What’s Wrong With Tom: A Veterinary Tale of Courage and Compassion follows a cheerful, free-spirited cat who loves to roam and explore his world, who develops a mysterious pain one morning, and relies on his caring parents to uncover the problem.  What was the inspiration for your story?

I’ve wanted to write a children’s book ever since my daughter was born nearly ten years ago, but I never quite felt like I had the right story—until one day, a veterinary colleague casually suggested I write about what’s around me. As we spoke, I was just in the process of managing the care of a cat with a urinary obstruction. At first, I dismissed the idea of turning veterinary emergencies into a children’s story—it felt too complex, heavy, and difficult to translate into an educational but still a fun reading experience. But over time, I began to see a way to approach it creatively, and eventually, the concept for What’s Wrong with Tom? started to take shape.

As an emergency veterinarian, I’ve seen countless families come in with pets who just aren’t acting like themselves, and the owners don’t always know what signs to focus on and relay to the veterinary team. Urinary obstruction in male cats is a common and serious condition that can become life-threatening if not caught early, and some of the signs can be somewhat straightforward to note, if you know what you’re looking for. Families who are aware of this condition often recognize the signs quickly and are able to seek care before it becomes critical. That’s the kind of awareness I was hoping to spark with this book, and in future books.

I wanted to create a story that introduces the condition in a way that’s gentle, engaging, and age-appropriate—something kids could connect with and that families could learn from together. The inspiration for Tom came from the many real-life cases I’ve seen over the years—and yes, we really do seem to have an overabundance of slightly overweight male orange cats who come in with this condition!

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

Children’s books, to me, are magical in the way they can introduce real-world situations while also helping kids learn about themselves. That’s why it was so important for me to include elements that children could genuinely connect with and draw lessons from—both emotionally and practically—while also introducing complex medical concepts in ways that kids can (hopefully) understand.

One of my primary goals in writing this book was to offer a gentle, age-appropriate introduction to what a real pet emergency might look like. I wanted to help children—and the adults reading with them—understand what happens medically, what signs to watch for at home, and that it’s important to seek veterinary care when something seems off. My aim was to present just enough clinical information to educate, without overwhelming or losing the warmth of the story.

Equally important was highlighting the role of the veterinary team as a trusted and compassionate part of a pet’s care. I wanted to reinforce the idea that pet families and veterinary professionals are all working together toward the same goal. In fact, I believe in this concept so strongly that I created a pet owner education platform built around the slogan One Team, One Goal: Collaborative Pet Care. That sense of trust, partnership, and shared purpose is at the heart of the story.

Beyond the medical and practical aspects, I also wanted to explore key social-emotional themes. In this story, stress plays a role in the disease process, so I used that as an opportunity to talk about stress awareness and coping strategies in a way that’s approachable for young readers. I also used the translator as a way to give Tom a voice and allow children to connect with his emotional experience: his courage in finding his voice and speaking up for himself.

My hope is that readers walk away from the book feeling entertained, learning something along the way—and that the adults reading with them also find value in the story.

The art in this book is fantastic. What was the art collaboration process like with the illustrator Mischa Pearson?

I was so thrilled to have found the amazing Mischa Pearson to be my illustrator and partner-in-crime through this book creation process. This was my very first children’s book, and I had a lot to learn. Mischa, on the other hand, has been an illustrator for a while—and also an author—so it was incredible to have her in my corner.

Despite us being in different time zones, we were able to communicate effectively throughout the process. We began by creating a general outline of what we wanted for each page… and then promptly changed almost everything. HA!

We definitely had some challenges and a few very comical situations, especially because some of the scenes were veterinary-specific and quite medical—and Mischa, unlike me, is not a veterinarian. There were a few illustrations that I had clearly in my mind but had a hard time conveying. I ended up creating a lot of very entertaining mockups using a mix of coworkers posing in real scenarios, reference photos, and random images to help set the scene. Most of the resulting mockups were pretty hilarious, and we’ve kept some of those behind-the-scenes gems in our personal folders for when we need a good laugh.

Just like in any situation where you have multiple creative minds involved, there were times we didn’t quite agree on how a page should look. We would go through different versions until we both felt happy with it—sometimes by adding more and more detail, other times by stripping it back. And in one case, we scrapped the idea completely and started over from scratch.

This was absolutely a learning experience for everyone, but I’m so thrilled I got to work with Mischa. I now consider her a friend, and I feel incredibly lucky that her talent helped bring this story to life so beautifully.

Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?

Yes! What’s Wrong with Tom? is the very first book in The Critter Care Crew series. The next book is already written and currently in the early stages of editing, with an expected release in 2026.

While I’m not quite ready to reveal the full plot just yet, I can say that readers will meet a brand-new main character—a sweet dog this time around! The setting remains the same, with the Critter Care Crew facility and our translator machine still in action. However, we’ll have a new veterinary team on duty, and we’ll be exploring a new set of social-emotional themes. 

I’m also excited to share that this book will be brought to life by a new illustrator—the wonderfully talented Andi Ketch. I truly can’t wait to see it all come together!

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