Although countless people regularly use public transport in Istanbul, Turkey, one passenger in particular stood out from the rest. His name is Boji, and he was a stray dog. No one knows where the canine came from or when he started riding trains and buses. For some, it felt as if he’d always been there. But a few answers began to emerge after a tracker was placed on the pooch.

From wise women doling out healing herbs to eccentric quacks using methods laid out by the ancient Greeks, the world of medieval medicine was a strange place. But while we might be familiar with some of the practices used to treat humans back then, we know relatively little about how ailing animals were cared for in the Middle Ages. Be warned: things are about to get a little strange.