How Animals Saved My Life: Being the Supervet

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This one is slightly different to his others, in that he has outlined 13 sections for his reasons as to what he thinks we all need to have about us to be a good person. And obviously what we gain from having animals in our lives and what they give to us and help us to do. I knew I was writing from a place of trauma,” he says. “But what choice did I have? Those were the cards that fate had dealt.” I listened to Noel's book now three times. Finally I took up medication myself. As a freelance writer of several books and carer of 6 cats, 1 turtle, 1 rabbit and two dogs, who a the light of my life, I have built up so much stress, I finally realised, if I don't do anything about it, stress will kill me. Once again in my life I took up meditation. I realised that I hardly breathe, not into my belly. As if nothing existed below my head ...

I loved reading about Noel's surgeries and how he has overcome issues and come up with new tools to help our beloved animals. As someone with a cat, who loves that cat more than most people, reading about the ethical struggles that others have had was very hard. I found myself imagining being in their positions and honestly, I would do anything to make sure that my companion survived.

Summary

In between I learned a lot about running a successful veterinary surgery and how Noel develops his techniques. I really sensed his love and compassion, not only for the animals but also their owners.

You’re the first person who’s read that,” he says. I tell him I thought it was a very powerful ending. I can’t think of anything else to say. But the book begins with a letter from the RCVS or the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons informing him that a complaint has been made about him by 4 other vets about his treatment of a tortoise called Hermes. They had deemed it an experiment, unprofessional cruel, unethical and unjustified. Noel had fitted prosthetic limbs to Hermes who subsequently died. This casts a shadow over the book as does the perfect storm of coronavirus. In 2014, he founded the Humanimal Trust to champion the concept of One Medicine, a convergence of human and animal healthcare that encourages cross-pollination of medical research, and aims to reduce animal experimentation in favour of clinical trials using companion animals (pets) who actually need treatment. The trust only funds projects that don’t take animal life. This is a lively book with moments of joy as an animal recovers or a new technique is a success but also of sorrow when a pet cannot be saved or succumbs to old age. The book features several cases of previous patients of the four legged kind - some survive, some don’t – and that must be very hard.I love the programme The Supervet and I haven't read his other book. I didn't actually know there was another book until I read this. I came at this book with an open mind because I had no clue what it was about but I sort of expected something of a vaguely autobiographical nature. What I got was a book verging on despair; full of one part arrogance, five parts low self esteem and damage from bullying as a child. I got a self help book and a philosophy book as well as a book on transcendental meditation and buddhism. I got a lecture about the danger of 'over treatment' and how hurt he was that he had been accused of it. (Incidentally as a watcher of Supervet I've quite often thought there was over treatment but then as he points out, it's not quantifiably defined so who knows). I believe that if I didn’t share what had happened, then veterinary medicine and human medicine carry on as we are,” he says. “And then what’s the point in me making Supervet?” In the end it wasn’t – and could never be – the book he set out to write at the start of 2020. Life saw to that.

This one had chapters based on qualities (Internalisation, Nowness, Truth and Trust, Empathy, Genuineness, Rightness, Innovation, Tenacity, Youness, Compassion, Appreciation, Respect, Eternalisation) that read like they are from a self-help genre book, and to be honest some of the content matches. Secondly, how the author draws on the qualities he sees in animals – particularly pet cats and dogs, including his own. The book made me pretty anxious which is kind of how I feel when I watch Noel. I have said he would be difficult to work for and that hypothesis was confirmed somewhat. I just found myself not knowing what the purpose of the book was other than to make money and as someone who has seen most of the animal cases he talked about on the programme not even that was new. I wasn't aware he knew so many celebrities but I guess that makes sense when you're the best at something and the majority of people would struggle to afford your services. Everybody agrees that it would be a good idea to reduce, refine and replace the role of experimental animals in the development of drugs and implants,” he says. “That isn’t my idea. That’s a globally accepted idea. My central life purpose is to make us realise that it’s foolish to ignore the lessons of nature, while we induce disease in otherwise normal animals that we could get answers for if we had a more joined-up approach.”

This is at times a rambling, in the best possible way, account of his childhood on a farm in Ireland and his burning desire to become a vet, the long years of study and then his passion and vision to help animals with innovative techniques. Read with my daughter who is a fan of Supervet and very much enjoyed the author’s previous book which I think was more conventionally biographical. He also has plans for a new project, he says, which he hopes might lead to a reconvergence of his artistic and scientific selves. Noels’ two pets are on the cover ‘a Maine coon cat called RIcochet whose expression clearly says ‘I’m the star around here.’ and Keira the dog who looks excited and happy.