Attenuation correction (AC) and scatter correction (SC) are problematic issues for animal positron emission tomography (PET). In this study, the effects of AC and SC were assessed using PET on a phantom and actual rat brain. Transmission (TX) was performed using 57Co for 15 min. After a 15 min TX scan, emission (EM) PET was performed in list mode for 1 h. To assess the effects of AC and SC, the spillover ratio (SOR) was measured using a rat-sized NEMA NU4 image-quality phantom; statistical parametric mapping (SPM) was performed to assess the effects of AC and SC in the rat brain using 18F-FDG (FDG). In addition, the binding potential (BP) was compared for 18F-FP-CIT (FP-CIT) PET. SPM was used to compare PET images to which AC and SC were applied, and BP was used for FP-CIT PET. The SORs of air and water decreased after AC and SC. SPM for FDG PET after AC showed a significant increase in FDG-measured activity in the cerebellum and occipital cortex. After AC/SC, a significant decrease in FDG-measured activity was observed in the frontal and temporal cortices. For FP-CIT PET of the rat brain, the BP decreased by 26% after AC because the FP-CIT uptake increased more in the cerebellum than in the striatum owing to AC. After AC and SC, the mean BP increased by 61%. AC and AC/SC were found to be necessary components of the artifact correction process for both FDG PET and FP-CIT PET of rat brains.