The Vet at Noah's Ark: Stories of Survival from an Inner-City Animal Hospital - Softcover

Mader, Doug; Fitzgerald, Kevin T.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1954641826 ISBN 13: 9781954641822

Publisher: Apollo Publishers, 2024

Synopsis

From renowned veterinarian Dr. Doug Mader comes a stirring account of his fight to protect his animal patients and human staff amid the dangerous realities of inner-city life and the Los Angeles riots―and a celebration of the remarkable human-animal bond.

The life of a veterinarian is challenging: keeping up with advances in medical care, making difficult decisions about people's beloved companions, and, in Dr. Doug Mader's case, navigating the social unrest in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. As one of the few exotic animal experts in California, he was just as likely to be treating a lion as a house cat.

The Vet at Noah's Ark: Stories of Survival from an Inner-City Animal Hospital follows Dr. Mader and his staff over the course of a year at Noah's Ark Veterinary Hospital, an inner-city LA area veterinary hospital where Dr. Mader treats not only dogs and cats, but also emus, skunks, snakes, foxes, monkeys, and a host of other exotic animals. This real life drama is set against the backdrop of the trial of four police officers in the Rodney King case, as well as the violent aftermath following their acquittal.

This is a book about survival, both of the pets that Dr. Mader and his staff try to save on a daily basis, as well as the staff themselves. Living in the harsh reality of the city, surrounded by gangs, drugs, violence, traffic, smog, and deadly riots, they must overcome and rise above, for their own survival and that of the animals who need them. This awe-inspiring account is told through Dr. Mader's riveting storytelling―as Carl Hiaasen writes, "Doug is fearless and dedicated," and "a damn good storyteller."

About this title

About the Authors

Dr. Doug Mader is a triple board-certified veterinary specialist and has been a veterinarian for over three decades. He is an internationally recognized speaker, has written four best-selling medical textbooks and numerous book chapters and scientific publications, and has had long-standing pet columns in the Long Beach Press Telegram, Reptiles magazine, and the Key West Citizen. Dr. Mader is the recipient of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Award, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Alumni Achievement Award, and the Fred L. Frye Lifetime Achievement Award for Veterinary Medicine, and is a six-time winner of the North American Veterinary Community Speaker of the Year award and a four-time winner of the Western Veterinary Conference Educator of the Year award. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in the UK. Dr. Mader practiced in California for many years, but today lives and works in the Florida Keys.

Dr. Kevin T. Fitzgerald has been a veterinarian since 1983 and currently works at Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Fitzgerald starred in Animal Planet's Emergency Vets and E-Vet Interns. He has served on the board of directors at the Denver Zoo, was president of the Denver Area Veterinary Medical Society, and since 1985 has been an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Denver. Dr. Fitzgerald has published over one hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals and written fifty-three chapters in veterinary textbooks. He writes monthly columns for the American Kennel Club Gazette, American Kennel Club's Family Dog magazine, and Police Dog magazine, has a weekly radio spot, "Veterinary Corner," and since 2003 has hosted a weekly television segment, "Animal House," on Denver's Channel 2 morning news. He lives in Denver.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I said my perfunctory good mornings to the receptionist staff as I started my morning lap around the hospital before heading to the conference room. When I arrived in the treatment room I was alarmed to see the Karens, Peter, and Stacey huddling over a patient on the table. Off in the corner of the room, his face wrought with dread, stood Toad.

“What’s going on?” I asked, scanning the scene. I nodded in Toad’s direction. His eyes were uncharacteristically anxious, reddened.

“What’s wrong with Barney?” I asked again, trying to peer through the mass of bodies surrounding the table. The old dog was prone, his eyes half shut. Not even a twitch from his usual happy tail.

“His skin is falling off,” Toad stated, without emotion. His voice was calm, but I sensed an urgency that I had not heard since Barney first came in sick. It was obvious that Toad had not shaven. Pronounced shadows under his eyes darkened his rotund face. Despite the coolness in the treatment area, a patina of sweat dampened Toad’s frowning forehead.

Clients are not trained in medical description. I have learned years ago not to take what they say too literally. What appears to them a catastrophic emergency is more often than not just a routine medical problem. In contrast, the true emergencies are often ignored until it’s too late (like an eye that has popped out and the owner wants to wait to see if it will go back in on its own). So when Toad described Barney’s skin as falling off, I was not convinced this was actually the case.

Curious and concerned, I stepped forward and my staff parted like the Red Sea. There before me lay our chubby basset. I was astonished to see that Toad’s description was not far from the truth. As I got closer, Barney stood up, his long, sway back accented by his large, droopy jowls. He glanced up at me with pained, bloodshot eyes, obviously not wanting to move his head or turn his neck. “What’s his temperature?” I asked no one in particular.

Edition details

• Publisher: Apollo Publishers
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1954641826
• ISBN 13: 9781954641822
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400