Editorial Content for The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life, and Mortality

Several decades ago, I invited a determined young woman from Quebec to live in our spare bedroom while attending the renowned University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) veterinary college. Beyond our shared love of animals, A-M brought new insight and knowledge into my life about caring for and understanding the furred, feathered, finned, scaled and pelted creatures who provide our food, populate our remaining wild spaces, or have shared our homes for millennia as domestic companions.

Of course, just like Karen Fine in THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR, we were both brought up on the captivating books of James Herriot and the iconic TV series based on them, “All Creatures Great and Small.” But back then, there weren't many other role models for those whose dream career was to physically treat animals, which often meant emotionally treating their humans as well.

And that brings me to real-life veterinarian Karen Fine, whose compelling and heartfelt memoir of her own career among animals and their caregivers has come along not a moment too soon.

"[Karen Fine's] compelling and heartfelt memoir of her own career among animals and their caregivers has come along not a moment too soon."

When COVID-19 was at its height and worldwide social isolation had caused such a reduction in atmospheric pollution that you could see it from space, first-world countries like ours experienced an unprecedented surge in pet adoptions. The mental health benefits were obvious. Cats, dogs, rabbits, reptiles, birds and fish (among others) filled an emotional gap and helped millions cope with myriad anxieties about a pandemic never before experienced in our generation. The downside was that new pet owners often lacked the knowledge to understand the needs of their companion animals and surrendered them to shelters when they didn't thrive, or became too busy for them when lockdowns relaxed.

While the COVID dilemma isn't the main focus of THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR, the rediscovery of human-to-animal connections certainly is. Fine covers a great deal of clinical ground, including breeding and treatment ethics, but always within the context of what humans and animals can learn from each other. Far from the romanticized idea of being an animal “whisperer,” she maintains that there's far more practical observation and compassion than mystery or magic in her vocation. As she relates time and time again in anecdotes about a variety of pets and their humans (including her own canine and feline companions), treatment must always include both, especially when end-of-life decisions have to be made --- something that even the best veterinary schools took a long time to include in their degree programs.

On that topic alone, THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR could be a welcome addition to aspiring veterinarians' required course reading. Grief is a very real and oft-repeated event in the lives of pet owners, simply because their pets’ lives are so much shorter than ours: from childhood, many of us could potentially outlive a dozen dogs or cats. So Fine doesn't mince words in asserting that we should never feel grief-guilt over the loss of a devoted animal who may have been closer to us than some humans.

Since she learned so little about the emotional and psychological impact of animal mortality in college, Fine kept meticulous personal notes and reflections of her own throughout her years of practice, literally writing the book on a more holistic approach to animal care. She explored human-centered grief therapy, listened to clients' stories and observations, studied and applied alternative herbal medicine in combination with traditional veterinary practices, compared the benefits and pitfalls of clinical versus home-visit treatments, and above all, took the extra time and effort to deeply know the animal itself and gain its trust.

Throughout the pages of THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR, Fine explains in clear, competent, passionate and disarmingly gentle language why and how veterinarians are special, how they are so similar to pediatricians because their patients can't tell them in adult language where it hurts, and why one must listen to both animals and their humans with the heart as well as the mind.

I find myself wishing that this outstanding memoir of veterinary life had been available when A-M and I spent late wine-and-pizza evenings after work and school talking about the challenges and joys of her calling. Happily, she went on to graduate with distinction and practiced for many years back in her home province of Quebec. I like to imagine that she brought the same love, expertise and dedication that flow so abundantly through every chapter of THE OTHER FAMILY DOCTOR. Pet owner or not, this book belongs in your life.