All My Patients Have Tales: Favorite Stories from a Vet's Practice Book

Stories from the daily life of a veterinarian in a country practice, with a wonderful balance of emotional and humorous material—the American James Herriot. The book has won two Colorado Independent Publishers EVVY Awards and a National Independent Publ

Publishers Weekly

Wells, a practicing veterinarian in a rural Colorado clinic, delivers a humorous and insightful look at his life and work with a wide range of animals. His memoir begins immediately after graduation as he takes a job at a South Dakota clinic with "no idea" that he is in for a variety of patients, including a pregnant cow that needs a cesarean section, a trio of feisty Jack Russell terriers that keep pursuing porcupines despite getting their faces full of quills and a traveling circus that needs blood tests for its animals: "At no time during veterinary school had anyone mentioned how to go about finding a vein on an elephant." The author conveys not only the great joy he takes in helping animals but also his growing awareness of another aspect of his job that isn't taught in vet school-the role of "counselor/psychologist" a vet must play when dealing with someone who's lost a pet or recommending a tough treatment decision. While Wells's writing style is plain and straightforward, his stories would be suitable-and should be required-reading in even the most sophisticated veterinary school programs. (Apr.)