The Other Family Doctor

Karen Fine has been a veterinarian for thirty years, and The Other Family Doctor is her memoir of the work. She’s a small-animal vet, focused mostly on dogs and cats and the families who bring them in. The book moves between specific patients and broader reflections on how veterinary medicine has changed across her career.

Fine writes about end-of-life care with particular thoughtfulness. The euthanasia scenes are hard to read in the best way. She doesn’t sentimentalize, and she doesn’t look away.

There are funnier sections about the practical absurdities of the job, including the procedural challenge of getting medication into a cat that doesn’t want it.

For readers who liked James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small, or who follow modern veterinary memoirs like Nick Trout’s books, this is the contemporary American version. Honest, warm, and earned.