Veterinary technician
Also called vet technician, vet's technician, veterinary assistant
Veterinary technicians provide the technical and administrative support to the veterinarian in accordance with national legislation.
What you'd do
Veterinary technicians and assistants · ILO- Advising communities and individuals on the treatment of animals and their diseases and injuries
- Conducting examinations of animals to make diagnoses or refer more difficult cases to veterinarians when needed
- Treating ill or injured animals, especially for common diseases and disorders
- Cleaning and sterilising examination tables and instruments and preparing materials used in the examination and treatment of animals
- Carrying out technical tasks connected with artificial insemination of animals
- Getting animals ready for examination or treatment and restraining or holding them during treatment
- Assisting veterinarians to administer anaesthetics and oxygen during treatment
- Placing animals in cages for recovery from operations and monitoring their condition
- Producing radiographs, collecting samples and performing other laboratory tests to assist in diagnosis of animal health problems
- Performing routine animal dental procedures and assisting veterinarians with animal dentistry
- Indoors
- On your feet most of the day
- Constant contact with people, including the public
- Some freedom to decide
- Usually 40 hours a week
- Deadlines most weeks
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospectsMany jobs will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,500 a month (Bulgaria) to €8,200 (Luxembourg), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among technicians and associate professionals in the EU, women earn 16% less per hour than men. Technicians and associate professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually post-secondary or a short degreePost-secondary training or a short degree in veterinary is the usual route.
330 institutions in the EU offer agriculture bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.14 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 10 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for veterinary technicians and assistants. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).