Customer Reviews

The Veterinarians' Guide to Your Dog's Symptoms

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Other veterinary guides to canine health are more comprehensive, but this one is perfect for those times when you need to know something right away. The chapters are organized broadly by symptom; within each chapter, charts enable you to quickly determine 1) the possible cause(s) of your dog's problem and 2) if this is a condition that needs immediate or eventual vet care. The information is organized to help you narrow the field of possible conditions by evaluating associated symptoms. A previous reviewer has apparently tried to decrease the overall rating of this book by submitting their negative review repeatedly, an unfair practice in itself, but I think the reveiw itself is off base as well. Many conditions are described as non-urgent, and for those, useful home remedies are suggested. (The remedies I've tried work.) This book doesn't offer in-depth information on canine illnesses or disorders, but it is very helpful as a first-aid, first-place-to-look resource. It's possible that there are better guides out there--I haven't read them all. But this is the best one I've seen for quickly answering the questions, What do my dog's symptoms mean? and Do I need to see the vet?

This book is a great reference for any owner and is so easy to use. It has saved me a couple trips to the emergency animal centers in the middle of the night. It is written simply to help you know what you can handle and what is a true emergency to take to the vet. If your looking for a more indepth explanation to different diseases and illnesses this isn't an encycolpedia of information, but if you want something that you can easily look up a symptom or multiple symptoms in chart form with a simple solution this is it! It is also wonderful that it tells you what breeds of dogs are prone to what problems to give you a better picture of what could be happening to your dog. Just last week my dog was sneezing very labored and constant and after 10 minutes he wouldn't stop and you could clearly see he was starting to panic but I could see nothing was in his nose but he kept on. After 15 minutes we knew something was wrong he was pacing, and wouldn't calm down and since it was 11:00pm we would have to drive a 1/2 hour to the emergency animal hospital so we had decide something quick. My husbend remembered this book and he looked it up and he had what was called reverse sneezing and it said to give him wet food. We did and he stopped sneezing almost immediately. Just this morning my friend called me to say her dog was lame and had a fever and asked me to look it up and see what this book had said about it. I can't tell you enough how wonderful a book this is!

This is a book every dog owner should have. It begins with a discussion of the healthy dog, including healthy behavior. Next normal "preventative maintenance" is discussed followed by chapters on injuries then diseases. The heart of the book identifies 180 typical symptoms and the significance of each. Recommendations for "what to do" accompany the symptoms, but, more often than not, the recommendation is to take the dog to a veterinarian.

The importance of this book is that reference to it should enable the dog owner to provide more complete descriptions of what symptoms exist. Simply put, the more one is aware of the various symptoms and how they interrelate the more one will be able to describe them to a veterinarian. Or, another way, if you don't know what to look for you won't see anything. UNLESS YOUR DOG CAN TALK YOU WILL HAVE TO DESCRIBE THE PROBLEM(S) FOR HIM/HER. It is axiomatic that the more relevant information you can provide a veterinarian, the better will be the diagnosis. Also included is a large section that discusses congenital problems one might expect in specific breeds. Forewarned is forearmed. The book is well written and easy to use. Charts make locating specific symptoms very easy. Veterinary/medical terminology is kept to a bare minimum.

Before diagnosing my eleven year old chihuahua with a fatal illness I used this book to troubleshoot the possible problems my dog was having. I also used this book as guide to articulate the different "signs" and "symptoms" of my dogs behavior so that my vet could help her. I recommend this book for every dog owner- treat it as a reference guide & always keep it handy for reference...who knows when you'll need to perform mouth-to mouth (YES) to your dog, or treat your dog for shock. My dog-wouldn't be here with me right now if I hadn't read this book. Sincerest thanks to the authors.

If you read all the reviews, you will see that one misguided person entered a low ranking 4 times to unfairly negatively impact the results. (It appears that that person may be a self-styled expert, but not a veterinarian.) Other reviews attest to how useful a book like this can be.

No matter what, you need to be able to diagnose or at least know as much or more than the veterinarian.
Simply put, you don't receive a diagnosis without researching it for yourself or a family (animal/human) member.

This book is a nice basic guide to figuring out symptoms with your dog. Easy to find symptoms & to understand. A good book to have in your addition along with other dog books one may have.

I had high hopes for this book, however, the flow charts often end in "call your veterinarian". Even in cases when home remedies are available, it often suggests you call your vet for a home remedy! Calling my vet is what I was trying to avoid (hmmm...I guess I should have expected this, since it is a "veterinarian's guide")! I would leave this one for beginner-level dog owners.

Very helpful to home diagnose your dog and decide if it needs to go to the vet. Also very useful in helping understand illnesses or injuries your vet may have diagnosed.

I purchased this as a gift for a new dog owner. She has already said it was very helpful.