|
Editorial review:
Ultimate pet care and emergency first-aid guidePEnsure a long, healthy life for your pet with the advice packed into The Illustrated Veterinary Guide, Second Edition, by Chris C. Pinney, DVM. This encyclopedic guide covers everything you need to care for both common and exotic small animal pets, from proper housing and daily nurturing to emergency medicine. It even covers pets many people won't take to a vet, such as rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils and reptiles. If you learn only one thing from the book that avoids a costly veterinarian visit, the Guide will have paid for itself many times over! This new edition covers:P*10 steps for reducing the cost of owning a pet*PAlternate therapies, homeopathic care and natural remedies, and emergency first-aidP*New treatments for canine and feline heartworm, arthritis management, and flea controlP*Pet nutritionP*BreedingP*Much more!IThe Illustrated Veterinary Guide/I is a brilliantly conceived and expertly rendered reference. In one succinct volume, Chris C. Pinney, D.V.M., covers just about everything you might need to know about owning and caring for dogs, cats, and countless other animals. He covers birds, rabbits, and guinea pigs; hamsters, rats, and chinchillas; prairie dogs, hedgehogs, ferrets, and miniature potbellied pigs--plus reptiles, amphibians, tropical fish, and invertebrates. Whether your menagerie is restricted to Fluffy and Fido, or extends to tarantulas, hermit crabs, newts, and snakes, Pinney provides chapters on restraint, housing, nutrition, reproduction, preventive health care, and the diseases and disorders relevant to each species.p The dog and cat sections are naturally the most thorough, forming more than half the book. Pinney discusses how to choose the right dog and how to housebreak, socialize, and train him, then delves into preventive health care (nail trimming, weight control, and staving off parasites), elective surgeries (tail docking and ear trimming), and breeding your dog (from puberty and birthing to the care of neonatal puppies). Next come the infectious diseases (such as distemper, paravirus, kennel cough, and ringworm) and the parasitic diseases (such as scabies, tapeworm, and demodectic mange). Pinney's veterinary guide launches into all the internal systems (cardiovascular and respiratory, immune and digestive, urinary and reproductive, musculoskeletal, nervous, and endocrine) plus the doggy anatomy of skin and coat (integumentary system), eyes, and ears. Pinney explains the workings of each system, and the diseases that afflict them. There are few symptom charts, so you can't look up "vomiting" and see the associated diseases, though you can check the chapter on first aid for a quick guide to possible causes and seriousness. You can also identify the digestive system as the likely location, read about all the conditions and symptoms, and decide if tonsillitis, intestinal obstruction, or intussusception seems most likely.p The information provided by Pinney is all sound veterinary data, and the appendix on first aid for dogs and cats is excellent. But don't underestimate the value of the illustrations. An illustration of ringworm on a cat face is worth a thousand words when it comes to assessing if that's what your cat has, and mimicking the drawing of how to hold a pet snake is worlds easier than trying to apply written instructions to a restive boa. Some illustrations, such as the one of a cat in a thicket to illustrate feline nocturnal predatory habits, provide more eye candy than useful data. But there's no replacement for a picture of where to cut a bird's talon, how to restrain a lizard, or what a dog with impacted anal sacs looks like when it's scooting. If you like animals and want all your veterinary info in one place, Pinney's guide is a great one-volume resource. I--Stephanie Gold/I
|
5 stars. Indispensable aid for caretakers and owners of small animals
This indispensable aid for caretakers and owners of small animals is a miniature encyclopedia chock full of facts, advice, and instruction on the care and feeding of dogs, cats, birds, and other pets. With chapters on everything from proper housing and daily nurturing of your pets, to emergency medicine and disease symptoms, this book has a section for just about everything you may encounter in pet ownership and animal care. The book even covers pets that many folks won't take to a vet -- rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, and reptiles. If you learn even one thing from the book that avoids a costly veterinary visit, the book has already paid for itself. This guide is especially helpful for people with more than one type of animal -- for instance, I have cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, and rats. Instead of shelling out mega-bucks for 5 separate books, I was able to locate all the information I need in a single book. While most pet owners won't read the entire book at the time of purchase, that's one way to approach the wealth of information it offers. On the other hand, it's a terrific manual to have on hand, just in case, for the times when you'll need it. Much like a home first aid kit, this is a tool all pet owners should have in their homes.
|
Pet Comparison Shopping!
){kind=link}