Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know: Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs [Hardcover]

Karen Halligan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

Keep your pets happy and healthy with this complete guide to pet healthcare.

Dr. Karen Halligan is one of the country's most respected, leading authorities on preventative healthcare for pets. Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know offers real-life, useful tips for pet owners who want to improve their pets' health while still lowering veterinarian bills.

In this first-of-its-kind, highly acclaimed book, Dr. Halligan shares her 20 years of veterinary expertise with pet owners. She provides a common sense, money-saving, and practical approach to pet healthcare and offers pet owners the information they need to avoid the emergency room and detect the most common signs of illness. Avoiding confusing medical jargon, Dr. Halligan offers well-organized chapters that guide pet owners through the various life stages of their dogs and cats and tips for every situation, from travel and holidays to disaster preparedness.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Karen Halligan has appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly, the Today show, Animal Planet and Animal Rescue 911 and is the Director of Veterinary Services at the spcaLA. She shares her life in Los Angeles with Kinky and Nathan, two very spoiled (and healthy) cats.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060898593
• ISBN-13: 978-0060898595
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,015,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...guide for new animal owner's!, June 30, 2009

By 

Ann Forster (Foxborough, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know: Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs (Paperback)

Interesting book! Information covers everything from dog's nose to tail. This book should be offered as a guide for new animal owner's! Doc Halligan writes in the vernacular, making the book easy to read for everyone! Ann

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Dog bible- this book has saved me thousands!, October 3, 2007

By 

M. Puopolo "Dog lover" (Malibu, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know: Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs (Hardcover)

This is one of the best books out there. It is very thorough, informative and detailed. I could not put it down, took it on our family vacation last month and I learned so many things that will benefit our 2 dogs which are like our kids-A must have for everyone, and a great gift, I bought a few for friends and co-workers and they love it too!

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know..., May 14, 2007

By 

Margaret Yim - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know: Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs (Hardcover)

2/18/2011 -- I'm amending my initial review because I think my original assessment was too harsh and unfair. Ironically, after giving 5 star ratings to other dog care books, I ended up keeping this one and donating the others when culling my library. I ended up keeping this one because it has a dog check-up list so you'll be able to assess the overall health of your dog, and get your dog used to being handled. As the author points out, dogs can't talk, so it is vitally important that owners remain observant of their pets so you'll know when they're sick. The book is easy and quick to refer to, and provides common a sense approach to dog care. I think the reason why I originally panned this book is because Doc Halligan is more of a mainstream, conservative DVM, representing the "establishment" vs. a vet with more wholistic philosophies. And I personally, prefer the more integrative approach, but that doesn't mean this book doesn't have good information.

My initial review:
While I'm no expert on dog care, I've read at least a dozen books on the subject and have talked with numerous pet owners about general pet care. This book, however, is perhaps best aimed at an audience that is less informed and less educated. I say this because in the introduction to this book, the author describes her early experiences of working at a vaccination clinic and treating numerous victims from hurricane Katrina. The author is also president of the ASPCA-LA. With this kind of background, I presume the author's experience is primarily based on worst case scenarios of pets that had been either neglected or abandoned by their owners. And this book is geared more towards that audience, who probably wouldn't read a book on pet care in the first place. If you really want quality information on pet care, buy another book and skip this one.