The Italian doctor's animal (4)
I believe the answer is:
lamb
'animal' is the definition.
(lamb is a kind of animal)
'the italian doctor's' is the wordplay.
'the italian' becomes 'la' ('the' in Italian).
'doctor' becomes 'mb' (Bachelor of Medicine, Medicinae Baccalaureus).
'la'+'mb'='LAMB'
(Other definitions for lamb that I've seen before include "Meaty" , "English essayist" , "Young farm animal" , "Tender sheep meat" , "Skipper" .)