All My Patients Are Under the Bed: Memoirs of a Cat Doctor

3.5 stars

Dr. Louis Camuti was a veterinarian from the 1920s(?) and throughout much of the 20th century. This is a memoir of some of his clients and patients, as well as just a little bit of his own life. He was in New York City, specialized in cats and, unusual for the time, eventually did only house calls.

This was enjoyable. I’ve read many of these veterinarian memoirs, now, so it’s hard to keep all the anecdotes in my head, but I certainly enjoy the stories while I am reading them. Despite him practicing some decades ago, I feel like he might have been slightly ahead of his time on many things (his views on indoor/outdoor cats, declawing, cats shouldn’t really drink milk, adopting rather than buying from breeders, etc).

I actually bought this book because of a LibraryThing recommendation, probably because I have several books about cats as well as the James Herriot books about being a vet. I thought the premise was wonderful (a vet who makes house calls for cats!) and that the cover was one of the cutest pictures I have ever seen.

The book does not disappoint. It's a memoir actually written by one of the doctor's patients though narrating from the doctor's point of view. The doctor was a crusty old guy in his eighties by the time the book was written (in the late 70s or early 80s) and he died shortly thereafter. He was quite a character with strong opinions and hilarious stories. He worked in New York for decades, so the stories deal with a variety of show more different sorts of New Yorkers, from the rich and famous to the poor and unknown.

The advice about cats that I gleaned from the book is actually pretty on point for the most part. However, I really recommend the book because it's funny. The doctor has a very dry sense of humor and a good narrative tone for the stories about crazy people and their usually saner-than-them feline companions. I particularly liked the stories about Tallulah Bankhead.

The book is rather dated and some of the good doctor's opinions and stories are a little jarring to a 21st century reader. However he was a good hearted soul and helped hundreds, if not thousands, of cats over the course of his long and delightful life.

Highly recommended. show less

In the same vein as “All Creatures Great and Small”, this is a vet’s memoir. Instead of the English countryside, though, Camuti works in New York City, doing house calls. He found that a routine of starting his rounds in late afternoon and finishing around midnight worked best for his clients. His wife drove him around, and stayed in the car while he treated his patients. Some of his clients were show business folks; some were even famous. But fame doesn’t mean anything to Camuti; he judges his clients on how much they love their cats.

The book intersperses the doctor’s biography (he was born in 1893, so we get a lot of stories from the early parts of the century) with stories about this clients, both human and fuzzy. While show more some of his advice is out of date (book was written in 1980), the book is primarily enjoyable for the cat anecdotes. Five stars. show less

This was a very enjoyable read, not only because of the cat stories but also because of the author's life in the mid-twentieth century and the interactions Camuti has with celebrities.

My favorite quote from this book:

It's not that cats care less about the people who love them; they just care differently. You can ask for love from a dog and you'll get it. Wise cat owners know to give love, and to recognize its return in little ways. Or put it this way: With dogs and people it's love in big splashy colors. When you're involved with a cat you're dealing in pastels.

Camuti dispenses useful cat care advice among many interesting stories of both cats and their owners. There are a chunk of stories about other animals as well as quite a bit of biographical information, but it is all fascinating and doesn't take away any enjoyment. Camuti's book is sure to delight cat owners and very often to strike a cord with them as well. This book very often gets at the heart of the difference between cat people and dog people.

5179. All My Patients Are Under the Bed, by Dr. Louis J. Camuti with Marilyn and Heskel Frankel (read 13 Jul 2014) This 1980 book by an 85-year-old veterinarian in New York who makes house calls to see mostly cats has some interesting stories. The author is somewhat of a namedropper, as he recounts his care of cats for James Mason, Tallulah Bankhead, Doris Duke, and others. One is amazed at how much money his customers spend for the care of their cats--especially when I think of the cats we had on the farm in my Depression-era youth when incurring a vet bill for a cat was unthinkable. He tells a lot about what is good and bad for cats. I was surprised that he did not think cats should have too much milk. Hey, that was one thing we did show more feed our cats back on the farm. I recall with fondness squirting a spray of milk to a smart cat who sat up to take it into her mouth. The cats he treats were much less healthy than the cats we had, seemingly. Some of his stories are quite interesting at least for anyone such as myself who has always had a partiality for cats. show less

Not a laugh out loud funny, but touching and amusing. Dr Camuti loved his job, loved his patients, tolerated his clients. Wish I had known him.