Among my fellow members of the International Veterinary Ear Nose and Throat Association (IVENTA), the reason for marking out specializa- tion in diseases of the ear, nose, throat, and tra- cheobronchial tree is clear. They recognize that many of the diseases of these organs have sim- ilar clinical signs, similar infectious etiology, or similar regulatory mechanisms, and that these organs share cranial nerves for the execution of their functions.
Most of the knowledge in this field has been provided to veterinarians—and regularly up- dated by—the major textbooks of small animal internal medicine and small animal surgery. The textbook presented here aims not only to pro- vide a more complete overview of diseases of the ear, nose, throat, and tracheobronchial tree but also to increase understanding of the func- tions of the respective organs for hearing, olfac- tion, swallowing, vocalization, and condition- ing inspired air for gas exchange in the lung.
Each chapter begins with functional consid- erations of its subject and ends with a clinical topic chosen for its uncommon complexity. The book is readily accessible through a detailed list of contents and an elaborate index. It is
intended to provide information of interest to academics as well as practitioners and stu- dents.
I am grateful to Dr. Bruce Belshaw for editing the English language with care and experience. Mr. Joop Fama handled the figures and made them shine, and I am grateful both for his knowledge and for the time and care he gave to the work. Dr. Ulrike Oslage at Schlütersche Ver- lagsgesellschaft invited me to write this text- book and I thank her not only for the opportu- nity but also for the free hand which I had in preparing it. Dr. Simone Bellair at Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft fine-tuned the written material and the various pictures into a book and I am grateful for her professional skill.
I hope that readers will find this a pleasant and useful book and that interest in this field will continue to develop the science of ear, nose, throat, and tracheobronchial diseases in dogs and cats.