Page 3 - Veterinary diagnostic imaging birds exotic pets wildlife

Preface

III INTRODUCTION this void by providing these scientists with the “living”
link necessary to fully understand the vital anatomy
Since radiology, and later, other forms of medical and infer related function of the creatures they so
imaging have become integral parts of veterinary cur- painstakingly study.
ricula, course content has become increasingly nar- Physical anthropologists and archeologists are just

rowed to the point that it now focuses almost exclusively as likely to find this book useful—perhaps even indis-
on dogs and cats. For its part, the teaching of equine pensable—when it comes to sorting out and categoriz-
radiology has been largely relinquished to surgery, ing the small bones and bone fragments accumulated
while the radiology of farm animals such as cattle, from a typical day’s screenings.
sheep, pigs, and goats is approaching extinction. Finally, any comprehensive department, college, or
Quite understandably, zoo, wildlife, and poultry university library would be incomplete without at
science courses continue to concentrate on the herd or least one copy of this book, and the valuable reference
flock, rather than on the individual animal, with material it contains, on its shelves.

instructors devoting their pedagogical energies to
matters of nutrition, parasitism, and contagious
disease. But from this latter group, a relatively new III ORGANIZATION AND CONTENT
entity has emerged, the so-called exotic species, or
simply the exotics. A highly diverse alliance, the exotics The book is divided into three sections: the fi rst on
comprise cage and wild birds, small mammals and birds, the second on mammals, and the third on rep-
reptiles, acreage pets, and a smattering of theatrical tiles. Only animals that I have actually worked with
and demonstration animals. It is to this most fascinat- are included.
ing assemblage, and its medical imaging, that these Wherever possible, photographs of the actual
pages are devoted. patients are provided, not only to aid in identifi cation,
but also to at least partially overcome the clinical detach-
ment that unfortunately often accompanies the
III INTENDED READERSHIP consideration of medical images exclusive of their
sources.
Undoubtedly, the content of this book will improve the A brief account of the aerodynamics of fl ight has
radiodiagnostic skills of most veterinarians, particu- also been included to enable the reader to better appre-
larly those in community practice who see and radio- ciate the consequences of wing injuries and to weigh
graph exotics only occasionally and currently lack a the benefits and risks of contemplated surgery, espe-

comprehensive reference. But perhaps more impor- cially as it may pertain to rehabilitation and, hopefully,
tantly, this book builds on what most veterinarians eventual release.
already know about the radiology of common pets,
such as dogs and cats, and shows how such existing
knowledge can be expanded and applied to birds and III DIAGNOSTIC STRATEGY
exotics in a coherent and organized fashion.
Biologists and zoologists, anatomists and ornitholo- As in past books I have continued to stress the diag-
gists are often hard pressed when attempting to transi- nostic superiority of radiographic disease indicators
tion between the living animals they observe in the (RDIs) over less flexible alternatives such as medical

field and those on their dissection tables. Veterinary algorithms or paradigms. Although of some value
Diagnostic Imaging: Birds, Exotic Pets, and Wildlife fi lls in the past, the sign-oriented approach lacks the
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