This book was a huge disappointment. It covers a full year at an inner city vet clinic and is full of interesting stories, animals and people. But the book only covers each so superficially that it is jarring going from story to story. As each vignette is told, I am expecting it to continue with more indept details, but that rarely happens. I love animal stories and this one had so much potential, but there is too much packed in. It feels like the author took his daily journal and just reprinted it as is. It would have benefitted from better editing.

Dispatches from the front line of a inner city vet over the course of a very important year for Los Angeles with the Rodney King riots. Dr. Mader relates stories of staff, pets and their owners anchored with thoughts about the practice itself. Stabbings, rioting and hookers add an extra depth to what could have been the typical heartwarming vet tale. I tore tjrough the book in less than 24 hours.

These are harsher stories of veterinary life, including disease and death, but ultimately it's a fascinating look at the life of a modern-day vet. Heartwarming story of a trucker and his beloved dog!

I love vet's stories and this one was excellent as it talks about an inner city vet and there's plenty of interesting story.
A must read if you love the genre.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Loved this book. As one who loves all animals(maybe not snakes) I enjoyed reading about a vet who takes care of more than just cats and dogs. Highly recommend this book for all animal lovers.

Lovely about an inner city vet. Loved it from start to finish. Great read.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

This was interesting and informative. Really enjoyed the stories. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

A well written book about Dr. Mader and his animal practice in Los Angeles. Much more than cats and dogs, he and his staff take care of lizards, skunks, snakes and more exotic pets. Taking care of both the animals and their owners is a full time job, and one that the author seems to love. Worth the read.

Dr Doug Mader is a vet who specialises in small and exotic animals and he buys a practice in a rather unsafe area of Los Angeles. In this book we meet Dr Mader, his colleagues and his patients in short chapters which tell a series of stories and snapshots.

I really enjoyed this book as I loved the quirky people and animals that we got to meet . Some of the stories are very funny, others are absolutely heart breaking but Dr Mader’s love for all these animals really shine through. If you loved James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small, then this is definitely a book for you. The setting is completely different, we are not in the Yorkshire rolling hills but in an inner city context but the feel is very similar.

I would not binge read this book in one sitting but dip in for a couple of chapters at a time. It’s a sweet read that you won’t regret picking up if you love animals and snapshots of a day in the life of a vet.

The Vet at Noah’s Ark is an interesting read. I mean, who would ever think that, in a book about a veterinarian, one would find murder, hookers, stabbings, riots, drugs and cute little animals in horrific medical emergencies. Well, the last one is probably pretty standard but the rest was surprising. But, lo and behold, all of these things appear within these pages. Dr. Doug Mader is a vet who, along with a partner, opened an office in inner-city L.A. in the early 90’s that caters to snakes, alligators, ferrets and other exotic fauna in addition to the regular parade of dogs and cats. The Vet at Noah’s Ark covers one year in the life of Dr. Mader and his staff, who navigate their way through pet emergencies and all of the aforementioned action that one finds in a city like Los Angeles.

I have to say that the book surprised me with how engaging it is. I found myself really liking a lot of the characters (who’s names have all been changed to protect the author from lawsuits, I’m sure) and wanting to know more about them. Dr. Mader’s work family is actually a fairly amusing and likeable cast of characters. Of course, when you start caring about people, the inevitable negative turns in their lives will hit you and get you down. Fortunately, the book, despite having some gut-wrenching moments, is overall an uplifting and positive experience. Also, as is the case with anything involving animals (or people) in a medical setting, some of them aren’t going to make it. This is tough when you like animals far more than people as I do.

If there is one complaint I have about The Vet at Noah’s Ark, it’s the disjointed way Dr. Mader tells his tale. Chapters are very long and often jump around from topic to topic without any kind of division. So, you will be reading about a crazy lady and her pet lizard and then, without warning, you’re in a deli getting a sandwich with Dr. Mader and his extern for a few paragraphs and you’re reading about taking care of a monkey. This doesn’t ruin the book by any means, but Dr. Mader probably could have benefited from a good editor to clean things up and tell the tale more smoothly. Of course, I’m reading an advance copy, so maybe that will happen, but I’m thinking it’s probably going to be close to the finished product. Either way, I’d still recommend giving it a read. It’s an interesting book that’s quite funny in places and endearing in other. I’ll say it’s a solid 3.5, but since that isn’t an option, I’ll round up to 4 because I did enjoy it. Thanks very much to Apollo Publishers and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

2 stars
This is an incredibly long winded book. The chapters are far too long and it makes the book incredibly difficult to read. It tells a decent enough story but I do not recommend.