Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Disorders in Small Animal Practice

Book excerpt: The leading reference for the diagnosis and management of fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base imbalances in small animals, Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acid-Base Disorders in Small Animal Practice, 4th Edition provides cutting-edge, evidence-based guidelines to enhance your care of dogs and cats. Information is easy to find and easy to use, with comprehensive coverage including fluid and electrolyte physiology and pathophysiology and their clinical applications, as well as the newest advances in fluid therapy and a discussion of a new class of drugs called vaptans. Lead author Stephen DiBartola is a well-known speaker and the "go-to" expert in this field, and his team of contributors represents the most authoritative and respected clinicians and academicians in veterinary medicine. - Over 30 expert contributors represent the "cream of the crop" in small animal medicine, ensuring that this edition provides the most authoritative and evidence-based guidelines. - Scientific, evidence-based insights and advances integrate basic physiological principles into practice, covering patient evaluation, differential diagnosis, normal and abnormal clinical features and laboratory test results, approaches to therapy, technical aspects of therapy, patient monitoring, assessing risk, and prediction of outcomes for each disorder. - Hundreds of tables, algorithms, and schematic drawings demonstrate the best approaches to diagnosis and treatment, highlighting the most important points in an easy-access format. - Drug and dosage recommendations are included with treatment approaches in the Electrolyte Disorders section. - Clear formulas in the Fluid Therapy section make it easier to determine the state of dehydration, fluid choice, and administration rate and volume in both healthy and diseased patients. - Updated chapters cover the latest advances in fluid therapy in patient management, helping you understand and manage a wide range of potentially life-threatening metabolic disturbances. - Expanded Disorders of Sodium and Water chapter includes information on a new class of drugs called vaptans, vasopressin receptor antagonists that may soon improve the ability to manage patients with chronic hyponatremia. - Hundreds of new references cover the most up-to-date advances in fluid therapy, including renal failure and shock syndromes.