Lady Veterinarians and a Giveaway!

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Hi, Kit Morgan here! In my latest book, Miss Hespa (The Brides of Fiddler’s Gap, Book 5) my heroine wants nothing more than to become a veterinarian. In fact it wasn’t until I was in the middle of the book and had to look a few things up that I discovered there was a woman by the name of Aleen Isabell Cust whose own story was very much like Hespa’s.

For starters, Aleen was born in the grand Cordangan Manor, County Tipperary, Ireland in 1868. She was the fourth child of Sir Leopold and Lady Isabel Cust, and her family was well-connected – her brother even became equerry to King George V. After her father’s death in 1878, the family moved to England where she became a ward of Major Shallcross Fitzherbert Widdrington. Hespa was born into an upper middle class family in Baltimore. So, both were not poor. And, despite her privileged upbringing, Aleen’s true passion, much like Hespa’s, was for veterinary medicine. Both my heroine’s and Aleen’s families disapproved of such a venture. But that didn’t deter either Hespa or Aleen. The latter persisted and used her small private income to attend William Williams’ New Veterinary College in Edinburgh under the alias “Custance” to avoid any scandal. In 1897, she attempted to sit for her first professional examination with the RCVS but was refused by the examination committee. Undeterred, she took legal action against the college but ultimately lost the case.

Despite this setback, Aleen completed the course and received a glowing testimonial from Professor Williams. He also recommended her for a position as assistant to William Byrne MRCVS at his practice in Athleague, Roscommon, Ireland.

Her showing up at Byrne’s practice caused quite a stir among the conservative community, but Aleen quickly earned respect with her competence and professionalism. However, when she was appointed as a part-time official veterinary inspector by Galway County Council, she once again found herself in conflict with the RCVS and had to compromise on being termed an “inspector.”

By this time the college could no longer ignore Aleen’s talents and eventually recognized her as a competent veterinary surgeon – though she still practiced outside of professional law. Known for making a statement, Aleen often rode around on a white Arab stallion while visiting clients or drove one of her horses in a gig. At night, she would dress formally for dinner and be waited on by her servants.

In 1914 she was enlisted in the purchase of remounts for the war effort. In 1915 she left Ireland to go to France (driving her own car) as a volunteer with the YMCA at Abbeville, also the headquarters of the Army Veterinary and Remount Service. The Service was under great pressure with thousands of horses in transit to and from the front: her help would have been welcomed.

In 1917 she was appointed to a position in the veterinary hospital laboratories. While the records of her time there were destroyed in the Second World War, she was in France from 1915 to 1918, being listed as serving with Queen Mary’s Auxiliary Army Corps.

No one could deny that Aleen was a remarkable person. The fact she was also a woman at a time when her sex was prevented, by barriers of prejudice and tradition, from obtaining their full potential, makes her an outstanding individual. My character Hespa is faced with many of the same challenges. Thankfully in a fictional world she can have a better chance than what it was like in real life for Aleen.

It is also clear that she was not only a competent practitioner, in what must have been (for her) a difficult environment, she was also someone of integrity who observed high standards. Above all, the factor in her life that gave her great determination was that she wanted to be a veterinary surgeon.

My character Hespa has the same determination. She’s even willing to give up a man she’s falling in love with to achieve her dream. Will she get her happily ever after?

Those of us who own pets need good veterinarians. While researching this book, it was interesting to find out some of the strange ways they treated animal ailments in the old west. It’s too bad it took so long for women to find their place in this vocation. I’m glad Aleen was able to achieve her dream.

Do you have a pet? Yes or no. And if you do, what’s your pet’s name? I’m giving away a free e-copy of Miss Hespa to one lucky commenter.  Here’s more about the book:

A determined young woman with a dream.
A handsome doctor willing to help her.
And one big, fat obstacle… okay, maybe two.


AMAZON

Hespa Pendergrass dreams of becoming a veterinarian. But if she can’t convince her parents she’s got what it takes, her dream will never become a reality. Lucky for her, a professor at the college she wants to attend, agrees to meet with her. With this man’s backing, she was sure to get in! There was only one problem. Okay, maybe two. Her parents still didn’t think she had what it takes, and they carted her off to Fiddler’s Gap for her best friend’s wedding. So what if she agreed to be the maid of honor! If she didn’t get back in time, she’d miss her one chance of speaking to the professor! How was she going to convince her parents to high tail it back to Baltimore?

Temple Garrett came to Fiddler’s Gap for the peace and quiet. He even sent off for a mail-order bride. But when the Pendergrass family shows up in town for a wedding, his world is turned upside down. Hespa Pendergrass fancies herself a veterinarian in training, and wouldn’t you know, she’s good at it? After she helps with someone’s plow horse and a few other animals, Temple is convinced she has want it takes to survive the training needed to become a veterinarian. Unfortunately, he should have paid closer attention to what his heart was doing while working with her. For once she went back to Baltimore, he’d never see her again. Did he have the strength to let her go and chase her dream? Find out in this sweet, heartwarming historical western full of love and laughter!

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USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 180 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!

45 thoughts on “Lady Veterinarians and a Giveaway!”

  3. Because of traveling and raising our children we only had one cat for a short time. Patches was a beautiful calico kitty who had quite an attitude. Our children loved her,but her moodiness was too much for me, so we choose to rehome her to a more suitable family. We love animals but felt we couldn’t give pets the attention they needed, so no pets. Our youngest daughter hoped to be a veterinarian when she was young, until she realized that you can’t save every animal. Now she is a child care worker and loves it.

    • Yeah, it’s tough being a vet when it comes to saving every life, Danielle. My sister is a professional horse trainer and retired jockey. Horses, dogs, cats, cows… you can’t save them all.

  5. Welcome today. thanks for sharing about Aleen. I love to read history about ladies who did what they could when men said they couldnt. I have grown up my whole life with animals. We lived on a farm and had many animals. I had a few special ones being in 4-H. Than when we moved to Illinois we still had animals. Now married and empty nesters, we only have two kittens. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

  6. I have a cat named Little Man who was the runt of the bunch and ended up being the biggest cat of all of them. He is inside and outside cat. I also have two outside cats that a feral momma cat had that I took and had fixed and then they sorta became my cats. Their names are Misty and Salem

  7. We have no pets now because we travel a lot. My last cat (I am a cat person) was a Himalayan named Alexander. When he got cancer and had to be put to sleep we decided no more pets.

  9. I too wanted to be a vet as a teenager and here in Indiana had to have a vet mentor to even be considered – I had all that and the grades but not the $$ to do so! Many cats, dogs, and all the farm animals – now including 4 llamas and 2 horses with everything on the farm!

  10. Sounds like a fantastic book. Enjoyed the research.

    No pets, but I have two granddogs, a pomeranian in Texas and a rescue locally.

  12. Hi KIt. All my adult life, I had at least one cat until a couple of weeks ago. Toby was 16, a gray butterfly tabby. He wasn’t an ordinary cat. He was afraid of everything, even cat toys. Until the last year of his life, he avoided the living room because of the TV but he finally defeated that phobia and would come and sit on my lap. He had kidney disease and an uncommon symptom–he was hungry all the time. He hounded us for food all day and kept getting skinnier and skinnier. He went from 18 lbs to 6 when he died. We learned when we took him to the vet the last time that he had a thyroid issue that caused his hunger problem. The vet told us he was suffering and the kindest thing we could do would be to let him go. I’m tearing up, writing this. I miss him, even though he was a bit of pain in the neck a lot of the time. After he ate, he would head for the bed where he slept all day, but he’d stop in the hall to howl. Like a wolf. Just howl. I want another cat but my husband is unsure. We are in our eighties. What would happen to the cat if we died? I’m thinking of fostering a cat. Haven’t presented the idea to my hubby yet though. Thanks for the interesting article. Never though of making a heroine a vet. Great idea. Love your books.

    • My daughter and I fostered a cat. Her name was Billie. One of the books I wrote, Dear Mr. Miller was inspired by Billie. My daughter started fostering cats again and ended up adopting one of them. You can also volunteer at cat shelters just to pet and play with them.

  13. I don’t have any pets now. My last dog was named Sadie and she was a very smart dog. She was part Shih-tzu and terrier .

  15. I don’t have any pets now. The last one I had was a toy poodle. She was 18 years old and had lost her sight and hearing. I had to have her put to sleep.

  16. Good morning, Kit. have had pets, 3 poodles, but now we are all alone. It is so hard to love them, care for them, and have to put them to sleep when their health fails. My husband said he never wanted another pet that he would outlive as parting with them is much too hurtful. I totally agree.

  17. I grew up with lots of pets, and I love them. However, I haven’t had one recently because I’ve traveled out of the country too much.

  18. I only have one furbaby now. Her name is Fanny and she’s a boxer. At one time I had 5 boxers and 2 feather babies. All 5 boxers were related. Fanny was one of the 5 and still grieves for the loss of her brother. They were litter mates and very close.

  19. Yes, we have a dog, Ziva, who is part Pit Bull, Lab, Mastiff and Boxer. She loves to make friends and if anyone comes to the house they are there to see her.

  20. I don’t currently have a pet but am planning to get a cat by the end of the year. Thanks for the chance to win a prize.

  23. Have a cat, Squirt, and a dog, Jean Pierre Puddles I (a poodle mix, obviously), a/k/a Puddles, and my animals have a female vet!

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