Kennel technician vs veterinarian assistant

The differences between kennel technicians and veterinarian assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a veterinarian assistant has an average salary of $54,915, which is higher than the $26,664 average annual salary of a kennel technician.

The top three skills for a kennel technician include PET, facility laundry and administer medications. The most important skills for a veterinarian assistant are patients, surgery room, and PET.

Kennel technician vs veterinarian assistant overview

	Kennel Technician	Veterinarian Assistant
Yearly salary	$26,664	$54,915
Hourly rate	$12.82	$26.40
Growth rate	19%	19%
Number of jobs	30,123	10,867
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age	29	29
Years of experience	-	-

Kennel technician vs veterinarian assistant salary

Kennel technicians and veterinarian assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Kennel Technician	Veterinarian Assistant
Average salary	$26,664	$54,915
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $35,000	Between $21,000 And $139,000
Highest paying City	Anchorage, AK	-
Highest paying state	North Dakota	-
Best paying company	VetCor	-
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between kennel technician and veterinarian assistant education

There are a few differences between a kennel technician and a veterinarian assistant in terms of educational background:

	Kennel Technician	Veterinarian Assistant
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Medical Assisting Services	Biology
Most common college	Northwestern University	New York University

Kennel technician vs veterinarian assistant demographics

Here are the differences between kennel technicians' and veterinarian assistants' demographics:

	Kennel Technician	Veterinarian Assistant
Average age	29	29
Gender ratio	Male, 24.0% Female, 76.0%	Male, 20.8% Female, 79.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 3.2% White, 69.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 6.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.7% Asian, 3.2% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between kennel technician and veterinarian assistant duties and responsibilities

Kennel technician example responsibilities.

Manage, and safely operate the MWD explosive program.
Place iv catheters in dogs and cats.
Maintain and update website and FaceBook page.
Restrain animals for various procedures such as blood draws and catheter placement.
Operate autoclaves for the sterilization of clean supplies as well as potentially infectious waste for disposal.
Perform animal grooming duties such as washing, and brushing coats, trimming nails, and cleaning ears.

Veterinarian assistant example responsibilities.

Talk with DVM about patient.
Assist with blood draws, examinations, setting iv catheters, etc.
Provide all aspects of daily care for USDA cover large animal species.
Assist license DVM's with veterinary medicine procedures to include surgeries, radiographs or emergency care.
Develop and maintain an archiving process for expire records, to include GLP employee record keeping.
Assist certified veterinarians with multiple surgeries and perform pet vaccinations individually.

Kennel technician vs veterinarian assistant skills

Common kennel technician skills

PET, 27%
Facility Laundry, 10%
Administer Medications, 10%
Scheduling Appointments, 5%
Animal Handling, 4%
Front Desk, 4%

Common veterinarian assistant skills

Patients, 16%
Surgery Room, 11%
PET, 10%
Routine Laboratory Tests, 7%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Exam Rooms, 5%

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Healthcare Support Industry
Kennel Technician
Kennel Technician vs Veterinarian Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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