Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Monitoring
- Service Orientation
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Biology
- Administrative
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Communications and Media
What the work involves
- Monitor animals recovering from surgery and notify veterinarians of any unusual changes or symptoms.
- Clean, maintain, and sterilize instruments or equipment.
- Administer medication, immunizations, or blood plasma to animals as prescribed by veterinarians.
- Provide emergency first aid to sick or injured animals.
- Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination or operating rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
- Hold or restrain animals during veterinary procedures.
- Perform routine laboratory tests or diagnostic tests, such as taking or developing x-rays.
- Fill medication prescriptions.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Investigative, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (78.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (35.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (35%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 57% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 62% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 50% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 90% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 56% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 76% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 70% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 81% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 9.37%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0.36%
- Contact with others most of the time: 23.26%
- Constant contact with others: 67%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 1.71%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 36.31%
- Very important: 47.36%
- Extremely important: 14.62%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 32.96%
- Very important: 4.31%
- Extremely important: 62.73%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.36%
- Very little freedom: 15.27%
- Limited freedom: 30.15%
- Some freedom: 45.96%
- A lot of freedom: 8.25%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 4.74%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.94%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.16%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 15.94%
- Every day: 45.23%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 1.5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 22.95%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 46.23%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.26%
- Every day: 21.06%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 5.96%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 24.96%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 36.21%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.23%
- Every day: 20.63%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 10.35%
- Fairly serious: 8.35%
- Serious: 17.26%
- Very serious: 23.85%
- Extremely serious: 40.18%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 31-9096.00 · SOC 31-9096 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8