“Dishing the dirt on what it’s really like to work in a vet clinic.” Dr. Philipp Schott DVM, author of The Accidental Veterinarian

With years of experience as a Registered Veterinary Technician, Frannie O’Callaghan offers an unapologetic window into the daily encounters of the humans who take care of pets. This whip-smart but darkly humorous confessional spans from the Patients who bite, claw, urinate, or defecate in scrub pockets. Are the few and farther in-between moments of wagging tails and slobbering tongues worth it?

Then come the outlandish Clients, including the heinous antics of a local man of the cloth, or the conspiracy theorists convinced of veterinary schemes to “grab ‘em and stab ‘em.” All the way to Coworkers along for the bloody, vomit-filled daily grind. For a job that demands a high skill level and stress-tolerance for relatively little monetary compensation, Vet Techs need a reason to stay. Moments of levity, healing patients, colleagues helping to push through this absurd profession, or cuddling beloved animal companions—somewhere amid the chaos is beauty that brings them to work every day.

Between heavy doses of swearing, snark, licking wounds, and an occasional jab at the heartstrings, SOAP Notes: Irreverent Confessions of a Veterinary Technician dishes up the roaring, goring, and never boring chronicles of veterinary life.