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Book Review – Antimicrobial Therapy In Veterinary Medicine (6th Ed)
July 17, 2025
ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPY IN VETERINARY MEDICINE (6TH ED)
Dowling PM, Prescott JF, Baptiste KE. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey.
2025. 855 pp. ISBN: 9781-1196-5459-9.
The 6th edition of this textbook, first published in 1998, has several major additions that provide significant improvements to the usefulness of this text which was last revised in 2013.
The continuing editors of the book (Dowling and Prescott) are well-known to many Canadian veterinarians from their long-standing presence and research and teaching impact at Canadian veterinary colleges. Dr. Keith Baptiste has been added to this edition’s editorial board and his experiences in both North America and Europe add an international perspective to issues such as the regulation of antimicrobial use in animals.
The book is divided into 4 sections as in previous editions. Section 1 has 6 chapters on General Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy. Section 2 consists of 13 chapters that describe the Classes of Antimicrobial Therapy with updated information on the various drugs used in veterinary medicine. Section 3 has been altered in this issue and now focuses on the very important topic of antimicrobial stewardship. Seven chapters in this section focus on antimicrobial stewardship issues at the global level as well as specific stewardship issues in food-producing and companion animals. This section also contains revised chapters on antimicrobial drug residues and the regulation of antimicrobial use in animals. Section 4 is comprised of 14 individual species-specific chapters on antimicrobial therapy, which are particularly useful to the practicing veterinarian. The addition of a chapter on antimicrobial therapy in honeybees is probably of great value to many practitioners who are now tasked with prescribing therapeutics for apiarists. The previous edition’s chapter on antimicrobial therapy in cattle has been divided into 2 chapters, one for dairy cattle and the other for beef cattle — a very welcome addition.
Overall and as in previous editions, the text is wellorganized and very well-written with an impressive list of authors with strong credentials. The new edition provides some important and appreciated updates and will certainly be a welcome addition to the libraries of a wide variety of readers including students, veterinarians, educators, and regulators.
Reviewed by John R. Campbell, DVM, DVSc, Professor, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4.