Abstract
Twenty-six years after first being published, the second edition, sponsored by the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, is a comprehensive updated reference that includes at least 50% new material such as transgenics and the rat genome, assisted reproductive technologies, and the nude rat. This thirty-chapter book written by 60 well-recognized contributing experts also contains new chapters on experimental modeling and research methodology, metabolic and traumatic diseases, and ethical and legal perspectives. The editors stress that less emphasis was placed on discussions of older or rare rat pathogens and more on newer agents such as the rat parvoviruses and Helicobacter that were not known at the time of the original publication. The new edition continues the tradition of being one of the best references for laboratory animal veterinarians, graduate and post-graduate students, and researchers with interest in the biology, breeding, care, use, and diseases of the laboratory rat. The veterinary pathologist engaged in laboratory animal diagnostics, biomedical research, or toxicologic testing will find chapters on clinical pathology, infections, parasitic disease, neoplastic disease, metabolic and miscellaneous disease, gerontology and age-associated lesions, and models of disease to be quick aids on significant issues without having to resort to more narrow but more in-depth alternative pathology references. Topics of viral disease now contain information on a variety of new viruses including the rat respiratory virus that reportedly affects up to 8% of the laboratory rat population. The chapter entitled “Nutrition” that includes an updated discussion on restricted diets may also be a helpful source of information regarding nutrients, diets, and naturally occurring feed contaminants as factors influencing the biology of the rat. Although not numerous, both schematic and photographic illustrations are effectively used throughout the book's text. Reference citations for the book's chapters are extensive and include many relatively current to the date of publication. The reader will also find the 28-page index to be very thorough with the helpful feature of figure or table citations listed by page number. Despite the long wait, the second edition is worthy of its predecessor and remains probably the best all-around reference for the laboratory rat.