Vet Among the Pigeons

by Gillian Hick, Martyn Turner (Illustrator)

This title continues the story of veterinary surgeon Gillian Hick's escapades among the animal population. Although by now, not such a green graduate, the animals and their owners keep her challenged in a way never described in the text books.

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Memoir

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2010

About the author

Gillian Hick was born in Dublin and has practised as a vet both in Dublin and in Wicklow for the past seven years. She also works for the Irish Blue Cross. She lives in Co. Wicklow, where she has her own practice, with her husband, three children, and a large assortment of four-legged companions.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quick read with a great balance of humor and facts. Vets and vet nurses will enjoy reading the sunny side of what they go through everyday and animal lovers will love the stories from the Blue Cross clinic.

Everyone who has ever taken their pet to the vet should read this as people dont realise how hard vets and their nurses work!

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the follow-up to Hick's Vet on the Loose, which I read last week and enjoyed - luckily for me the library had both of them and so, looking for something light and entertaining, I picked up the second volume as well. In this book, Hick is well-established as a vet, and while a lot of the stories here are set at her normal practice, there are a few that come from her regular shifts as a volunteer vet for an animal charity, doing low-cost consultations for people who might otherwise struggle to get care for their beloved pets. As in the first volume, there's a lot of humour - I think the best example of this, and the chapter that I found most entertaining, was on Sydney the sickly boa constrictor, who was surrendered by an owner who couldn't look after him. Hick had to keep him at her own house for a week to nurse him back to health. The only problem was she loathed snakes, and with Sydney it seems the feeling was mutual. Her determination to treat him - a treatment which required daily warm baths and forced feeding - combined with her absolute repulsion at even having to touch the thing, was really very funny... and I sympathised enormously. Coming from a country with no snakes myself, I couldn't bear to have one in the house either. I know it's not their fault for being snakes, but ugh.

[Meagan Houle · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the first book in this series well enough, this one let me get to know (and love) Gillian Hick far better. The stories felt tighter and more memorable, with a wider variety of experiences and hilariously challenging situations to explore. No matter how dark the subject matter, warmth and humour remain faithful companions to the dry wit and humanity that make Gillian such an approachable writer. Even as she writes about vile sexism in the equine world, or the unspeakable cruelty and negligence of those who come through her surgery door, "Vet Among the Pigeons" never loses heart.
Best of all, there is no gloss, and no more scripting than you'd expect of any well-written piece of nonfiction. There are only humans, in their infinite folly, the precious animals who tolerate them, and the poor 'lady vet' doing her best to save the day.

[Barrie N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed "Vet among the pigeons" stories but they were spoiled, just a little, by the errors could have been avoided if the book had been corrected more attentively before going to and after printing . The reason, I began to look for errors! I sincerely hope this comment does not put anyone "off" reading Gillian Hicks' books.

[Wendy Troch · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I love all animals, I adored this third book by GIllian Hick. She tells her life as a vet while all along the story staying close to her emotions too. I hope she will write another one.

[Charlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read!

Another good read about veterinary practice in the U.K. Love the anecdotes, and the personal touches regarding life as a veterinarian.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequel to memoir Vet on the Loose.
I liked the contrast between the country practice in Wicklow and inner-city Blue Cross evening service. Gillian helps out the charity after having her first baby, as people queue outside the mobile clinic with all manner of pets.

Quite a lot of the stories end with the death of a cow or dog, so I can't recommend it to the tender, but there is a very nice episode with a young lad in a halting site determinedly caring for his piebald filly foal. We are also shown a view of equine vets as very snobbish and dismissive of women, and keen to spend an afternoon watching slides of endoscopy although there was no such equipment in Ireland at the time. There's a very funny piece where Gillian takes on a snake for a week although she has a strong dislike of them, and she has to care for birds ranging from a turkey to a buzzard.

The writing is accessible if not literary and it is good for people to be reminded of how tiring and stressful the work can be for the vet, who is at the constant beck and call of the mobile phone.

[elizabeth bredin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love animals, this is the one for you

An interesting story about an Irish female vet & her efforts to be seen as a vet, not a woman playing with animals. ( Not just pigeons )!

[Kirstie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the style of James Herriot but not quite as funny

[Jay Wil · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the very first hilarious page, I read it like an out of control train. In other words I couldn't put it down. Brilliant & funny.