BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 2nd Ed.

Edited by Chris Seymour and Tanya Duke-Novakovski British Small Animal Veterinary Association, Gloucester, UK, 2007; ISBN 13 978 0 905213986; $149.99 softcover, 344 pp. As opposed to many textbooks on the subject of anesthesia/analgesia, the BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Anaesthesia and Analgesia (with its cover shown here) is very well organized in that only half of it is dedicated to the actual mechanics of these subjects (drugs with their dosages etc. that a textbook on this subject must present). The other half is devoted to specific recommendations/considerations of approach, grouped according to the type of surgery that is to be performed. These regimes are then justified with physiological and biochemical reasons for their choices. To me, this is a very novel and very refreshing approach to the subject of anesthesia and analgesia. The text is organized into 29 chapters, written by 31 contributing authors to this very well written book. The approach of all authors is not only to the physiological nature of the recommended choices of pharmacological agents and other adjuncts to provide “balanced anesthesia,” but also to the concept of “anesthetic management” (which the chapter on fluid therapy addresses