Perform medical tests in a laboratory environment for use in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases in animals. Prepare vaccines and serums for prevention of diseases. Prepare tissue samples, take blood samples, and execute laboratory tests, such as urinalysis and blood counts. Clean and sterilize instruments and materials and maintain equipment and machines. May assist a veterinarian during surgery.
U.S. Workers
131,320
Median Salary
$45,980
10-Year Growth
+9.1%
Annual Openings
14,300
Typical entry: Associate's degree
29 of 31 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Maintain controlled drug inventory and related log books.
AI: Fully automatable - Electronic inventory systems and AI can fully maintain controlled-drug inventories and immutable logbooks, supporting regulatory recordkeeping.
Perform laboratory tests on blood, urine, or feces, such as urinalyses or blood counts, to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of animal health problems.
AI: Fully automatable - Clinical analyzers and automated readers (hematology, chemistry, urinalysis, many fecal tests) plus AI interpretation can perform these laboratory tests in routine cases.
Fill prescriptions, measuring medications and labeling containers.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated dispensing, measuring devices, and labeling systems can fully handle prescription filling tasks used in many clinical and pharmacy settings.
Maintain laboratory, research, or treatment records, as well as inventories of pharmaceuticals, equipment, or supplies.
AI: Fully automatable - Recordkeeping and inventory management are readily automatable with software, EHRs, barcode/RFID systems, and AI-assisted data entry and reconciliation.
Schedule appointments and procedures for animals.
AI: Fully automatable - Appointment and procedure scheduling is well within AI capability and is already widely automated through chatbots, scheduling assistants and integrated practice management software.
Monitor medical supplies and place orders when inventory is low.
AI: Fully automatable - Inventory monitoring, demand forecasting, and automated reorder workflows are well within current AI/RPA capabilities and can be integrated to place orders automatically.
Perform a variety of office, clerical, or accounting duties, such as reception, billing, bookkeeping, or selling products.
AI: Fully automatable - Reception, scheduling, billing, bookkeeping, and online product sales can be largely automated with chatbots, practice management software, and accounting/RPA tools available by 2025.
Care for and monitor the condition of animals recovering from surgery.
AI: Partial - AI can monitor vitals and environmental conditions and provide care guidance or automation, but cannot fully replace hands-on nursing and complex physical care.
Administer anesthesia to animals, under the direction of a veterinarian, and monitor animals' responses to anesthetics so that dosages can be adjusted.
AI: Partial - AI can assist with monitoring and closed-loop dosing guidance but cannot safely perform full anesthesia administration and independent clinical decision-making without veterinary oversight.
Administer emergency first aid, such as performing emergency resuscitation or other life saving procedures.
AI: Partial - AI can guide responders and control some devices (e.g., defibrillators, CPR feedback systems) but cannot fully replace trained personnel in diverse emergency scenarios.
Observe the behavior and condition of animals and monitor their clinical symptoms.
AI: Partial - AI can continuously monitor behavior and flag clinical signs using sensors and video but cannot fully replicate nuanced clinical judgment for ambiguous or subtle symptoms.
Prepare and administer medications, vaccines, serums, or treatments, as prescribed by veterinarians.
AI: Partial - Automated dispensing and dose-preparation systems can prepare meds but physically administering injections or treatments to animals typically requires human handling, judgment, and regulatory oversight.
Clean and sterilize instruments, equipment, or materials.
AI: Partial - Sterilization processes (autoclaves, washer-disinfectors) are automated, but instrument handling, loading/unloading, and nuanced cleaning decisions still need human oversight and manual work.
Collect, prepare, and label samples for laboratory testing, culture, or microscopic examination.
AI: Partial - Labeling and many sample preparations can be automated, but physically collecting samples from animals and some preparative steps still require human skill and restraint.
Prepare animals for surgery, performing such tasks as shaving surgical areas.
AI: Partial - Some pre-op prep tasks can be supported by guidance or tooling, but safely restraining and preparing varied animal patients (e.g., shaving surgical sites) remains a primarily human task.
Discuss medical health of pets with clients, such as post-operative status.
AI: Partial - AI can generate and deliver standardized post-op updates and answer common questions, but nuanced clinical communication, empathy, and responsibility constraints limit full automation.
Take animals into treatment areas and assist with physical examinations by performing such duties as obtaining temperature, pulse, or respiration data.
AI: Partial - Wearables and sensors can capture vitals automatically, but moving animals into treatment areas and assisting exams (including safe restraint) still require human physical interaction and judgement.
Take and develop diagnostic radiographs, using x-ray equipment.
AI: Partial - Image acquisition and processing are highly automated, but safe positioning of diverse animal patients and x-ray operation require human involvement and oversight.
Prepare treatment rooms for surgery.
AI: Partial - AI and robotic systems can support checklists, inventory and some automated cleaning/setup, but physical sterile preparation and nuanced arrangement for surgery still require human hands and judgement as of 2025.
Provide veterinarians with the correct equipment or instruments, as needed.
AI: Partial - Inventory management, pick-to-light systems and robotic retrieval can deliver correct instruments in controlled settings, but variable clinic layouts and on-the-fly decisions mean humans are still typically required.
Clean kennels, animal holding areas, surgery suites, examination rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
AI: Partial - Automated floor cleaning and disinfection systems can handle parts of the task, but complete kennel/suite sanitation, biohazard handling and spot-cleaning around animals remain largely manual.
Provide information or counseling regarding issues such as animal health care, behavior problems, or nutrition.
AI: Partial - AI can provide evidence-based information and basic counseling at scale, but nuanced behavioral counseling, emotional support and case-specific clinical judgment still require human professionals.
Dress and suture wounds and apply splints or other protective devices.
AI: Partial - Some aspects of wound dressing and device application can be guided or assisted by tools, but suturing and splinting require manual dexterity and clinical judgement not fully automatable in routine veterinary contexts by 2025.
Maintain instruments, equipment, or machinery to ensure proper working condition.
AI: Partial - AI excels at predictive maintenance, diagnostics and scheduling repairs, yet hands-on calibration, repairs and adjustments of veterinary instruments still need human technicians.
Provide assistance with animal euthanasia and the disposal of remains.
AI: Partial - AI can assist with workflow, drug preparation, documentation and logistics for disposal, but legal, ethical and humane aspects of euthanasia and final handling generally require human involvement.
Give enemas and perform catheterizations, ear flushes, intravenous feedings, or gavages.
AI: Partial - Procedures like catheterization, IV feeding and gavage involve tactile skill and animal restraint that can be assisted or guided by AI but are not reliably fully autonomous in real-world clinics by 2025.
Supervise or train veterinary students or other staff members.
AI: Partial - AI can create training materials, simulate cases, and provide feedback but cannot fully replace in-person supervision, judgement, mentorship, and regulatory responsibility required for clinical training.
Bathe animals, clip nails or claws, and brush or cut animals' hair.
AI: Partial - While robotic and automated grooming tools can assist with washing or clipping, the variability in animal behavior and the need for delicate handling mean full automation is not broadly reliable yet.
Conduct specialized procedures, such as animal branding or tattooing or hoof trimming.
AI: Partial - AI can guide and assist specialized procedures and planning, but the physical complexity, species variability, welfare considerations, and regulatory constraints limit full automation.
Restrain animals during exams or procedures.
AI: Not automatable - Physical animal restraint requires situational judgement and hands-on handling that AI cannot autonomously perform by 2025.
Perform dental work, such as cleaning, polishing, or extracting teeth.
AI: Not automatable - Dental procedures require complex tactile manipulation, intraoperative judgement and adaptation to animal anatomy and reactions that AI/robots cannot reliably perform autonomously in typical clinical settings by 2025.