Reviewed by Janet Cohn, DVM, DABVP

View Expanded

The book contains a thorough review of feline internal medicine organized on the basis of body systems. It effectively uses photographs, diagrams, and charts to clarify the information. The chapter editors do a good job of providing references for more in-depth information on most topics. The chapter on concurrent disease management should prove helpful to general practitioners, although I would have preferred a section on hyperthyroidism and inflammatory bowel disease because this seems to be a common combination in my patients. The chapters on management considerations for senior cats are a great resource. The section on palliative medicine has a well-written and thought-provoking discussion of end-of-life issues. The index seems to be quite thorough and user-friendly.

Overall, I highly recommend this book, and I think that it will make an excellent first-line reference for practitioners who work with a lot of cats or who would like to increase the feline portion of their practice.—By Susan E. Little. 1,398 pages; illustrated. Elsevier, 11830 Westline Industrial Dr, St Louis, MO 63146. ISBN 978-1-4377-0660-4. 2012. Price $189.00.

Reviewed by Julie E. Fixman, DVM, DABVP

View Expanded

Reviewed by Karen Kline, DVM, MS, DACVIM

View Expanded

Reviewed by Julie A. Churchill, DVM, PhD, DACVN

View Expanded

The 21 chapters are written by 20 well-respected contributing authors, most of whom are practicing nutritionists offering practical and relevant solutions for nutritional management of veterinary patients. The introductory chapter is a thought-provoking discussion of implementing nutrition into clinical practice, including aspects of practice management and realistic ways to make nutrition recommendations and provide a high standard of patient care. This is followed by brief chapters that review basic nutrition, reviews of useful calculations and energy requirements, signs of nutrient deficiencies and recommended tests, pet foods, and homemade diets. These early succinct chapters of nutrition principles serve as a foundation for the remainder of the text, which addresses feeding principles and practices for healthy dogs and cats and nutritional considerations in patients with diseases. Two-thirds of the book is devoted to chapters on nutritional management of diseases. These chapters can stand alone and will serve as useful resources for nutritional management of patients with diseases, including orthopedic, dermatologic, gastrointestinal, urological, endocrine, cardiovascular, oncological, and critical care needs. This book is concisely written and provides current and thoroughly referenced material for those who desire further reading. The format is consistent, with each chapter closing with a summary box of key points. It would be a valuable addition to the library of veterinary students, practitioners, and academicians.—By Andrea J. Fascetti & Sean J. Delaney. 388 pages; illustrated. Wiley-Blackwell, 2121 State Ave, Ames, IA 50014. ISBN 978-0-8138-0657-0. 2012. Price $99.99.

Reviewed by Jennifer L. Buur, DVM, DACVCP, PhD

View Expanded

Reviewed by Rebecca J. Morton, DVM, PhD

View Expanded

There are 12 new chapters including antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial therapy with added chapters on antifungals and antivirals. Four chapters—Renal, Cardiovascular, Musculoskeletal, and Integumentary—have been added to the Disease Section to complete a systems approach to microbial disease. Molecular diagnostic techniques are covered in a separate chapter. A new chapter on immunodeficiency diseases follows the chapter on immunology, and together they are an excellent review and summary of both topics. Every chapter has been updated with current classification and nomenclature, vaccines, molecular diagnostic techniques, pathogenesis, and antimicrobial resistance problems where appropriate.

Regardless of one's approach to teaching of veterinary infectious diseases, this book should be an excellent instructional tool. Although intended for students in veterinary microbiology, it is extremely comprehensive and has sufficient scope and depth to be used by graduate students as well. The price is fair because the book is extremely comprehensive and should serve as an excellent resource tool as well as a teaching text.—By P.J. Quinn, B. K. Markey, F. C. Leonard, E. S. FitzPatrick, S. Fanning, & P. J. Hartigan. 912 pages; illustrated. Wiley-Blackwell, 2121 State Ave, Ames, IA 50014. ISBN 978-1-4051-5823-7. 2011. Price $99.99.

Reviewed by Thomas E. Besser, DVM, PhD

View Expanded

I found chapters 6 (Biofilms) and 7 (Toxins Damaging Cell Membranes) to be outstanding examples of the broad overview approach. Chapter 10 (Bacterial Life in a Vacuole) is also excellent and is made more compelling by explicit consideration of the evolutionary implications underlying the mechanisms discussed. The book features many useful images, which are printed in black and white within the chapters and reprinted in larger-scale color illustrations in a special section that follows the Index. The book is generally clearly written and well edited. The readability is slightly affected by the style of citation used in the text (ie, author and year); some sections contain hundreds of references, which leads to multiple lines of citations following a single sentence. I would recommend this book as a resource for graduate students beginning their studies of bacterial pathogenesis as well as established investigators who are delving into a new area of bacterial pathogenesis research. Unfortunately, the purchase price of the book may represent a major obstacle, especially when compared with the prices for competing books in the field.—By Camille Locht & Michel Simonet. 378 pages; illustrated. Caister Academic Press, distributed by International Specialized Book Services, 920 NE 58th Ave, Ste 300, Portland, OR 97213. ISBN 978-1-904455-91-2. 2012. Price $350.00.

Reviewed by Craig A. Thompson, DVM, DACVP

View Expanded

Reviewed by Elizabeth Spangler, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DACVP

View Expanded

Reviewed by Brent J. Martin, DVM, DACLAM

View Expanded

All of the chapters are well illustrated with colorful photographs, illustrations, and tables. Nearly all of the photographs are of high quality and make important contributions; however, there are a few photographs that have a soft focus. The general organization and understandable descriptions in the book contribute to the comprehensive coverage.

When dealing with an uncommon species, the ability to find information in a timely manner can be critical. Veterinarians considering the purchase of this book should examine the index carefully because it has an unusual organization. The index is designed with multiple tiers of subheadings, rather than individual keywords that have their own heading. For example, under the letter F, there are 27 primary headings, but 13 of those are for ferrets, each with multiple subheadings.—By Katherine E. Quesenberry & James W. Carpenter. 596 pages; illustrated. Elsevier, 3251 Riverport Lane, Maryland Heights, MO 63043. ISBN 978-1-4160-6621-7. 2012. Price $79.95.

Reviewed by Stacy Pritt, DVM, MS, MBA

View Expanded

To cover a wide range of topics, from basic husbandry and management, to animal welfare, to diseases, to specific research models based primarily on organ systems, the chapters are relatively short when compared with those in other textbooks. The authors draw on experiences from academic, breeding, governmental, industrial, and international facilities, which provide this book with a well-rounded approach to its topic. All of the chapters contain appropriate references and provide specific physiologic values that many researchers and testing laboratories will find useful. A set of color photographs in the middle of the book is worthy of mention, although some of the ocular photographs are out of focus. Most chapters contain black-and-white photographs, drawings, or tables. A few chapters without illustrations could have been strengthened by their inclusion.

True to its title, the book contains little clinical information. Veterinarians seeking clinical information on minipigs should consult other textbooks. Researchers, including veterinary researchers, will find the book refreshing in its complete coverage of the various published minipig research models.—By Peter A. McAnulty, Anthony D. Dayan, Niels-Christian Ganderup, & Kenneth L. Hastings. 643 pages; illustrated. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 6000 Broken Sound Pkwy NW, Ste 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487. ISBN 978-1-4398-1118-4. 2012. Price $189.95.

Reviewed by Robert M. Bowker, VMD, PhD

View Expanded

The chapters are divided into regions from the thoracic limb to abdominal and pelvic cavities, with a short chapter on bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which is similar to the first edition. In this portion of the text, concise and detailed descriptions are clear and enable some of the more difficult topics to be more easily understood, especially with the aid of the detailed drawings. Where necessary, the contributors have contrasted the findings of cattle to those of horses. As expected, the illustrations are thorough and their presentation well planned such that the important concepts are easily understood. In the newly added clinical portion, the additional contributors make the basic anatomy relevant as they incorporate the anatomy into the clinical descriptions. Several topics such as biomechanics and the anatomy of the distal aspects of the limbs, joints, and hooves are well covered, providing sufficient details to explain pathologically and clinically relevant information and describing the biomechanics in terms that can be easily understood. The guides and color coding of the clinical topics are helpful, and they encourage readers to continually refresh their understanding of applied anatomy with the clinical observations. The references are reasonably complete and are a good starting point for those interested in further exploring specific bovine topics. However, several important contributions are notably lacking from the reference list. This text is a valuable resource for anyone studying bovine animals because the information has been condensed to the relevant basic and applied descriptions of these creatures.—By Klaus-Dieter Budras & Robert E. Habel, with Christoph K. W. Mülling & Paul R. Greenough. 176 pages; illustrated. Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft/Thieme Medical Publishers, 333 Seventh Ave, New York, NY 10001. ISBN 978-3-89993-052-8. 2011. Price $160.00.

Reviewed by Tom Seahorn, DVM, MS, DACVIM, DACVECC

View Expanded

Reviewed by Leigh Ann Clayton, DVM, DABVP

View Expanded

This is the only veterinary textbook that exclusively provides an in-depth treatise on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrate animal medicine. The chapters remain well organized and easy to follow, with clinically relevant reviews of basic anatomy, appropriate husbandry, disease conditions, diagnostic guidance, and treatment options. The text centralizes available references for interested readers. Compared with information in domestic animal veterinary texts, the information on medical care still relies heavily on anecdotal information and personal experience, which is a result of the still-limited amount of published veterinary literature on these animals. Despite this, the text provides appropriate guidance for readers who care for invertebrate animals.

The price seems appropriate for the amount of information and number of images. Clinicians who regularly work with these species in any context should consider obtaining the book for their library. This textbook continues to highlight the lack of even basic veterinary information for many species and will hopefully inspire continued research and clinically relevant publications regarding these animals.—By Gregory A. Lewbart. 488 pages; illustrated. Wiley-Blackwell, 2121 State Ave, Ames, IA 50014. ISBN 978-0-8138-1758-3. 2012. Price $164.99.

Reviewed by James Wohl, DVM, MPA

View Expanded

The book has a clear emphasis on pets, which makes it unique among books on veterinary public health. There are no chapters devoted to agribusiness or agroterrorism or to detailed epidemiological theory that typifies textbooks on veterinary public health. The intent of the book is to educate the general public, but it will also be useful for undergraduate students who are seeking an overview on the history and implications of living in contact with animals. This book would be a valuable addition to the waiting room library of any practice whose clientele is motivated by the role of animals in society or expresses an interest in the public health consequences of living among animals. Clients, students, and veterinarians seeking to become well versed in the public dialogue on animal health, the one health movement, and ways in which human health is enriched as well as threatened by animals will be abundantly rewarded by reading this book.—By Radford G. Davis. 286 pages. Praeger, 130 Cremona Dr, Santa Barbara, CA 93117. 978-0-313-38529-2. 2011. Price $48.00.

Reviewed by John F. Scott, DVM, JD

View Expanded

However, despite the presentation of vast amounts of material, the book is limited in its usefulness in 2 specific ways. First, the use of endnotes rather than footnotes makes for tedious reading. The book contains copious amounts of notes, but the use of endnotes requires readers to constantly turn to the end of a chapter to read the notes. For example, Chapter 2 contains 48 pages of text and 30 pages of endnotes, and Chapter 4 contains 47 pages of text and 23 pages of endnotes. Readers must constantly turn to the end of each chapter to determine whether a note is a technical one or whether there is a lengthy note that provides substantial additional information to the text.

The other factor that affects the usefulness of the book as a reference volume is the limited index, which is < 4 pages for 325 pages of text. The index appears to be accurate, but it is of limited value for locating specific regulations for a specific species in a specific country. The entry “United States” contains 70 page references with no additional indication of the information that can be found on those pages. Similarly, the entry “dogs” contains 39 page references with no additional information. Conversely, “chickens” contains 1 page reference, “chickens, broiler” contains 4 page references, and “chickens, layer” contains 1 page reference. One of the most useful lists included in the book is a 3-page List of Terms, which provides acronyms for various regulations, legislative acts, and organizations.

Potential readers should be aware that the book is written from an animal welfare perspective. This is not surprising given that one of the authors is a staff attorney at the Animal Legal Defense Fund. In the preface to the book, one of the authors states: “While there are some significant differences in the current legal protection for animals, our conclusions are that there is much similarity in the way animals are treated—and great room for improvement. Some countries may be lagging in developing particular protections in certain areas; others may have developed an intricate set of laws in a given area, but in the end still provide little in the way of meaningful standards that will have any value to individual animals. We are still at the beginning … Certainly our deepest desire is that what we have written will stimulate positive change for them.”—By Bruce A. Wagman & Matthew Liebman. 340 pages. Carolina Academic Press, 700 Kent St, Durham, NC 27701. ISBN 978-1-59460-462-1. 2011. Price $50.00.