Book Review: Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation for Animals by Susan E. Davis

Susan Davis, a physical therapist for animals, wrote “Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation for Animals” for people whose pets are facing a health crisis. The author writes, “When faced with a particularly difficult challenge in life, I have always felt the best weapon of combat is knowledge. Along with that is keeping a positive attitude.” Whatever the diagnosis may be, the pet owner wants to understand how he or she can help the ailing animal. To achieve this end, Davis outlines various health problems that many animals can develop. After each ailment, she explains various therapy plans and solutions.

Although Davis focuses on dogs, she gives examples of her work with other animals – birds, reptiles, and assorted mammals. Her explanations tend to be technical but I feel that the book is helpful since many owners want to be as well informed as possible. Two things that the author repeatedly stresses is that aftercare for surgery is often neglected, and that a professional therapist is necessary for most treatment plans to be successful.

To see how useful this book can be, I spoke with a friend who rescues Welsh corgis. She has an elderly male who is arthritic, and a young male, who had knee surgery. Suggestions from this book helped my friend care for her dogs. My friend had a ramp put in to ease the climb up the stairs for both dogs. To support the neck of the arthritic dog, she used a round pillow. (This dog eventually died but his last days were spent in comfort.)

In several chapters, Davis discusses how an animal’s joints function, and how injuries occur. However, a lay person can grasp her technical presentations. Davis emphasizes that after knee surgery, physical therapy is needed. She stresses consulting a professional therapist for this, since someone without knowledge of how muscles work can cause further injury. This information spurred my friend to get physical therapy for the young male corgi.

In her book, Davis offers commonsense suggestions for pet owners in caring for their animals. Some of these activities, the owners can do themselves, while the others, they will need the help of the veterinary staff. Writing in mind for all animals, Davis helps to ease the concerns of their owners. I would recommend this book for people who love for animals, and want to enhance their lives.

PURCHASE THIS BOOK AT HER SITE: Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation for Animals

Animals: Review: The Meerkat Wars by H.S. Toshack

“The Meerkat Wars”, H.S. Toshack, Paka Mdogo Press: 2010.

Quite by accident, Sheena, a small black and white cat, becomes a part of the meerkat wars.  After saving the life of young Pebble, she carries him back to his home at the meerkat burrow of Deepend.  While with the Duwara tribe of meerkats, Sheena learns of their conflict with their rivals, the Utongo.

This exciting opening of H.S. Toshack’s story draws us into “The Meerkat Wars”.  Younger readers will want to know what happens next.  Set in a national park in Africa, this book chronicles Sheena’s adventures in resolving the conflict between the two meerkat tribes.

Through Sheena’s adventures, the author introduces us to the great variety of animals on the African savannah.  We become a part of not only the lives of the meerkats but also the porcupines, cheetahs, and others.  While reading this book, we discover their caring and love for their little ones and old ones.  For a brief time, all these animals become a part of our lives, and we care about their futures.

This young adult book is focused on having children explore the world of Sheena and the two tribes of meerkats.  Each short chapter starts with a riddle poem, thereby setting the theme and encouraging the child to find out more.  Also within each chapter is a lively illustration that highlights a major point of the story thus far.

In “The Meerkat Wars”, Mr. Toshack tackles the serious issues of bias and prejudice with gentleness and sensitivity.  We see the meerkats from Sheena’s neutral point of view.  We feel their struggle over who will live under the One True Sun.  Meanwhile, Sheena goes from interested bystander to active peace negotiator.  Through Sheena’s discoveries about herself and the meerkats, we find ourselves rooting for Sheena to succeed.

I recommend this book for children who read chapter books.  It is a marvelous book for a parent or teacher to read out loud as a part of their story hour.  In addition, the publisher offers an on-line set of resources for helping young readers enjoy the book.

Come and explore the world of the African savannah through the eyes of a small black and white cat.  Be enthralled with the lives of the animals that live there.  Together with your child, enjoy the poignant and satisfying end.

Dinosaurs: Review: "Raptor Red", Robert T. Bakker

“Raptor Red”, Robert T. Bakker, Bantam: New York, 1995 

“Raptor Red” is the story of an eventful year in the life of a female Utahraptor.  The novel opens with Raptor Red, the Utahraptor of the title, losing her mate.  Trying to cope with living alone, she meets up with her sister and her sister’s chicks.  In their travels, the Utahraptors encounter various dinosaurs and other animals of the late Jurassic-early Cretaceous periods.  Eventually Raptor Red finds a new mate, loses her sister, but forms a new park of Utahraptors with her sister’s two chicks.

The well-known paleontologist, Robert Bakker wrote this novel as a fictional companion to his ground breaking non-fiction book, “Dinosaur Heresies” (1986).  In that book, Dr. Bakker posited that not only were dinosaurs warm-blooded but also the ancient ancestors of birds.  “Raptor Red” was his exploration into the social lives of Utahraptors.  He shows these predatory dinosaurs living in a female dominated pack and coping with complex social connections.

Told from a predator’s point of view, “Raptor Red” has the reader enter the world of the Utahraptor.  Instead of vicious predators with a sickle for a toe claw, the reader empathizes with Raptor Red and her family and their struggles.  Seeing these predators in a positive light, the reader wants to know more about them.

In “Raptor Red”, Dr. Bakker interjects his theories of dinosaurs, evolution, and extinction.  For example, Raptor Red’s name comes from how she sees herself – a raptor with a red snout.  Her sister is “one half of me”, and her chicks are “one half of one half of me.”  She identifies them all in relation to herself.

The Utahraptors came from Mongolia to North America.  Because they were newcomers, these raptors “hit the new territory like a Darwinian blitzkrieg.”  The hunting strategies of these predatory dinosaurs confused the resident herbivores that lacked a basic defense strategy against them.  The Utahraptors succeeded in becoming the top predators in North America.

Dr. Bakker further introduces his theory that the resident dinosaurs went extinct because of the immigrant diseases brought over by the newcomers.  The “whiptails” (sauropods) were ravaged by the plague along with the Acrocanthosaurus, the native predator.  Moreover, insects brought diseases that infected many species.  Meanwhile, Raptor Red had to contend with new ticks and infections found in her new home.  Both the immigrant and resident groups had to contend with animals and diseases that neither had no resistance to.

Raptor Red is depicted as having a complex social life.  Since her species is female-centric, Raptor Red and her sister care for the sister’s chicks.  Males have to leave their families to find mates.  Meanwhile, the females choose the best males for their mates after the males do their mating dances.  In the novel, Raptor Red’s consort presents a potential conflict between her and her sister.  Raptor Red’s sister believes that he will kill the chicks since they are not his.  This provides the tension of the book – who would Raptor Red be loyal to – her consort or sister.

This tension gives insight into raptor family politics.  The conflict between Raptor Red’s sister and her consort ends when the sister dies in a “whip tail” attack.  However, Raptor Red finishes raising the chicks.  Meanwhile, her consort, Raptor Red, and the grown chicks form a new pack of Utahraptors.

As a novel, the plot of “Raptor Red” is predictable.  The title character endures various trials before finally finding true love and happiness.  Where the book shines is in the vignettes of prehistoric life.  Beside the Utahraptors, Dr. Bakker introduces the reader to the lives of an elderly Ornithocheirus (dactyl), a mother crocodile (Bernissartia), a baby Gastonia (armored herbivore), and others.  Moreover, the dactyl as the stand-in for the author takes the reader further into the mists of time to become a participant in the world of the Utahraptors.

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Review: "The Sun and The Moon", Brian McClure

“The Sun and the Moon”,  Author: Brian D. McClure, Illustrated By: Buddy Plumlee, Hardcover: 36 Pages, Universal Flag, Lisle, IL, 2008

Advertised as a book for children ages from 1 to 100, “The Sun and the Moon” can be enjoyed by the entire family. One Sunday afternoon, I read the book to my assembled family. This diverse and picky group of people loved Mr. McClure’s story. Adding to their enjoyment was the ending: “We are One.”

An argument between the two old friends – the Sun and the Moon – caused the earth to freeze. Then as the two heavenly bodies began to feel out-of-sorts, they became sad. Upon hearing a sound from the earth, the Sun and the Moon saw how much the earth was suffering because of their stupid fight. Realising how they, the earth, you, and I are all interconnected, the Sun and Moon apologized to each other. Then together, they restored the earth to wholeness again.

I shall not tell you what the sound was that the Sun and the Moon heard. You will need to find that out by reading the book yourself. I shall give you a clue though -- it came from you and me.

Sitting with my child, as we looked at the illustrations, we felt that we too were a part of the story. The Sun and the Moon both looked like what we can see outside our window. Their faces of anger, sadness, and joy were done in subtle brush strokes by Mr. Plumlee. Because of his art work, we could easily connect to them and the other characters in the book.

As the illustrations help us to be a part of the story, so does the writing. Mr. McClure asks us to consider our feelings of fear. Feeling afraid, we would rather fight with each other, than remain friends. However once we realise that we are One, our fear will leave us.

As the book states, “It happened one day right out of the blue,
the Sun told the Moon he was tired and through.
"What do you mean?" the Moon asked the Sun,
"That would be the end of everything, and that wouldn’t be fun!"

Read for yourself. Better yet, read out loud for your family to hear. Even better read with a child. Enjoy the feeling of Oneness with the Universe, and the serenity that this book brings.

You can purchase this book and others directly from UniversalFlag, the author’s website, UniversalFlag
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