40 things veterinary technicians do in a week

Forty years can change a lot.

Since VCA Animal Hospitals was founded in 1986, veterinary medicine has evolved dramatically. Diagnostic capabilities have expanded. Technology has transformed how teams work. Standards for safety, pain management, patient comfort, and communication have continued to advance.

But one thing has become clearer: Great veterinary medicine is a team sport.

Veterinary technicians are at the center of that team. They combine clinical expertise, critical thinking, technical skill, compassion, and communication to care for patients and support the veterinarians, clients, and fellow associates around them.

While no 2 days in veterinary medicine look exactly alike, here are just 40 things a veterinary technician might do in a single week.

1. Triage a patient

Technicians help gather vital information, assess a patient’s condition, and identify concerns that may require immediate attention.

2. Take a thorough patient history

A conversation about appetite, behavior, medications, symptoms, and changes at home can provide critical clues for the medical team.

3. Measure vital signs

Temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and other measurements help establish a clearer picture of a patient’s health.

4. Collect blood samples

Whether for routine wellness testing or an urgent diagnostic workup, technicians help collect the samples that inform medical decisions.

5. Perform laboratory testing

From blood work to urinalysis and cytology, technicians help generate and evaluate important diagnostic information.

6. Prepare samples for outside laboratories

Accurate labeling, handling, preparation, and documentation help ensure samples reach the laboratory in the right condition.

7. Take diagnostic radiographs

Technicians use positioning, anatomy, equipment expertise, and safety protocols to capture diagnostic images that veterinarians can use to evaluate a patient.

8. Practice hands-free radiology

As veterinary medicine has evolved, so have approaches to team safety. Hands-free radiology techniques can help reduce unnecessary radiation exposure while still producing the diagnostic images patients need.

9. Perform and assist with ultrasound

Technicians can play a significant role in diagnostic ultrasound. Many veterinary technicians perform ultrasounds themselves, while others support veterinarians by preparing and positioning patients, operating equipment, collecting samples, and assisting throughout the procedure.

10. Prepare a patient for surgery

Before a procedure begins, technicians help make sure the patient, surgical suite, equipment, medications, and monitoring tools are ready.

11. Calculate and prepare medications

Accuracy matters. Technicians use their knowledge of pharmacology and patient-specific information to prepare medications as directed by the veterinarian.

12. Administer medication

Oral, injectable, topical, ophthalmic, and other medications all require attention to dose, timing, technique, and patient response.

13. Place an intravenous catheter

A well-placed catheter provides essential access for fluids, medications, anesthesia, and emergency treatment.

14. Manage fluid therapy

Technicians help administer and monitor fluid therapy based on the patient’s medical needs and treatment plan.

15. Induce anesthesia

Working with the veterinarian, credentialed veterinary technicians can play an important role in safely preparing and inducing patients for anesthesia.

16. Monitor anesthesia

Heart rate. Blood pressure. Oxygenation. Ventilation. Temperature. Depth of anesthesia. Technicians continuously watch the patient and interpret multiple data points throughout a procedure.

17. Recognize when something changes

Monitoring isn’t just recording numbers. It requires clinical judgment to recognize trends and communicate concerns quickly.

18. Assist the surgeon

From preparing instruments to maintaining a sterile environment and anticipating what the team may need next, technicians help procedures run safely and efficiently.

19. Manage postoperative recovery and care

The procedure may be over, but the technician’s job isn’t. Technicians closely monitor patients as they recover from anesthesia, evaluating comfort, vital signs, mobility, appetite, surgical sites, and other indicators to help support a safe recovery.

20. Assess pain

Because patients cannot tell us exactly how they feel, technicians use behavioral cues, body language, vital signs, and validated pain-scoring tools to assess comfort.

21. Help manage pain

Veterinary medicine’s understanding of pain has advanced significantly over the past 40 years. Technicians help put individualized pain-management plans into action and monitor patients’ responses.

22. Change a bandage

What looks simple requires knowledge of wound healing, anatomy, circulation, infection prevention, and proper bandage technique.

23. Manage a wound

Technicians may clean, assess, dress, photograph, measure, and monitor wounds while watching closely for changes that should be brought to the veterinarian’s attention.

24. Perform dental radiographs

Much of dental disease exists below the gumline. Dental imaging helps the medical team understand what can’t be seen during a visual exam alone.

25. Scale and polish teeth

Technicians are essential members of the dentistry team, helping remove plaque and calculus and supporting comprehensive oral health care.

26. Perform dental extractions when permitted

Depending on the state practice act and level of credentialing, veterinary technicians may also be permitted to perform certain dental extractions under veterinary supervision, reflecting the advanced technical skills many bring to oral health care.

27. Educate a client about oral health

The best dental plan continues at home. Technicians help clients understand preventive care and what to watch for between visits.

28. Develop and support nutrition plans

Nutrition can play an important role in preventive care and disease management. Technicians may help calculate nutritional needs based on factors such as age, weight, activity level, medical conditions, and treatment goals, while helping clients understand veterinarian-prescribed feeding recommendations.

29. Place and maintain feeding tubes

For patients who can’t or won’t eat enough on their own, technicians may help place feeding tubes when permitted and play a critical role in maintaining them, administering nutrition, monitoring tolerance, and educating clients about ongoing care.

30. Care for a hospitalized patient

Hospitalized patients may need medications, diagnostics, feeding, mobility assistance, monitoring, comfort care, and frequent reassessment throughout the day and night.

31. Provide emergency and critical care

In an emergency, technicians may be among the first team members to respond. They support stabilization, oxygen therapy, intravenous access, medication administration, continuous monitoring, and other lifesaving interventions for critically ill or injured patients.

32. Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation

When every second matters, trained veterinary technicians are integral members of the resuscitation team, performing chest compressions, assisting with ventilation, administering treatments as directed, monitoring the patient, and helping the team work together quickly and effectively.

33. Notice the small things

A subtle change in breathing. A patient who suddenly seems quieter. A small shift in appetite or posture. Technicians spend significant time with patients and can be among the first to recognize changes.

34. Comfort a nervous pet

Great medical care also considers the patient experience. Thoughtful handling, environmental adjustments, patience, and an understanding of animal behavior can make veterinary visits less stressful.

35. Explain a treatment plan

Veterinary medicine can be complicated. Technicians help translate medical information into clear, understandable next steps for pet owners.

36. Teach a client how to give medication at home

A treatment plan only works when a client feels confident carrying it out. Demonstration, coaching, and problem-solving can make all the difference.

37. Support a family during a difficult time

Compassion is a clinical skill, too. Veterinary technicians help clients navigate frightening diagnoses, complex decisions, and end-of-life care with empathy and respect.

38. Teach another associate

Veterinary medicine never stops evolving. Experienced technicians help build the next generation of veterinary professionals by mentoring students and colleagues and sharing their knowledge.

39. Learn something new

Continuing education, hands-on training, new technology, specialty credentials, and emerging medical standards mean technicians are constantly developing their skills.

40. Bring the entire care team together

Perhaps the most important role isn’t a single task at all. Veterinary technicians connect people, information, technology, and patient needs throughout the continuum of care.

Celebrating 40 years by looking ahead

Over the past 4 decades, veterinary medicine has become more sophisticated, more collaborative, and increasingly supported by technology. Tools may continue to change, from advanced diagnostic imaging and hands-free radiology to new digital and artificial intelligence–enabled capabilities, but technology works best when it strengthens the people behind the medicine.

The future of veterinary care will continue to depend on teams in which every person can contribute their expertise.

Veterinary technicians embody that model every day. They are clinicians, communicators, problem-solvers, educators, advocates, and teammates. They help translate a veterinarian’s medical plan into exceptional care and make an often-complex experience more understandable and compassionate for clients.

As VCA celebrates 40 years of veterinary medicine, Veterinary Technician Week offers an opportunity to honor the people whose skill and dedication have helped move the profession forward and who will continue to shape where it goes next.

To every veterinary technician: Thank you for the hundreds of things you do every week, including the ones that could never fit into a list of 40.