NEW YORK, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A new book provides an exhaustive guide to the illnesses and care of many of the species of animals adopted as pets in the United States.
The "Merck/Merial Manual for Pet Health: Home Edition," while focused on the three species most common household animals -- dogs, cats and horses -- the book also contains chapters on fish, reptiles and rabbits, The New York Times reported.
In the 1,345 pages of the book, readers can find such things as the six signs of hyperparathyroidism in a dog, the seven causes of liver injuries in horses and the 161 diseases that can be passed to humans from animals, the newspaper reported.
"We felt there was a need for a comprehensive book," said Dr. Scott Line, the manual's associate editor and an animal behaviorist at Merial, a veterinary drug company co-owned by Merck and Sanofi-Aventis.
"People have multiple pets," Line said. "Eighty or 85 percent of horse owners also own a dog; half of dog owners have a cat. If you have one book that covers all different species it will make it easier for people."
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