Preface
The human–animal bond has evolved and diversified down the ages. Dogs, cats and
even horses, have long fulfilled the role of faithful companion and indeed, as
exemplified by the introduction of seeing and hearing dogs, there may be a critical
level of co-dependency between the species. In the twenty-first century, the animal
types that are kept as pets in many parts of the world are extensive ranging from
reptiles through rodents to ruminants and beyond. As would be predicted by the
nature of the relationship, the approach to treatment of a companion animal is often
closely aligned to that which would have been offered to their owner. However, an
increasing awareness of welfare issues, such as the recognition that animals experi-
ence pain and the proven benefits of disease prevention in intensive farming units,
together with the growth in zoos and wildlife parks, has increased the likelihood of
food producing and non-domesticated animals receiving medicinal products during
their life-time.
Although many of the individual drugs or classes of drugs administered to
animals are the same as, or derived from, those given to man, the safe and effective
use of drugs in animals often cannot be achieved by simply transposing knowledge
of drug action on, or behaviour in, the body from one species to another. The impact
of the anatomical, physiological and pathophysiological variability that spans the
animal kingdom can often profoundly alter drug response. Thus the discipline of
veterinary pharmacology, which has grown up alongside and developed from basic
and medical pharmacology, has drawn from and built upon, but has sometimes had
to markedly adapt data obtained from drug use for the prevention and treatment of
disease in man. In compiling this volume, Springer Verlag has provided us with the
opportunity to collaborate with world experts in this field in order to bring together
a series of succinct overviews in some key areas of veterinary pharmacology and
therapeutics. Those topics addressed in the first part of the volume (Chaps. 1–7)
illustrate both the commonality and differences between drug pharmacodynamics
and pharmacokinetics in animals and man, looking also to the future benefits that
introduction of new technologies may bring. Those in the latter part (Chaps. 8–12)
demonstrate the potential impact of drug use in animals on man and the
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