What does a veterinary technician assistant do?
A veterinary technician assistant is primarily in charge of performing support tasks in a veterinary hospital or clinic. Their responsibilities include administering medication to animals in adherence to the veterinarian's directives and performing basic care tasks such as feeding, bathing, and walking animals. They may also clean cages, sterilize equipment, prepare and process documents, and answer calls and inquiries. Furthermore, as a veterinary technician assistant, it is essential to monitor the behavior of animals, reporting to the veterinarian or technician should there be any problems.
Veterinary technician assistant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real veterinary technician assistant resumes:
- Manage tech appointments, suture removal, bandage removal and placement, CPR and emergency care when need.
- Prepare patients for surgical procedures by executing blood draws and catheter placement.
- Provide compassion and understanding to clients with end of life decisions and euthanasia.
- Kennel work, vet assistance with surgeries, iv fluids, med dispensing and restraining animals
- Assist Dr. and RVT's with collecting patient histories, obtaining TPR, and restraining patients.
- General practice, assisting DVM with literally everything in a small one doctor, one technician practice.
- Perform lab work draws, administer medications, assist with diagnostic work and perform CPR as a last measure.
- Volunteer as an anesthetist for one week on a RAVS trip with Eric Davis DVM, and other veterinary students.
- Assist vet in daily tasks such as giving shots, nail trims, cleaning ears, iv cath insertion and euthanasia.
- Educate pet owners about importance of preventative medicine.
- Collect information from pet owners to generate patient history.
- Administer injections and medications to hospitalize animals and treat animals with care and compassion.
- Assist veterinarians with patient exams and surgeries as well as radiography and phlebotomy evaluations.
- Prepare prescriptions from in-house pharmacy and conduct manual laboratory tests and phlebotomy and fecal sample procedures.
- Perform or supervise induction, intubation, and anesthesia for all neurology procedures requiring general anesthesia.
Veterinary technician assistant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Veterinary Technician Assistants are proficient in Patients, PET, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Veterinary Technician Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 17%
Updated patient files/ Scheduled appointments/ Answered phone calls/ Preformed outpatient procedures/ Filled prescriptions/ Prepared patients for surgery/ Ran lab work
- PET, 17%
Volunteer veterinary technician assistant at Garden Park Pet Clinic.
- Patient Care, 7%
Performed routine hospital and patient care at this AAHA accredited veterinary hospital as a Veterinarian Technician's Assistant.
- Anesthesia, 5%
Maintained surgical equipment, sterilized surgical instruments, assisted in patient preparation for surgery and monitored patient under anesthesia.
- Catheter, 5%
Perfected placing catheters, pulling blood, restraining animals, nail trims, fill/refill medications, injections, and giving fluids.
- Lab Tests, 4%
Restrain pets for the doctor and other technicians, obtain lab samples from the pets and perform said lab tests.
"patients," "pet," and "patient care" are among the most common skills that veterinary technician assistants use at work. You can find even more veterinary technician assistant responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a veterinary technician assistant to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "veterinary technologists and technicians communicate with supervisors, other staff, and animal owners." Veterinary technician assistants often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "skilled with animal restraint, blood draws, radiographs, in-house lab work scheduled appointments and provided client communication"
Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling veterinary technician assistant duties is compassion. The role rewards competence in this skill because "veterinary technologists and technicians must treat animals with kindness and must be sensitive when dealing with the owners of sick pets." According to a veterinary technician assistant resume, here's how veterinary technician assistants can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "weighed and examined animals and recorded information in files.provided pet owners with excellent customer service and compassionate care for theirpets. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for veterinary technician assistants to perform their duties. For an example of how veterinary technician assistant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "veterinary technologists and technicians must pay attention to detail." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a veterinary technician assistant: "type 40 wpm - customer service oriented (face-to-face customer service) - problem-solving skills - pet first aid/cpr certified. ".
Manual dexterity. A big part of what veterinary technician assistants do relies on "manual dexterity." You can see how essential it is to veterinary technician assistant responsibilities because "veterinary technologists and technicians must handle animals, medical instruments, and laboratory equipment with care." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical veterinary technician assistant tasks: "monitor vital signs using manual and a pet protect proprietary system. "
Physical strength. Another crucial skill for a veterinary technician assistant to carry out their responsibilities is "physical strength." A big part of what veterinary technician assistants relies on this skill, since "veterinary technologists and technicians need to be able to manage and lift animals." How this skill relates to veterinary technician assistant duties can be seen in an example from a veterinary technician assistant resume snippet: "support the veterinarian during routine pet physicals exams and during surgery. "
The three companies that hire the most veterinary technician assistants are:
- Ethos Veterinary Health49 veterinary technician assistants jobs
- VCA Animal Hospitals22 veterinary technician assistants jobs
- VetCor10 veterinary technician assistants jobs
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Compare different veterinary technician assistants
Veterinary technician assistant vs. Animal health technician
Animal health technicians work primarily in an animal diagnostics laboratory, where they test specimens according to a veterinarian's requests. The animal health technician must be capable of operating all of the necessary diagnostics equipment for animal care. The animal health technician must provide accurate results on diagnostic requests coming from a veterinarian. Added responsibilities of an animal health technician are educating owners on taking care of their pets, ensuring that all equipment is working correctly, and providing accurate results for better diagnosis.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a veterinary technician assistant are more likely to require skills like "anesthesia," "venipuncture," "compassion," and "catheter placement." On the other hand, a job as an animal health technician requires skills like "laboratory animals," "husbandry," "euthanasia," and "usda." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that animal health technicians earn slightly differ from veterinary technician assistants. In particular, animal health technicians are 6.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a veterinary technician assistant. Additionally, they're 2.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Veterinary technician assistant vs. Laboratory animal technician
A laboratory animal technician is responsible for conducting animal research studies by observing and analyzing animal nature and conditions. Laboratory animal technicians maintain the safety and cleanliness of animal cages, supply them food and water, and administer medications as needed. They also take samples for laboratory examinations, monitor the adequacy of inventories, and sterilize tools and equipment. A laboratory animal technician writes finding reports, logs information on the database, and coordinates with other animal experts for study validations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real veterinary technician assistant resumes. While veterinary technician assistant responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "pet," "patient care," and "anesthesia," laboratory animal technicians use skills like "animal husbandry," "research animals," "cleanliness," and "technical procedures."
On average, laboratory animal technicians earn a lower salary than veterinary technician assistants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, laboratory animal technicians earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $35,377. Whereas veterinary technician assistants have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $40,380.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Laboratory animal technicians tend to reach similar levels of education than veterinary technician assistants. In fact, they're 3.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for veterinary technician assistants in the next 3-5 years?
John Seyjagat
Executive Director, ZAA - Zoological Association of America
Veterinary technician assistant vs. Technician
Technicians are skilled professionals who primarily work with technology in different industries. They are knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the various items they work with. They are usually working with electricity or with technological advancements. Technicians may be assigned to do the construction of equipment or materials related to their field of study. They may also be assigned to conduct diagnostics and other maintenance activities to ensure that the equipment works properly. Technicians may also be required to conduct basic repairs in case of problems. It is important that technicians have good analytical skills and decision-making skills.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from veterinary technician assistant resumes include skills like "pet," "anesthesia," "lab tests," and "venipuncture," whereas a technician is more likely to list skills in "customer service," "hand tools," "diagnosis," and "preventative maintenance. "
Technicians earn the best pay in the telecommunication industry, where they command an average salary of $46,660. Veterinary technician assistants earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $40,380.technicians typically earn similar educational levels compared to veterinary technician assistants. Specifically, they're 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Veterinary technician assistant vs. Veterinary nurse
Types of veterinary technician assistant
Updated January 8, 2025
