An Illustrated Guide to Companion Animal Breeds provides information on dog and cat breeds, birds, and pocket pets. Readers learn about different breeds and species of companion animals and their characteristics, becoming familiar with diseases and conditions that can threaten their health. The first to cover all types of companion animals, the book discusses breed origins, characteristics, size and weight, color, coat type, body features, and life span. The unit on dogs features herding, hound, sporting, non-sporting, terrier, toy, and working breeds. The material on cats discusses color, coat, and body types. It covers numerous specific breeds including Abyssinian, American Curl and Shorthair, Egyptian Mau, Balinese, Persian, Korat, Norwegian Forest Cat, and more. In addition, the text addresses the nutritional needs and caging information of pocket pets and birds, we well as their origins, size, and weight. The book includes full-color photographs of all the animals. An Illustrated Guide to Companion Animal Breeds is intended for veterinary technology and animal science courses at the university level. The book is also an excellent resource for high school and college competitions in companion animal breed identification, husbandry, training, and events. Teresa F. Sonsthagen, outdoor and Dachshund enthusiast, is a co-director of the Veterinary Technology program and senior lecturer in the animal sciences department at North Dakota State University. She earned her bachelor's degree in veterinary technology at the university and is a fully licensed veterinary technologist with working experience in mixed animal practice and in the North Dakota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. She has taught courses in clinical techniques and instruments, surgical nursing and anesthesiology, companion animal breeds, restraint of domestic animals, parasitology, hematology, and hospital procedures and management.