BOOK REVIEW: Handbook of Pig Medicine

The most exciting feature of this book is the excellent coloured photographs and drawings to help the reader, whether clinician or student, relate to the condition and assist with diagnosis. Most diseases have an illustration, and there is usually a good written description and differential diagnosis to go alongside it.

The first two chapters deal with the investigation of clinical problems on pig farms and the problems of population medicine. The next nine chapters deal with the systematic approach to diseases, musculoskeletal, respiratory, gastrointestinal systems etc. Chapter 12 deals with outdoor and organic pigs, which are increasingly popular in the UK and chapter 13 deals with the pet pig, which presents its own problems for large and small animal clinicians. The following chapters deal with antimicrobial therapeutics, analgesia anaesthesia and surgical procedures as well as chapters on sampling, haematology, post-mortem examination and differential diagnosis.

In some areas, it lacks depth on some subjects from a specialist's point of view but as a handbook for a general clinician, new graduate or for a student, it would be considered exceptionally useful. At a farmer or stockman level it would be invaluable to help recognise problems. The authors are experienced clinical teachers at the Veterinary School in Cambridge and this helps greatly towards the presentation and structure of the text and supporting photographs.

Overall, I think this will prove a very useful addition to the veterinary literature on pig medicine, filling the gap between Pig Diseases and Diseases of Swine.

Authors: Peter Jackson and Peter Cockroft
Paperback - 296 pages - in 20 chapters
Published date: 2007
ISBN: 9780702028281
Price: £59.99 (Excluding P&P)

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