Be patient on account of animal (7)
I believe the answer is:
forbear
'be patient' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'account of animal' is the wordplay.
'account of' becomes 'for' (I've seen this in other clues).
'animal' becomes 'bear' (bear is a kind of animal).
'for'+'bear'='FORBEAR'
'on' is the link.
(Other definitions for forbear that I've seen before include "Be patient" , "Refrain from doing something" , "Abstain" , "Hold back" .)