Vet Fiction That Isn't James Herriot, But For Real Now
March 20, 2018 12:13 PM Subscribe
Inspired by EmpressCallipygos' question below and its tragic resolution: once you've read all of James Herriot, what are the other great books about veterinary medicine? (Fiction completely welcome.)
Best answer: I wouldn't consider it "tragic", more like a "d'oh". :-)
And I can contribute another thing that I similarly read in the 80s and is definitely not James Herriott - All My Patients Are Under The Bed. He's like the Reverse-Herriot - instead of a charming English country Big-Animal vet, the author is an Italian-American from New York who specializes in cats. It's fun and feisty.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:34 PM on March 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
And I can contribute another thing that I similarly read in the 80s and is definitely not James Herriott - All My Patients Are Under The Bed. He's like the Reverse-Herriot - instead of a charming English country Big-Animal vet, the author is an Italian-American from New York who specializes in cats. It's fun and feisty.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:34 PM on March 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Hah - JINX, Asenav!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:34 PM on March 20, 2018
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:34 PM on March 20, 2018
Best answer: All of Gerald Durrell's books about specimen collecting and vetting for zoos in the '40s and '50s are delightful and worth reading.
posted by merriment at 1:29 PM on March 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
posted by merriment at 1:29 PM on March 20, 2018 [11 favorites]
Best answer: Dr. Jeff Wells has a couple of memoirs as a vet, starting with "All My Patients have Tales."
Dr. Jan Pol is a Dutch-born vet working in rural Michigan, and evidently has a TV show, and his book is called "Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow."
Dr. Nick Trout is an animal surgeon with a few books, starting with "Tell Me Where It Hurts."
Dr. Laurie Hess wrote "Unlikely Companions: The Adventures of an Exotic Animal Doctor"
Lucy Spelman and Ted Mashima co-edited a collection of Zoo-vet stories called "The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and their Patients"
posted by Sunburnt at 1:31 PM on March 20, 2018
Dr. Jan Pol is a Dutch-born vet working in rural Michigan, and evidently has a TV show, and his book is called "Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow."
Dr. Nick Trout is an animal surgeon with a few books, starting with "Tell Me Where It Hurts."
Dr. Laurie Hess wrote "Unlikely Companions: The Adventures of an Exotic Animal Doctor"
Lucy Spelman and Ted Mashima co-edited a collection of Zoo-vet stories called "The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and their Patients"
posted by Sunburnt at 1:31 PM on March 20, 2018
Best answer: Dr. Jerry Haigh is a Scottish / Kenyan / Canadian wildlife vet who has written several entertaining memoirs about animals.
Gerald Durrell's novels are great memoirs about animal collecting- My Family and Other Animals is particularly funny and interesting, detailing his childhood collecting animals and interacting with colourful characters in Corfu, Greece in the 1940s.
For childhood classic novels, Black Beauty has a ton of great horse info, and Beautiful Joe goes deep into dog training (and animal cruelty but it's not overly depressing).
posted by pseudostrabismus at 1:35 PM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Gerald Durrell's novels are great memoirs about animal collecting- My Family and Other Animals is particularly funny and interesting, detailing his childhood collecting animals and interacting with colourful characters in Corfu, Greece in the 1940s.
For childhood classic novels, Black Beauty has a ton of great horse info, and Beautiful Joe goes deep into dog training (and animal cruelty but it's not overly depressing).
posted by pseudostrabismus at 1:35 PM on March 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Here's a non-fiction account of veterinary school: If Wishes Were Horses
posted by Kangaroo at 3:41 PM on March 20, 2018
posted by Kangaroo at 3:41 PM on March 20, 2018
Best answer: Rory Foster has a couple of books about working as a wildlife vet in Wisconsin. The only one I've read (I enjoyed it) is I Never Met An Animal I Didn't Like
posted by phoenixy at 4:06 PM on March 20, 2018
posted by phoenixy at 4:06 PM on March 20, 2018
Best answer: Horses, heifers and hairy pigs: the life of a Yorkshire vet by Julian Norton has been on my list, though I have a long list.
You could also try More Sherlock Holmes than James Herriot for a vet's experiences in Africa and South America or Village Vets for an Australian experience.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:22 PM on March 20, 2018
You could also try More Sherlock Holmes than James Herriot for a vet's experiences in Africa and South America or Village Vets for an Australian experience.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:22 PM on March 20, 2018
Best answer: He's a wildlife biologist and not a vet, but the memoirs of the retired head Wildlife Ranger at Great Smoky Mountains National Park are pretty hilarious.
The Bear in the Back Seat, Volume I, Volume II by Kim DeLozier and Carolyn Jourdan
posted by workerant at 4:25 PM on March 20, 2018
The Bear in the Back Seat, Volume I, Volume II by Kim DeLozier and Carolyn Jourdan
posted by workerant at 4:25 PM on March 20, 2018
Call the Vet: farmers, dramas and disasters - my first year as a country vet, by Anna Birch.
Vet on call: my first year as an out-of-hours vet, by Marc Abraham.
Zoo Tails: Hilarious and Touching Stories from London Zoo's first Resident Vet, and some other books, by Oliver Graham-Jones.
An Alligator in the Bathroom ... and other stories: Memoirs of an RSPCA Inspector in Yorkshire, by Carter Langdale.
Tales from a Young Vet: Mad cows, crazy kittens, and all creatures big and small, and Tales from a Wild Vet, by Jo Hardy.
The Vet: The Big Wild World and The Vet: My Wild and Wonderful Friends, by Luke Gamble.
Hugh Lasgarn's books from the 1980s - can't find good links: Vet in a Storm, Vet in Green Pastures etc.
There're also Malcolm Welshman's books - these are novels but apparently based on Welshman's own work as a vet.
posted by paduasoy at 2:48 PM on March 22, 2018
Vet on call: my first year as an out-of-hours vet, by Marc Abraham.
Zoo Tails: Hilarious and Touching Stories from London Zoo's first Resident Vet, and some other books, by Oliver Graham-Jones.
An Alligator in the Bathroom ... and other stories: Memoirs of an RSPCA Inspector in Yorkshire, by Carter Langdale.
Tales from a Young Vet: Mad cows, crazy kittens, and all creatures big and small, and Tales from a Wild Vet, by Jo Hardy.
The Vet: The Big Wild World and The Vet: My Wild and Wonderful Friends, by Luke Gamble.
Hugh Lasgarn's books from the 1980s - can't find good links: Vet in a Storm, Vet in Green Pastures etc.
There're also Malcolm Welshman's books - these are novels but apparently based on Welshman's own work as a vet.
posted by paduasoy at 2:48 PM on March 22, 2018
« Older What is this thing? (Rock edition) | What to do about this plane reservation mistake? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by assenav at 12:33 PM on March 20, 2018 [3 favorites]