Cara Veterinary logo
Cara Veterinary
Woodinville, Washington

Associate Veterinarian

VeterinarianNo callFull-Time

Listed compensation

$125K–$160K /yr base

The week · per this posting

Ask the employer about weekend coverage, nights and shift pattern and time off.

Posted 1mo ago · Verified live

Job Description

  • Description
  • DVM WANTED: Our priority is our patients, clients, and YOU
  • Sign-on bonus eligible & exceptional benefits package
  • Vibrant Woodinville community

Experienced DVMs & New Grads Welcome

At Woodinville Veterinary Hospital of Cara Veterinary, we are known for commitment to pets, their families, and to each other! We are seeking an experienced DVM or stellar recent graduate to join us at our state-of-the-art veterinary hospital. As a doctor with Cara Veterinary, you’ll have the freedom to make the best decisions for your local clients and their pets, but with the support and resources you need to provide exceptional care.

  • Our Offer
  • Competitive base salary + commission
  • $125,000 - $160,000 yearly base
  • Sign-on bonus eligible
  • Relocation expense reimbursement eligible
  • Medical, vision & dental insurance
  • Flexible schedule with no on-call
  • PTO & Floater days, including a for Personal Celebration Day
  • Paid family & medical leave (WA state offers up to 12 weeks of paid leave to eligible employees)
  • 401K with employer match
  • License and professional organization dues (AVMA, State Medical Assoc, AAHA, VMB)
  • Liability insurance
  • Paid CE time
  • Employee pet discount
  • Uniform allowance
  • Career growth opportunities
  • Great culture w/ a supportive team

About You

  • Excellent communication skills
  • Positive attitude
  • An interest or specialty you can bring to the practice or would like to pursue
  • A desire to build long-term relationships with pet parents & the community

Our Location

If you love nature, great food, and a warm, welcoming community, Woodinville is a dream. Surrounded by the Sammamish Valley, it offers world-class wineries, craft breweries, and a peaceful pace just outside Seattle. It’s a favorite for veterinary professionals who want space to breathe while staying connected to a thriving region.

Ready to Apply?

We’d love to see a cover letter highlighting why you think you’d be a good fit for our practice as well as a fully updated resume.

_______

CARA Veterinary Core Value Pillars

Put pets first: Our first priority is always with the health, happiness, and comfort of our patients. We have designed the Cara experience with the animal perspective in mind. And our care advice is based only on what is best for the pet.?

Trust the parent: We believe that caring for an animal is a partnership built on mutual trust and humility. We trust parents to make the right decisions for themselves and their pets and invite them to actively participate in care alongside us.?

Authentically human: Caring for a pet involves the full spectrum of emotions, from joy to grief. We must lean into openness, empathy, and compassionate listening. We know when to be fun, and when to be serious. At all times, we foster supportive, positive, and authentically human hospital culture.

Good neighbors: Although our business is growing, we retain the attitude and spirit of a neighborhood vet. We welcome people in. We get to know our clients' families and are proud to play an active role in our local communities.?

Shake things up: We are always looking for a better way. In an industry that hasn't seen a lot of innovation, we are experimenting with new ways of delivering care, delighting customers, providing unexpectedly human (and animal) touches, and infusing out hospitals with fresh ideas.

Requirements

As an Associate Veterinarian, you assume a multifaceted role at our hospital, extending far beyond traditional veterinary duties. You serve as a cornerstone in bringing our pillars to life and leading by example, both for our patients, their parents and the entire support team.

Here, we place paramount importance on embracing Cara Veterinary's Pillars and Core Competencies, making your leadership pivotal in shaping our practice culture, standards of care, and the client-patient journey.

The following is a partial list of essential job responsibilities. This list may be revised at any time and additional duties not listed here may be requested and/or added.

Patient Management

· Put Pets First – creating recommendations with the patient’s well-being as the first priority.

· Continually improve the quality of patient care through studying veterinary journals and textbooks and by attending continuing education seminars.

· Perform examinations, diagnostic tests, medical, surgical, and dental procedures in a way that will deliver the highest quality care while minimizing patient stress and discomfort. This will include care for both well pets and sick pets.

· Perform medically appropriate euthanasia with compassion and concern for the patient’s comfort and the client’s emotional status.

· Recommend referral to a specialist when this is likely to significantly improve the prognosis.

Client Management

· Will promote and participate in the Pillars and our Standards of Conduct and help ensure that the above is known and practiced by all team members.

· Develop rapport with clients through compassionate communication.

· Determine client’s needs and wishes.

· Question the client to ascertain the patient’s past medical and surgical history as well as a description of the current presenting signs.

· Explain physical examination findings.

· Recommend the appropriate preventive health care, including vaccines and appropriate nutritional products and protocols in accordance with hospital quality of care.

· Recommend and explain plans for diagnostic procedures and for medical and surgical therapies; methods for home care procedures and follow up plans. In both written and verbal form.

· Provide the client with the patients prognosis based on the pets clinical problems.

· Generate, or direct generation of fee estimates/treatment plan for recommended procedures and presents them to the client.

· Keep clients informed regarding the status of their pet and results of diagnostic tests.

· Provide telephone consultation, including follow-up calls for progress reports, etc. in accordance with your hospitals stated timelines.

Administrative Management

  • Maintenance of client/patient medical/surgical records:
  • Completely “SOAP” the patient’s medical records in accordance with your hospitals standards/timelines:
  • S = Subjective analysis of problem (history)
  • O = Objective analysis of problem (symptoms)
  • A = Assessment of problem (diagnosis)
  • P = Plan of dealing with problem (treatment)
  • Make certain all necessary logs are kept up to date through established protocols and guidelines:
  • Surgical logs
  • Narcotics logs
  • Radiology logs
  • Laboratory logs

Any Other Hospital Logs

Accurately charge clients for all services performed. Participate in the planning, execution, and analysis of various methods of improving delivery of services to clients.

  • Support and participate in marketing and promotional events and programs.
  • Ready to report to work when the need arises.

Contribute to maintenance of a comfortable, clean, and safe environment of which the clients, the team and the management can be proud. TEAM MANAGEMENT- PROFESSIONAL TEAM:

· Ensure an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect.

· Keep patient records complete and up to date to assist colleagues in follow-up and future management of the patient.

· Provide consultation when requested and assisting with diagnostic, treatment, and surgical procedures.

· Ensure that credit is accurately given for procedures performed by each veterinarian.

· Maintain communication with clients when their pet’s primary veterinarian is not available.

· Assist DVM colleagues where necessary and foster an educational environment.

· Empathy and medical/surgical advice for colleagues when questions of clinical judgment arise.

Team Management- Technicians/ Assistants

· Maintain an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect.

· Clearly prescribe detailed directions regarding drug doses, routes, times, and rates for administration, diagnostic medical, surgical, and dental procedures, and instructions for patient monitoring.

· Assist technicians where necessary and foster an educational environment.

· Provide instruction in client education, diagnostic and treatment procedures, and anesthesia, care of instruments, surgical assisting, and dentistry.

Team Management- Receptionists

· Maintain an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect.

· Expedite the generation of fee estimates/treatment plans for recommended procedures and the invoicing of client charges for outpatients and for patients to be discharged.

· Clearly record information, in a timely manner, regarding medications and supplies being dispensed.

· Assist receptionists in providing answers to client’s questions using the appropriate tone and grammar for patient care and records.

· Provide education regarding basic pet health to assist them in advising clients when scheduling appointments for examinations and various procedures.

Professional Responsibilities

· Honesty in dealing with clients and colleagues.

· Maintain an attitude and appearance that reflect favorably on the profession, hospital and company.

· Empathy for colleagues when questions of clinical judgment arise.

· Share information and concerns with other members of the profession, hospital and company by attending veterinary meetings regularly.

· Represent the hospital to the professional community and the general public as requested.

· Model an “owner” mentality in hospital by demonstrating willingness to assist all team members for the success of the hospital.

Exemplify Cara Veterinary’s Core Competencies on a daily basis.

Connection: This competency involves nurturing robust connections with pet parents, pets, the community, and fellow team members, aligning with the practice's foundational values. It centers on fostering a sense of unity and comprehension that transcends the client-patient relationship.

Team members prioritize building connections and relationships with clients and their pets, acknowledging the significance of empathy, trust, and team support, benefiting the pet's well-being, and enhancing the practice's harmony

Key Responsibilities

The Associate Veterinarian is responsible for performing medical, surgical, and dental procedures while prioritizing patient well-being and client education. They also manage medical records, lead support staff, and foster a collaborative hospital culture aligned with company values.

Qualifications

Education
Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)

Key Skills

Veterinary medicineSurgeryPatient examinationDiagnostic testingClient communicationMedical record keepingAnesthesia monitoringTeam leadershipCompassionate careProblem solvingTime managementCollaboration

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Associate Veterinarian at Cara Veterinary a 6.4 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as good. This places the position in the Above average in Veterinary Medicine — ranked against 2,946 active Veterinary Medicine listings on WeekdayDoc. Contributing factors include no on-call duties.

Veterinary Medicine Career Context

Cara Veterinary holds silver-tier status on WeekdayDoc's Top Employers work-life index, composite score 70/100, 4 active listings.

Of the 40 active Veterinary Medicine listings this role was benchmarked against, 3% are remote, 60% have no call, 55% require no weekends.

The cost-of-living index for Washington is 107.0 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$143k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $133k in an average-cost state. 59.8% of Washington clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

Location & Logistics

Washington has no state income tax, which can significantly increase take-home pay compared to high-tax states. At the posted ~$143k midpoint, that is roughly $6k–$10k a year versus a typical 4–7% state rate.

Top Veterinarian Jobs

32 matches · ranked by pay

Salary Distribution26 jobs · 23 employers

5
<$140k
7
$140k-150k
8
$150k-170k
6
$170k+

Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks26 jobs · 23 employers

CME allowance
92% this job
401k / retirement match
92% this job
Sign-on bonus
85% this job
Relocation assistance
42% this job
Visa sponsorship
8%

Share of similar jobs offering each benefit

#1

Feline-Only Veterinarian – Full-Time or Part-Time

Confidential Employer · New Orleans, Louisiana

$80k-$240k
#2

Feline-Only Veterinarian – Full-Time or Part-Time

Veterinary Practice Partners · New Orleans, Louisiana

$80k-$240k
#3

Veterinarian, Partner & Equity Owner

$120k-$220k
#4

Veterinarian

$130k-$200k
+ 30 more · ranked by pay

Work-life snapshot

median 6.2this job 6.4
Better work-life than 50% of Veterinary Medicine listings

Listing-based score, 0–10, across 2,946 comparable listings. Shaded area = the share scoring below this one.

  • No call
  • On-site

Living in Woodinville

Rent affordability

24% of gross pay

Market rent compared with this listing’s advertised pay.

Purchasing power

$112,478–$143,972/yr

At national-average prices · Before taxes

Typical 3-bedroom home value
$1.09M≈ 8.7× annual pay
Typical market rent
$2,530/mo
Residents’ average commute
26 min
Metro price indexU.S. average = 100
111.1
State income tax
None
Sources & methodology

Sources: Zillow home values (Aug 2026), Zillow market rents (Aug 2026), U.S. Census ACS 2024 five-year.

BEA 2024 · Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro prices. Housing figures are city-level.

Ratios use the advertised annual pay range’s lower bound, before taxes. Regional prices are not a personal budget.

Peer group: veterinarian · veterinary medicine · Full-time · hours not stated · Base pay. National listings with usable annual USD pay and local data, posted within 180 days of the 2026-09-22 snapshot. Rankings use lower pay bounds; higher percentiles mean more favorable comparisons. Only the same rent observation month is compared.

Ratings need at least 30 other listings, five employers and three locations; no employer may contribute over 35%. Strong: top quarter; Typical: middle half; Weaker: bottom quarter. Missing ratings mean insufficient comparable data, not a poor offer. These are offer comparisons, not city grades.

Cara Veterinary logo

About Cara Veterinary

Veterinary Services
Seattle, WA
51-200 employees

Benefits & Perks

Sign-on bonus eligible
Exceptional benefits package
Competitive base salary + commission
Relocation expense reimbursement
Medical, vision & dental insurance
Flexible schedule with no on-call
PTO & Floater days
Personal Celebration Day