Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: February 1, 2023 by Crystal Uys

An Animal Life cover

An Animal Life: A Chance to Cut is not technically a cat book. Even though there are some cat stories in the book, this is primarily a book about what it’s like to be a veterinary student, and vet students learn to take care of all creatures great and small. However, given the important role veterinarians play in every cat guardian’s life, I thought that you would enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at what vets go through during their schooling and training.

In this sequel to An Animal Life: The Beginning, the reader gets to follow a group of veterinary students through their second semester. From clinic rotations for cats, dogs and horses to working with stranded whales and sea turtles on a cold winter night, the authors take us from hilarious to heartbreak as we learn what life at veterinary school is really like.

The characters are well-developed and immensely likable. I’ve been told by some of my vet friends that this book is an accurate portrayal of life as a vet student, which makes me appreciate the veterinarians in my life even more. Vet school appears to not be for the faint of heart.

This in-depth look at the life of veterinary students has it all: laughter, tears, passion, excitement, and romance. If you enjoy ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice, you’ll love this book – it’s kind of like the veterinary version of all of these shows in book form, with a little Animal House thrown in for good measure.

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