How Animals Saved My Life: Being the Supervet

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It was interspersed with long passages of self justification in the face of an RCVS inquiry, and technical accounts of operations that went over my head. Noel’s philosophy of life also features in the book which struck a chord with me As the RCVS case takes its toll combined with an accident at home in which he breaks his neck and the complications of COVID you wonder how he managed to keep going. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. I just found myself not knowing what the purpose of the book was other than to make money and as someone who has seen most of the animal cases he talked about on the programme not even that was new.

His plan of "one medicine" that sets out to help both animal and humans equally without the (current) expense of a healthy animal's life should be the goal of both human and animal medicines. It just struck me as a bit simplistic and a little bit patronising but then you all know by now I'm sensitive to weight issues. However, I do find lots of these stories interspersed with self righteousness, and a sense of narcissism. The no doubt excellent 'One Medicine' philosophy becomes a little too preachy and his enlightenment, whilst great for him, is but the essence of all major faiths: putting less emphasis on oneself and more on others, sacrificial giving, forgiveness etc.He is absolutely entitled to hold those opinions of course, but for me it often felt out of place in the book given the assumed subject matter. Two stars is not a reflection on the author but on the editing, even though it appears there were quite a few involved in the process. He reflects on the valuable lessons of Integrity, Care, Love and Hope that they have taught him - lessons that have sustained him through the unbelievable highs and crushing lows of a profession where lives are quite literally at stake. I do respect all he does and his sensitivity is painful but perhaps another book needs to be more carefully planned out. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

This book was so interesting and at times a little sad, but for many animals that come to Noel they are given a second chance because they had been deemed beyond help by others. Read with my daughter who is a fan of Supervet and very much enjoyed the author’s previous book which I think was more conventionally biographical. Throughout this book, we get more of an understanding of how Noel connects with animals on a deeper level and his love and caring of all animals that he comes across is extraordinary. However, I thought there was a lot of fluffy content, celebrity name dropping and repetitions that could have been taken out.This is at times a rambling, in the best possible way, account of his childhood on a farm in Ireland and his burning desire to become a vet, the long years of study and then his passion and vision to help animals with innovative techniques. Noel shares the moving and often funny stories of the animals he's treated and the unique 'animal people' he has met along the way. I loved the idea of “one medicine” which is a common theme in the book - whereby human and animal medicine need to collaborate for the greater good. This was a tough read, especially as his beloved Keira was still alive but died whilst I was reading this.

seeking to bridge the Veterinary Science/Human Medicine gap – which as he points out has taken an additional resonance with COVID. This can be a difficult read not only because there is a lot of technical stuff in it but also because it can be difficult to see through the tears. Fitzpatrick first came to mainstream attention in 2010 with the television series The Bionic Vet which chronicled his work at Fitzpatrick Referrals and then in 2014 with the hugely successful series The Supervet – the soubriquet by which he is still known to this day. I came at this book with an open mind because I had no clue what it was about but I sort of expected something of a vaguely autobiographical nature.pages on how veterinarian medicine needs some changes from a governance and ethics perspectives, whilst saying that he is happy to work in the current way. This is a lively book with moments of joy as an animal recovers or a new technique is a success but also of sorrow when a pet cannot be saved or succumbs to old age. For years experimenting on animals has resulted in new treatments for humans so surely it makes sense to use these results for the good of both humans and animals. The book features several cases of previous patients of the four legged kind - some survive, some don’t – and that must be very hard. The journey to that point has seen Noel treat thousands of animals – many of whom were thought to be beyond help – animals that have changed his life, and the lives of those around them, for the better.