Pet care associate vs animal care provider

The differences between pet care associates and animal care providers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a pet care associate and an animal care provider. Additionally, a pet care associate has an average salary of $35,635, which is higher than the $24,866 average annual salary of an animal care provider.

The top three skills for a pet care associate include PET, customer service and sales floor. The most important skills for an animal care provider are PET, administer medications, and husbandry.

Pet care associate vs animal care provider overview

	Pet Care Associate	Animal Care Provider
Yearly salary	$35,635	$24,866
Hourly rate	$17.13	$11.95
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	84,256	70,701
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	3

What does a pet care associate do?

Pet care associates, though holding a small position, will find its scope much larger than one would initially expect. This position requires an individual with gentleness, patience, confidence, carefulness, diligence, and a hard-working attitude. Paying out at around $33K per year, those who choose this career will be required to help customers with questions and issues related to small mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds.

What does an animal care provider do?

An animal care provider is someone who provides care and attention to pets. Usually, this person is part of a veterinary clinic and offers all kinds of care pets ranging from grooming, medical attention, and hygienic care. The animal care provider is an essential contact person for animal lovers, which makes the position important. Part of an animal care provider's responsibilities is exercising animals, monitoring their health and nutrition, treating wounds, sicknesses, and other ailments, and giving owners advice on how to take care of their pets better.

Pet care associate vs animal care provider salary

Pet care associates and animal care providers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Pet Care Associate	Animal Care Provider
Average salary	$35,635	$24,866
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $48,000	Between $14,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Minneapolis, MN	-
Highest paying state	Oregon	-
Best paying company	Purr'n Pooch	-
Best paying industry	Retail	-

Differences between pet care associate and animal care provider education

There are a few differences between a pet care associate and an animal care provider in terms of educational background:

	Pet Care Associate	Animal Care Provider
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 38%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	Northwestern University	Stanford University

Pet care associate vs animal care provider demographics

Here are the differences between pet care associates' and animal care providers' demographics:

	Pet Care Associate	Animal Care Provider
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 24.8% Female, 75.2%	Male, 25.1% Female, 74.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 2.6% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between pet care associate and animal care provider duties and responsibilities

Pet care associate example responsibilities.

Achieve detailed grooming including skin, ear, nail care, coat clips and dental care.
Prepare foods for various animals to include reptiles, snakes, hamsters, and birds etc.
Communicate with customers about events/concerns in which include their pet.
Assist patients in meeting their personal care needs and provide individualized interventions while encouraging patient involvement and promoting independence.
Used touch point and SMS and can quickly adapt to other computer software's.

Animal care provider example responsibilities.

Maintain care on the horses, pigs, goats and sheep.
Work with turtles, snakes, frogs, skunk and owl.
Fed and water horses, chickens, goats, pigs, cows and dogs.
Locate pet product merchants willing to donate food/ toys/ litter to families struggling to financially provide for their pets.
Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
Milk animals such as cows and goats, by hand or using milking machines.

Pet care associate vs animal care provider skills

Common pet care associate skills

PET, 55%
Customer Service, 21%
Sales Floor, 4%
Quality Care, 3%
Administer Medications, 2%
Fish Tanks, 2%

Common animal care provider skills

PET, 35%
Administer Medications, 17%
Husbandry, 9%
Animal Housing, 7%
Customer Service, 7%
Laboratory Animals, 6%

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Personal Care and Attendants Industry
Pet Care Associate
Pet Care Associate vs Animal Care Provider

Updated January 8, 2025

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