Vets do more than just heal sick animals, they provide support, guidance and love for pet parents throughout the lives of their furry friends. At San Marcos Veterinary Clinic, the House family makes pets and their owners feel at home. 2025 marks 35 years since Julie House started the practice, and in that time she has raised two daughters who left for college but found their way back to the clinic where the three of them now work together to provide the best care for San Marcos animals. Her daughters Laura and Pam grew up in the clinic, getting to know clients and their pets throughout their whole lives.
Julie House got her credentials from Texas A&M Veterinary School and then moved to San Marcos in 1990 to run the San Marcos Vet Clinic.
Laura House followed in her mother’s footsteps, attending her mother’s alma mater Texas A&M University, where she received a bachelor’s in biomedical sciences. After receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Oklahoma State she made her way back to San Marcos in 2021, where she shares the practice with her mother as an associate veterinarian.
Pam House graduated from Texas A&M as well but with a master’s degree in marketing. Her path led her back to the clinic in 2015 where she is now the practice manager.
All three are avid pet lovers, with Julie owning a dog and four cats, Laura owning three cats, and Pam owning five cats. Animals have been their life at home and at work, where San Marcos residents have trusted them to care for their own pets for decades.
The daughters’ roots in the clinic go back to even before day one and even before they were born. Julie bought the clinic from Dr. Goldman on June 29, 1990 while pregnant with Pam. On Oct. 4 Pam was born and Julie had a new daughter and a new practice at the same time. During those earlier years Julie would travel around Central Texas to other vet clinics offering relief work. She was very particular about the practices she helped, since they needed to welcome not only her but her daughters. In 1995 Julie’s third daughter Laura was born and she focused her attention on the home clinic in San Marcos. From day one the girls grew up in the clinic.
“I took naps in dog cages,” Pam joked. The girls helped out in their formative years, walking dogs and looking after other pets.
“If I wasn’t at school I was usually here [at the clinic],” Laura said.
In 1998, the clinic was growing so much they needed to expand the building to add more patient rooms. The original building had served as a vet clinic since the 1960s.
Around 2006, the clinic changed focus to only small animals, serving mainly the cats and dogs of San Marcos.
After the girls returned to the practice from schooling, the everyday routine of the clinic felt like clockwork.
“Like 80% of our clients already knew me and I already knew their dogs,” Laura said. Many clients reminisce on how they remember the girls as kids, running around the practice in diapers many years ago.
Over the years the clinic has formed strong bonds with their patients. One client moved to Georgia but still brings his animals to see the House family anytime he’s back in Texas.
The mother-daughter bond is an asset in their vet practice.
“I pretty much worked with her for 30 years so I can pretty much read her mind.” Laura said.
In the 35 years as a practice in San Marcos the impact of the clinic has reached beyond their clinic doors. The House daughters attended Crockett Elementary School where Julie would visit with animals to teach the kids how to interact and care for pets. Julie kept a relationship with the SMCISD school system, visiting over the years to teach about vet and general animal care, even visiting a math class one time to speak about how math is used in her practice. The clinic even partnered with the San Marcos High School career program where students could become certified veterinary assistants by training with the House family. Texas State University students have also shadowed at the clinic. Recently the clinic participated in the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce’s Summer Teacher Externship Program where they hosted a local teacher to train and learn from them, to then bring the knowledge and experience back to their classrooms.
The House family has become a household name in San Marcos, with Julie and now her daughters caring for thousands of local pets over the years.
“She [Julie] can’t go to H-E-B without seeing at least one client,” Laura said.
“There was that one time [Julie] was on jury duty and half of the potential jurors were clients,” Pam added.
Clients feel secure in the practice since it’s truly a family business and even when Julie retires the practice will still be in the hands of a House.
“I have a two-year-old granddaughter so we’re joking now that we’re going to start her early,” Julie said.
“She really likes animals so it’s boding well for us,” Pam said.
The clinic is open Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, and located at 1980 Old Ranch Road 12. To schedule an appointment for vet services or boarding call 512-392-7107.
