This chapter focuses on immediate management, diagnostic approach and treatment of respiratory diseases, such as dyspnoea, tachypnoea, hyperpnoea and orthopnoea. Quick reference guides: Management of severe dyspnoea; Oxygen therapy; Emergency thoracic radiography; Thoracocentesis; Inserting a chest drain; Inserting a small-bore wire-guided chest drain.

This chapter introduces specific welfare and ethical issues that are faced in shelter medicine and outlines the factors that give rise to them. It focuses on two key issues that are the source of many welfare and ethical concerns: the challenges of resource distribution and euthanasia. Quick reference guide: Using ethical reasoning to make decisions.

Many birds are presented to the veterinary clinic in an advanced stage of ill health. Similarly, birds presented in the early stages of illness may often appear normal to the inexperienced owner or veterinarian. A thorough history is an essential assessment tool in both cases. This chapter looks at history-taking in depth and provides an extensive selection of quick reference guides for clinical examination. Quick reference guides: Observation; Body condition scoring; Examination of the coelom and cloaca; Examination of the beak; Examination of the nares and cere; Examination of the eyes; Examination of the ears; Examination of the oral cavity; Examination of the head and neck; Examination of the crop; Examination of the pectoral muscles and keel; Examination of the wings; Examination of the pelvic limbs and feet; Examination of the integument; Examination of the uropygial gland.

Hypocalcaemia is most commonly diagnosed in cats following thyroidectomy for the treatment of hyperthyroidism. When significant hypocalcaemia occurs, prompt identification, investigation and treatment are required. This chapter focuses on differential diagnosis, diagnostic approach and empirical treatment. Quick reference guide: Treatment of hypocalcaemia.

Hypokalaemia is a common electrolyte disturbance in cats. This chapter covers differential diagnosis, diagnostic approach and empirical treatment. Quick reference guide: Treatment of hypokalaemia.

The lame dog is one of the more common presentations to first-opinion vets and any vet working in a busy genial practice will be faced with such a case on a daily basis. Rather than a systematic review of all causes of lameness, this chapter will focus on the initial approach to the lame dog, to help the clinician develop a list of the common differential diagnoses for further investigation and treatment. This chapter looks at observation, history: baseline data, physical examination: identifying the seat of pain, differential diagnosis, further investigations and treatment. Quick Reference Guides: Assessment of anterior cruciate instability; Assessing hip laxity.

Owners will often present a dog having noticed one of the following: lump; swelling; nodule; bump; tumour; abscess; mass. These terms are, colloquially, often used interchangeably to refer to cutaneous or subcutaneous accumulations of tissue that form a noticeable lesion either visually or on palpation. Quick Reference Guides: Fine-needle aspiration of a superficial mass; Biopsy of a superficial mass.

This chapter looks at the management of the most important endocrine disorders encountered in feline practice: hyperthyroidism and diabetes mellitus. Quick reference guides: Intracapsular thyroidectomy; Ear vein sampling.

This chapter deals with the management of the most important gastrointestinal disorders that are encountered in feline practice, notably acute gastroenteritis, inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal lymphoma, dietary hypersensitivity and infectious gastrointestinal disorders. Quick reference guide: Gut biopsy.

This chapter will focus on the management of the most important hepatic and pancreatic disorders that are encountered in feline practice, notably inflammatory liver diseases, hepatic lipidosis and pancreatitis. Quick reference guide: Liver biopsy.