Having read and enjoyed Philipp Schott's mystery series, it was a given that I'd read his recounting of the history of veterinary medicine, and how it advanced as humans themselves began empathizing with other animals.

Schott uses humour, short stories and conversational English making this an easy to digest work. He opens each of his chapters in a different time period, giving us a hypothetical tale of a healer caring for a type of animal(s). He then follows this by showing us the rudimentary medical knowledge of the time and how it was applied in the care of these animals. There are numerous treatments that are shocking, cruel by our standards, and sometimes just plainly weird and wrong. Thankfully, Schott uses sensitivity and care when describing these, which is critical in making this an accessible and readable history.

Once humans began domesticating various animals, keeping them healthy was critical to ensure food and money for their owners, even though animals were treated very much as tools. Of course, cultures never stand still, and neither does the human need to learn and understand, and with this evolution came a better understanding of the creatures we share the planet with, and their needs. Schott describes how for centuries people felt animals felt no pain, which is frankly absurd, and how this attitude has changed, though it has taken millennia for it to take root. Schott reminds us of this, citing the staggering numbers of animals who have died in the service of humans, including during wars, and also compares and contrasts attitudes about animals in different cultures, based on their usefulness to humans.

Schott does mention Alf Wight, a.k.a.James Herriot, because no mention of veterinary care in the West can fail to mention the delightful stories of that man's experiences treating the farm animals, and the occasional small animals, in the English countryside. There were other small animal veterinarians elsewhere, and Schott mentions one, Dr. Louis Camuti, whose practice in New York City, starting in 1933 and lasting for many years, specialized in treating cats, and his gentle approach to some of his skittish patients.

This was a captivating and informative book, and if you are at all interested in veterinary science and its evolution, this is a good place to start with dipping your toe into its history.

Thank you to Netgalley and to ECW Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

If you can write a history or biography of salt, screws or the colour indigo, then why not Veterinary Science? So wonders veterinarian, writer and avowedly non-professional historian Phillip Scott. And his method for telling this history is through 40 potted biographies and snapshot stories of animal doctors throughout the ages. Schott fancies himself as a storyteller, which is the book's selling point and its weakness.

Most of the chapters here start with an animal problem to be solved by the nascent vet (the term veterinarian doesn't really come into use until the 19th century). How can we solve the excess horse deaths in battle, how do we make lambing safer, my dog has no nose.... But also, for colour, Schott delves deeply into the imagined day-to-day life of his subjects. This gives the book colour, but considering half of his subjects are known merely by name and what they wrote, and there is a solid number who are wholly made up to stand for a scientific leap, it sometimes gets a bit weird that they're worrying about what is for dinner. It is clearly the part Schott enjoys the most, and he never promises a rigorously dry history, but it still feels kind of odd.

Heal The Beasts is like that all over. It works pretty well as a history, but its adherence to its structure means that it often feels like organizational advances are missed. There is a good discussion on the changing nature of the profession, from basic wartime inventory care to modern animal cancer treatments. But its insistence on staying light and resembling a very samey short story compilation does eventually feel like a weakness.

Author Philipp Schott is a semi-retired veterinarian who has operated a small animal practice in Winnipeg, Canada since 1990. Schott is also the author of several non-fiction books, 'The Willow Wren', and the 'Dr. Bannerman vet' mystery series.

'Heal the Beasts' is a non-fiction book about the history of veterinary medicine, and though Schott is not a professional historian, he writes, "I have a passion for history, a passion for veterinary medicine, and a passion for storytelling." Schott notes this is not a textbook, but rather an idiosyncratic telling of veterinary medicine's stories across history.

At 232 pages, the book provides a brief glimpse of the slow advancement of veterinary practices over the millennia. Schott begins many chapters with a fictional veterinary anecdote related to the era, which adds a nice fanciful touch.

*****

Historically, animals were mostly valued for their usefulness to people - as beasts of burden; for protection; for hunting; to ride to battle; for meat, etc. As an example, when 12,000 horses died in one day at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the concern was more about the expense of losing so many equines - and the difficulty of replacing them - than about the suffering of the unfortunate creatures. Another example is the rinderpest disease that devastates cattle, which was known as far back as ancient Egypt. When rinderpest wiped out herds of cattle in medieval Europe, people starved.

Financial losses related to sick and dying beasts resulted in the emergence of 'animal practitioners' of every stripe, many of whom were not helpful. For instance, Anthony FitzHerbert's 'Boke of Husbandry', written in the 1500s, recommends a poultice of 'feitergrasse' for chronic respiratory disease in cows.

The nascent veterinary profession wasn't born in the middle ages however. Healers have been around since ancient times, when 'shamans' used plants and other natural substances to make potions and pastes for ailing people. Schott cites an instance of yarrow and chamomile being found on the tooth of a Neanderthal woman with a dental abscess. Such medicines were used for animals as well, especially creatures important to the group.

In ancient China, both acupuncture and herbal remedies were being used for animals by 2000 BCE; in ancient Egypt, texts called the Kahum Papyri, written around 1900 BCE, listed treatments for cattle, dogs, cats, birds, and fish; in ancient India, a text called the Hastyayurveda, written around 1800 BCE, described elephant diseases and their treatment; and Vegetius of the Roman Empire fashioned remedies for lame horses in the late 300s CE.

Schott cites a long string of early veterinary practitioners from around the world, most of whose treatments and surgeries were ineffective. In large part, this stemmed from lack of knowledge of animal anatomy and physiology. As an example, Aristotle (284-322 BCE) was an assiduous dissector, and when he couldn't find gonads in eels, the sage declared eels couldn't reproduce, and arose spontaneously out of mud.

Moving on to medieval Europe, animal practitioners used an array of often futile treatments, such as herbs, holy water, blood-sucking leeches, talismans, amulets, magical coins, charmed stones, incantations, live frogs pushed down the throat, live cats rubbed across the back, and more. A tome called the Leechbook (leech means doctor) even laid out a treatment for livestock bloat caused by elves. Schott notes, "I could fill this entire book with the weird and wondrous ways of the medieval cow-leech, horse-leech, and dog-leech."

Old-time animal doctors didn't limit themselves to providing external treatments and pouring potions down animals' throats. Some early veterinarians performed surgeries - without anesthetics - and Schott describes several operations in detail, advising, "Don't try this at home."

Schott notes, "The bottom line in all the foregoing was that the European Middle Ages, as in the ancient world that preceded it, saw very progress in medicine, whether human or veterinary, though not for lack of trying...Animals were extremely valuable...A single cow could represent most of a peasant's wealth...Every effort would have been made to keep these animals in good health and treat their afflictions, but the knowledge was simply lacking." Until the 18th century, veterinary medicine was a "potpourri of theories and remedies largely based on superstition, tradition, and anecdotal observation...which did more harm than good."

However, in the 1700s, objective science was starting to emerge, and Claude Bourgelet (1712 - 1779) is often cited as the 'Father of Veterinary Medicine.' Bourgelet created the world's first two veterinary schools in France, and there were soon veterinary schools all over Europe. These institutions taught things like anatomy, physiology, general medicine, medicinal plants, splinting, and bandaging.

Schott proceeds to discuss 'heroes' who helped advance veterinary medicine, citing James Clark -a Scottish farrier who penned several treatises used as textbooks in the late 1700s; and Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben - who founded Germany's first veterinary college in 1770, and emphasized scientific principles and hands-on practice for students.

By the 19th century, veterinary medicine was advancing more rapidly, and starting to focus on 'pets' as well as economically important creatures like horses and cattle. This is evidenced by veterinarians like Delamere Blaine, who called himself 'the very father of canine medicine.' Delamere published several books about diseases and treatments for canines, and opened one of the first small animal clinics in the world.

Advancement in veterinary science includes things like: anesthetics (1847) - which makes surgery easier; rabies vaccine (1885) - which protects dogs from the deadly disease; antibiotics (1928) - used to treat infections; etc. As a generalization, Schott lauds the expansion of basic care for animals worldwide, with many more vaccines; many more simple, humane procedures; and many more effective and affordable medicines.

Schott observes that veterinary medicine underwent its greatest crisis in the 20th century. In 1911, veterinarian' was a fancy synonym for 'horse doctor.' Though veterinarians did treat other species, especially food animals (cows, pigs, lambs, sheep, chickens, etc.) - and to a lesser extent, dogs - most veterinarians dealt with equines. Then cars were invented, and veterinarians were flummoxed. Veterinary schools closed and doom was predicted! Of course this didn't happen because veterinarians largely morphed into pet doctors, treating dogs and cats with miscellaneous other species thrown in. (Note: I once took my parakeet to the emergency night clinic.)

Over the course of the narrative, Schott gives credit to many people who had an impact on the veterinary profession. He also singles out some 'special mentions', including:

Dr. Belle Bruce Reid (b. 1883) - an Australian who became the first woman in the world to officially register as a veterinarian; Dr. Luis Camuti (b. 1893) - the first veterinarian to specialize in cats; Countess Maria Helene von Maltzan (b. 1909) - a Polish veterinarian who helped smuggle Jews out of Germany during WWII; Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka (b. 1970) - an African wildlife veterinarian who treats gorillas; and Alf Wight (b. 1916), also known as James Herriot, who's famous for his All Creatures Great and Small books and the television series of the same name.

Though not all-encompassing, the book is a fascinating peek at the history of veterinary medicine, with great pictures to illustrate the narrative. My major quibble would be that some sections skip around in time, but Schott usually has a reason tor tackling subjects out of order. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley, Philipp Schott, and ECW Press for a copy of the book.

I am a Philipp Schott fan, plain and simple. At this point, I have read nearly all of his "memoirs" of stories from his practice as well as a couple of his novels. I find him to be an engaging writer, of both fiction and non-fiction, and has a dry humor that I appreciate. This book was no different. What could be considered dry subject matter was presented interestingly, with a short vignette opening up each chapter. I loved the organization of the book, and even the choice of the word "jaunt" as part of the title, as that is exactly what it felt like. Starting from ancient history and working his way through to the most recent century, Schott hit the highlights of how far veterinary medicine has come and, in some cases, how certain practices carried out today are just more refined versions of what has been done for hundreds of years. I always appreciate a well-researched collection of informational non-fiction, especially when it is presented in an interesting way, and this one is no exception.

What a lovely surprise this book is! I was expecting a dry text book about the development of animal medicine, but found instead a delightful 'jaunt' through animal and human history.

Each chapter starts with a little story based on historical evidence, about how humans treated animals. Starting from prehistory and using paintings, archaeological and written evidence, the history moves chronologically to the modern day veterinary surgeons. Referred to originally as an art, the examples move through scenarios including constipated elephants to gorilla specialists and tries to explain why women now outnumber men as vets.

The introductory stories are a joy to read and the early ones reminded me of fables. Full of information, anecdotes, beliefs as well as practicalities, the book doesn't rely on inaccessible science or medical terms, making it something anyone can easily read and indulge in. It is organised well, engaging with plenty of wit and insight to fascinating and bizarre ideas about medicine.

​Recommended to anyone who has the slightest interest in animals, history or quirky books. Will make a stunning gift. Love this.

A riveting listen!

Philipp Schott has not disappointed with this extraordinary well researched book, we travel with him as he discovers how animals came into humans lives thousands of years ago and also uncovers interesting facts about when veterinary science became a science.

Some of the facts had me gasping in shock - horses on the battlefields - killed in the millions.

I found this book very easy to read, thanks to Philipp Schott brilliant writing. Full of astonishing archeological findings linking animals to humans.

I also listened to the audible version and loved the narrator, who was precise and spoke beautifully.

What a delightful book, full of page-turning information that kept me enthralled to the very last page.

In some ways it was not too surprising to discover the attitude to working with animals was when it all started and until very recently very similar to that of working with humans. Women not welcome and a very different attitude to the animal if it involved "an operation". Think barbers and "doctors" in humans.

Even the URLs are interesting and who would have realised, without this book, the connection between a veterinarians' college and car tyres?? No clues just please read the book, I cannot imagine that you will regret it.

3.5 stars, rounded upwards.

Veterinarian Philipp Schott brings us another charming book, Heal the Beasts: A Jaunt Through the Curious History of Veterinary Arts. My thanks go to NetGalley and ECW Press for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now.

In his trademark style, Schott provides veterinary history through a series of brief vignettes. My favorite deals with Manvir, the constipated elephant. And with that, a word of caution: there’s plenty of gross material here, as one might expect; be advised in case, like me, you are fond of reading and eating simultaneously.

Among other things, we see a series of firsts—for example, Dr. Elinor McGrath was the first veterinarian in the world to perform tonsillectomies in dogs, in 1888. Chicagoans, be proud! The ancient Egyptians tended to spoil their pets every bit as much as many of us do today, and it was a crime to mistreat an animal.

There are also some fictional anecdotes and myths woven into the narrative, and I am not a fan of this, particularly since they are interspersed with factual material within the same chapter. My first preference would be to have everything here be nonfiction, but failing that, for goodness’ sake, separate out the fictional material. Put a little border around those anecdotes or something, don’t just drop them into the middle of true information!

That aside, I like this collection. Most animal lovers will enjoy it, but it would be especially nice to have in veterinary office or hospital waiting rooms. Recommended to those that love their pets—or other people’s.

In this book, Philipp Schott takes on a tour of veterinary practice through the ages. His writing style is informal and chatty as he describes the unusual, often bizarre practices of animal care in the middle-ages into the more scientific approach we have today. He has illustrated the information with short, entertaining fictional tales to demonstrate what might have happened in the time period. He also discusses the advent of veterinary training and how animal care has changed over time from that of individual farm animals to that of herds as well as the increase in the care of cats and dogs and other pets. It’s a short book that can be read in one or two sittings or dipped into over a few days for maximum enjoyment

Heal the Beasts is a well-written, well-researched, engaging history of veterinary medicine. Exploring humankind's connection to "beasts" and the desire to provide them care, first for practical reasons, then for more emotional ones, Dr. Schott tells the stories of 22 different animal healers and veterinarians spanning centuries and continents. Some of the early treatments are astonishing now that we know better! Dr. Schott draws parallels between the evolution of human and animal medicine and shows how, over time, veterinary medicine went from a field of mostly shysters to becoming a respected field based in science. Written in a conversational, storytelling tone, Dr. Schott makes the information interesting and easy to follow, and his sense of humor shines through. I highly recommend reading all the way to the end, including the Sources and Further Reading, which includes numerous images relevant to the stories told in the main text, annotated with Dr. Schott's droll comments and observations.

This is a trip through the history of veterinarians and how they evolved from treating just horses and cattle to ministering to all sorts of animals, small and large. It's really interesting and if you have read any of the books by this author, you'll know that the author doesn't take himself too seriously.
I now have at least three more books that I want to read on the back of this.
Enjoy, it's a really interesting read.

I enjoyed this book. It was much more involved than I had anticipated. I wasn't expecting the book I got, I learned a lot.

A delightful interesting look at veterinary medicine across time.Well written very entertaining a great read.#NetGalley #ecw

From ancient elephant healers to modern celebrity cat doctors, this book explores the fascinating history of animal healthcare, revealing the evolution of our bond with animals across cultures and centuries. A mix of history and storytelling, it will appeal to those interested in the evolution of veterinary science.

Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you ECW Press for this arc.

I have loved Dr. Schott's non-fiction books about his years in veterinary practice and jumped at the chance to read this book. Unfortunately, I find this is not for me. The opening section about horses in battle is difficult to read as is the (I will admit its historical truth) view of animals not suffering pain. For several chapters after this, Schott writes intro scenarios (and he is a very good writer) to illustrate various archeological finds and historical information we have about veterinary treatments for animals. It all seems a bit scattershot and I find my attention flagging. I enjoy his modern vet practice memoirs but this one isn't working for me. DNF

Hits with a few misses for this lay reader🤔

I am a big fan of author Philipp Schott's veterinarian sleuth series and that drew me to this book. I knew it would be a mix of fiction and nonfiction. In fact, most of the illustrative fictional stories that lead into the chapters integrated well with the history facts and once I got to the Renaissance era when popes worried about the spread of cattle disease I settled into the book pretty well. And the initial eye opening segment about the 1815 Battle of Waterloo and the toll it took on the horses used in combat: horrifying but gripping.

As a lay reader not involved in the sciences or veterinary medicine, I found the first third of the book (before the pope section), when care and remedies were so hit and miss, and then the genesis of schools of veterinary medicine, a bit dry and hard going. But I persisted and I am glad I did, really enjoying the chapters after the profession started branching out more into pets as well as farm animals. For instance, I never knew there were vets who specialized in just one species of pet, like cats, and the practicality of cat house calls. Schott also highlights the growing presence of female practitioners and even weaves in a jaunt to the forests of Africa.

Another segment I really enjoyed: that Yorkshire vet made world famous by a popular television series(now two!) and how he and his colleague cohort bridged the gap to widespread use of penicillin, antibiotics and the preventive treatments used today. The photos and illustrations at the end were a good feature too.

Not a quick read for me but it was informative and does a good job illustrating the way care about and for animals has evolved over centuries.

Thanks to ECW Press and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Review shared on 6/30/25 on Waterstones and Goodreads, and with Barnes & Noble and BAM. To be shared with kobo and Google Play upon publication.

A treat. This is both educational and fun. Schott has chosen 22 veterinarians from across time and nations to highlight, each with a contribution to the mission of helping animals. While there is sadness, there are also some chuckleworthy bits. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Heal The Beasts is an exploration of the history of veterinary medicine by Canadian veterinarian and author, Philipp Schott. He takes his reader back some fourteen thousand years, introducing a pup whose bones, found in the same burial as human bones, indicate it was treated for distemper. Yes, that long ago, people were caring for their animals.

But if the idea of fourteen millennia of veterinary history seems daunting, fear not! As he hops all over the globe, Schott presents the interesting tidbits of how Veterinary medicine came to be, and he prefaces each chapter with a fictional vignette that illustrates the point of including that particular person.

He describes how the motive for treatment fluctuates between practical, emotional and spiritual, often being a mixture of two or three of these, and tells us “Much as in ancient times, throughout the Middle Ages veterinary medicine was a hodgepodge, with a few sound practices mixed into a breathtaking range of unsound ones.”

Thus, for example: “When “murrain” struck flocks of sheep in medieval England, it was common practice to gather the sheep to listen to a priest read the appropriate curative psalms to them.”

He also notes that in early publications, treatments are generally “the expected mix of the useful, the useless, and the downright bizarre”, many of which he describes for the reader’s entertainment. Not until the Enlightenment, was everything “thrown open to question and inquiry. Reason was replacing superstition. Science was replacing theology” and some healers “saw more similarities than differences between the maladies of humans and animals.”

More recent history even brings up some names with which the reader may be familiar. Certainly, the statistics are, at times, mind-boggling. Informative, fascinating, and often entertaining.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and ECW Press

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I never thought I'd be so engrossed in a little nonfiction book about the history of veterinary medicine, but this one caught my attention and held it! The story-esque introductions to each chapter set up the information in a fun and easy-to-digest way, while the rest of the chapter provided information that was not too technical for this layperson to follow and understand.

Schott has such an engaging writing style and presents information in such a good way for your everyday reader. That being said, this is a great educational book too, and I could definitely see it used in introductory animal science courses and hope professors and the like see that potential as well!

Publication date: July 8, 2025

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with this brief but intriguing history of humans' connection with animals through the ages. The author is a Canadian veterinarian and writer. I enjoyed his three previous works of fiction,' The Dr. Bannerman Mysteries ', and have his 'Accidental Vet' books on my list. These are based on incidents in his career. He writes with wit, wisdom and empathy.

This book's format and tone were unusual. He uses a conversational style, speaking directly to the reader with humorous asides. The reader does not need much knowledge of science or medicine to relax and enjoy his engaging conversations. Each chapter begins with a fictional anecdote featuring a historic animal healer, then gives some facts about the care of animals at that time. He discusses the relationship of man and beasts through the ages, and in many countries. Some of the so-called cures were bizarre and shocking. Disease was believed to be due to evil spirits, bad air, or the punishment of an owner by the gods, by sickening and killing his livestock. He warns the reader when an upcoming section may be disturbing because it deals with the suffering of animals, giving the reader a chance to avoid it.
The Church and some philosophers in Medieval times insisted that animals lacked a soul, and many remedies, research, and learning by dissecting were forbidden. Scientific teachings declined in Europe, but at the same time, medical and scientific thought flourished in Arab countries.

Going back in history, we learn that the early healers treated animals for practical purposes, mainly horses and livestock, and later working dogs. Early veterinarians were known by their specialty, followed by the word leech. Thus, the titles of horse-leech or cow-leech. The keeping of animals as companions or pets was scarcely known, except possibly by the wealthy. As ordinary people began to acquire small animals as pets, they became beloved family members. This coincided with the opening of veterinary schools, animal clinics, and hospitals, where pets became the main patients of modern veterinarians. With the contagious germ theory, antibiotics, and the development of vaccines, human and animal medical treatment made great strides.

Throughout the book, we learn interesting facts and meet many significant people. Some facts will interest any reader. He mentions that 3,000 years ago, Indian fighting elephants were treated for their injuries. The horrifying fact that 12,000 horses were killed in a single day during the Battle of Waterloo is heartbreaking. James Herriot and others who established vet hospitals, taught veterinary skills, and opened clinics are mentioned. As small animal clinics became widespread, some veterinarians became specialists working with specific animals. Dr. Camuti specialized in treating cats in New York City and did house calls for over 60 years. He wrote a book about his practice titled ' All My Patients Are Under the Bed'. Readers will find ancient drawings and engravings depicting early cures, and later fascinating paintings and photos of noted veterinarians and their work.
"Heal the Beasts' is due to be published on July 8/2025.