Tea with James Herriot

During my last year of veterinary college while I was at Watkinson & Naish, Veterinary Surgeons, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, James Herriot's latest book, James Herriot's Yorkshire was being proofed. The author, Mr. Alf Wight, often telephoned Jack to verify a place or point of interest. Since I was there in a professional veterinary capacity, I tried to be nonchalant about all the attention the area was receiving due to the immense popularity of the BBC television series All Creatures Great &Small, but I have to admit I was impressed when Jack Watkinson invited me along for the day to assist him on the set.

All the actors and BBC staff were especially nice to me. Christopher Timothy who played James Herriot invited me to have tea with him while he was being interviewed by a member of the press. I told him about the article in the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) which mentioned him, and he was knocked out. That particular issue had just come out before I left for England so I took it along to give to Mr. Watkinson.

That day was quite an experience. I shall always remember it. Later that evening, there was an emergency veterinary call, and I accompanied Nick. Since we were passing his local pub on the way home, we popped in because he was quite attached to his "local", and he wanted to share it with me. Upon entering, Nick was a little put off because there were so many strangers about. Everyone was calling out "Hello, Linda"--"How was your day."--"What did you think of the filming?" They were all BBC people. Nick was so upset. He couldn't believe that I could come from halfway around the world, visit his local and everyone there would know me. It was too much for him. He continued to kid me about this for days.

Hairballs 'r Us

As I email Jennifer, my protege studying veterinary medicine in the Cayman Islands at St Matthews College of VeterinaryMedicine, I cannot help but remember the friends I made while in veterinary college that remain truly good friends today.

Recently, I spoke with Dr. Douglas Piper. He was inquiring about my Sound Technologies ultrasound machine. Doug and I were partners in anatomy lab, and we thought we would never survive that first year. I'm sure I'll be writing much about that year. It has been a long time since I have seen Doug. He established a veterinary hospital in Fort Myers, Florida where his father practiced for many, many years.

If you have a pet with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye), you may be treating it with an ophthalmic drug developed by one of my classmates.

Dr. Pat Lane always said she would have a cat hospital, and it would be named Hairballs 'r Us. Well, she does have a feline hospital in Marietta, but she failed to follow through on the name. Years ago, I visited Pat in North Carolina where she was practicing & urged her to join me in practice in Cornelia, but she declined. The big city was calling , and she was still dreaming of Hairballs 'r Us.

A classmate who shall remain nameless married my very dear friend. At our recent 25th class reunion, she related the fact that her husband had given her a very unique birthday present. With their family complete with four boys, they had mutually decided that the afore mentioned classmate would make an appointment with a surgeon for a vasectomy. Upon consulting the surgeon, he decided the fees were too expensive and furthermore, he decided to perform his own vasectomy with local anesthesia. Mind you, this surgery was performed by a person who had to take a break during junior surgery to prevent fainting.

Seeing Practice in North Yorkshire Dales

This cold windy weather reminds me of my first visit to Yorkshire. Philip and I were getting ready to make a big move to the United States (well, move for him; return home for me), and he had several weeks bookings in a club in Keighley. We stayed in an upstairs room in a pub, and I don't think it had any visable forms of heat. During the day we would ride around in our little van to get warm. One night it was so bitterly cold, we used my portable hair dryer to heat the bed. It makes me miserable just remembering the freezing cold, but somehow we survived.

Now, my second visit to the Yorkshire Dales was much, much more pleasant. It was during my senior year of veterinary college, and part of my training was to occur in a veterinary surgery in England. I shall never forget those days. Mr. Jack Watkinson and Mr. Nick Naish were partners at Watkinson & Naish, Veterinary Surgeons, Leyburn, North Yorkshire. Jack was one of the veterinary advisors to All Creatures Great and Small, and most days he was on the set filming with the BBC. That meant that most of my time was spent working with Nick, and we saw everything. Mr. Watkinson was very well liked by his equine clients, and many times they would question Mr. Naish about where the more popular equine veterinarian was that particular day. This had happened a few times, and Nick was getting tired of it. So on a visit to one of the racing stables, Nick introduced me as a veterinarian from the United States that had come to examine their colt with the hernia. Well, I was a very good senior veterinary student so I rose to the occasion. Following a thorough exam of the frisky colt, I presented my opinion of the medical situation, upon which Mr. Naish & I departed the stables with no questions of why Mr. Watkinson was not the one to call that day.

Northeast Veterinary Hospital

This is my 26th year of veterinary practice, and I feel I'm only getting started. I plan sharing numerous memorable experiences, the successes and the disappointments, the smiles and the tears.

My small animal veterinary hospital is located in Cornelia, in the beautiful mountains of northeast Georgia. We are right in front of the Hampton Inn so if you find yourself in our area, stop by and request a tour. We are very proud of our hospital and enjoy showing it off.

During our Open House in February 2003, a client was exclaiming over our VIP (Very Important Pet) suites, "Sandy and I are going to the beach in May, but I'll need to reserve the Safari Room for my husband while we're away!" Well, you can see it's a very comfortable accommodation.