“The Exotic Companion Medicine Handbook” began as a way for me to organize all my quick reference notes, diagnostic and clinical pathology charts, formularies, lists, and other clinical notes that I found I needed close at hand during practice. The very nature of avian and exotic animal practice requires drawing from many reference sources. Diverse continuing education courses and the switching of mental gears between office calls requires far more knowledge than one is prepared for in traditional small animal practice.
Long ago I stopped memorizing life history numbers, dosages and the other bits of reference information needed infrequently. Instead, I memorized where I had to look for quick reference. Those “cheat sheets” had expanded into three, large loose-leaf notebooks, and it was clearly time to put the information into a much more concise and usable form.