Books, books, BOOKS!

In other news my vet books arrived, I bought the latest editions of Carpenters Exotic Formulary, Blackwells Five Minute Veterinary Consult: Small Mammal, Ferrets, Rabbits & Rodents and my favorite book, a real gem The Laboratory Rabbit, Guinea Pig, Hamster & Other Rodents.

So a bit of a mini review on my new books.

Exotic Animal Formulary by James W. Carpenter 2013 edition (no I do not know how it counts as a 2013 edition, but that's what the book says)

This book is very useful but is unlikely to be of much use unless you have a good relationship with your vet. It doesn't provide info on diseases or treatments, it is simply a concise list of the dosages of all the different drugs used within a veterinary practice. In Australia is is absolutely fantastic because most vets don't know much about medications for cavies beyond Baytril and Metacam. The rOdent section is 34 pages long and covers every drug you could possibly need. But as I said before it's probably not so useful for the pet owner with a couple of pigs. I would however reccomend you insist on your vet having a copy. After spending numerous vet visits trying to work out medications for Feather that he won't react to and neither of us knowing the correct dosages, this will be invaluable for me.

Blackwell's Five Minute Veterinary Consult: Small Mammal edition by Barbara L. Oglesbee 2011 edition.

What can I say? this will now be my go to book. Forget Diseases of Domestic Guinea Pigs, this book is amazing! The guinea pig section is phenomenal and covers everything. I never knew the disease that wiped my cavies out in 2007 had a name... or a treatment protocol. But it does, you just have to look under Tyzzer's disease in this book. This book is easy to understand, though there may be times when you require a dictionary. The information is accurate, useful and covers an immense amount of health problems. It provides 120 pages of phenomenal information on cavies and comes with a formulary as well as as two pages of physiological values. It is not a cheap book but I reccommend it to anyone who owns cavies with all my heart. It is the best book I have ever come across regarding cavy health and belongs on the bookshelf of every single cavy fancier.

Ferrets Rabbits & Rodents: Clinical Medication & Surgery by Katherine E Quesenberry and James W. Carpenter. 2012 edition

I kind of regret buying this book, as thick and heavy as it is I don't find it particularly useful. Guinea Pigs are covered in a 59 page chapter along with Chinchillas, of that, just 15 pages is devoted to cavy diseases. The information supplied is quite basic and I cannot honestly see how a vet can use this textbook to diagnose animals. It's useful to owners providing the absolute basic diagnostic tools but I can name many websites that provide more detail. It does provide more information on protocols fr things such as anesthesia, analgesia and dentistry in the back, but Blackwell's is a lot more useful, though Blackwell's does not cover such protocols and instead focuses on diagnosis.

The Laboratory Rabbit, Guinea Pig, Hamster and Other Rodents by Mark A. Suckow, Karla A Stevens and Ronald P. Wilson. 2012 edition.

Okay so you get to see the nerdy side of me come out... I adore this book, absolutely and utterly adore it. It LISTS the viruses and bacteria that affect cavies... by name. It discusses treatments and diagnosis for such diseases. It gives specifics, numbers, data on all aspects of cavy physiology. It answers every question I have ever had about cavies. I adore this book, I want to marry this book, it is just amazing. It begins with 150 pages covering Ethics of Laboratory Animals, anesthesia and analgesia, biochemistry and hematology, euthanasia and necropsy and zoonoses and occupational health. It then has a 160 page section on cavies which covers taxonomy, history, anatomy, physiology, behaviour, managament, husbandry, general health, experimental models, infectious diseases (viral, bacterial, fungal, protaozaic AND parasitic) and non infectious diseases. AND THEN it has a formulary and a section on normative values.

Now this book probably is far far more than any cavy owner needs, but for a girl who is still disappointed she did the sensible thing and chose law over veterinary science? it is absolute heaven. It will take me months if not years to absorb all the information this book has to offer and I will love every minute of it. And if the worst thing ever happens and I have another disease go ripping through my caviary? I can hunt the bugger down and TREAT it. I can understand it, I can understand my animals health. Although I often do not agree with the use of lab animals, you gotta respect the information the labs produce. This book is a thousand Christmas's rolled into one and it's all I can do to avoid taking it to bed with me. It weighs about 4kg and is larger even then my law books but god it is amazing! It almost makes up for not actually doing veterinary science. Though I think I may scare my vet should I ever lug it in for a consult...



And back to me being cutesy and fluffy and ditsy (coz didn't ya know at 20 that's the only role I'm allowed to play). Ayanna is very heavily pregnant and I cannot wait! I am sooo very excited and looking forward to her popping. Her pelvic bones have begun inching apart and I feel confident to say that I'll see babies within the enxt two weeks!