The other family doctor ~ Karen Fine ☆ Review
Good morning,
Non-fictions really has been my thing this year; however, one style that I had been yet to read has been the medical stories.. Trying to find what to read next, I found this one in my libby, so I decided to try it out!
Storygraph
5 ⭐️ / 5 stars
Veterinary has been a career path that I would’ve loved to go into- so I quite appreciated to read her background, and her quite difficult path into the career she wanted. It was even more saddening to see how hard it was for a woman to pierce into careers back then, although she was one of the many to have it more accessible than ever before.
I teared up alot within the stories she told from her practice, especially the euthanasias & the story with her grandfather. We all know our animals unfortunately can’t stay forever with us, however it completely destroy us.. Iknow I think daily about how I don’t know how I could manage with myself when my dachshunds wouldn’t be there anymore- they’ll be that special animal that started everything and will be talked about until my own passing.
It also gave me new insights- Iknow i’ve been going to the same vet ever since I got my eldest, almost 10yrs ago now (and more, as we went with my family’s animals too) so we really trust her. Karen has been explaining how seeing the house where the animal live and their normal behavior helps alot when trying to find what’s wrong with them, and also how she got to see some of her regular patients & their humans as part of her family; and that really warmed my heart 🥰
It also made sense that because the animals can’t speak, they learn to read between the lines of what’s being said to them, and the owner’s body language helps in her analysis too! I recognized myself in her early days, where she’d always doubt her diagnosis and thought of an animal passing like a failure.. when sadly just like human medicine, you can’t save them all.
At some point, she expressed how veterinarians might need to come with a plan B & C, because of how expensive care can get- while still giving the very best she can to her patients.. without their human going bankrupt. Karen also gave us insight on the early days of pet insurance, how scared they were for it to become a real struggle like human’s insurance are.
This book felt exactly like she was talking to me personally, which is something I really love with non-fiction books! I find really crazy how some people claim they’re only animals, when clearly they’re so much more.. One of my favorite story was the older lady & her pitbull, how that really showed the strong bond we can have cross-species! 🥰