Pet Care Assistant

Banfield Pet Hospital; Laurel (MD); On-site; USD 21,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

Banfield Pet Hospital in Laurel, MD is seeking a Pet Care Assistant to join the veterinary team. You will help provide and prepare for the best medical care of pets in a happy, welcoming, and efficient environment, supporting clinicians and client services staff.

The role involves handling exam room setup, patient restraint, basic in-house lab prep, and routine cleanliness to ensure smooth daily operations. Weekend and evening shifts may be required.

Qualifications

• Reads, writes and speaks fluent English.
• Demonstrates strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to multi-task and stay organized while handling multiple duties.

Responsibilities

• Prepare the treatment room and supplies for examinations.
• Maintain the Cycle of Service and educate clients on preventive care.
• Restrain pets during examinations, treatment, or inoculations.
• Prepare in-house laboratory tests as allowed by state rules.
• Monitor hospitalized patients and ensure their comfort.
• Bathed and dipped pets as needed for dermatological conditions.
• Clean the surgical suite and instruments.
• Maintain hospital cleanliness including laundry, dishes, mopping, and waste removal.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

Multi-tasking

Communication

Organization

Problem solving

Client service

Numerical ability

Computer skills

Initiative

Integrity

Cooperation

Flexibility

Independence

Stress tolerance

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Access

Outlook

Job description

Pet Care Assistant

Summary of Job Purpose and Function

The Pet Care Assistant works with the veterinary medical team to provide and prepare for the best medical care of pets, and to ensure this is provided in a happy, welcoming, friendly and efficient manner, influencing clients to return and refer their friends and families.

Description

Essential Responsibilities and Tasks

· Prepare the treatment room for examination of pets and all necessary medical item and supplies (e.g. vaccinations, fecal loops, slides, etc.) for the veterinarian and/or veterinary technician. Set up fecals, smears, and skin scrapings as allowed by state rules and regulations.

· Maintain the flow of the Cycle of Service in accordance to position. Provide Client Education regarding preventive care, Optimum Wellness Plans, and basic status of hospitalized pets. Serve as support to the Client Services Coordinator staff on an as-needed basis.

· Hold or restrain pets during examination, treatment, or inoculation.

· Prepare routine in-house laboratory tests (e.g. canine heartworm, feline leukemia, FIV, and canine parvovirus) as allowed by state rules and regulations.

· Monitor the comfort of hospitalized patients. Ensure the comfort of hospitalized patients by "walking", exercising, feeding, and cleaning cages and pet (when approved by the veterinarian or veterinary technician).

· Bathe and dip pets when necessary to treat dermatological conditions (when advised by veterinarian or veterinary technician.

· Clean the surgical suite and instruments.

· Ensure cleanliness of the hospital including but not limited to housekeeping such as laundry, dishes, mopping, cage cleaning, trash collection and removal and instrument cleaning as outlined by hospital protocols

· Other job duties as assigned.

Hiring Qualifications

Capabilities and Experience (can do)

· Ability to multi-task- Manages multiple tasks at one time; quickly and accurately shifts attention among multiple tasks under distracting conditions without loss of accuracy or appearance of frustration.

· Communication skills - Reads, writes and speaks fluent English, using appropriate grammar, style and vocabulary. Correctly spells commonly used English words and job specific terms. Demonstrates exceptionally strong written and verbal communication skills.

· Organizational ability - Demonstrates a systematic approach in carrying out assignments. Is very orderly and excels at cutting through confusion and turning chaos into order.

· Problem solving skills - Demonstrates a strong ability to identify, analyze and solve problems. Translates problems into practical solutions.

· Client service skills - Consistently ensures the team provides the client with attentive, courteous and informative service. Gains and shows personal satisfaction from delivering great service.

· Intellectual ability - Accurately and consistently follows instructions delivered in an oral, written or diagram format. Can provide directions.

· Mathematical ability - Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide, and to compute rate, ratio and percent; ability to convert units of measurement.

· Computer skills - Comfortably and confidently uses a computer and specialized software. Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, etc.

Attitudes (will do)

· Initiative - shows willingness and aptitude to take appropriate steps in finding solutions to problems; presents options and ideas to enhance current processes or procedures. Takes on additional responsibility when both big and small tasks need to be done.

· Integrity - Firmly adheres to the values and ethics of Banfield Pet Hospitals. Exhibits honesty, discretion, and sound judgment.

· Cooperativeness - Willing to work with others, collaborating and compromising where necessary; promptly share relevant information with others.

· Flexibility - Is open to changing situations and opportunities and is willing to perform all tasks assigned.

· Independence - Able and willing to perform tasks and duties without supervision as appropriate.

· Tolerance for Stress / Resiliency - Maintains a positive "can do" outlook, rebounds quickly from frustrations and unpleasantness, and maintains composure and friendly demeanor while dealing with stressful situations.

Special Working Conditions

· Ability to work at a computer for long periods of time.

· Ability to be confident around pets (i.e., dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.)

· Client needs and work volume may often require more than 40 hours per week to complete essential duties of this job. This position requires special hours including working weekends and evenings.

· Must have mental processes for reasoning, remembering, mathematics and language ability (reading, writing, and speaking the English language) to perform the duties proficiently.

· The noise level in the work environment is moderately high.

· Requires sufficient ambulatory skills in order to perform duties while at hospital.

· Ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and climb as