Guest reviewer: Charlotte Means DVM, MLIS
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center *
1717 S. Philo Rd, Suite 36,
Urbana IL 61802

This text is a helpful guide to plant poisoning in large animals, including horses. The soft cover book is small enough to easily be kept in a truck, and the photography will help with plant identification.

Chapters are organized by the body system affected, such as sudden death or kidney failure. Chapters are further divided into groups of plants causing similar signs but by different mechanisms.

Information on toxicity, mechanism of action, clinical signs, diagnosis, and treatment are at the beginning of the chapter, while references are at the end of each chapter. Discussions of individual plants include information on habitats, range maps, and toxicity. A glossary provides useful definitions of plant terminology.

The plant information is accompanied by beautiful color photography. However, in most cases, only one stage of growth is illustrated. Newly emerged plants in the spring, plants after grazing or fall foliage may look considerably different. The text covers the most common plant causing livestock and equine poisoning but a practitioner might want to keep a more comprehensive text available for unusual plants.

Large animal and equine practitioners, students, and livestock owners will find this text an easy to use reference, and is of a size and weight that is handy to carry while identifying plants in a field or pasture.

2001. 367 pp. $49.00

* The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center is a 24-hour emergency animal poison hotline staffed by veterinarians and board certified veterinary toxicologists. The Center maintains a wide collection of reference materials and computer databases that help provide toxicological information for various species. The licensed staff members share over one hundred and ten years of combined call center experience and over seventy-five years of combined toxicology, clinical, and diagnostic experience. The Center is an allied agency of the University of Illinois and is a member of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. The phone number of the Center is 1-888-4-ANI-HELP (1-888-426-4435) and the website is www.apcc.aspca.org.

Reviewed 8/28/2001