"Animals are unpredictable things so our whole life is unpredictable. It's a long tale of triumphs and disasters and you've got to really like it to stick to it."
"Life was full for me. There were so many things to find out and a lot I had to prove to myself."
"If you decide to become a veterinary surgeon you will never grow rich but you will a life of endless interest and variety."
"If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."
"No animal is a better judge of comfort than a cat and they were just visible as furry balls in the straw. They had the best place, up against the wooden partition where the warmth came through from the big animals."
“Why the hell had I ever decided to become a country vet? I must have been crazy to pick a job where you worked seven days a week and through the night as well.
“At times it seemed unfair that I should be paid for my work; for driving out in the early morning with the fields glittering under the first pale sunshine and the wisps of mist still hanging on the high tops.”
"I can’t think of anything in my working life that has given me more pleasure than standing in that pen directing the life-saving jet and watching the bull savouring it.”
"A farmer once told me one of the greatest luxuries of his life was to wake up early only to go back to sleep again.”
"I have felt cats rubbing their faces against mine and touching my cheek with claws carefully sheathed. These things, to me, are expressions of love"