Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick reveals extraordinary lengths he goes to as a vet: ‘With great purpose comes great sacrifice’

Noel created the vet superhero out of a ‘yearning to save all animals’ (Picture: Rex/ Metro.co.uk)

TV Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick, 53, on talking to animals, being a workaholic and why his new book took him 43 years.

Have you always been animal mad?

I grew up on a farm in the middle of Ireland so I didn’t have any school friends as such.

I was quite isolated and used to talk to the sheep and the lambs and especially to the farm dog, Pirate. When I was with Pirate, I was OK with the world.

Why do we love animals?

Because animals tap into a need within every human to love and be loved. And an animal’s love is unconditional.

No matter how grumpy you are, or the state of your life, or what nationality, colour or creed you are, your cat, dog, guinea pig, rabbit or horse won’t judge you. They treat you the same whether you’re a celebrity, prince or pauper. They bring you joy and love.

Some people prefer animals to people. Do you?

I’m not going to answer that question because people make judgements. I have found a great deal of comfort in my life in the moments I spend with animals. I’m blessed to have that in my life.

Noel spent the last43 years dreaming up his children’s book Vetman

When did you decide to write your children’s book, Vetman?

I was 10. Vetman has been in my head now for 43 years because, although I don’t look it, I’m 53! I was asked to check the sheep and I lost a lamb in the middle of an icy field.

I lay on my back in the frosty grass, crying and looking up at the stars, and it occurred to me that love is in the stars. In the coming days I wondered, what if the greatest star fell to Earth as a meteor and I could find the molecular structure of unconditional love and put it in the heart of Vetman?

Vetman grew out of a yearning to save all the animals in the world through magic bionic inventions. I’d talk to the farm dog Pirate about Vetman. To me, Pirate was the only one that understood.

Why did it take you 43 years to get it off the ground?

I have spent 11 years making TV shows for this moment. Nobody wanted to publish Vetman 20 years ago but because I had a successful TV show and I got to publish two memoirs, things changed.

That’s the way life works. I had to put the vibe out into the universe, otherwise Vetman wouldn’t have happened. What you put out will happen even if it takes 43 years. Everybody told me that Vetman wasn’t going to happen. Well, it did.

After such a long wait you must feel pretty excited…

Vetman is the most important moment in my life. Everything I’ve done has been for the moment when I can speak to a 10-year-old, who is going to be around a lot longer than me and could change the world for the better.

What is the book about?

Vetman is not of this world. He has the skeleton of a bird and some other-worldly powers. Two children discover a hedgehog with broken legs and end up at Vetman’s door.

They go with him to the bionic bunker, where all the waif-and-stray animals that have been thrown away by the world are made whole again, using bits thrown out by humans — bits of kettles and fridges and wheelbarrows.

The book tackles serious subjects too…

I wanted it to reflect real life. All the adults and children in my consulting rooms experience grief, love and profound feelings. Whether we like it or not, a ten-year-old child has to process what is happening in the world.

When I started Supervet the broadcasters told me I couldn’t put all the blood in the operations on the telly because kids wouldn’t like it. I said, ‘The kids can handle anything, it’s you who can’t handle it.’ The kids are not the ones watching with their hands over their eyes, they love it. We patronise kids.

Noel has dedicated his life to animals (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)

Where do you live?

I have a bedroom at my vet’s practice in Surrey. I also have a small house so if I’m lucky I get to go there sometimes. But staying at the practice is easier than the commute on the M25 — at the practice it’s 6ft between the bed and the desk. I’m lucky because in my previous practice I used to sleep on the floor.

Are you a workaholic?

That is true and I would not advocate it as a way of life. I think with great purpose comes great sacrifice. If you’re going to wield a scalpel blade for 10 hours then you’re not going to be playing pool down the pub.

Didn’t you receive a Guinness World Record after you operated on a cat that became the world’s first animal to receive two bionic leg implants?

Yes, but if you come into my office you won’t see any of my degrees or awards on the walls because I don’t believe they define you.

What do you enjoy away from work?

I go to gigs or the theatre. I’m a massive rock and pop fan, and I like music that moves me and connects to my soul. When I was a teen, I glorified Led Zeppelin, U2, AC/DC and Metallica. The last gig I went to was Coldplay and Sam Fender’s album Seventeen Going Under means a lot to me.

Vetman And His Bionic Animal Clan (Hachette) is out now

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