Book Review

The 5-Minute Veterinary Counsult: Canine and Feline (2nd ed.)

Larry P. Tilley & Francis W.K. Smith, Jr.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

This complete reference is an excellent resource about disease management for the practitioner who treats dogs and cats.

This 1428-page reference, which is also available on CD-ROM, is an excellent resource for obtaining information about the diseases and clinical syndromes of cats and dogs. It is extremely thorough, yet each topic is contained on two pages and can be read in 5 minutes or less. The book is divided into three sections in which problems, diagnostic tests, and diseases are presented. Each section includes basic information (definitions, pathophysiology of diseases and conditions, systems affected, incidence and prevalence, symptoms, signs, causes, and risk factors), diagnoses (interpretation of laboratory test results, imaging, diagnostic procedures, and pathologic findings), treatment (health care, nursing care, activity, diet, client education, surgical considerations, and behavior modification), medications (drugs of choice, contraindications, precautions, interactions, and alternatives), follow-up (patient monitoring, possible complications, expected course, and prognosis), and miscellaneous information (associated conditions, suggested reading, and references). Although The 5-Minute Veterinary Consult mentions medications and includes a drug formulary, its primary focus is that of disease management and providing total care for the animal. It is a complete reference for the veterinarian who wants a comprehensive view of his or her patient.