John Dolittle, M. D., was once a famous doctor. But then he learned to talk Animal-Language, picked up several interesting pets, and gradually began to lose his patients. Finally the only patient who remains, the Cat's-Meat-Man, makes a suggestion - why doesn't he give up treating people and become an animal doctor? And so Dr. Dolittle becomes an animal doctor, and life seems to be going well. But with the addition of an escaped crocodile to his store of pets, even the animals stop coming ...