Diseases Of Small Domestic Rod » (And)

Virginia Richardson runs a small animal practice in partnership with her husband Ean, within which she has a specialist small pet rodent unit. Since a child she has always kept a variety of pet rodents, and this book is written from her experience as an owner, as well as a veterinary surgeon.

Not so long ago, hamsters, gerbils and mice were the only rodents kept as pets. Now the variety of rodents and the increasing popularity of these small creatures kept as pets has grown considerably. Since the last edition of Diseases of Small Domestic Rodents, two more rodents have been added to this book and become favourites among pet owners – the degu and the jird.

As well as two new chapters on jirds and degus, this book has been fully revised and updated to reflect current developments in the treatment and knowledge of diseases in small rodents. With specific sections on anaesthesia and detailed information on drug treatments, Diseases of Small Domestic Rodents is the definitive reference book for students, breeders and practitioners alike.

Michael A. Ringenberg

This softcover text describes the biology, husbandry, pathology, and medical/surgical therapeutics involving six species of small rodents. The book is grouped into six species-specific sections, with each section containing three chapters. The purpose of the book, as stated by the author, is to provide students and practitioners with a useful, accessible reference that is quick and easy to use. These are worthy objectives that have been met by the author. This book is intended as a reference for practitioners and students interested in expanding their veterinary knowledge to include small rodents, which are not equally represented in formal veterinary curricula. The author is credible with respect to the subject material. The book contains few illustrations, mostly anal-genital cartoons intended for sex determination. References are current are conveniently grouped by species at the conclusion of the text. The table of contents is well organized and easy to use. Format redundancy is a feature practitioners will find useful. The author addresses zoonotic aspects of small rodents in a separate section. Although brief, this section does serve to keep practitioners aware of potential transmissible diseases and highlights the important points on which they should educate their clientele. This book is intended and organized as a quick reference for practitioners. Text organization is an emphasized feature, and excess verbiage is limited. Trivial information has been omitted for simplicity. Sections regarding the biology, husbandry, and nutrition of small rodents are well done. The author has addressed the issue that many of the protocols/dosages are off-label, and good professionaljudgment should be exercised when licensed therapeutics are available. This text is an affordable reference for any small animal practitioner's library.