A truly wonderful, inspiring and heartwarming memoir with animals and their welfare at its centre, Call the Vet details Fogle's trials and tribulations in becoming a veterinarian as well being absolutely replete with fascinating anecdotes about a range of different species and their owners whom he came into contact with in order to care for their pets. A must read for any animal lover or those who may be considering this line of work in the future as it gives a lot of valuable insight into the profession from a true veteran..

A bit of a dry read to be honest but I persevered until the end. This was more of an autobiography, told from life as a vet in the 1970's. An interesting insight into different times from a vet's point of view. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

A charming read from a vet who has led a very interesting life.. I remember Bruce being on the television when I was a child and he always seemed charming. Highly recommended.

I love reading books like this that are all about animals. Bruce Fogle is a vet in the 1970's and this book is stories that he has shared with his readers as his time as a vet back then. I found it really interesting reading about Harrods department store and all the exotic animals they used to sell. I love the way the stories are all written, and there are some sad stories but also funny ones too. Bruce is actually Ben Fogle's dad who I have followed for a long time and love watching him on Longleat, so I was excited to read about his dad's life. I felt with this book that I got swept along with the stories and didn't want to leave, I loved seeing the bond some pets have with their owners as a pet owner myself I can fully understand where some of Bruce's clients were coming from. It was just a wholesome read.

I loved this book. An interesting insight into being a vet. My husband read it too and loved it. Thank you so much for the advanced copy. I will read again one day too. My mum has also nicked my kindle and is now reading this.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for a copy of “ Call The Vet “ for an honest review.

This was an interesting insight into the life and experiences of a vet during the 70s.
I was particularly drawn to reading it as I he was someone I was aware of , more as the father of Ben , and husband of Julia Foster.
I quite enjoyed it , but I must be honest some of the passages describing surgeries I skimmed through.
I am so relieved that practices in the veterinary world seem to have improved vastly..
I was expecting this to be a more light hearted book but at times I found the descriptions quite upsetting.
I’m sure it’s a book that will suit many but just not as enjoyable as I had hoped.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and learning all about life as a vet in previous years. I felt the book had just enough background information about everyday life as well as plenty of information about being a vet in those times. It was very informative but also touched on multiple emotions that pet owners and vets go through with different scenarios. For this I give it 4 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I thank the author, the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this for my honest review.

Bruce Fogle came to London in the early 1970's. He discovered that the English were very different from his native Canada. He had come over to work in the London Zoo & also in a very up-market vet's practise in Knightsbridge. This was an exciting time to be in London & Bruce met some fascinating people & their pets. I found it quite fascinating to read of the views that most of the vets of this time. The idea animals don't need pain relief horrified me! Bruce had a much kinder view towards his patients! This time is a time of discovery as far as veterinary medicine is concerned & so far from Noel Fitzpatrick's almost miraculous surgeries! However both share a love of the animals they treat & the desire to make their lives better. All in all it was a very good slice of history, humour & humanity. Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read & review this book.

I received a free copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers, in return for an unbiased review. As a few others have said, the tense hopping did make it a little jarring - sometimes past, past progressive, hard to follow in places. I understand you can’t just ignore mistakes in history - Harrods not only sold pets until 2014, they sold wild animals during the 70s when this book is set. Fogle explains how he didn’t think to question when in his training, students were operating on animals, letting them heal and operating again to learn - and if they died, you got others in. Horrible, but group think meant they never questioned it. There were other similar instances in the book where I admit I didn’t have the most favourable view of the author, though I did respect him now acknowledging that his thinking had been wrong. Overall a nice light book to read, but much like the author seems to have done, one you Coast through without needing much investment. (And if we all had a charmed life where when something goes wrong you can call up well connected friends to fix, that would be nice, eh?).

I really enjoyed this book and I loved its stories.
Being a massive fan of James Herriott I was fascinated by how different the vet work was in the 70s
It's well written and compelling.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Canadian vet, Bruce Fogle, was fresh out of Ontario Veterinary College and on a fellowship at Regent’s Park Zoo when he agreed to join prestigious Knightsbridge surgery, Woodrow Singleton, as an assistant vet working for well-respected Brian Singleton. Despite the absence of a language barrier Fogle found it took a lot longer to understand the English culture with the stiff upper lip, fluency of swearing in general conversation and the love of understatement and irony. Call the Vet is a mix of Fogle’s early experiences with patients, owners and those he worked alongside through to varied observations on London and everything from the political climate, the class structure to some very famous pet owners. Whilst Bruce went native over the course of the next decade his first two years working for Brian were a baptism of fire in many respects. With the surgery just five minutes walk from Harrods and the lab coats and scrubs that he was used to in Canada replaced with Savile Row suits, Fogle met everyone from dog breeders to the wealthy right through to those owners who simply let their dogs out in the morning for an entire day!

Fogle makes clear how far the world of veterinary medicine has come and freely admits how primitive some of the treatment methods of the 1970s were and the complete absence of concern for the pain management of the animals. I admired his honesty in admitting that many of these issues he has simply never thought of until either nurses suggested and his recognition of the value of the veterinary nurses who encouraged him to consider the animals welfare is commendable. Whilst Fogle acknowledges that his recommendations for transporting animals bound for the now defunct pet department at Harrods to the ethical treatment of the wildlife animals they sold were long overdue I found it more shocking that he was the first qualified animal practitioner to raise these concerns. There are a few rather graphic descriptions of procedures (that I found too technical to comprehend) but in the main I found the book an informative read and would recommend for anyone interested in advancements in the field of veterinary medicine. Given many of the treatments sound cruel by today’s standards the book was rather more serious than the premise had led me to expect with far fewer animal and owner anecdotes than I had hoped for.

As well as rapidly bringing the reader up to speed with Fogle leaving Brian Singleton’s employment and becoming his own boss in 1973, the later part of the book covers his relationship and marriage to actress, Julia Foster, and hobnobbing with the stars of stage and screen and it was here that my interest waned significantly. I did feel that the book would have benefited from a more coherent structure and on several occasions a topic which had previously been covered was referred to again and this lack of logical progression made for a bitty read. The book also seemed to use a confusing mix of present and past tense and the hindsight commentary on the 1970s treatment of animals and their welfare might have been more suited to a complete chapter of its own as opposed to interspersed throughout.

I really enjoyed this book, having worked in a vets practice myself it was nice to hear other stories.
What I found most interesting about it was when he visited Harrod’s and the animals they used to sell and how they transported puppies for selling.
I would have liked more practice/surgery stories than the life story but overall I really enjoyed this and found it informative.
Thanks Netgalley for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I have very mixed feelings about this one... My worst issue is that is was listed as a humorous book. I don't think that's the correct category for it. It was informative, interesting and an easy read, but it wasn't funny. Or maybe not funny enough for me.
It was still a good book, but when I read a book that's categorised as "Humor", I need to laugh. This book simply didn't make me laugh. It did, however, provide me with a lot of medical information about the 1970s and some cultural insight into Britain (which might be useful for my studies).
I am recommending it nontheless to people who are interested in British Literature, people who like animals and people who just need a book to distract them from world's troubles and don't want to think about anything for a while.

I received a free copy by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Canadian Bruce Fogle arrived in London in the 1970’s as a graduate of the world’s best veterinary school. He began his career in Knightsbridge and his clients included the likes of Paul McCartney, Elizabeth Taylor to name a few and even including Duchesses and Sultans. He also cared for the exotic inhabitants of Harrod’s ‘Zoo dept’.
As his clients varied over the years from dogs to alligators, Bruce learnt far more than he could from any pet manual.
A highly entertaining and interesting read that really captured my attention from the first page. Bruce has so many tales to tell of the pets and their clients, it’s impossible to put the book down and whether you’re an animal lover or not you’ll enjoy the many stories that he relates. I’d happily recommend this book to readers of all ages!

Very good vet memoir.

This is a memoir of the author's first years as a vet, in London, in the 70s. He's originally from Canada, and working as an assistant in a veterinary practice in Knightsbridge, London, after leaving veterinary college in Ontario.

I love this type of memoir: Anything medical-vet/nurse/doctor/midwife-so when I saw this one I quickly snapped it up. Unusually for me, I didn't really read the blurb-I chose it simply because I saw vet; memoir etc. So it was a pleasant surprise, and added another dimension to it when I was 40% of the way through it and discovered I was actually reading about Ben Fogle's dad! (I'm not telling you any spoilers there-it is all in the book description-what a dummy for missing this!). I think, in my case, it was better this way, because, despite the same surname, I wasn't expecting it, I didn't see it coming. And there was more: :His wife, and Ben Fogle's mum is a well-known actress.

Despite reading a few vet memoirs before, there was still quite a bit of different material in this; cases and conditions I hadn't met before, as well as routine things, and unexpected dramas. As it is London-there are a few celeb clients. He treats circus and zoo animals as well as smaller animals.

This was a very good book. I really enjoyed it, it was quick, easy reading. I finished it in just a couple of days. The book is complete-but if he decides to write a further volume sometime, I'd be very happy to read it.

I have mixed feelings about this book, I found it interesting reading some of the stories, and learning about how different Veterinary practices were in the 1970s.
I found the style of writing difficult to read. It didn't flow well.
This book contains stories of animal treatments, some of which are upsetting. It highlights how much Veterinary care has changed over the years. At times it is uncomfortable reading.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

Oh my goodness, this book is a winner! A nonfiction title that is much more entertaining and emotional than some of the better stories I've read lately. I've been in love with vet stories since James Herriot but Bruce Fogle's experiences are set in recent history so we can sympathize a little better with his mishaps and his successes. I'm not sure why I haven't seen more advertising about this book, it will definitely appeal to most any reader and is an excellent read for those long days stuck inside. An absolute gem that well deserves 5 stars

I really enjoyed Bruce Fogle and call the vet very intresting read about the way vets viewed animals in the early years and .as time progressed how differently they were treated ..

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book.

Call the Vet is an enjoyable and interesting book about the life of Bruce Fogle in 1970s London. It charts the experiences of Bruce working as a vet, at a time where people rarely even thought animals were capable of feeling pain.

I enjoyed the stories Bruce told and it is clear that he cares for animals. However, as this is the 1970s, unfortunately not even Bruce is immune from incredibly disturbing attitudes towards animals.

He mentions quite honestly, a number of times in the book, where he lacked awareness and thought his behaviour was unacceptable. I was happy to see this self reflection but felt let down that this is hardly explored at all in the book.

When I was nearing the end, I honestly couldn't believe there wasn't more material that would describe how he has changed. It meant that I was left with a rather poor view of Bruce and his attitudes towards animals.

I also felt at times that the book is rather sexist and a number of times described women were described as "girls". This left a bad taste in my mouth and while I understand that views were very different then, I didn't understand the purpose of using this language. This is after all a story about animals and Bruces' experiences as a vet.

Overall, I enjoyed the stories, and the book certainly was a nice escape from the non-fiction I usually read. However, given the lack of self reflection, by the end of the book I very much felt a sense of 'where's the rest?'

I enjoyed this book but also found some of it quite heartbreaking. Bruce Fogle is very self deprecating and as a young vet was open to learning from everyone in his work sphere which is refreshing. I found the use of the present tense a bit confusing at first. Veterinary life has changed enormously in the last 50 years mainly for the better. It was upsetting to read how animals were treated then , especially the belief that they could feel no pain which was quite barbaric.