A guide to pet health from a caretaker and a veterinarian.
In this valuable and accessible reference guide, Ellsworth (The Psychoanalysis of Everyday Life, 2012), with her veterinarian co-writer, Wafer, details a number of ailments dogs and cats can face, from the common to the rare, via stories of the pets she cares for. “Technically, I’m a pet sitter,” Ellsworth says. “But since some of these pets spend more time with me than their owners, I prefer to think of myself as a pet au pair.” The stories illustrate illnesses like thyroid problems and heartworms as well as conditions like obesity and behavioral problems. Some end sadly—Fowler, the best bird dog in Solano County, California, had aged well past his prime before being euthanized—while other issues were little more than brief disturbances in a dog’s or cat’s routine. Ellsworth tackled all problems with a level head, even though they included things like anal gland expression and tumors. The book’s lighthearted tone is clearly full of love for all creatures, yet it’s also elevated enough to include medical terminology: “Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) alone contains copper, iron, selenium, magnesium and zinc,” readers are told, “as well as vitamins A, B1, B2, B5, B6, B12, C, D and E.” The work would make an ideal reference for pet owners who need basic information about pet health problems as well as advice on when it’s time to take a cat or dog to the vet. Offering readers numerous avenues to attack a particular health problem, the authors provide information on homeopathic treatments as well as modern veterinary medicine along with the necessary cautions that come with taking such an approach. Through dialogues with Ellsworth’s own veterinarian, Dr. McKenna, and his assistant, the authors make complex terminology and difficult decisions seem simpler and easier to manage. Also included is a comprehensive list of the subtypes of many conditions—such as possible dermatological issues and mental problems—as well as other useful sections covering common substances poisonous to pets and a discussion of vaccines.
A handy, approachable reference for cat and dog health.
Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2014
ISBN: 978-1596300903
Page Count: 252
Publisher: BeachHouse Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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