Abstract
The authors deliver an overview of the gross and histologic characteristics of the common diseases of pet and aviary birds. Each of the 13 chapters is devoted to an organ or a system and is divided into sections on normal structure, congenital and acquired anomalies, infectious disease, non-infectious disease (traumatic, nutritional, metabolic, and toxic), and neoplastic disease. If there is a species predilection, birds most commonly affected by the diseases are usually indicated. For a limited number of diseases, there is a cursory overview of diagnostic tests and disease pathogenesis. There are 611 photographs of lesions, including a smattering of ultrastructural images. Approximately 15–25% of the photographs are of gross lesions. All photographs are black and white, mostly 85 × 55 mm, and most are of high quality. None of the photographs illustrate normal anatomic structures. In a few instances, the magnification is too low to appreciate anything more than distribution of a lesion. An adequate alphabetical listing of references is available at the end of each chapter; however, specific references are not listed within the substance of the text. Nomenclature is current, and the authors, who are experts in avian pathology and medicine, have apparently drawn on their combined 70+ years of experience in the field to highlight the common avian diseases. This text is written clearly, reads easily, and is indexed adequately. A number of other available books on pet and aviary bird medicine have sections on pathology but these books are much more voluminous because they were generally written for practitioners and contain the obligatory sections on medicine and husbandry. This book was written primarily for veterinary pathologists and it should be a welcome addition to the library of any pathologist engaged in diagnostic practice.