Mader D. Apollo Publishers. New York, New York. 2022. 392 pp. ISBN: 978-1-954641-044.
Dr. Doug Mader has penned an engaging, practice-based memoir of his time serving as a small-animal and exotics veterinarian in the inner city of Los Angeles. The colourful cast of characters is as diverse as his patient profile — from the retired footballer with no fewer than seven Pomeranians to the feisty reptile clientele and the underground ferret world. Memoirs such as this reveal the incredible professional diversity within the veterinary profession.
Dr. Mader is an engaging storyteller and achieves that tricky balance between explaining sufficiently to keep the nonexpert engaged and keeping it interesting for those with knowledge of the veterinary profession. His stories offer a perspective far different from the classic rural, mixed-animal style of James Harriot and the like. For instance, there is the frequent, casual mention of heading to the beach, in the same way a Canadian veterinarian might describe picking up something from Tim Hortons on the way to the clinic. The inner-city neighborhood and contemporary events that occurred there (gang violence, riots, poverty) make the location almost a character on its own. And in an interesting choice for a memoir, Dr. Mader starts not at the beginning, but somewhere soundly in the middle of his life’s journey. Jumping right into a specific time in his practice, he offers surprisingly little about his background and vet school experiences, leaving me with the impression (and hope!) that further volumes are in the works.