Veterinary Medical Guide to Dog and Cat Breeds

Book Preface

This book is designed to provide the veterinary practitioner, student, breeder, and pet owner with a complete and quick reference to the diagnosis and management of breed related medical conditions of dogs and cats. Our goal in creating this textbook is also to provide up-to-date information in an easy-to-use format. Prior to the publication of this book, this information could be found scattered throughout a variety of clinical resources.

One objective of this book is to make information quickly available. To this end, we have organized the breeds alphabetically. At the end of the book, there are appendices that contain quick reference to conditions by breed, available genetic tests, and registries.

This book is not an indictment on the health of purebred dogs and pedigreed cats. The majority of genetic disease that is seen in dogs and cats appears equally in purebred, designer cross-bred, and random-bred individuals. However, the improved genetic health of all dogs and cats is dependent on breeder selection of genetically healthy parents. Indeed, it is the ethical responsibility of breeders to do so. This book provides the information necessary to make those breeding decisions.

This first edition constitutes an important, up-to-date medical reference source for the reader. We strived to make it complete yet practical and easy to use. Our dreams are realized if this text helps you to quickly locate and use the information that is essential to high-quality veterinary medical care. We would appreciate your input so that we can make future editions even more useful. If you would like to see any changes in content or format, additions, or deletions, please let us know. Send comments to the following: