Designed specifically for technicians, this book starts you out with the principles of nutrition and energy needs of animals likely to be in the veterinarian’s care. Starting with the basics of how nutrients are utilized by the body, the book goes on to cover how to read pet food labels, how to understand various diets, special diets by species or need, evaluating raw food diets, body condition scoring, and age-appropriate diets.

The book is geared for the technician who is already in practice or well along in training and not dumbed-down for a pure novice. The author herself describes how, with assistance from veterinarians, she was able to understand some of the more technical aspects of diet and nutrition so she could pass this information along for the book. The result is a book focused on the educational needs of the technician and how to apply diet and nutrition in practice.

The book is divided into five sections; basics, nutritional requirements for cats and dogs, various feeding regimens and body scoring, dietary management of disease and examining the various body systems, and the dietary requirements or other species seen in the veterinary practice.

The photos are sparse, but clear and illustrate the points being made in the text. The information on each aspect of the nutrition/ diet make up is succinct and easy to follow. The section on Homemade Diets is timely because of the rapidly expanding promotion of homemade diets on internet sites, such as Facebook. Being educated on such topics will greatly enhance your credibility to the client and increase client compliance.

The sections on pet species other than dogs and cats seems to be fairly common sense and up to date on current dietary recommendations. There is a section on commercial foods and how to read the labels to give a “big picture” view.

This is one of the better books for technicians. It is presented at the right level for an educated technician, not too advanced, not too simple, and is relevant in today’s search for dietary correctness on the part of the client. It enables the tech to debate the pros and cons of the information on facebook or Google in an intelligent manner.

Publisher: Wiley Blackwell. 2015,  Soft cover. 255 pages, including blank pages in the back for notes. The book includes a companion website with instructions on locating the password in the book text

ISBN 9781118509272