Chapter 1: A Triumph of Surgery

There are some instances in the story that suggest Dr Herriot was not as rich as Tricki’s mistress, Mrs Pumphrey. This is evident from the fact that the narrator could not provide a luxurious life such as a cosy bed stuffed with favourite cushions, toys and rubber rings along with bowls for different meals of the day, rather he made up a bed for Tricki in a warm loose box next to the one where the other dogs slept. The doctor also could not afford an entire staff of maids and caretakers just like Mrs Pumphrey to take care of the sole well-being and maintenance of her pet, Tricki.

Dr Herriot did not indulge Tricki with unnecessary food items. He rather treated him like an overweight and lazy dog who needed sufficient exercise with a controlled diet. He cut down his food intake and kept him under strict observation for the first few days. In due course of time, he increased Tricki’s food intake with a balanced diet and set him free for physical activities to improve his health. Gradually, the dog’s health started showing improvement, and he did not require any kind of medicinal treatment and recovered from his illness soon.

Mrs Pumphrey started to bring round fresh eggs, two dozen at a time, to build up Tricki’s strength. Later even bottles of wine and brandy began to arrive. The narrator, along with his partners, enjoyed having two eggs each for breakfast, wine and brandy that was meant for Tricki. They were days of deep content, starting well with the extra egg in the morning, improved and sustained by the midday wine and finishing luxuriously around the fire with the brandy. It was indeed a strong temptation for Herriot to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest to enjoy the luxurious inflow of all these food items.

Mrs Pumphrey thought that Tricki was seriously ill when she consulted Dr Herriot, but her pet recovered from his condition completely within a span of two weeks. She was glad to see that he had been transformed into a flexible and hard-muscled animal. When Dr Herriot brought Tricki to Mrs Pumphrey, he took a tremendous leap and sailed into his mistress’s lap. His revival without any medicinal treatment was noteworthy, and she declared that the dog’s recovery was indeed “a triumph of surgery” to express her gratitude and happiness to the doctor.