08/10/2026
🐾 Meet over at Vet et Nous | Dr. Andréanne: Carving a Creative Path to Compassionate Care 🐾
Sometimes, the most meaningful journeys in life are the ones we sketch out ourselves, and Dr. Andréanne’s path to becoming a veterinarian at Centre Vétérinaire Laval (CVL) was just that. Not quite a straight line. But that is exactly what makes her the grounded, deeply compassionate clinician she is today.
"I took a somewhat unconventional path to get here," Andréanne recalls. "I’ve always had an artistic side (I loved painting) so I first studied in Arts and Letters. But... I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember... At some point, I told myself, 'This has always interested me. I should go for it.'"
She enrolled in an animal health technician program, and during her first semester, CVL gave a presentation on campus. It was an immediate coup de cœur. "I was hired as a technician’s assistant and from the very first day, I knew I was home." When she was accepted into veterinary school, she decided to keep working at CVL part-time during the semesters and full-time in the summers. "It’s not the typical route... but for me, it made total sense," she explains. "We don’t get a lot of clinical exposure in the first years at uni. But by working in parallel, I was able to put my learning into practice. Seeing cases in real life helped everything become concrete."
Twelve years after first stepping through CVL’s doors as an assistant, Andréanne is still there. "You could say I grew up here," she smiles. What has kept her at the clinic for over a decade is a close-knit culture built on mutual respect, with no rigid hierarchies between doctors and staff.
"When I was a tech, my input was valued. I could share ideas, and they were considered seriously," she says. Transitioning to a veterinarian brought a heavier mental load, but she loves the deep diagnostic work and the ability to find the root causes of cases. "I enjoy that responsibility. I like knowing I can make a real difference in the lives of animals. And no two days are ever the same."
When she finally heads home to unwind, Andréanne is greeted by her two beloved tortoiseshell rescue cats: Frimousse, a slightly cross-eyed sweetheart adopted from the SPCA Montréal who supported her through late-night studying, and Violette, a gray-and-beige "little rascal" rescued from the outdoors.
Looking back on her 12-year evolution, Andréanne has no regrets about the winding road she traveled:
"In the end, I carved my own path and reached my goal. If anything, that path made me a better veterinarian... Sometimes, you just have to trust yourself and follow your heart. It’s okay to take a less conventional route, to be creative, to chart your own course. It may take a little longer, but for me, it led to exactly where I needed to be." 💙
