BookFilter: On Beyond James Herriott
March 20, 2018 10:21 AM Subscribe
Seeking the title of a book about a north English country vet I read once upon a time, who is not James Herriott. The few details I can remember are inside.
I read this book sometime in the 1980s, I'd say. The impression I got was that this was a more contemporary author (as in, practicing at that time, or no further back than the 70s, as opposed to James Herriot writing about practicing in the 30s and 40s). If it helps further, I got this book at a library.
Two specific cases I remember:
* There was a Scottish family named the Dimmocks with a lot of kids, and the youngest girl had just gotten a new puppy - but they kept bringing the puppy in for treatment, reporting that he kept throwing up. The vet wasn't able to give it the proper diagnosis until he actually saw the puppy throw up in his treatment room and realized it was like a blocked colon or something. I also remember the little girl whose puppy it was was very concerned because this puppy was All Hers as opposed to being something she had to share wtih all her brothers and sisters (there were a few instances of the girl very shyly telling the vet that she liked her puppy because "'e's mine"), and the vet was really determined to solve this case as a result (and did).
* There was another case involving a dog that belonged to a very genteel older woman; it was a big boxer dog as opposed to a little lap dog, so there was already a bit of a mismatch brewing.
But what brought her to consult the vet was that the dog was extremely gassy. There was a lot of comedy from the efforts the woman went to in trying to remain polite while talking about dog farts, and from the ungodly stench such farts produced. They tried a bunch of different speciality foods, which didn't work; the dog was just a farty dog, and that was that. But then the woman's cousin or something agreed to adopt the dog away from her out of the blue; the vet discovered that the cousin had no sense of smell whatsoever, and was perfectly happy with the dog as a result. (possible memory tripwire - there is a moment where the vet is in a room when the dog farts, and he sees a vase of flowers nearby and buries his nose deep within them for relief).
I also remember the edition I read had simple line-drawing illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, but I am assuming that was just the edition I was reading and am not convinced it's a requirement.
I read this book sometime in the 1980s, I'd say. The impression I got was that this was a more contemporary author (as in, practicing at that time, or no further back than the 70s, as opposed to James Herriot writing about practicing in the 30s and 40s). If it helps further, I got this book at a library.
Two specific cases I remember:
* There was a Scottish family named the Dimmocks with a lot of kids, and the youngest girl had just gotten a new puppy - but they kept bringing the puppy in for treatment, reporting that he kept throwing up. The vet wasn't able to give it the proper diagnosis until he actually saw the puppy throw up in his treatment room and realized it was like a blocked colon or something. I also remember the little girl whose puppy it was was very concerned because this puppy was All Hers as opposed to being something she had to share wtih all her brothers and sisters (there were a few instances of the girl very shyly telling the vet that she liked her puppy because "'e's mine"), and the vet was really determined to solve this case as a result (and did).
* There was another case involving a dog that belonged to a very genteel older woman; it was a big boxer dog as opposed to a little lap dog, so there was already a bit of a mismatch brewing.
But what brought her to consult the vet was that the dog was extremely gassy. There was a lot of comedy from the efforts the woman went to in trying to remain polite while talking about dog farts, and from the ungodly stench such farts produced. They tried a bunch of different speciality foods, which didn't work; the dog was just a farty dog, and that was that. But then the woman's cousin or something agreed to adopt the dog away from her out of the blue; the vet discovered that the cousin had no sense of smell whatsoever, and was perfectly happy with the dog as a result. (possible memory tripwire - there is a moment where the vet is in a room when the dog farts, and he sees a vase of flowers nearby and buries his nose deep within them for relief).
I also remember the edition I read had simple line-drawing illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, but I am assuming that was just the edition I was reading and am not convinced it's a requirement.
Best answer: (Update - found a table of contents of the version I was listening to, which lists both 'The Dimmocks' and 'Magnus and Company', which was about the gassy boxer dog.)
posted by theweasel at 10:32 AM on March 20, 2018
posted by theweasel at 10:32 AM on March 20, 2018
Response by poster: Holy crap, that WAS James Herriott? I could have sworn it wasn't.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:40 AM on March 20, 2018
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:40 AM on March 20, 2018
Seconding that those are both Herriott stories. I recently reread the main collections and they were both definitely in there, though I can't remember which one.
posted by peacheater at 10:41 AM on March 20, 2018
posted by peacheater at 10:41 AM on March 20, 2018
Response by poster: Well, this explains why I couldn't find it as I had the author totally wrong. Thanks!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:49 AM on March 20, 2018
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:49 AM on March 20, 2018
Just to add that the farting Boxer was called Cedric - Magnus was the aggressive, grudge-holding Miniature Dachshund.
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 5:36 PM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 5:36 PM on March 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by theweasel at 10:28 AM on March 20, 2018 [11 favorites]