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Overview
Feed, water, and examine pets and other nonfarm animals for signs of illness, disease, or injury in laboratories and animal hospitals and clinics. Clean and disinfect cages and work areas, and sterilize laboratory and surgical equipment. May provide routine postoperative care, administer medication orally or topically, or prepare samples for laboratory examination under the supervision of veterinary or laboratory animal technologists or technicians, veterinarians, or scientists.
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Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers typically do the following:
- Feed, bathe, and exercise animals
- Clean and disinfect cages, kennels, and examination and operating rooms
- Restrain animals during examination and laboratory procedures
- Maintain and sterilize surgical instruments and equipment
- Monitor and care for animals after surgery
- Help provide emergency first aid to sick and injured animals
- Give medication or immunizations that veterinarians prescribe
- Assist in collecting blood, urine, and tissue samples
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers also provide nursing care before surgery and other medical procedures.
They may prepare equipment and pass surgical instruments and materials to veterinarians during surgery. They also move animals during testing and other procedures.
Veterinary assistants typically help veterinarians and veterinary technologists and technicians treat injuries and illnesses of animals.
Laboratory animal caretakers’ daily tasks include feeding animals, cleaning kennels, and monitoring animals.
Salary
Median salary: $29,930 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $25,370 and $35,900.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Exposed to Disease or Infections (81%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (78%)
- Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites (77%)
- Radiation Exposure (74%)
- Consequence of Error (64%)
- Time Pressure (61%)
- Hazardous Conditions (48%)
- Responsible for Others' Health (40%)
- Unpleasant or Angry People (33%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Communication skills
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers communicate with pet owners, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/veterinarians.htm">veterinarians</a>, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/veterinary-technologists-and-technicians.htm">veterinary technologists and technicians</a>, and other assistants. They need to be able to explain instructions, procedures, and other information clearly and effectively.
Compassion
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers must treat animals with kindness and show compassion to both the animals and their owners.
Detail oriented
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers must follow instructions exactly as directed. For example, they must be precise when sterilizing surgical equipment, monitoring animals, and giving medication.
Manual dexterity
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers must be adept in both handling animals and using medical instruments and laboratory equipment.
Physical strength
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers must be strong enough to handle, move, and restrain animals.
Injury and Illness
About 260 veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 96% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
All cuts, lacerations, punctures
Bruises and contusions
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
Most workers entering the occupation have a high school diploma or equivalent.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
Although certification is not mandatory, it allows workers to demonstrate competency in animal husbandry, health and welfare, and facility administration.
The National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America (NAVTA) offers the Approved Veterinary Assistant (AVA) designation for veterinary assistants. To qualify for the designation, candidates must graduate from a NAVTA-approved program and pass an exam.
Laboratory animal caretakers become certified through the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). AALAS offers three levels of certification: Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician (ALAT), Laboratory Animal Technician (LAT), and Laboratory Animal Technologist (LATG). For AALAS certification, candidates must have experience working in a laboratory animal facility and pass an exam.
Education level of Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
Only 28% of veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click the program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers (ACS)
Employment
36% of Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 36% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 88% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers and gender
With 83% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 93% of careers.
Gender of Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
Men (17%)
Women (83%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers tops that, with the median salary for
men 34% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers.
Race/origin of veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers
White (86% )
Other (4% )
Black (4% )
Multiracial (3% )
Asian (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
