I am a holistic veterinarian who also writes about pet loss, grief, the human-animal bond, holistic veterinary medicine, and narrative medicine. Although I no longer do house calls, I still practice small animal medicine in Central Massachusetts. I enjoy walking my dogs, eating chocolate, reading, and writing.
My memoir, The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us About Love, Life and Mortality, will be published in March 2023 by Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House. The book explores my experiences as a pet owner and as a veterinarian. My literary agent is Jennifer Herrera at the David Black Agency in New York.
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Here is the announcement from Publishers Weekly:
The Vet Is in at Anchor
Anna Kaufman at Anchor preempted world rights to The Other Family Doctor by Karen Fine, a memoir about her experiences as a veterinarian. It is the first nonfiction title on Anchor’s hardcover list, which is launching next year. The publisher said the book, subtitled A Veterinarian’s View of Love, Loss, Mortality, and Mindfulness, was pitched as “All Creatures Great and Small meets Being Mortal.” It explores how the author, through her work with her patients and their owners, “comes to better understand humanity, mortality, and the unique role animals play in our lives.” Fine was represented by Jennifer Herrera at the David Black Agency.
A first of its kind, my veterinary textbook Narrative Medicine in Veterinary Practice: Improving Client Communication, Patient Care, and Veterinary Well-Being was published in October 2021 through CRC Press. Narrative Medicine is a growing field in human medicine that can help veterinarians improve care by viewing our patients and clients in the context of their larger story. I am also coediting an online journal on Veterinary Narrative Medicine called Reflections that is forthcoming.
Two articles I wrote for Bark Magazine were nominated as finalists for the Dog Writer’s Association of America’s writing contest. “10 Tips for Navigating Tough Decisions About Your Dog” and “A Veterinarian’s Prescription for Grief (or, How I Mourned My Own Dog)”. Not to leave out the kitties, I have also had articles published in the magazine Inside Your Cat’s Mind.
Karen Fine, D.V.M. 