All My Patients Have Tales: Favorite Stories from a Vet's Practice

The title of this book is what first caught my attention; I loved the "play on words" with tales and the picture of those wagging tails on the cover!

Being an animal lover,(I worked at a Zoo!) I enjoy reading stories of people sharing their experiences with pets. My husband and I joke that our cat is cheap entertainment as we watch her slide across our floor to bat at a toy, chase her tails or chirp at the birds outside. When I began reading Jeff's stories about his experiences with animals and their owners, I found I could not put the book down until I reached the last tale. Jeff is a wonderful story-teller; one moment, you experience the emotional heartache of owners and Jeff as a vet tending to a sick or injured pet, and the next, you show more are roaring with laughter at the antics of the pets - and owners! show less

I absolutely fell in love with this book! It is a collection of essays following Jeff Well's career as a rural veterinarian. The book opens with his time in vet school and his first job in South Dakota. His very first day on the job sets the tone of the book. His earnest desire to prove his worth as a vet combined with the hilarious situations he finds himself in make for an irresistible combination.

Jeff Wells writes with a style very similar to James Herriot, simple, and down to earth, with lots of heart and a great sense of humor. His ability to laugh at himself just makes the reader like him even more! As you might expect being a vet in rural communities in South Dakota and Colorado has provided him with many great stories that need show more no embellishment. From taking blood samples for a circus to catching loose buffalo, removing porcupine quills, staying out of the way of pet lions, and treating miniature pigs Jeff Wells never knows what he will find he he goes out on a call!

If you like James Herriot's stories you are sure to love Jeff Wells' wild west take on the warm-hearted, overworked, rural vet's life. I don't know how he finds the time to be a vet and write a book, but I sure hope he writes more! show less

All My Patients Have Tales by Jeff Wells, DVM, is a short memoir about the early years of Jeff's veterinary practice. Each chapter relates a different story, starting off with how Jeff made it through veterinary school and on through his first 2-3 years of practice dealing with both the animals and their owners. The stories are heart warming and funny. Jeff's love of animals shines through. It was a nice, short read.

A nice read from a veterinarian who worked in mixed animal practice, first in South Dakota, then in Colorado. Part memoir, mostly stories about the animals he treated, with a broad dash of humor. He tells about going through vet school, first days on the job, attempts to prove his knowledge and skills to the clients, and most of all about the animals in need. Funny or interesting case studies and the outcomes. Similar to James Herriot, if not quite the same quality (sometimes the humor got a tad tedious in my opinion). Most of the stories are about pet dogs and cats, though there are also cattle, potbellied pigs, and even a yak. Note: he doesn't shy away from telling how unpleasant some aspects of the job can be- in particular how much show more feces and other bodily fluids can get all over the place (quite literally). And while most of the stories have positive outcomes, not all the animals make it. Just a sampling of the stories: a supposed tomcat that surprised its family by having kittens, a puppy that ate too many grasshoppers, horses with injuries on their legs or faces, cows that need help birthing, dogs that repeatedly tackled porcupines, a cat that swallowed a fishhook, a hound that ate rat poison, an elderly cat that became diabetic. There's also an errant bison that escaped its field and needed to be sedated for re-capture before it bred all the neighbor's prized cows.

from the Dogear Diary show less

This is a collection of stories told by a veterinarian. Jeff Wells also includes chapters on how he became a vet and when he started out as a brand new vet at his first job.

I really enjoyed this. Living in a city with only cats, I often don't think about all the other types of animals that vets care for, including horses, cows, pigs and there is even one story of a yak! The book had a few cute illustrations, and I liked that each chapter had a very small illustration of whichever type of critter would be focused on in that chapter. Definitely an enjoyable book.

This book about a mixed practice veterinarian was enjoyable, but not for the weak-stomached, as there's no shortage of blood, feces, and other animal excretions. It's composed of a series of essays relating some memorable moments in the author's first years of practice. A few of the stories are laugh-out-loud and many are filled with in-depth detail of medical procedures. The stories are ok, but they often seem to lack the human (or animal) element that is so necessary in books of this nature. I read this book because the blurb's on the back compared it to James Herriot's classics, but Wells lacks Herriot's warmth and style. I'd recommend this is if you're really interested in veterinary medicine or want to read anything about animals show more you can get your hands on, but for the average reader, I'd say go read (or re-read) Herriot instead. Three stars. show less

At first I didn't think this could compare to the beloved James Herriot books but Jeff Wells comes close. I loved the story about Bacon and Pork Chop the pot belly pigs. I loved it so much I shared it with my husband and son. Jeff Wells does have some great stories and I hope he'll write another book.