By the time Marcus Taylor graduated from veterinary school at age 23, a sheep, a cow, a hawk, innumerable dogs, cats, parrots and even a fish had locked their mandibles onto his flesh. Each bite only intrigued him further. From his first entanglement with a cow in ketosis in Canterbury to a beagle in heart failure in Newfoundland, and all manner of adventures and heartbreak in between, this memoir of the early career of a young New Zealand vet is both heartwarming and hilarious.