Cheltenham-based vet Jonathan Cranston is to release a book recounting his veterinary career, which has seen him travel to five continents and perform life-saving surgery on over 100 different animals.

The book, titled ‘The Travelling Vet’, is set for release in October and will tell the story of Jonathan’s work at home and abroad, especially his work in Africa where he has treated crocodiles, elephants and lions. “Five years ago I started writing down my experiences of working with all the different animals, from domestic cats and dogs to more exotic creatures like crocodiles,” said Jonathan. “The book contains 20 chapters, with each chapter focused on a different animal I’ve worked with and treated,” he added.

After qualifying from the Royal Veterinary College in 2006, Jonathan spent the early part of his career working in Devon where he treated domestic pets and farm animals. He continued: “I knew from a very young age I wanted to work with animals. I fancied myself as a James Herriot style vet, out on the farms treating the animals. My first job after qualifying was down in north Devon where I did some work at two wildlife parks. After working there for a couple of years I took some time off to go travelling, that was my first experience of Africa. I knew straight away that I wanted to go back and work out there. In 2011 I went back out and completed a wildlife course.”

Since that first experience of African wildlife Jonathan has been a regular visitor to the southern hemisphere, a part of the world he feels at home in. He said: “I love variety. Treating different kinds of animals is what sustains my interest in the job. It’s not just working with the animals, the human side of the job is massive as well. I feel I’ve learned a huge amount from working out in Africa and have grown so much, as a vet and a person.

“Treating a cat or a dog is pretty straightforward, you sedate the animal and operate. When it comes to operating on a larger animal in Africa the whole process is so much more complicated. I’ve treated animals where we’ve had to go up in a helicopter and fire a sedation dart at them. Operating on an animal like a fully-grown crocodile – that weighs 800kg and is close to five metres long – required ten people to simply move the creature into position to be sedated. We then had to use a crane and a lorry to move him into position for us to operate, certainly more of a logistical challenge than what I’m used to doing back home!

“The central chapter of my book, and what made me want to write the book in the first place, concerns a rhino that was poached and killed. What made it even worse was that his mother had been killed by poachers as well. That was an awfully harrowing experience. My hope for the book is that it makes people think about conservation and how important animals are. The animal kingdom has been diminished by 40% in the last thirty years, we need to work harder to protect these magnificent creatures.”

When it comes to reflecting on his 12-year career as a vet, Jonathan, who now works at Dragon Vets in Cheltenham, remembers two cases with particular fondness. He continued: “One was out in New Zealand. I was on call and was contacted by an owner of a Great Dane who had a twisted stomach, a common problem which we see regularly. He needed surgery straight away otherwise he would have died. I’d never performed that surgery before, obviously I’d learned about it and read many textbooks on the issue. I ended up operating on him in the middle of the night, he arrested twice on the operating table, but we managed to save him. Two days later he was sent home with his owner, that was a hugely satisfying outcome.

“Another case I remember well happened the evening I arrived back in the UK having spent a few weeks in Africa. In the middle of the night we had to try and save a cat that had been hit by a car. He was in a terrible state, with a ruptured diaphragm and all sorts of other major issues. Fortunately, we managed to save him. The best part of the job is telling an owner that we’ve managed to save their pet, it’s incredibly emotional. There are times when we can’t save an animal, and that’s the worst bit of the job. To do this job you have to try and detach yourself from the emotional side of things but it’s very hard.”

Jonathan, who lives in Moreton-on-Marsh with his two dogs, two cats, chickens and quail, has a real desire to educate future generations on the importance of conservation. He added: “I’m keen to move into an educational role, going into schools and speaking to future generations about all the incredible animals on our planet. I’ll never lose that desire to work with animals.”