3 comments about Animal Healing and Vibrational Medicine.

1. As a Pet First Aid Instructor and Reiki Master the value of Vibrational
   Medicine is just now starting to take hold. This book is well written and the instructions are easy to follow and understand. A great book to
   get in touch with all your critters and contacts for resources as well.
   Great Job!



2. I found I was disappointed in the book. Put very few post-it note tabs on the books. Perhaps I expected more from it.
   
   I found the book "Animal Healing with Australian Bush Flower Essences" much more useful for use of a vibrational medicine with a practical emotional and physical repertory in it.
   
   Louise



3. Animal Healing and Vibrational Medicine

   by Sage Holloway
   Animal Healing and Vibrational Medicine by Sage Holloway,
   
   If you have ever wondered what you can do for your sick pet, besides the usual trip to the vet, this book, a resource and reference guide for over 1,000 remedies, has some answers. It's obvious Sage Holloway has a deep respect and love for creatures. As she says, animals serve us provide for us, rescue us, feed us, and are our companions, yet cannot seek healing for themselves. We, their caretakers, must learn to do that. Since animals aren't as complicated with their emotional baggage as we are, that's a relatively easy thing to do. Vibrational medicine is a gentle way to revive their energies.
   Holloway stresses the proper use of aromatic oils, the importance of using pure oils rather than the synthetic ones. A Vibrational Remedies Cross-Reference lists various types of remedies good for abuse, abandonment, cage stress, car sickness, depression and dozens of other conditions. A list of flower essence qualities, what they can do for your pet, is quite interesting, I could use a few of them myself!
   As if this is not enough, there are charts on animal chakras, how to use dowsing, the five Chinese Elements, The Doctrine of Signatures. The Appendix has a resource list of companies that produce vibrational remedies, suggested music for your pets, and a list of essences carried by various companies. Sage has done a beautiful and thorough job of putting this book together. I strongly recommend Animal Healing and Vibrational Medicine if you have any kind of animal.
    

4 comments about A Useful Dog.

1. This is a charming book that adds to the wealth of knowledge the author has about sheep herding and Border Collies. Anyone who loves McCaig's books will want to read this one.



2. This small book was purchased as a gift for a young lady who wants a dog. She thoroughly enjoyed Donald McCaig's wonderful prose. Any "dog person" will appreciate this delightful story.



3. Donald McCaig is a fine writer, especially when he writes about those four-legged creatures he knows and loves so well. A wonderful book to have and to give.



4. You will treasure this little book, keeping it close at hand to read and reread these wonderful stories.

1 comments about Aquatic Turtles: Sliders, Cooters, Painted, and Map Turtles.

1. This book was helpful for an overview of how to treat and care for our new turtles. My husband loved it.

3 comments about Natural Nutrition for Cats: The Path to Purr-fect Health.

1. I found the subject intriguing and have a lot of respect for holistic approaches. The discussion of the dark side of the pet food industry was troubling and made me really rethink what I am feeding to my cat. I also respect the author's emphasis in obtaining nutrients from food (the synergistic blend of nutrients in food can't be duplicated in a lab) rather than pills and supplements. Her approach to nutrition can and should very easily transfer to how we (humans) should eat for optimal health.
   
   Unfortunately, there is some seriously sloppy science and argumentation that occurs in the book. For one, the author states that grains should not be part of a cat's diet. Grains are cheap and make up a large part of commercial cat food. Cats are evolutionarily equipped to eat raw meat so that's what we should feed our cats. She insists that this is safe because cats survived millions of years eating raw meat without bacterial problems. The problem in this country is that our farm animals are eating things that they were not evolutionarily equipped to eat. Cows being fed grain has resulted in the evolution of acid-resistant E. coli strains. The acid-resistant E. coli strains have been an issue for human health too. Our farm chickens are also raised in very unsanitary conditions resulting in higher levels of Salmonella, making me very wary of feeding raw chicken to my cat. The author did warn against feeding our cats raw pork because it might not be safe - I'm not sure why she thinks pork is unsafe while beef and chicken are. As far as I know, the main reason why people cooked pork to well done was to kill the parasitic roundworm Trichinella spiralis. Nowadays, the risk of contracting trichinosis from eating undercooked pork is very rare. But T. spiralis is still found in wild animals. So yes, it is natural for cats to hunt and eat wild animals like rabbits. But it is also natural for cats to contract parasites from these natural diets. While the author stresses that we should try to feed our cats organic meats if budgets allow. I agree with this. But feeding our cats raw conventional meat has its potential risks. The author clearly has her own agenda and makes no mention of these potential risks. She dismisses any real discussion about these risks by giving anecdotes of all the healthy pets she and her vet have met who eat raw food diets. These anecdotes are helpful but they are not scientific.
   
   While criticizing how the pet food industry derives its nutrient formulations from studies done on animals that are not cats, the author will make a case for why artificial dyes, benzoic acid, BHA,BHT, MSG, and citric acid are bad for cats while referencing studies that most likely were not done on cats (I'm not entirely sure because the author never footnotes any of the scientific claims she makes). I understand that it is not scientifically sound to make conclusions about cat nutrition if all the studies done were done on horses because they are two different animals, but as someone who is relatively familiar with the scientific process, many of the breakthroughs found in human nutrition were from studies done on animals that were not human. Other breakthroughs were from accidents - yes it's sad that many kitties died because the pet food industry did not realize that taurine was an essential amino acid. It's happened in the human world too. Sometimes the only way to figure out FOR SURE that something is essential for a particular animal is to do testing on that animal. But I'm sure if scientists were starving some cats of an essential nutrient to prove that it is essential, the author and others would throw a fit.
   
   All in all, the book does a good job in starting a cultural dialogue on the issue. That's it. Hopefully it can result in more scientific inquiry on what is best for our cats. Until then, I will be on the lookout for better resources.



2. Lots of great (scary!) info on the unregulated pet food industry in this country. If you are on the border about switching your cat to a raw food diet, this book will give you the motivation to never feed with commercial pet food again! Lots of detail on how to make your own food and what supplements to add (and why). After conventional vets could do no more for my kitty (and I think were making him worse!) I started taking him to a small-animal osteopath/homeopath. She has been using raw diets on her animals for 12 years and said she found that the animals actually do better on just whole ground up animals (including some liver, heart, gizzard and the ground bones). She did not recommend feeding extra supplements.. If all the supplement preparation in the book looks too overwhelming for you, just try the ground up animal since it is still WAY better than the commercial poisons. Just remember that you must include some taurine (heart and gizzards) and a small amount of liver and some bone for them to get a balanced diet. I think the supplement controversy comes in because cats eating whole animals would eat the stomach and everything and most likely get some vegetable matter from what their prey (mostly mice) would eat. Find a good butcher who will grind whole chickens, cornish hens or quail, rabbits, and turkey meat with added organ meats. They will most likely want to do it at the close of business just before they clean their machines since they would contaminate other meats ground afterwards.. Get the meat coarse-ground and add some small cut-up pieces if you have the time so your kitty has something to chew on.. Also,try to get meats without hormones or antibiotics since cats little bodies really aren't equipped to handle all that either.. although, raw with hormones and antibiotics is still better than commercial as well.. Have patience, if your kitty is addicted to his crunchies, you may have to put a few in the raw food to get him to start eating.. My sister and I both did the "sink or swim" philosophy with our cats (here's the food, eat it) and they both took to it pretty quickly.. and are eating with gusto now! One great benefit is that their poo gets tiny and all dried up with no smell! My kitty had HUGE stinky poo before the raw diet: guess the commercial food had so little nutrient value that it all came out in the litter box! ..Oh, and my kitty is now putting weight back on and his fur is getting thicker every day!



3. This book contains information that every pet owner should know about! I have a good friend whos cat was killed by eating a well known brand of cat food that was included in the pet food recall last year. This book gives you all the information you need to protect yourself and your cat from such a tragic fate. The book is a worthy follow up to Kymythy Schultze's other two books that I recommend to everyone. The No-Cook book for People and Pets is my favorite receipe book of all time, and the Natural Nutrion for Dogs and Cats book was what started me feeding a homemade diet years ago. She has done a brilliant job of updating the information in the first book and adding new and very timely information for cats and their people. As usual Ms. Schultze adds her brand of humor and charm to the subject, making it a very enjoyable read. I really enjoyed the cat pictures too. Great book!

5 comments about A Snowflake in My Hand.

1. ...this time I felt the need. Of all the books I read after my sweet black cat, Flash!, died a year and a half ago, this one meant the most. Ever since my sweet boy passed away at the ripe old age of 11 (old for a cat with FIV, I was told), I searched for a book like this one...someone who feels as I do, and Samantha Mooney captures this. My heart aches when I think of Christmas without him...spring without him...he was alive just a little while ago...where did he go? What happened to him? Ms. Mooney seems to be the only writer that shares these thoughts with me, and so this book helped me tremendously. If you're mourning a loss as deep as ours, please don't hesitate...treat yourself to this book.



2. No exaggeration here, this book is quite possibly the best book I've ever read - and I've read a LOT of books. I probably average 100-150 books per year and this book stands out like a shining beacon of what a book should be.
   
   Without melodrama or saccharine-laced manipulations, the author manages to successfully illustrate the pain, no, the agony, of watching a beloved animal slip away. She shows the behind the scenes anguish and dedication of those who care for and strive to better the lives of our furry children. Nowhere have I seen animal-human relationships portrayed with such tenderness, sincerety and respect without a trace of the maudlin.
   
   Ms. Mooney does not proselytize nor does she moralize, yet somehow she manages to bring forth a sense of the divine and everlasting bond possible with a special animal. She gives the sense also that however difficult, life does go on and that somehow, it must.
   
   One other important note about this book - With her words, her attitude, and her wisdom, Ms. Mooney does a better job than could 12 trained counselors at helping to appease any guilt a companion person may have at any decisions made out of love for an animal.
   
   I highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever loved an animal or even anyone who has simply had a friendship with one. This book speaks to a level rarely seen or addressed in a simple paperback book.



3. In law school, in a cinder block dormitory, Samantha Mooney's cats were a surrogate animal family for me, but such a tragic family, since death came sooner for them than for most of our pets. This was one of the very few books I carried home with me and I have never let it go in all the intervening years. If we must acknowledge that we are destined to outlive most of our pets, again and again we need a book to remind us to cherish their lives but not tether them to hopeless life when they are ready to let go. Many animals have shared their lives with me in the years since I graduated. This is the book I turn to when that sad day comes around for each of my animals in turn.



4. Hard to believe this book would ever go out of print, or that the author apparently wrote nothing else. I got this book when it first came out, and periodically reread it -- and I'm not even a cat person. A wonderful book, beautifully written, about life, love, loss and renewal. Get a copy, this one is a jewel that shouldn't be missed.



5. Lyrical, poignant, tender, this is a book clearly written by a cat lover. A slim memoir of her time as an veterinary research assistant in the oncology department of NYC's Animal Medical Center, the author is above all hopeful, despite the inevitable early demise that awaits most of her patients. She knows that while the doctors may not be able to cure the cancers of their feline patients, they can certainly improve the quality of life, allowing the cats to live out their lives as happily as medically possible. Highly recommended.

2 comments about Horsekeeping Almanac: The Essential Month-by-Month Guide for Everyone Who Keeps or Cares for Horses.

1. This is a great armchair/tackroom reference full of tips and information on caring for horses. It is a real help in getting organized. A 'must' for the new horse owner or someone getting back into horsekeeping. It's also a fun, interesting, and easy read for those in-between times while waiting for the coffee to perk or just taking a break. The information is timeless.



2. In my opinion, this is the best new horse reference on the market, and of special value to new owners, regardless of whether their horses are 16 hands or 30 inches. The author's unique approach to caring for our horses year-round is so logical, one wonders why it wasn't written earlier!
   
   A wealth of information is offered in easy-on-the-eyes layout and color scheme, with charming illustrations throughout. The book is organized by season for temperate climate regions, with additional suggestions for adjusting the information for other climate conditions. An innovative "five-season" plan covers Late Winter (January-February), Spring (March-April-May), Summer (June-July-August), Fall (September-October), and Early Winter (November-December).
   
   Everything and anything a horse owner needs to know or do is included. Upcoming January, for instance, gives information and details about the following: performing a late winter visual examination of your horse; horses and weather; setting up records for the coming year; checking feet and preparing for the farrier; cold weather feeding rules and suggestions; calculating your horse's weight; dealing with winter predators; parasite control; care of teeth; winter grooming; pasture & fence maintenance; sanitation and manure management; tractor maintenance; tack inspection and care; income tax overview; and, preparing for foaling season.
   
   Who guessed so much needed to be done in January?
   
   Scattered throughout these 576 information-packed pages are tidbits about wildlife, horse movies, ranch recipes, language trivia, and historical horsekeeping. The author includes sidebars with tips for living comfortably with horses. "Horse Sense and Safety" includes recommendations for moving around horses: "Either walk around a horse well out of kicking range or move around the horse by staying close, with your hand on his hindquarters to let him know you are there. Never walk under or step over the tie rope." The book has a full index, website resources for horse owners, and a list of recommended reading.
   
   If I still owned horses, this book would be my constant companion!

5 comments about With a Little Faith, Second Edition.

1. This book is absolutely awful. I had read the reviews about how the book did not talk about Faith until over halfway into the book. But I was willing to give it a chance, thinking that the author might have an interesting story to tell. At first, I had felt sorry for the author and her plight to gain custody of her kids but by the end of the book, I no longer felt sorry for her and in fact, I did not like her at all. Yes, life hands people injustices that they have to work through but I find it hard to believe that the author did nothing to provoke the judge, her landlord, and the many schools and business that fired her. Yes, by the end of the book, I was tired of listening to her whine about always being treated unfair. And when the story finally turned to Faith, it wasn't really about Faith, it was still about the "injustices" the author faced. This book is not about a courageous dog. The dog is just used to get people to buy a book that has very little to do about the dog.
   
   The book was also poorly written, especially by someone who is supposed to be an English professor. It did not flow well, it rambles and not to mention the many grammatical errors.



2. This book arrived quickly and in perfect condition. It is an amazing story written by a fantastic woman about a truly AMAZING dog!! I would defintiely recommend this book for any animal lover!! AND this seller!!



3. I am very disappointed in the book.The first half is nothing but the woman whining on how everyone picks on her. Exhusband,lawyers,judges and child welfare. Plus she tells us she had a crush on Maurice Gibb from the BeeGees.Who cares.
   Her point in doing this is to show how her life was like before the dog came along.over80 pages . I could tell you the whole 80 pages in a couple sentences. She had a bad divorice and trouble getting her kids back because of bad lawyers.
   I have a 2 legged chihuahua and was hoping to read about how this woman helped her dog. well I didn't. I wish I could get my money back.



4. I was emailed a link to a video clip from the Montel Williams show featuring Ms. Stringfellow and Faith. Being a dog lover, I immediately went to Amazon and ordered a copy. According to the author, there is more than one version in the marketplace, one being the unedited version which she never meant for publication. I apparently got the unedited version. I was appalled at the sentence structure (or lack thereof) and poor word usage, but tried to struggle through the story. There really is a story in there trying to get out, but I was not able to finish the book! Even in a rough draft, I think a college professor who teaches English would know the difference between "bear hand" and "bare hand", or when is the appropriate time to use "affect" rather than "effect". Most dogs, also, do not sit on their "hunches"; the ones I've known sit on their "haunches". The list goes on and on, and I am sure Ms. Stringfellow will take issue with my comments. I'm not trying to be mean. I know what it is to go through bad times in life, and I admire the faith and courage which took her through all of her crises. The kids really are adorable and I felt complete compassion for their situation. I just wish I had gotten hold of the "good" version of the book; maybe the experience would have been better.



5. With a Little Faith is a very easy read. Jude Stringfellow has a lovely way with words and a great sense of humor, which comes thru on every page. Her faith in God is evident on every page! Her written voice reminds me of Sue Grafton's character, Kinsey Millhone, in the alphabet mysteries. Only this time, the story is non-fiction. I will recommend this book to my book club!

2 comments about Understanding Equine Hoof Care (Horse Health Care Library).

1. I was very happy with the way the book was written from start to finish, it gave me alot of information and very easy to understand. It was agreat book.



2. I got this book because I wanted to understand more about hoof care, as at the barn I was at there were many discussions on whether a horse should be barefoot or wear shoes. I think this book is good at covering the basics of horse hoof care but does spend more time on the topic of shoes and types etc. I only gave it 4 stars because I would have liked more information on keeping your horse barefoot. But for a first basic book I think it is a good first step and gives you the basics so you can decided what you want to look further into.

5 comments about Dr. Axelrod's Atlas of Freshwater Aquarium Fishes.

1. The book serves to identifying any fish provided if one knows the scientific names. If the target audience are technically competent it will serve its intended purpose. But for the general hobbyists/fish keepers or even fish dealers the scientific names are impossible to remember. Even to pronounce them correctly seems impossible. By far the common names are more acceptable and meaningful to them. Even speaking to technical people the common names are more often used. I am not suggesting that the scientific names be dropped but be mention as an additional information to those who needs it. What I meant was that; the far the majority of hobbyists/fish keepers; young and old, technically minded or not would appreciate the common names as a reference.
   Personally, I do find it difficult to locate a fish. It must be somewhere in the book! Maybe it helps if you know the region of the world it comes from as that will narrow down your search.
   On the whole I know lots of work and effort has gone into the making of the book and credit must be given to all responsible.



2. I bought this book when I started getting really into the hobby and I absolutely am impressed with the quality of the photos, how the fish are separated by continent and other useful information. I frequently check back with the names of the fish and where these fish come from. I guess the only not serious complaint is that it does not contain the common name for the fish, only the latin. Although, I could see how hard it could be to list the several common names of each fish, since it's already so huge!



3. The book delivered by Amazon was in Excellent Condition.
   This Book displays pictures and details of fishes not available in other Atlas I have bought, so it is worth every dime.
   Large, clear pictures of all freshwater fishes, great for reference.



4. I bought this book to help me identify fish. Have it worked so far? No.
   
   First, it only names the fish in latin (scientific) name, which is a little frustrating to me. Sometimes, I need to cross info from other sources to reach the specimen I'm looking for.
   Second, you need to know the continent where it comes from.
   
   I've also found some errors in the information. The freshwater stingray, for example, is catalogued as an egglayer, while it's a livebearer fish.
   
   This books is huge, and looks great in your library or stacked in your desk.



5. This book has changed a lot since the first edition. Mostly, it has removed information and added pictures. LOTS of pictures. It is more of a coffee-table book than any kind of aquarium guide. But even the pictures are of uneven quality. I was shocked that the only picture included for a couple of fairly common fish were of dead, poorly-preserved specimens. Yikes!
   
   The authors' stated purpose for this book is "This book was created with the express purpose of making the identification of fishes easier for hobbyists, aquarists, and scientists alike."
   
   Well, if that was the goal, it fails miserably. The book is organized based on geographic area where the fish originates. Think about it. If you saw a fish and wanted to know what it was, would you somehow instinctively know which continent it came from? Of course not. You might want to identify it based on its colors or shape or whatever. The book does not function as an identification guide.
   
   Although most info has been removed, there is some very terse info below each picture as small text and icons. The text lists info such as pH, ideal water temperature (in Centigrade), maximum adult length (in cm), and minimum tank size (in litres). Although it does not tell you what these mean, any intermediate or higher fishhkeeper should be able to figure it out.
   
   The icons are not particularly clear unless you already know the fish. For example, the icon for egg-scatterer versus livebearer is only obvious if you know what the fish is to begin with. More importantly, I can find nowhere in the book where it actually tells what the icons mean. This is very sloppy.
   
   The index is also horrendous, failing to include a number of entries, and including numerous false entries. For example, the first page entry listed for Scleropages jardini sends you to a page that does not contain pictures of jardini, and in fact is a section for a different continent.
   
   Even the quality of the pictures is uneven. For some fish, the coverage is extensive, with a lot of pictures showing different color strains, breeding colors, and so on. Yet for other fish, the coverage is incomplete. For example, there are three pictures of Silver Arrowana, and all three show just-hatched arrowanas. Why not show an adult? The fish changes as it gets older. Also, there are only four pictures of Astronatus (Oscars), showing only 4 color patterns. It's absolutely shocking to me that the abino and tiger albino forms are not shown. They've been in the trade for well over a decade before this edition was published.
   
   My last complaint is that they have been adding pages by adding them as decimal additions. For example, they added 16 pages of pictures of Swordtails (16 pages!) after page 432, and numbered them as pages 432.01, 432.02, etc. The reason for this, of course, is that it means less work adjusting the index, etc., and 16 pages in one place from a publishing standpoint is easier, because it means not changing the rest of the plates. But from a reader's standpoint, it is sloppy and unforgivable, considering the price of the book.
   
   To summarize, this book contains an incredible array of pictures. On the plus side, it has pictures of many fish you'll find nowhere else. It is massive and impressive. The pages are slick and glossy and the physical production standards are high. On the down side, it is badly in need of extensive, high-quality, detailed editing to correct the numerous glaring errors and omissions.
   
   Frankly, this is overall a hugely disappointing effort and I simply can't recommend plunking down such a high price for this edition.

3 comments about Horses (Passions).

1. As a collector of equine photography books, I was very pleased after reading through Gabrielle Boiselle's "Horses" because the book became my favorite of all. It is exactly what I have been striving to find in equine photography. Boiselle easily accomplishes the challenging attempt to capture the poetry and beauty that horses radiate, as well as the deep emotions they convey. She does not digitally "enhance" her work. What you see is excellence at its best. Her pictures are never trite, but capture the very soul of these extraordinarily sensitive creatures that exude a powerful & untamed energy and unrivaled grace & nobility. The book is wonderfully laid out, with chapters such as Grace & Beauty, Power & Energy, Curiosity & Fun, Violence & Fear, etc. In my opinion, this type of layout is the best when it comes to catagorizing the equine world. Things to look forward to in this book: Unforgetable images that will powerfully arouse your own sentiments. Question to ask yourself before purchasing: How many photographers have you come by that have been able to capture two mighty Friesian stallions fighting . . . in the snow? Yeah, that's what I thought . . . ;)



2. I saw this book in Borders, they wanted much more! This book is stunning, breath taking is definetly another word to use! I love the horses in it, and the photographer very taletned person!
   
   She really gets horses and it's a gorgeous layout, there is alot of eye candy and things you get to really savor and enjoy!
   
   A+
   
   Michelle



3. Ravishing photographs of horses, seen with a lover's eye for this great animal. Gabrielle has embraced the spiritual realm of horses in all aspects of their life in this marvelous book. Her ability to capture the astonishing grace, stunning beauty and intimate moments are just remarkable and extraordinary. All horse lovers, don't be without this one!