted to share my experience, which left me deeply dissatisfied and disillusioned. Throughout my time there, I encountered numerous issues and obstacles that made it an overall negative work experience. I hope this review sheds light on the challenges I faced and helps others make an informed decision about working for this company.

1.	Lack of Proper Management and Communication: One of the major drawbacks of my time at PetIQ was the evident lack of proper management and communication. It was frustrating to see disorganization and a lack of clear direction from higher-ups, leading to confusion and delays in active work. Communication breakdowns were a constant occurrence, resulting in miscommunication, wasted efforts, and a general sense of chaos within the workplace.

2.	Unhealthy Work Environment: The work environment at PetIQ was nothing short of toxic. The atmosphere was characterized by excessive stress, a lack of teamwork, continuous gossip of upper management with the most vulgar language I've ever heard from a supposed supervisor, and an absence of support from colleagues and superiors. Instead of fostering a healthy and collaborative environment, the supervisors seemed more focused on achieving their personal short-term goals at the expense of employee morale.

3.	Inadequate Training and Development Opportunities: Another significant disappointment during my time at PetIQ was the lack of adequate training and development opportunities. Despite promises of growth and advancement, I found myself struggling to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in my role. Supervisors responsible for training focused more on getting their signatures in order to acquire their own raise, rather than focusing on the development and success of myself as a new hire – unless, of course, they were working with their pals. This lack of interest in fostering an open and inclusive work environment further reinforced the feeling of being undervalued and unheard.

Conclusion: My experience at PetIQ was a regrettable one, characterized by poor management, a toxic work environment, insufficient training opportunities, inadequate compensation, and a disregard for employee feedback. I sincerely hope that this review serves as a cautionary tale for those considering employment with this company. It is crucial to be aware of these shortcomings and carefully weigh the potential negative impacts on your well-being and professional growth before accepting a job at PetIQ.

Anybody with a self-respecting bone in their body needn't apply.

It was a good job to have going in with no prior animal/veterinary experience. It gives you a really good look on basic veterinary medicine. That part I really enjoyed, we also do get a lot of experience with handling/ restraining animals and dealing with fractious ones as well. Unfortunately you can start to vaccinate until months later once you fill out your accolade sheets well the main problem with this was most vets I worked with wouldn’t allow me to work on accolades and two, we were so busy no one had the time to sign mine off. They also didn’t allow us to do blood draws anymore for some unknown reason. So basically if I was clinic assistanting I was just drawing up vaccines and holding animals, not even getting to do any hands on injections or anything. The other downside of that was dealing with some extremely rude vets, technology that would often lose signal/ breakdown half way thru a clinic so we’re forced to call tech support which did NOTHING to help us and then customers are looking at us like we’re idiots, and then it causes our next clinic to run behind. Dealing with different co-workers who didn’t know how to properly/safely drive a company vehicle. And most of the company vans weren’t serviced properly/cleaned enough which is a safety concern. Another huge issue is the long, long, long clinic days 12-16 hours, and lifting the heavy equipment into the vans from each clinic left me sore and battered in bruises. The mobile equipment sucked, the cases were falling apart when I tried to open them they would get stuck it was a mess. Nothing got fixed when you brought it up to management, I will say they did TRY they put in effort but in the end it all screwed us because we had to be out on the field with faulty equipment dealing with irritate customers and having to be on a time crunch. 
Also to add: they were forcing people there to work a position called “rig supervisor “ they had no prior training for this position and wasn’t getting the pay for it as well, but if another person called out that was a rig sup the next most experienced person would be forced to be the rig supervisor for the day. Pretty much sums up the Company. They care more about the money then the animals and with the veterinarians that they hire you can see that. They show no compassion or kindness towards them and just push them off like an assembly line. I didn’t agree at all with their ethics as well.

This is a great position for students that need a job on the weekends. These are LONG days at the minimum 10 hours per day but as long as 14-15 hours a day. You do get a lunch break but it is with you group so you never have time to escape an annoying coworker or otherwise unpleasant situation. Sometimes you barely you get a lunch break though....  If clinics run over you may have to run through a drive through and eat on the go or maybe, just maybe, stop after the 2nd store. 
If working here make sure to get your accolades ASAP, that makes the long hours a little more worth it because you get paid more. 

But at the Nashville branch, the management is terrible. There are favorites who will get to go the stores that will get you good sales numbers every time and are close to the office getting them home earlier. If you are not a favorite you are sent on super early morning runs and have a long day of seeing barely anyone all day long. One would think that going in early leads to going home early but that is not the case with this job. Management is also petty. They will not speak with you face to face in a confrontation until it is absolutely necessary and they will make your life miserable if they don't like you for whatever reason. And they will choose random reasons for not liking you at time, like not bending over to their every wish. They have lost about 90% of their staff because any full time was eliminated, corporate decision, meaning no one has benefits except for those in the office. They did not try to make the situation better for anyone only basically telling us this is how it is and to deal with it. They will inconvenience everyone else as long as it doesn't inconvenience them. Management is rarely in the office and seems unwillingly to train new employees thoroughly to do a good job and make sure no one gets hurt. 

New employees are barely trained, if at all, and are sent out to stores to work without a person knowledgeable to teach them, or with enough time because they are sent to busy stores. 

You will not have any time on the weekends if you work here. It's usually 22-25 hours in a weekend.

Also, this company is not in it for the animals. They are just interested in making money.

Oh boy, so many cons. 

Training: I was given very little training and was trained by employees who did not know how to do their jobs correctly. I was given no hands-on live animal training before I started in the clinic. Anything I learned correctly was taught to me by a veterinarian, which was uncomfortable because the vets were expecting us to already know how to handle animals correctly. It was awkward to admit to them that, no I did not know how to be a vet tech because I received no training. 

Employees: The company cuts costs wherever they can and this clearly evident in the quality of people they hire. None of the clinic assistants nor the manager at my location had any prior experience at a vet office. Despite this, without support or education, we were expected to perform excellently and received backlash from upper management when we made mistakes. 

Several managers were fired for stealing product or clocking in when they were not working. 

Policies: The last straw for me was the point system. In a year you are allowed 10 points and then you are fired. Points are accrued by tardiness or absences, which seemed reasonable; however, illness counts. You receive the same amount of points if you are sick, even if you have a doctor's note, as if you had skipped work with no excuse.  The same goes for emergencies/car break down/ etc. My boss vomited blood and went to the ER ... she still received points.

Veterinarians are valued above everyone else. You may have a rude, antisocial, incompetent veterinarian, but they will never be fired.

Workload: Starting pay is $11 (part-time, no benefits). You are expected to be the receptionist, vet tech, assistant, and do marketing for the company. Marketing means going to every business, animal shelter, veterinary clinic, boarder, grooming office within a 15-mile radius of your clinic and handing out brochures. When I was hired I was NOT informed of this duty.
As a clinic assistant, you are expected to put your life on hold for the company. In 3 months, I have seen 3 people quit.

This company started out great. Sadly, changed when all the former PetSmart upper management gurus came in. Then it became more about the revenue and less about the employee. Sure, every business purpose is to make money, but the former PetSmart gurus will have management shove it down the employees throat. SELL SELL SELL. It’s also now a public trading company which puts even more pressure on field sales. Bonuses always changed and usually changed where employees could earn less money. Training is by far the worst I’ve seen in an company. Throw you to the wolves and placed employees in dangerous situations where new employees were getting bit frequently. Safety training is non existent. Retention was always through the roof because new employees were thrown to the wolves and the Vets were in danger of being bit or hurting the animal due to the lack of knowledge and poor training. Vets aren’t receptive or very helpful so when they know that an employee isn’t trained, they will treat that employee very poorly. Former PetSmart upper management plays favoritism and doesn’t hide it. They do not practice what they preach. The Cinnaminson office was fun at first but had its problems and was clearly divided when I was hired. When former PetSmart management came in, they took sides and one side was let go. Then eventually I became a target. The Cinnaminson office became unbearable due to favoritism. Coaching employees is non existent. Good employees are treated poorly and challenging employees were never coached. Employees have no respect for the existing management team at the Cinnaminson office and to be honest, as a former manager, I don’t blame them. Good employees were tired of the same bad apples getting away with everything and good employees were dropping like flies. 

Good luck, you’re going to need it!

By management, I really just mean the local management. Sure, corporate may have unrealistic expectations sometimes just like anywhere else, but if you are planning on working in the Nashville office in particular, I would either get really good at kissing butt or look somewhere else.

Hours weren't honestly that bad. 12-15 hour days depending on where you go, so you can rack up 24+ hours of work in one weekend. There's not a lot of room for people to work on the weekdays so don't get too excited about that. This is pretty much a weekend job unless you're full time.

Work on accolades fast, before management figures out whether they like you or not. If they decide they don't like you, expect it to take months to ever move up and earn raises while others get all of their accolades in weeks.

Be aware that you can get injured. VIP Petcare itself handles the situations wonderfully and will make sure you get the care you need depending on how bad it is. This is not the same work environment as an established clinic - there are lines of dogs barking and growling at each other in a Tractor Supply clothing section, cats being brought in without carriers or leashes, owners insisting on not muzzling aggressive dogs, etc. Do NOT get pressured into holding an animal that's fractious if you're uncomfortable; nobody can force you to, even if the vet is acting like it can be done.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend it. VIP Petcare is a wonderful company in itself, but in my opinion, the Nashville office is in bad shape. Too much drama has been stirred up by local management. I only stayed as long as I did because of my coworkers. If you don't make friends that will brighten your day and make it all worth it, you will end up leaving within the month like many people did.

I love my job and what I do. It is a great way to learn experience in the veterinary field and allows me to get my clinic hours for vet school. Everyone I have worked with has been great. The offices I work at are really understanding and accommodating. However, in late 2022, the accolades program was edited. Originally, you would receive a raise as soon as you got enough signatures from rig supervisors and veterinarians. Now, there is no guarantee that the raise will be immediate, it now has to go under review. Employees have begun to lose motivation as raises became a thing of the past. Besides a low motivation environment,  corporate recently started an increase in all services. This was an expected change, as post covid inflation happened to every business. However, the company has started cutting ANY corners they can to squeeze money out of people who have no where else to go. The largest offender of this is the coupon cuts. Lots of clients use coupons and it is for some the saving grace in keeping their pet vaccinated. However, in 2023, the coupon discounts were slashed, and are now much more difficult for clientele to find. It is really hard to feel like I am doing a pet owner or pet a service when corporate makes it more difficult for people to even spend here. Unfortunately this company is run by people with little to no actual care for their clients as well as employees. Hopefully, something changes as pet owners and employees have began to notice these shortcomings.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Veterinary assistant 425 salaries reported	$16.93 per hour
Mobilization manager 173 salaries reported	$20.15 per hour
Pet groomer 57 salaries reported	$24.19 per hour
Wellness center attendant 10 salaries reported	$19.27 per hour
Veterinarian 12 salaries reported	$62,500 per year

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