Q: "Could you post the best books for the ferret owner? I want to get them
for my vet..."
A: Kinda like when Ensign Pulver cut into Burl Ives and left the marbles
behind? You know, doing surgery reading a book?
I really can't answer that for anyone but myself because I would have to
know what was on their bookshelf or in their brain. So I will answer it for
myself; that is, which books I find personally most valuable. Not in any
particular order, here are Bob's Top Ten*:
1) James W. Carpenter, etal. 1996 "Exotic Animal Formulary." Greystone
Publications, Manhattan, Kansas. [GOOD: lists just about every drug and
proper dosage for ferrets, including some important comments. Also includes
blood/serum/urine values, endocrine disease symptoms, references.
BAD: Includes lots of stuff on fish, herps, and other mammals you don't
really need UNLESS you are a vet.]
2) James G. Fox. 1988 "Biology and Diseases of the Ferret." Lea and
Febiger; Philadelpia. [GOOD: Very comprehensive and broad. An oldie but a
goodie with nice sections on ferret history and anatomy. BAD: Out of date
and I believe out of print. A revised edition should be released soon.]
3) Elizabeth V. Hillyer and Katherine E. Quesenberry. 1997
"Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents: Clinical Medicine and Surgery." W. B.
Saunders CO.; Philadelphia. [GOOD: Comprehensive and Complete, and
up-to-date. BAD: Rabbits and Rodents.]
4) Chris C. Pinney. 1992 "The Illustrated Veterinary Guide for Cats,
Birds, and Exotic Pets." McGraw Hill; New York. [GOOD: Outstanding
all-around vet-guide, most of which can be used with ferrets. Very nice
"identification-key" approach to diagnoses. BAD: Is-It-A-Weasel-Or
-A-Mongoose? illustrations of ferrets. Could be an Egyptian heiroglyph.
Needs more stuff specifically on ferrets.]
5) Geoffrey West. 1992 "Black's Veterinary Dictionary." B&N Import; New
York. [GOOD: Outstanding dictionary; as good as Dorland's, Taber's or
Stedman's Medical dictionaries. BAD: Costs about $100.]
6) D. C. Blood and Virginia P. Studdert. 1988 "Bailliere's Comprehensive
Veterinary Dictionary." Bailliere Tindall; London. [GOOD: Almost as good as
Black's, I like the appendices a little better, lots cheaper (about $40) so
it is the best value for the buck. BAD: Some definitions are tautological;
Word A: see Word B. Word B: see Word C. Word C: see Word A. I hate
getting led in circles. I hate getting led in circles. I hate getting led
in circles.]
7) Susan A. Brown and Karen L. Rosenthal. 1997 "Self-Assessment Color
Review of Small Mammals." Iowa State University Press; Ames, Iowa. [GOOD:
Outstanding illustrations, teaches in a testing atmosphere. BAD: Needs to
three times larger and only on ferrets. Also, the book is physically small;
its hard to see the picture detail.]
8) David Klingener. 1979 "Laboratory anatomy of the mink." W. C. Brown;
Dubuque, Iowa. [GOOD: You want basic anatomy and organ systems, this has
it. BAD: Its about the mink, but that's ok, just type out lots of
itty-bitty "ferrets" and paste them over the word "mink." At this basic
level, there is very little difference.]
9) American Ferret Association. 1996/97 "The Eighth/Ninth Small Mammals
Veterinary Conference." American Ferret Association, Inc.; Frederick, MD.
[GOOD: Nice stuff with lots of up-to-date info. BAD: Adapted from papers,
and not enough ferret stuff.]
10) David Pass, etal. 1993 "Veterinary Care of Birds, Rodents, Rabbits,
Ferrets and Guinea Pigs." Publication No.2/93, Murdoch University Foundation
for Continuing Veterinary Education. [GOOD: Nice style, compares USA to
Australia. BAD: Just a drop in the bucket of stuff to know. I wanna know
more about the Australian bloodlines, which Pass indicates was isolated
since 1904-07.]
BONUS: Edward Lytton Wheeler. 1886 "Tony Fox, the ferret, or, Boss Bob's
boss job." Deadwood Dick library ; v. 3, no. 33, M. J. Ivers; New York.
[GOOD: Catchy title; just like it. BAD: Just try to find a copy.]
Bob C and 20 MO Bibliohounds.
* These are not actually my personal top ten, but then "Ecological
Methodology," "Nutritional Biochemistry," "Evolutionary Biology," "Hyman's
Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy" and the like are probably not ferret-related
enough. Too bad.
[Posted in FML issue 2205]
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