Handbook of Small Animal Practice

Rating:
Summary: A tough choice to make
Review: The right answer to the dumb question "If you could buy only 1 book . . .?" should be "I wouldn't be a vet!" Choosing a comprehensive Small Animal Practice book, however, comes to only 2 alternatives: either Birchard & Sherding's or Morgan's. I am not considering excellent Internal Medicine texts (like Ettinger or Nelson & Couto) because, by design, they leave out important areas of the practice. Which one would you choose, then? I have a slight preference for Birchard & Sherding's (which could be influenced by the fact that I worked in the same school as them for 20 years!). Morgan's outline format occasionally is too restrictive and prevents full explanation of important concepts but it is a great text and a few chapters (like the one on Central Nervous System) are truly exceptional. Each text has its own chracteristics and strongest areas but both are outstanding. What do you do then? Do as I did; buy both! It is a bit more expensive but you will be sure that you have the very best that has been written in small animal practice. I have had no reason to repent.

Rating:
Summary: A tough choice to make
Review: The right answer to the dumb question "If you could buy only 1 book . . .?" should be "I wouldn't be a vet!" Choosing a comprehensive Small Animal Practice book, however, comes to only 2 alternatives: either Birchard & Sherding's or Morgan's. I am not considering excellent Internal Medicine texts (like Ettinger or Nelson & Couto) because, by design, they leave out important areas of the practice. Which one would you choose, then? I have a slight preference for Birchard & Sherding's (which could be influenced by the fact that I worked in the same school as them for 20 years!). Morgan's outline format occasionally is too restrictive and prevents full explanation of important concepts but it is a great text and a few chapters (like the one on Central Nervous System) are truly exceptional. Each text has its own chracteristics and strongest areas but both are outstanding. What do you do then? Do as I did; buy both! It is a bit more expensive but you will be sure that you have the very best that has been written in small animal practice. I have had no reason to repent.

Rating:
Summary: This is the Bible for the S.A. clinician
Review: To make a long story short, if somebody tells me that I have to pick just ONE book to run a small animal practice, I would pick this one.
This book discuss 95% of the clinical cases you will find in real life and it's written in such a way, that you find the answer you need in a couple of minutes.