This is the most recent revision of a textbook that is a staple in many pharmacology courses for veterinary technicians. The fundamental structure of the book remains the same, so this review will focus on its revisions and updates. For a complete review of the previous edition please see Applied Pharmacology for the Veterinary Technician, Third Edition.
Additions have been made where appropriate for new drugs available to the veterinary market since the last edition was published. For example, the renal chapter describes Epakitin, the cardiovascular chapter now covers pimobendan (Vetmedin), the list of antiemetics in the gastrointestinal chapter includes maropitant (Cerenia), and so on. Significant additions have been made to the section on antineoplastic drugs. The 'commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs' chart is greatly expanded: there is now a BSA (body surface area) conversion chart for both dogs and cats, but most significant for the practicing veterinary technician, there is a more thorough list of recommendations for chemotherapy safety. The chapter covering Miscellaneous Therapeutic Agents has been expanded with nutraceuticals and herbal medicines now covered separately and there is additional information regarding evaluation of these agents including a list of additional resources.
The calculations chapter now includes CRIs (constant rate infusions), with Appendix D presenting expanded information about controlled substance regulations and requirements for veterinary practices. The most significant additions to this text may be to the online, not printed, content. While much of the online material is simply an alternative electronic presentation of the text (for example, many of the animations are of printed figures and diagrams), it does allow one to see the information in more than one format. My favorite new addition to the online content is the series of short drug administration videos. The text itself does contain nice step-by-step procedure guides and photos of drug administration techniques, but nothing replaces an actual demonstration when clinical techniques are being taught.
In summary, I must admit that the changes incorporated in the fourth edition of this textbook may not be significant enough to warrant purchase for those who already own the third edition. I absolutely recommend the fourth over any previous edition of this book if another pharmacology applications text is not currently owned. This remains a great text for veterinary and veterinary technician students learning how to apply pharmacology to practice.
Publisher: Saunders-Elsevier (2009).
481 pgs, soft cover.
ISBN-13: 9781416056331.