UNLIKELY COMPANIONS

Whether it’s an umbrella cockatoo who’s not eating, a depressed chinchilla, a pregnant potbellied pig, or a ferret possibly needing surgery, exotic animal vet Laurie Hess is at the front lines with some remarkable pets–and their equally eccentric, dedicated, and sometimes demanding owners.
UNLIKELY COMPANIONS is part memoir, part pet mystery and part inspirational self-help, an All Creatures Great and Small with a mysterious twist that includes a special message for women about managing our most important relationships – those with our friends, coworkers, children, spouses, and ourselves.

Whether it’s an umbrella cockatoo who’s not eating, a depressed chinchilla, a pregnant potbellied pig, or a ferret possibly needing surgery, exotic animal vet Laurie Hess is at the front lines with some remarkable pets–and their equally eccentric, dedicated, and sometimes demanding owners. Beyond the clinical side of Dr. Hess’s experience as one of only a few exotic animal veterinarians, UNLIKELY COMPANIONS tells the story of what the remarkable pets she treats and their equally eccentric, dedicated and sometimes demanding owners have taught her about the importance of loving and healing ourselves. UNLIKELY COMPANIONS is part memoir, part pet mystery and part inspirational self-help, an All Creatures Great and Small with a mysterious twist that includes a special message for women about managing our most important relationships – those with our friends, coworkers, children, spouses, and ourselves.

UNLIKELY COMPANIONS is organized into seven chapters chronicling a week in Dr. Hess’s life as an exotic animal veterinarian, as she struggles to solve a veterinary mystery affecting my practice and those of vets around the country. During this week, the reader will join her as she walks into risky surgery, life-altering diagnoses, and as she juggles back-to-back appointments with puzzling patients and demanding owners—and that’s just at the office. For every day of her fast-paced week, readers will tag alongside her and become privy to some of the most interesting, entertaining and profound pet-owner relationships she’s had the privilege to experience and observe. They explore universal themes like companionship and commitment, isolation and grief, self-care and acceptance.

Dr. Laurie Hess is board-certified by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in avian medicine and served as the President of the Association of Avian Veterinarians from 2009-2010. She is also an active member of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians. The country’s go-to exotic pet doctor, she has appeared on Inside Edition, Animal Planet, The Martha Stewart Show, and The Doctors. Dr. Hess and her practice have been featured in the New York Times, The NY Daily News, USA Today, Martha Stewart Living, and Parade and People Magazine.