Small Animal Vet

By: Zack Bradley

What is a Small Animal Vet?

Small animal veterinarians are licensed animal health professionals that are qualified to diagnose and treat a variety of companion species. Small animal practitioners commonly treat dogs, cats, other small mammals, birds, and reptiles

What Education is required?

All small animal veterinarians graduate with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, which is the culmination of a very hard course of study involving both small and large animal species. After graduation, vets must also successfully complete the North American Veterinary Licensing Exam (NAVLE) to become professionally licensed.

Job Demographics

You can find a small animal vet job anywhere because there will be that demand of a small animal vet everywhere.


In terms of average starting salary right out of veterinary school, small animal vets fared the best with average compensation of $64,744 but over time can get up to $143,000.

Typical Day

The typical routine for a small animal vet includes performing wellness exams, giving routine vaccinations, drawing blood, prescribing medications, evaluating and suturing wounds, performing surgeries, performing post-surgical follow up exams, and cleaning teeth.

Negative Aspects

A negative of being a small animal vet is that if you're an animal lover that you have too see animals hurting and also have to put them down sometimes.

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