Need an animal writer? 5 types of vets and the animals they write about

If you’re searching for an animal writer and have found our website, it’s likely you’re now wondering if a freelance vet writer might be a better option for you. But how do you know which animal writer to choose?

Well, all of our writers are real vets. That means they have all had jobs working with animals. And just like the vet you take your dog to, our writers might have favourite animals or even animals they don’t work with. Although we all graduate able to work with any species, we tend to know which animals we want to work with after graduation, and many of us – myself included – will rapidly forget the knowledge related to species we don’t see, replacing it with more in-depth knowledge about those we see regularly.

Within the veterinary industry, we split ourselves down into different ‘types’ of vets. We’re going to go over these types of vets here so you can decide which animal writer you need.

The ‘small animal’ vet

In the veterinary industry, ‘small animals’ are synonymous with ‘companion animals’. In other words, we’re talking about pets. Most of our vet writers are small animal vets, as this is the most common type of vet around – there are a lot more pets than horses in the world! A typical small animal vet day involves consulting for a couple of hours in the morning, then operating until lunch. The afternoon is usually more consulting. They’ll see a huge range of things, from ‘well pet’ consults (vaccinations, or a puppy weight check), sick pets who are vomiting, maybe a few ‘check ups’ to see how pets are responding to recently prescribed treatment, through to euthanasia.

For most people creating a new pet blog, small animal vets are perfect animal writers. They have a lot of in-depth knowledge about pet species. Having said that, most small animal vets are more comfortable with dogs and cats than small mammals like rabbits, hamsters, and chinchillas, or even reptiles, amphibians, and fish. If your blog needs an animal writer with expertise in these areas, you might be better off with an exotic vet.

The ‘equine’ vet

Equine vets work with horses. They can be specialist, working at a practice that only sees horses, and may even specialise further so they’re only doing surgery or only going out on visits. Some equine vets also work in a practice that sees small animals, so they may know a bit about dogs and cats too.

When it comes to animal writers, equine vets will be the best bet if your website is devoted to horses. Horse people soon know if someone isn’t ‘horsey’ and they’ll quickly sniff them out. Using one of our equine vets as your animal writer is one of the best ways to make sure your horse blog is well-respected!

The ‘farm’ vet

Farm vets see farm animals. Mostly, that’s dairy cows, with some beef cows, sheep, or even goats or alpacas thrown in. They’ll usually spend all of their day on the hoof (pun intended!), driving from farm to farm in their car, before returning mid-afternoon to write up notes, restock their medicines for the next day, and clean their equipment. Some farm vets also see small animals.

If your animal writer needs to be knowledgeable about smallholdings, dairy farming, or farm biosecurity, then a farm vet is what you need. You may also find that a mixed vet with an interest in farm works well – see below.

The ‘exotic’ vet

Exotic vets are specialist small animal vets, who see ‘exotic’ pets. Despite the name, most exotic pets aren’t even exotic – rabbits, rats, and mice count as exotic pets, in the vet world. While most small animal vets prefer dogs and cats, those with an interest in exotics will adore seeing anything smaller than a rabbit – that includes lizards, snakes, insects, frogs, birds, and all the other weird and wonderful pets people own. Exotics vets might work within a small animal practice, or they might work at an exotics referral centre.

If your website is dedicated to these unusual pets, an exotics vet will be what you need due to their in-depth knowledge. While the occasional article on these pets could be written by any small animal vet, significant numbers should be written by an exotics vet – the difference will be worth it! We do have a couple of exotics vet writers available if this type of animal writer is what you think you need!

The ‘mixed’ vet

Mixed vets are the ‘James Herriot’ style vets, who see every animal that is brought to them. A typical mixed vet day might involve driving to see some cows and horses in the morning, followed by an afternoon consulting in the surgery seeing dogs, cats, rabbits, or other types of pets. Most mixed vets will have a species or area they prefer, but they enjoy the variety that mixed practice brings. Mixed vets are few and far between these days, but we do have one on our books, as well as several vets who have been mixed vets in the past.

If your website is going to deal with a whole range of different animal species, a mixed vet is a good idea. Alternatively, you could hire several animal writers, each with a different area of expertise.

Other types of vets

I haven’t mentioned fish vets, poultry vets, or wildlife/zoo vets, nor have we gone into the difference between a surgical vet, a medical vet (also known as an internist) and a palliative care vet. In fact, there are hundreds of vet specialisms!

Deciding on your animal writer

It’s quite likely I’ve gone into detail above about the best type of vet for your animal blog. But if I haven’t – or you still aren’t sure on the best option for you – you can always get in touch. As vets ourselves, we know who does what – and we also know who, in our list of over 40 writers we have available, would suit your project best.

Final thoughts

Hopefully we’ve cleared up some of the terms we use on our ‘Our Vets‘ page to describe what our vets are interested in. There are so many areas of veterinary medicine, it’s not a surprise our vets are all different. Luckily, this just means that hiring a freelance animal writer with expert knowledge in your chosen area is a piece of cake! Just get in touch to see what our team can do.

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