258 S.J. Spier et al.
/ The Veterinary Journal 168 (2004) 252–258
Landercasper, J., Cogbill, T.H., Strutt, P.J., Landercasper, B.O.,
1988. Trauma and the veterinarian. Journal of Trauma 28, 1255–
1259.
Lorenz, K.Z., 1965. Evolution and Modification of Behaviour.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Macarthur, R.A., Geist, V., Johnston, R.H., 1982. Cardiac and
behavioural responses of mountain sheep to human disturbance.
Journal of Wildlife Management 46, 351–358.
Miller, R.M., 1991. Imprint Training of the Newborn Foal. The
Western Horseman Inc., Colorado Springs, CO.
Book review
Handbook of Behaviour Problems of the Dog and Cat
Ackerman, L., Hunthausen, W. and Landsberg, G.
Edinburgh, W.B. Saunders, 2nd ed., 2003. 554pp + CD.
£35 (SOFT) ISBN 0702027103
This book seems intended to be the basic reference
manual for the general practitioner. The first chapter sets
out the economic advantages of providing a behavioural
service and makes an effective case for better under-
standing by the practitioner of behavioural issues that
might be raised by clients or should be used by the
practitioner to educate clients. There are many client
questionnaires and handouts spread through the whole
book and an additional attribute to the book is the pro-
vision of a CD-ROM with all these downloadable. No
doubt it would not be difficult to anglicise and modify
them for each individualÕs use in practice. The following
two chapters cover development and how it may be af-
fected by the client. The sixty pages provide a credible
argument for the proper upbringing of juveniles and the
significant part in it that the effective veterinary practice
can play. Commercial influence is mercifully absent.
The next section covers diagnostic techniques, coun-
selling, behaviour modification and pharmacology.
There is a strong American influence with the preference
for techniques such as routine containment for dogs and
house cats scattered throughout. The chapter on phar-
macology would have been improved with the provision
of a glossary but the manner of action of both licensed
and unlicensed drugs is well enumerated. The chapter on
complementary and alternative therapy is well written
without any overt bias and lays out the scientific facts
clearly and impartially.
The next 250 pages deal with a variety of common
behavioural problems. Each section is structured in a
doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2004.01.010
Mills, D.S., 1998. Applying learning theory to the management of the
horse: the difference between getting it right and getting it wrong.
Equine Veterinary Journal 27, 44–48.
Sellnow, L., 2001. Imprinting. The Horse, 32–44.
Williams, J.L., Friend, T.H, Collins, M.N., Toscano, M.J., Sisto-Burt,
A., Nevill, C.H., 2003. Equine Veterinary Journal 35, 127–132.
Williams, J.L., Friend, T.H., Toscano, M.J., Collins, M.N., Sisto-Burt,
A., Nevill, C.H., 2002. The effects of imprint training on the
reactions of foals at one, two, and three months of age. Applied
Animal Behaviour Science 77, 105–114.
logical fashion explaining diagnosis, treatment and
prognosis. The book avoids the error made in many
texts by including in the differential diagnosis the pos-
sible physical disease conditions and this is a particularly
strong point of this section. There are some omissions
from the list of conditions such as travel sickness but the
diagnosis and treatment can easily be constructed from
the more general chapters. The American influence ap-
pears strongly again in the discussion on feline de-
structive disorders when the practice of de-clawing is
recommended even though adequate training techniques
are also included. The long chapters on aggression are
well laid out and pragmatic with clear advice that eu-
thanasia is the only safe option in some circumstances.
The final chapter on the so-called European approach
to behaviour counsellingÕ, as expounded by Dr. Pageat, is
a brief resume that attempts to place a value on a variety
of diagnostic indicators. The aim of doing so is significant
both in reaching an initial diagnosis and for monitoring
the response to treatment. The section is really too brief to
do justice to the technique and only serves to confuse.
Throughout, the book provides long lists of addi-
tional reading material from a broad international field.
For a practitioner who is just starting to expand their
behavioural medicine this would be an invaluable source
of additional information. As a basic handbook the text
achieves its aim, would provide a good resource of both
written material and handouts from the CD, and is to be
highly recommended.
Chris Laurence
Veterinary Director, Dogs Trust
17 Wakley Street
London, EC1V 7RQ, UK
E-mail address: chris.laurence@dogstrust.org.uk