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. Secondly, how the author draws on the qualities he sees in animals – particularly pet cats and dogs, including his own. Fitzpatrick has a particularly interesting view of the world, and it was particularly interesting to read about some of his more challenging cases (alongside a slew of personal challenges).

Now, in this long-awaited memoir, Noel recounts this often-surprising journey that sees him leaving behind a farm animal practice in rural Ireland to set up Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey, one of the most advanced small animal specialist centres in the world. i felt the book may have given me comfort in a sad time but it increased my sadness most of the way through the book . I got a self help book and a philosophy book as well as a book on transcendental meditation and buddhism. Growing up on the family farm in Ballyfin, Ireland, Noel's childhood was spent tending to the cattle and sheep, the hay and silage, the tractors and land, his beloved sheepdog Pirate providing solace from the bullies that plagued him at school. 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.

We meet the animals that paved the way, from calving cows and corralling bullocks to talkative parrots and bionic cats and dogs. I wholeheartedly agree with his one medicine dream and really enjoyed reading about his veterinary experiences and the brilliant cutting edge operations he performs. I would personally have benefitted from diagrams to help explain some of the surgical procedures/implants Noel frequently describes throughout the book, as your average reader is an animal lover and not a vet or surgeon with intricate knowledge of dog/cat anatomy.

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. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. The narrative of "if you work for it you will get it" was so pervasive I found myself despairing and shaking my head numerous times.

It has been 30 years since Noel Fitzpatrick graduated as a veterinary surgeon, and that 22-year-old from Ballyfin, Ireland, is now one of the leading veterinary surgeons in the world. There was quite a lot of medical information in this book which was hard going at times, but apart from that, it was an extremely well-written memoir which I have no hesitation in highly recommending.

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. Picking up this book I wasn't expecting to hear Noel mentioning the likes of George Floyd and the BLM movement, or his perhaps (in my opinion) rose tinted feelings towards droves of undocumented immigrants arriving on boats. His life is dedicated to the animals he treats and his compassion for both animals and humans is heart warming. I learnt a lot about the veterinary industry, and took a lot from his outlook on life and how to be more grounded when times are tough. Noel should be applauded for his strong, life long desire to meld human and animal health into a single scientific endeavour.

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. This book is slightly different to the first, in that Fitzpatrick more so focuses on ethical dilemmas and challenges faced in practice. 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. 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. Overall a good man, with a good heart who only wants the best for animals and their medicine, and if this was the primary focus of the book it would be 5 stars.

As much as I like Noel and the amazing work he does and all that he stands for, I liked and loathed this book in equal measure. There were things in the book I didn't understand but I will read it again in a little while and hopefully I'll understand more. I just didn't have the will to pick up the next chapter, as I knew it would be just the same as the previous ones.A world leading orthopaedic-neuro veterinary surgeon who holds a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the first person to successfully apply an amputation prosthesis to a cat, Professor Noel Fitzpatrick obtained his Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine from University College Dublin in 1990 and went on to set up Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey in 2005.