Working with Your Veterinarian for Healthier Animals and Profits
Susan Kerr, DVM, PhD, PAS
WSU NW WA Livestock and Dairy Extension Specialist
16650 St. Rt. 536 Mount Vernon, WA 98273
kerrs@wsu.edu 360-848-6151
With the cost of feed, fertilizer, and other expenses rising substantially in the past
several years, livestock producers who want to be profitable constantly need to look for
ways to reduce production costs. One item on your expense ledger that can be reduced
through judicious planning is veterinary expenses. This article was created by request to
guide producers through this process.
Relationships Rule
Finding a food animal veterinarian can be a challenge in some areas. Start by asking
other livestock owners near you about the veterinarian they use. You can also look in
the yellow pages of the phone book, conduct a web search, or contact your state
veterinary medical association. Some examples of veterinary association web sites with
practitioner search options include:
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www.aasrp.org: American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners (sheep,
goats, alpacas, llamas, farmed deer, farmed elk)
www.avma.org: American Veterinary Medical Association (all species)
www.aaep.org: American Association of Equine Practitioners (horses and other
equines).
After you have selected a veterinarian in your area that provides services to the animal
species you raise, make an appointment for an initial farm visit. Consider this a consultation an investment and make the most of it. You will be paying for the professional’s
time and expertise, but this initial fee will pay off by preventing a myriad of future
problems. This relationship will be a two-way street: your veterinarian will become a
trusted and dependable professional consultant and service provider for you and you
will become a loyal client and essential component of an effective Veterinarian-ClientPatient Relationship (VCPR).
Initial Farm Visit
Walk through your property and facilities with your veterinarian; his/her trained eye will
be able to detect threats to your animals’ health and safety you might have overlooked,
such as poisonous plants. Have your records ready and be able to answer questions
your veterinarian will ask such as vaccination, deworming, nutrition, and breeding
histories for your animals. Working with your veterinarian, establish an annual herd
health plan that focuses on prevention practices and monitoring protocols that detect
problems promptly. Large commercial operations such as dairies often schedule weekly
veterinary visits to perform routine health procedures, conduct reproductive evaluations,
review health records, examine animals, and provide consultation services.
Discuss your feeding program in depth and ask your veterinarian how to monitor animal
health and production to assess its effectiveness. Ask about local mineral deficiencies
or toxicities and for recommendations about what minerals to provide to your animals.
Seek your veterinarian’s input on livestock handling facilities and equipment. He/she will
be a good source of information about facility designs based on animal welfare and
behavior which will result in the most efficient and low-stress animal flow. If you have no
way to restrain animals that need to be examined or treated, be prepared for higher
veterinary fees and a frustrated veterinarian. If you have livestock, you must have some
way to catch, restrain, and treat individual animals that is safe for animals and people.
Discuss low-stress handling and transportation principles with the veterinarian.
Consider having your veterinarian conduct pre-purchase exams on herd additions. This
is certainly a good idea for high-value breeding stock and when assembling a herd.
Your veterinarian can perform physical examinations on individuals you are considering
purchasing and make recommendations about laboratory tests to determine the
presence of diseases of concern. Fertility examinations can be conducted as well.
Veterinarians as Teachers
During an initial farm visit, your veterinarian can teach you how to perform essential
management tasks. Some examples include:
 Taking temperature, pulse rate, and
 Docking tails (sheep)
respiration rate
 Castrating
 Giving oral medications
 Disbudding
 Administering injections
 Taking sterile milk samples (dairy
 Trimming feet
animals)
 Assessing severity of parasitism
 Body Condition Scoring
 Determining age by teeth
 Determining when market animals are
finished
 Ear tagging and tattooing
Veterinarians as Business Owners
Veterinarians provide essential services to animal owners. They also have a business to
run and want to be financially successful so they can continue to help you and your
animals next week, next month, and next year. As with other aspects of the service sector,
loyalty is appreciated. Buy some medications and vaccines from your veterinarian—he/she
will stand behind the quality and handling of these products, unlike products shipped from
discount warehouses or online businesses. Paying for services and medications promptly
will make your veterinarian more likely to take your 2 AM call for advice or prioritize your
10 PM emergency farm call. Remember the two-way street relationship mentioned above?
The veterinarian assists you in caring for your animals properly and you reciprocate by
supporting his/her business. If the veterinarian’s business isn’t successful, it can cease
operations just like any other business—what will producers in your area do then?
ELDU, VCPR, E-I-E-I-O!
You can avoid costly fines and even jail time by establishing a VCPR and following your
veterinarian’s advice about medication use in food animals. The number of licensed and
approved medications is low for some food animal species, but necessary mediations can
be used as needed with your veterinarian’s supervision and approval, provided you use
such medications exactly as directed by your veterinarian. Extra-label drug use (ELDU)
means using any medication in any way other than exactly described on the medication
label; it is legal only when a valid VCPR exists. Your initial farm visit with your veterinarian
will help establish your VCPR.
A VCPR exists when the following is true:
1. The veterinarian has assumed the responsibility for making clinical judgments regarding
the health of the patient and the client has agreed to follow the veterinarian’s instructions.
2. The veterinarian has sufficient knowledge of the patient to initiate a general or
preliminary diagnosis of the medical condition of the patient. This means the veterinarian is
personally acquainted with the keeping and care of the patient by timely examination of the
patient by the veterinarian, or medically appropriate and timely visits by the veterinarian to
the operation where the patient is managed.
3. The veterinarian is readily available for follow-up evaluation or has arranged for
veterinary emergency coverage and continuing care and treatment. (NOTE: This
requirement explains why extra-label use of food animal medications obtained through
online pharmacies does not comply with federal food safety laws unless your veterinarian
has prescribed the medication).
4. The veterinarian provides oversight of treatment, compliance, and outcome. (Note:
again, online pharmacies cannot provide this service).
5. Patient records are maintained.1
Medications can only be used in food animals in an extra-label manner if the animal’s
health is at risk, and/or the animal may suffer and/or die without treatment, and there are
no licensed medications that will be effective for the animal’s health problem. 2 When your
veterinarian has determined that ELDU is necessary, both you and your veterinarian must
keep extensive records that include:
 The name and address of the prescribing veterinarian and dispensing pharmacy if one
is used.
 The name of the medication or each active ingredient if the product contains more than
one.
 Directions for use including the class/species of animal being treated; treated animal
identification; condition being treated; and amount, frequency, route of administration,
and duration of treatment.
 Any relevant cautionary statements, such as “do not use in lactating animals.”
 A specific withholding time before which any food products (meat, milk, eggs, etc.) from
the treated animal cannot be used for human food consumption.
Prevention Rules!
“Good fences make good neighbors”; they also reduce veterinary emergencies by keeping
animals safely where they belong. Use smooth hot wires—not barbed wire—and monitor
and maintain fences regularly to avoid costly bills related to injuries.
Meeting animals’ needs for the proper amount and balance of nutrients is the underpinning
of your entire health and prevention program. Well-nourished animals are better able to
withstand health threats from parasites, viruses, bacteria, bad weather and other stressors.
Be sure to have enough space for all animals to access all the feed and water they need;
watch for bossy animals that keep others from getting their share and address this
situation promptly. Make any ration changes slowly to give intestinal microbes time to
adjust. Keep grain safely locked away from animals—unregulated consumption can be
deadly. Your veterinarian will be able to make recommendations about what trace mineral
products to use for your species of livestock in your area.
Animals need a place to rest and relax. Shelter from the baking sun and cold rain and wind
reduces animal stress and maintenance feed requirements. Heat-stressed animals often
stop eating, which reduces all forms of production and increases health risks. Likewise,
animals forced to be in mud for prolonged periods experience significant stress, especially
young stock; this stress can start a cascade of problems resulting from increased disease
susceptibility. Work with your local Conservation District staff to address mud issues on
your farm for the sake of animal health and water quality protection.
Good ventilation is needed for proper air quality for animals housed in barns. Ask your
veterinarian about this during your initial farm visit. Sometimes natural ventilation is
sufficient, but in some cases fans are needed to ensure the amount of air turnover needed
to keep air fresh and pathogen loads low. Failing to address air quality will almost
guarantee you will see your veterinarian again to treat pneumonia cases.
Speaking of pneumonia, cases of respiratory disease can be reduced drastically by
preventative vaccinations. Your veterinarian can help you create a vaccination schedule to
reduce the risk of pneumonia, abortions, diarrhea, tetanus, encephalitis, pinkeye, and
many other diseases. It is difficult to wade through all the information about vaccinations
and decide what to use; your veterinarian will advise you regarding which products to use
and when and how to administer them.
Monitor, Monitor, Monitor
Proactive livestock managers take time each day to look at their animals to assess health
and well being. Experienced managers can quickly gauge each animal’s attitude, appetite,
gait, manure, coat, body condition, posture, eyes, etc. and make a determination about
health or illness. Prompt identification of health problems also helps contain veterinary
expenses, both for an individual animal and at the start of a herd-wide problem.
If You See a Problem…
If you notice something of concern, collect as much factual information about the situation
as possible and call your veterinarian. Do not watch a problem all day, then call the
veterinarian after 5 PM—this may earn you an emergency fee on top of a farm call charge.
Some issues can be handled easily over the phone and others will require a farm visit. If
you can haul the animal to your veterinarian’s clinic, this might save you a bit on your bill.
If the veterinarian comes to your farm, have the animal(s) needing attention caught up so
they can be examined and treated quickly. Have the animal’s records available and tell
your veterinarian about any treatments you have already administered. Be knowledgeable
about the animal’s recent diet, behavior, appetite, attitude, manure and urine production,
etc. and share this information with the veterinarian.
“…for My Club, My Community, My Country, and My World.”
Readers with a 4-H background will recognize those words as part of the 4-H pledge. As a
livestock owner, you can help ensure livestock health and the financial success of you and
other producers near and far by learning about Foreign Animal Diseases. Early detection
of economically-devastating diseases is our best hope for reducing the scope and scale of
such outbreaks should they ever get enter our country. Your veterinarian is the second line
of defense against such an outbreak; you are the first. Contact your veterinarian
immediately if you detect blisters or ulcers on an animal’s tongue, nose, lips, eyes, mouth,
teats, feet, prepuce and/or vulva. There are many diseases of concern as well as less
serious diseases that cause such signs—your veterinarian will know what to do to
determine the diagnosis and appropriate response. Call your veterinarian whenever you
have unexplained deaths or signs of illness you have not seen before.
THE SOONER A FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE IS DETECTED, THE FEWER THE
NUMBER OF ANIMALS THAT WILL HAVE TO BE SLAUGHTERED TO CONTAIN THE
DISEASE AND THE LESS THE ECONOMIC IMPACT WILL BE ON FARMERS AND THE
AMERICAN PUBLIC. A simulated outbreak study in California projected a difference of
$2.3 vs. $69 billion if diagnosis of Foot and Mouth Disease was detected after one week
vs. three weeks; after a certain point, every additional hour of delay in diagnosis resulted in
$565 million more in economic losses and the need to slaughter 2,000 more animals for
disease containment.3 The moral of the story: monitor your animals closely every day and
if you have a concern, call your veterinarian right away.
Annual Tune Ups
By focusing on prevention and monitoring, you should be able to prevent most problems
and quickly detect any that arise. This approach will keep veterinary expenses minimal and
promote best outcomes. Plan on an annual farm visit with your veterinarian to discuss any
concerns you have, review vaccination and nutrition programs, address risks, and maintain
an effective VCPR. Your veterinarian wants your animals to stay healthy as much as you
do. Consider him/her a full member of the team doing its best to produce wholesome and
high-quality products from healthy food animals on your farm, with animal health and wellbeing at the forefront.
1.www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/VCPR-FAQs.aspx.
2.www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=530
3.http://vdi.sagepub.com/content/23/1/26.full.pdf+html