“A veterinarian who makes house calls recounts a delightful and sometimes harrowing career caring for families’ pets. Americans spend more than $130 billion per year on their pets, Filos says, citing figures from the American Veterinary Medical Association and other sources. She’s been a lively part of that ecosystem for more than 30 years, and in these pages, she offers spirited stories from her long veterinary career. Filos has treated various exotic and domestic creatures, including iguanas, fish, snakes, birds, and pet pigs, along with a great many dogs and cats, and she provides details that readers may find surprising. For instance, many may not know that pet snakes can get pneumonia, or that iguanas and other reptiles purchased at pet stores can become dangerously malnourished because owners often aren’t educated about their care. As such, this book is more than a memoir; it’s a teaching unit that happens to be entertaining at the same time. The author has worked in clinics in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Arizona, including one in which the resident macaw attacked the author after watching her restrain a parrot for a cardiac test. However, she makes clear that house calls are a joy to her, as they allow her to see a pet’s environment and assess various physical and emotional factors. Some creatures, she notes, are simply too big to bring into a vet’s office easily; readers can imagine the difficulty of trying to get two elderly, arthritic mastiffs, each weighing more than 200 pounds, into a vehicle. The first chapter: “The Making of an Animal Lover,” may initially give readers the impression that the book will say more about the author and her loved ones that about her four-legged friends:” I now appreciate just how unusual my wonderful family was, and the extraordinary level of devotion we showed to our pets.” Soon enough, though, the work is dominated by tales of animals, and readers are to enjoy hanging out with them in Filos’s company. Worthwhile and engaging stories of a compassionate animal physician.”
