Veterinary Ethics: Navigating Tough Cases
Siobhan Mullan, BVMS, PhD, DWEL, DECAWBM & Anne Fawcett, BSc, BVSc, MANZCVS, DECAWBM
526 pages. 2017. 5M Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-910455-68-5. Price $62.95.
I cannot think of anyone involved in the veterinary profession who does not need Veterinary Ethics: Navigating Tough Cases in their medical armamentarium. With it, readers will understand the richness of ethics, the various theories that can be applied to individual cases, and how to determine best outcomes by use of logical reasoning rather than black-and-white arguments.
As a practitioner as well as a past president of the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics and the American Animal Hospital Association, I am very aware that veterinary health-care teams are confronted with making ethical decisions daily. Unfortunately, as a group, veterinarians do not have the formal ethical training necessary for critical examination of issues. There is a tendency to think that the ethical dilemmas we face are black and white. This mental rigidity makes it difficult to have a constructive dialogue because black-and-white thinking often translates to I am right and you are wrong.
This book serves as an instructional training manual for the development of an ethical practice beyond black and white into the gray zone of real life. Its organization makes it easy for readers to access specific topics. The first 2 chapters should be required reading for every veterinarian and veterinary student. They present information about the complexity and richness of various ethical theories and describe the tools necessary for critical thinking and conducting robust and rewarding dialogues on ethical issues. The remaining chapters provide specific case studies of ethical issues commonly encountered by various veterinary communities.
I highly recommend this as a foundational book for all those involved in veterinary health care. The robustness of the information presented gives readers an awareness of the ethical underpinnings associated with the decisions veterinarians commonly make on a daily basis. I also recommend this book as required reading for all veterinary students. Classroom discussions of the case studies in this book before being faced with such dilemmas in practice will provide future veterinarians the resilience and sense of well-being that our profession desperately needs.
Reviewed by Kate Knutson, DVM
Pet Crossing Animal Hospital & Dental Clinic Bloomington, Minn
Veterinary Pharmacology & Therapeutics (10th edition)
Jim E. Riviere, DVM, PhD, DSc & Mark G. Papich, DVM, MS, DACVCP
1,525 pages. 2018. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-118-85582-9. Price $224.99.
The tenth edition of Veterinary Pharmacology & Therapeutics includes substantial rewrites of many chapters and updates within every chapter. Basic principles of pharmacology, major mechanistic and clinical drug classes, and clinical specialties are all presented. The chapters of this edition, although still packed with information, are now more easily navigated owing to the use of colored headings, which indicate groupings of therapeutics by both mechanistic action and clinical use. The text continues to provide information regarding drug use in major species and emphasizes species-specific differences on the basis of physiologic mechanisms. It also provides information on public health and regulatory considerations of veterinary drug use in the United States. This edition has more diagrams than previous editions, although they are still sparse, and those diagrams are available on the companion website. Each chapter is comprehensively referenced for readers who are interested in exploring the topic presented in more detail. This book is fairly priced and will be a useful reference for students in veterinary medicine and veterinary technician curricula as well as internal medicine residents and graduate students in comparative medicine programs. Similar to all books of this nature, information regarding specific drugs may soon be outdated owing to rapid advances and changes in veterinary medicine and pharmacology.
Reviewed by Jennifer L. Buur, DVM, DACVCP, PhD
Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, Calif
Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook (9th edition)
Donald C. Plumb, Pharm D
1,428 pages. 2018. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-119-34445-2. Price $89.99.
The ninth edition of Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook is an indispensable reference that continues the tradition of providing timely, trustworthy, and well-researched information on veterinary drugs established in previous editions. The information provided in this book will help veterinary teams use the products described in an effective and safe manner. Given the ever-expanding number of drugs and drug formulations available to veterinarians, this book is essential for every veterinary professional. It provides updates on the rules and regulations governing the use of drugs in veterinary patients. The information presented is thorough and includes information provided not only by drug manufacturers but also from practitioners and publications regarding the use of specific drugs in various situations with a strong emphasis on the clinical application of drugs for different species and medical conditions.
This edition is as current as possible, and a digital version is also available. New to this edition are monographs for 17 drugs not included in the eighth edition, one of which is provided at the end of the book because it was added after the text was typeset. Several new and useful appendices have been added to this edition and include information necessary to comply with the Veterinary Feed Directive and extralabel drug use and a summary of small animal blood products. Every monograph and appendix includes an extensive list of links to scientific articles and private and government websites where readers can access further information. It is helpful to have such key pieces of information so readily available in a practical and useful format. Overall, I consider this book to be an essential reference for veterinarians, veterinary researchers, veterinary technicians, and veterinary students.
Reviewed by Maureen Mac Dougall, MS, DVM
Foothill College Los Altos, Calif
Exotic Animal Formulary (5th edition)
James W. Carpenter, MS, DVM, DACZM & Christopher J. Marion, DVM, MPH
701 pages. 2018. Saunders (an imprint of Elsevier). ISBN 978-0-323-44450-7. Price $68.95.
The fifth edition of the Exotic Animal Formulary is a welcome update to an invaluable reference for the treatment and evaluation of exotic pets and wildlife. No other published literature source in exotic animal practice packs as much information into a concise handheld volume as this book. Although this edition has approximately 50 more pages than the fourth edition, it still fits comfortably in 1 hand and does not feel much bigger or heavier when held. As with previous editions, the text is divided into chapters for each taxonomic group. A new chapter on backyard poultry and waterfowl has been added to this edition. Another new and helpful feature of this edition is the presence of tabbed pages that readily direct readers to each chapter. The bulk of the text is comprised of monographs for 295 drugs, which are organized by drug class for each taxonomic group. Each monograph is heavily referenced. In fact, the book contains more than 2,400 references. The end of each chapter has useful resources such as tables of reference intervals for biological and clinical pathological variables and treatment guidelines including drug dosages commonly used during emergency situations in exotic animals. Those tables are a major reason this book is such an invaluable resource for exotic animal practitioners. Whenever I am asked which textbooks I consider essential to exotic pet practice, the Exotic Animal Formulary has always been at the top of my list, and the fifth edition is no exception. This edition has been freshly updated, which provides clinicians confidence that the guidelines recommended for drug selection and use are based on the latest research findings in the rapidly changing and advancing field of veterinary pharmacology. This edition is available in both print and electronic formats at the same price.
Reviewed by Lauren V. Powers, DVM, DABVP
Carolina Veterinary Specialists Huntersville, NC
Notes in the Category of C: Reflections on Laboratory Animal Care and Use
Steven M. Niemi, DVM, DACLAM
236 pages. 2018. Academic Press (an imprint of Elsevier). ISBN 978-0-12-805070-5. Price $44.95.
Notes in the Category of C: Reflections on Laboratory Animal Care and Use is a reflection of the author's experience as a laboratory animal veterinarian and a snapshot of current activities that occur in animal research. The author attempts to look at animal research from various angles. Although this book is available to lay individuals not involved in animal research, it contains some jargon that some may find difficult to understand. The author provides a fresh view of laboratory animal medicine and leadership. He presents many outside-the-box ideas that all laboratory animal veterinarians should consider, ranging from lean management to evaluation of humane end points. Most of these ideas are fully presented, transparent, and implementable, and some address the economics of laboratory animal medicine and how to manage the budgetary aspects of leadership in animal care and use. Discussion about the cost of animal research from the aspect of a laboratory animal director is uncommon. In my experience, management of budgets is rarely addressed in veterinary curricula or graduate programs in laboratory animal medicine. That is unfortunate because many residents in laboratory animal medicine programs go on to become directors of animal research programs and will need to manage people involved in the care and welfare of laboratory animals as well as develop budgets to pay salaries, provide adequate supplies, monitor the biosecurity of the operation, and guide others in the rules and regulations so that accreditation may be obtained and maintained. The author clearly put much thought into the expression and presentation of his views, knowing full well that some in the field will disagree with his ideas. I found this book fairly easy to read and enjoyed reading the author's perspective.
Reviewed by Suzanne Craig, DVM, DACLAM, MBA
Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC
