Touched by All Creatures

""We are a hearty, plump, affable group that appreciates fatty foods and good friends,"" begins Balliet, describing herself and her veterinarian husband, along with the Pennsylvania Dutch community they serve as a ""mobile veterinary MASH team."" Balliet, an English professor at a local college, sets out her theme with earnest straightforwardness, announcing that she intends to show readers the unknown in the midst of the everyday, to deliver a sense of ""otherworldliness, along with a sense of deep personal commitment and selflessness."" But Balliet places an undue amount of importance on her and her husband's life preceding and surrounding Edgar's beginning his practice as a veterinarian. Throughout, the writing is stilted and wincingly quaint (""We had so little money that the most economic abode was a mobile home""). Chapters include ""A Day to Remember,"" ""Excitement at the Allentown Fair"" and ""A Dog in Cat's Clothing."" Ultimately, Balliet's book fails to transcend the level of sentimental reminiscence. Still, animal lovers, especially those with ties to rural Pennsylvania, may be willing to overlook the text's belabored preciousness in order to savor stories of lovable cats, horses, llamas, goats and birds, as well as of a host of eccentric local characters (including one who believes that any ailment can be cured with urine). Despite the excess literary fat and sugar, the wonder of animals and the earthy humane details of doctoring them shines through. (Apr.)