Nick Trout

Just another casual day in the life mini-memoir. Too much ink spent on typifying & classifying the animals' (mostly dogs) families and not enough on the promise of the title, the actual means of getting the animal to reveal its' symptoms. An enjoyable read going along, but a bit of a disturbing aftertaste (esp. re' the money & pain spent on prolonging a life that should be ended with mercy & dignity). And too much defense of how skilled and dedicated, etc., he is compared to human doctors.

Still, a good glimpse of small-animal surgery & vet care, worthwhile to interested readers looking for something more up-to-date than Herriot.… (more)

I happened to read this book while I was revisiting the James Herriot books from my youth.

The author makes a few comparisons between himself and Herriot. About the only one I agree with is they were both citizens of the UK. Trout’s stories, while entertaining, are detached and cool; what I would expect from a surgeon - technical skill without sentiment.

His stories lack the emotional connection so brilliantly shared by Herriot. Perhaps, it is more a reflection of Trout’s specialty or the environment he works in. But I found his story less heartwarming and missing that crucial element of a vet who likes people as much as he does their animals.… (more)

I automatically felt like this would be a very interesting story, with the love of Jasper, the cystic fibrosis boy, and Whistler, the abused dog who was looking for his forever home. I was in dread the first 3/4 of the book. It seemed like with all the bad news and turns of events, that there was no way anything good or happy could come out of it. Dr. Kate Blunt, Jasper's mom, was experiencing all kinds of stress from being a single working mom trying to help a struggling veterinary business and raising a cystic fibrosis son who needed all kinds of medical attention and care. Without giving away any major spoilers, the turn of events that happened toward the end of the book that brought positivity and joy to all of them was so heart-warming. The ONLY complaint I had was that the name Jasper reminds me of the name of a dog, and not a boy, and I had to remind myself that I was reading about the boy's thoughts and not the dog's thoughts. Middle school students would love this book. Themes of pet ownership, companionship, seeing beyond the pain in others, etc... makes this a great literary work to discuss and debate.… (more)