Book Reviews

D.E. Anderson, D.M. Rings, Current Veterinary Therapy FoodAnimal Practice, 5th ed., Saunders Elsevier, 2008,ISBN9781416035916, 736 pp.; £110 (hard)

This is the fifth volume in the series and as such serves as acompendium of ruminant conditions and their treatment. Theemphasis is very much on the individual patient and treatmentalthough there are often overviews given of epidemiology and pre-vention. However, space precludes in depth discussion of popula-tion aspects of the conditions discussed.

This is a multi-author work with over 100 contributors, thenames of many of whom will be familiar. The book comprises 14sections with each author contributing a chapter on one topic –the length of each chapter varies depending on the importanceof the condition or topic under discussion. The editors are bothinternationally recognised surgeons and this volume reflects theirinterests with excellent sections on surgery of ruminants. As mightbe expected of a volume such as this, it is similar to the curate’s egg– ‘good in parts’ – with some sections covered better than others.The sections on the rumen and abomasum left this reviewerunderwhelmed and disappointed especially in the light of theirimportance. Conversely there were excellent chapters on pain re-lief, chemical restraint and anaesthesia, which were sources ofvaluable information so often needed by the practicing veterinar-ian but hard if not impossible to locate. Similarly it is a first-ratesource of information on practical techniques not commonly car-ried out in food animals such as neurological and ophthalmicexaminations.

As might be expected in an American volume, there is strongemphasis on the US cattle industry with extensive coverage of thefeedlot system, offering fascinating insights into the field applicationof population medicine techniques. This US slant is also reflected inthe relatively poor coverage of sheep disease. Chapters are followedby References and Recommended Reading lists, although the sizeand quality of such lists varies greatly with some chapters endowedwith extensive lists and others with barely any at all.

The advertising on the back cover states ‘Get the up to date infor-mation on prevention, management and treatment of food animal dis-ease’. This book provides this in large part although sometimes to avariable quality. What it is not is a comprehensive volume cover-ing the entire field of ruminant disease in depth – that honour re-mains with Radostits and co-editors and Veterinary Medicine.However, it is a valuable text which deserves to be on the book-shelf of any veterinary practice wishing to provide a high qualityservice to their clients. Its value will most likely be as a source ofinformation on topics not commonly encountered or proceduresnot commonly performed, and as such is a valuable addition tothe practice library.

Dai Grove-WhiteSchool of Veterinary Science,

University of Liverpool,Leahurst Campus,

Neston,Wirral CH64 7TE, UK

E-mail address: daigw@liv.ac.uk

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2010.03.007

The Veterinary Journal 184 (2010) 379–381

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

The Veterinary Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate / tv j l

Z. Davies, Introduction to Horse Nutrition, 1st ed., Wiley-Black-well, Oxford, 2009, ISBN9781405169981, 248 pp.; £24.99 (soft)

The author makes it clear in her introduction that ‘the aim of thisbook is to introduce the subject of horse nutrition to all students andhorse owners at a level that is easy to understand’. I believe that shehas achieved this goal in that the book is easy to read and providesa good general overview to the topic. In addition, the illustrationsare in the main very clear and useful. The book does cover most as-pects of horse feeding, although it is difficult to provide sufficientdetail in some of the topic areas, which is a reflection of the factthat the aim is to provide an introduction rather than a detailed re-view. Some areas may be confusing to the very novice horse own-er, which again highlights that the target audience, I believe, isprimarily students studying equine nutrition at College/Universityas well as those owner/feeders who really want to understand theimportant role that nutrition plays.

The summary tables at the end of each chapter are useful,although I believe the chance to emphasise key take-home mes-sages was sometimes missed; for example, anaemia/poor perfor-mance is rarely caused by iron deficiency in the horse. The bookis up to date in some respects, such as including references to

events in 2009 of relevance, however, certain aspects relating tofeed regulations and labelling are already out of date. It does usethe most recent NRC guidelines as its reference material but attimes it would have been useful if the author had providedadditional or contrary comments where perhaps, from herexperience, she feels the NRC may not provide optimal advice.

This is not, however, a book for those who want to be able tolearn more than the basics, and in my opinion it would have beengood to have provided a list of ‘further reading’ for those whowanted to explore a particular aspect in more depth (perhaps inthe next edition). On occasions the author refers to what may beconsidered to be ‘accepted doctrine’ or ‘theoretically possible’rather than reporting on proven nutritional effects in the horse –this is perhaps highlighted in the list of deficiency signs associatedwith each nutrient; as an example, I am not aware of true ricketsbeing reported in the horse as a consequence of vitamin D, Ca or Pdeficiency. Whilst this prevents confusion, perhaps it does propa-gate such ideas – again in the next edition it would be useful to clar-ify such aspects. Certainly there are a few areas where I woulddisagree with the author and would wish to see the supportive evi-dence for comments made. This is particularly true for the diet-re-lated problem chapter, which scientifically is perhaps the weakest

380 Book Reviews / The Veterinary Journal 184 (2010) 379–381

chapter in the book. However, this does not detract from the overallmessage that it would give to the general reader.

In summary, whilst this book does not provide sufficient detailto formulate complex rations, it will help to empower students andthose horse owners/feeders who wish to make educated choiceswith respect to what they feed their horse. This is increasinglyrelevant as we realise the significant effect that diet (in ourselvesand in our animals) has on health both in the long and short term.

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2010.03.006

S.M. North, T.A. Banks, Small Animal Oncology: An Introduction,Saunders Elsevier, London, 2009, ISBN9780702028007, 304 pp.;£60 (hard)

In veterinary practice, the discipline of oncology is still rela-tively young. However, the increase in accessibility of chemother-apy drugs, access to radiation facilities and the recent licensing ofnew targeted therapies for cancer, has meant that there is a clearneed for information by the practicing veterinarian and undergrad-uate veterinary student. There has been a recent explosion in thenumber of ‘small animal oncology’ texts available to fill this appar-ent void. The difficulty with writing oncology textbooks is to definethe target audience and then ensure that the book is consistentwith those aims.

According to the authors, this book is targeted towards ‘practicingveterinary surgeons with an interest in oncology and to veterinary stu-dents, interns and residents’. It begins with a series of introductorychapters that provide a brief overview of tumour biology, clinicalstaging of cancer patients and therapeutic modalities. At times thesechapters could be considered too brief for the target audience withtumour biology receiving only four dedicated pages. This is not toobad to inform practitioners but is inadequate for modern undergrad-uate courses and for interns and residents wishing to study towardsdiplomat status. One could argue whether they add anything to thebook at all. However the following sections, particularly those dis-cussing therapeutic modalities, are more thorough with illustra-tions and tables providing a useful adjunct to the written text. Theillustrations, layout and structure are nicely done and represent anice ‘clean’ platform to understand the points being discussed.

Chapters discussing oncological emergencies, paraneoplasticsyndromes, cancer pain and nutrition follow these sections andprovide a good introduction and overview of pertinent points.These chapters are nicely presented and easy to read and make avaluable contribution. At times, however, the emphasis seems ill-placed with detailed clinical techniques such as feeding tube place-ment being included at the expense of sufficient medical depth.

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doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2010.03.005

P.R. Gavin, R.S. Bagley, Practical Small Animal MRI, 1st ed., Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2009, ISBN978013806075, 362 pp.; £87.50(hard)

The long-awaited small animal MRI text book has arrived! Ahardback book, it is split into seven sections. The first of these is ded-icated to technical aspects and is itself presented in five chapters.The other six sections cover a mixture of body areas (e.g. the thorax),and body systems (e.g. the nervous system). Those conditions thatbelong in more than one section are covered in all that apply. Thebook is widely researched and presented in an informal style.

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Patricia HarrisEquine Studies Group,

WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition,Freeby Lane,

Waltham-on-the-Wolds,Leicestershire LE14 4RT,

UKE-mail address: pat.harris@eu.effem.com

he remaining sections use a systems based approach to discussvidual tumour types. Whilst these chapters are adequate, easyead and practical, on occasion they lack sufficient detail to con-ently provide a stand-alone resource for the target audience, i.e.

that includes residents, interns and undergraduate students.rences are, however, provided to allow for further investiga-when required. The references are relevant and up to datethe book has been well researched.s the title indicates, this book provides an introduction to thec of small animal oncology emphasising principles of oncologythe approach to the individual patient rather than a compre-

sive discussion. The illustrations and tables are of good qualitythe book is well presented. The target audience is more to-

ds the informed general practitioner rather than residentsinterns. The style is more informal and content more clinicallysed than similar texts. At times the lack of depth of this book is

ts detriment and it is difficult to recommend it as a resourceve Withrow and Vail’s Small Animal Oncology, which has a sim-target audience and price but places significantly more empha-on the fundamental biology of cancer in addition to practicalagement and thus provides a more thorough and detailed re-

rce whilst still maintaining clinical and practical relevance. Fordents and interns, the Withrow and Vail book is far more com-ensive whilst being very clinically relevant and should be cho-

above this text. Overall, Small Animal Oncology: An Introductionvides a useful but not essential resource for the informedtitioner.

David J. ArgyleRoyal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Roslin Institute,

Easter Bush,Midlothian,EH25 9RG,

UKE-mail address: david.argyle@ed.ac.uk

he goal of the book is ‘to be a useful clinical veterinary MRI text’.o-doing, the authors attempt to bring together several enor-s subjects including MR physics, anatomy, and image interpre-

on. Whilst this is a great premise, it is bound to lack a little ine areas in order to remain portable! There is a helpful basicussion on the use of the most common sequences, the appear-e of different tissues on different sequences, and how a radiog-

er might set a scan up. Physics, a massive and complexject, is covered briefly and in prose. In my view this section re-es previous knowledge to result in any level of understanding.tomy is addressed at the start of each section. This is useful,