Fortunately I was much more interested in Noel's scientific advances than his friends and lovers, and enjoyed his enthusiasm for his life's work and his compassion and warmth towards the animals he treats and their families. I found the technical detail of how he creates his innovative prostheses fascinating, and he also offers a compelling vision of a potential future where scientific and technological advances can come to replace the requirement for medical experiments on live animals. I found it a very dull read. I'm sorry Noel. It's like he just got away with writing it exactly as he thought it - not edited? I don't know how to explain, but it was boring.

How Animals Saved My Life: Being the Supervet by Noel How Animals Saved My Life: Being the Supervet by Noel

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. The book features several cases of previous patients of the four legged kind - some survive, some don’t – and that must be very hard. Thirdly, with the author’s frequent discussion of his One Medicine approach ( https://www.humanimaltrust.org.uk/who...) seeking to bridge the Veterinary Science/Human Medicine gap – which as he points out has taken an additional resonance with COVID. I did feel that he found talking about his early life in Ireland, and his romantic attachments, a little awkward. However the chapters on his patients, and the building of his dreamed for practice, were so interesting that I could not put the book down. This guy is amazing and a true hero. His extreme love of animals is portrayed in his life story which is fascinating. A great read.

As heart-warming and life-affirming as the TV show with which he made his name, Listening to the Animals is a story of love, hope and compassion, and about rejoicing in the bond between humans and animals that makes us the very best we can be.

Listening to the Animals: Becoming The Supervet eBook Listening to the Animals: Becoming The Supervet eBook

It definitely needed better editing as it was very repetitive in places but it was a very interesting and humbling book.The middle section covers vet school and his early days as a vet, and was for me the most enjoyable part of the book, with some amusing anecdotes to leaven the continuing negativity.

Listening to the Animals: Becoming The Supervet Paperback Listening to the Animals: Becoming The Supervet Paperback

This was a book gifted to me and it took me a couple of years to decide to read it. I ended up going with the audio book, narrated by the author. I completely understand why my mother-in-law gave it to me. I love animals. I always have some around me. I wanted to be a vet when I was younger. I enjoyed reading about some of his hobbies that he loved and learnt from, although all fell to the wayside as work took over his life. And we also heard about relationships, here he was very honest with us, I’m not sure that I really needed to know how old he was when he lost his virginity, but it was an interesting chapter.

Christmas Cards & Gift Wrap

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. I don't believe in 'ownership' of a sentient life - I think we undertake volitional guardianship and that this bringing forth can be one of the most rewarding and reciprocally loving relationships that a human being can ever experience.” Growing up on the family farm in Ballyfin, Ireland, Noel's childhood was spent tending to the cattle and sheep, the hay and silage, the tractors and land, his beloved sheepdog Pirate providing solace from the bullies that plagued him at school. It was this bond with Pirate, and a fateful night spent desperately trying to save a newborn lamb, that inspired Noel to enter the world of veterinary science - and set him on the path to becoming The Supervet. From what I have seen about Noel, he really is someone very special, his dedication is clearly evident, as is his genuine love of animals, and the fact that he loves hugs. The author is clearly a very sensitive, beautiful person and his empathy shone through. However, there are times when I felt the book was a little too personal and emotional and that is unusual since I am a very emotional creature myself. Maybe it is because I am very sensitive myself that I felt uncomfortable at times, maybe it was too close to the bone. Maybe it was his emotional delivery on audio, which felt a little dramatic at times. I am not saying he should have done it differently, just that it did not always work for me.

Listening to the Animals: Becoming The Supervet by Noel

Yes, this book is about the journey the author went on from a young boy on a farm to being the ‘Supervet’ and having a state-of-the-art veterinary practice and a TV show, but it is about much more than that. Battling the odds is a major theme throughout the book, whether it is bullying or trying to make progress in medicine and science, making impossible things possible. This is clearly a man who has always worked very hard for what he believed in and his drive has brought him success, but also loss. 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. Reading about Noel’s upbringing on a rural Irish farm, there’s a vulnerability to his writing that makes him instantly endearing. It really feels like he’s writing from the heart and you can feel his passion and warmth. He writes honestly about his struggles with bullies and the isolation he felt, and growing up with the beloved farm dog Pirate, who was his only confidante. At times I was truely brought close to tears. Sixthly in how up to date it is – the book’s themes drawing together in a very tangible and incredibly up to date way with a severe accident to his own dog in September 2020 (one month before publication). I expected to love this book more than I did. I definitely thought it was interesting and inspiring, but for some reason I did not end up quite loving it. However, I did like this book and I would recommend it if you are interested in animals and their stories, as well as the life of a vet, or if you need that final push to persevere with something. You could just watch the TV show if you are more interested in the veterinary side rather than his personal story. Some of the animal stories in here were on the TV show.

Toys

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. Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown 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.