Vets in your daily life
Veterinarian
• A vet, shortened from veterinarian (American English) or
veterinary surgeon (British English), is a professional who treats
disease, disorder and injury in animals.
• In many countries, the local nomenclature for a vet is a protected
term, meaning that people without the prerequisite qualifications
and/or registration are not able to use the title, and in many cases,
the activities that may be undertaken by a vet (such as animal
treatment or surgery) are restricted only to those people who are
registered as vet. For instance, in the United Kingdom, as in other
jurisdictions, animal treatment may only be performed by
registered vets (with a few designated exceptions, such as
paraveterinary workers) (Veterinary nurses, veterinary technicians,
veterinary assistants, veterinary technologists) and it is illegal for
any person who is not registered to call themselves a vet or
perform any treatment.
Role and responsibilities of vets
• Most vets work in clinical settings, treating animals directly. These
vets may be involved in a general practice, treating animals of all
types; may be specialised in a specific group of animals such as
companion animals, livestock, zoo animals or horses; or may
specialise in a narrow medical discipline such as surgery,
dermatology or internal medicine.
• As with healthcare professionals, vets face ethical decisions about
the care of their patients. Current debates within the profession
include the ethics of purely cosmetic procedures on animals, such
as declawing of cats, docking of tails, cropping of ears and
debarking (Devocalization also known as ventriculocordectomy or
vocal cordectomy, and for dogs, debarking or bark softening) is a
surgical procedure applied to dogs and cats, where tissue is
removed from the animal’s vocal cords in order to permanently
reduce the volume of their vocalizations) on dogs.
Role and responsibilities of vets
• Vets are primarily required to treat disease, disorder or
injury in animals, which includes diagnosis, treatment and
aftercare. The scope of practice, speciality and experience
of the individual vets will dictate exactly what interventions
they perform, but most will perform surgery (of differing
complexity).
• Unlike in adult human medicine, vets must rely on clinical
signs, as animals are unable to vocalise symptoms as a
human would (and in that respect is similar to medicine on
human children). In some cases, owners may be able to
provide a medical history and the vet can combine this
information along with observations, and the results of
pertinent diagnostic tests such as x-rays, CT scans, blood
tests, urinalysis or other diagnostics.
Role and responsibilities of vets
• As with human medicine, much veterinary work is
concerned with prophylactic treatment, in order to
prevent problems occurring in the future. Common
interventions include vaccination against common
animal illnesses, such as distemper or rabies. This may
also involve being involved in owner education so as to
avoid future medical or behavioural issues.
• Unlike in most human medicine, vets will often
consider the appropriateness of euthanasia ("putting
to sleep") if a condition is likely to leave the animal in
pain or with a poor quality of life.
Focus of practice
• Exotic animal veterinarian - Generally considered to include
reptiles, exotic birds such as parrots and cockatoos, and small
mammals such as ferrets, rabbits, chinchillas, and degus.
• Conservation medicine - The study of the relationship between
animal and human health and environmental conditions.
• Small animal practice - Usually dogs, cats, and other companion
animals/household pets such as hamsters and gerbils. Some
practices are canine-only or feline-only practices.
• Laboratory animal practice - Some veterinarians work in a university
or industrial laboratory and are responsible for the care and
treatment of laboratory animals of any species (often involving
bovines, porcine species, felines, canines, rodents, and even exotic
animals). Their responsibility is not only for the health and well
being of the animals, but also for enforcing humane and ethical
treatment of the animals in the facility.
Focus of practice
• Large animal practice - Usually referring to
veterinarians that work with, variously, livestock and
other large farm animals, as well as equine species and
large reptiles.
• Equine medicine - Some veterinarians are specialists in
equine medicine. Horses are different in anatomy,
physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and husbandry
to other domestic species. Specialization in equine
veterinary practice is something that is normally
developed after qualification, even if students do have
some interest before graduation.
Focus of practice
• Food animal medicine - Some veterinarians deal
exclusively or primary with animals raised for food
(such as meat, milk, and eggs). Livestock practitioners
may deal with ovine (sheep), bovine (cattle) and
porcine (swine) species; such veterinarians deal with
management of herds, nutrition, reproduction, and
minor field surgery. Dairy medicine practice focuses on
dairy animals. Poultry medicine practice focuses on the
health of flocks of poultry; the field often involves
extensive training in pathology, epidemiology, and
nutrition of birds. The veterinarian treats the flock and
not the individual animals.
Focus of practice
• Food safety practice - Veterinarians are employed by
both the food industry and government agencies to
advise on and monitor the handling, preparation, and
storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness.
• Wildlife medicine - A relatively recent branch of
veterinary medicine, focusing on wildlife. Wildlife
medicine veterinarians may work with zoologists and
conservation medicine practitioners and may also be
called out to treat marine species such as sea otters,
dolphins, or whales after a natural disaster or oil spill.
Animal agriculture
• Animal agriculture in the developed world has become
increasingly science and knowledge based and where
this model has been applied there has been enormous
success. To deal with the increasing consumer demand
for animal protein across the globe, improvements in
productivity will not be sufficient. An honest approach
to trade issues will also have to be adopted, although
such a resolution appears to be less than
straightforward. For instance, growth-promoting
hormones have become the basis of a serious
European Union (EU)-US trade dispute on the basis of
alleged safety concerns.
Growth promoting hormones
• Growth promoting hormones for the most part
are natural steroids, which provide an increase in
growth and a reduction in fat during the finishing
stage of cattle production. More than 60% of the
beef cattle in the US receive anabolic hormones
and more than 90% of the cattle fed in feedlots
are implanted with this hormone. Since these
implants are located in the ear, they are easily
removed at slaughter, and residual hormone does
not enter the food chain.
Dairy production
• Globally, 2/3 of milk is produced by high-output
breeds. Dairy cattle breeding is focused on very clear
but very few objectives: Milk amount and fat content,
weight gain, feed efficiency, all under optimum
production conditions. “Consistent selection for these
traits has led to a genetic narrowing to an extent that,
despite the fact there are more than 3.7 million
Holstein cows enrolled in milk recording in the USA,
the effective population size of the Holstein breed in
the USA for 2004 was only 60 animals. Jerseys and
Brown Swiss in the USA have 2004 estimates of
effective population size of 31 and 32 animals,
respectively.”
The Genetics of animals
• The genetics of the animal-the American Holstein-are
primarily responsible for these productivity gains. The
number of cows has decreased by almost two-thirds,
and although large Holsteins individually consume
more food and deposit more manure than before, on
aggregate, less feed is consumed and less manure
produced than 50 years ago. How were such gains
achieved? The precursors of the modern milk breeds
were gradually derived from farmed cattle that were
selected according to their milk production. Improved
nutrition and artificial insemination, which began on a
large scale only in the 1950s, had an enormous impact
on productivity.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND
VETERINARY SCIENCE
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1. Animal Nutrition:
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1.1 Partitioning of food energy within the animal. Direct and indirect calorimetry.
Carbon—
nitrogen balance and comparative slaughter methods. Systems for expressing
energy
value of foods in ruminants, pigs and poultry. Energy requirements for
maintenance,
growth, pregnancy, lactation, egg, wool, and meat production.
1.2 Latest advances in protein nutrition. Energy protein interrelationships.
Evaluation of
protein quality. Use of NPN compounds in ruminant diets. Protein requirements
for
maintenance, growth, pregnancy, lactation, egg, wool and meat production.
1.3 Major and trace minerals—Their sources, physiological functions and
deficiency
symptoms. Toxic minerals. Mineral interactions. Role of fat-soluble and water—
soluble
vitamins in the body, their sources and deficiency symptoms.
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Animal Nutrition
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1.4 Feed additives—methane inhibitors, probiotics, enzymes, antibiotics, hormones,
oligosaccharides, antioxidants, emulsifiers, mould inhibitors, buffers etc. Use and abuse
of growth promoters like hormones and antibiotics—latest concepts.
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1.5 Conservation of fodders. Storage of feeds and feed ingredients. Recent advances in feed
technology and feed processing. Anti–nutritional and toxic factors present in livestock
feeds. Feed analysis and quality control. Digestibility trials—direct, indirect and
indicator methods. Predicting feed intake in grazing animals.
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1.6 Advances in ruminant nutrition. Nutrient requirements. Balanced rations. Feeding of
calves, pregnant, work animals and breeding bulls. Strategies for feeding milch animals
during different stages of lactation cycle. Effect of feeding on milk composition. Feeding
of goats for meat and milk production. Feeding of sheep for meat and wool production.
Animal Nutrition
• 1.7 Swine Nutrition. Nutrient requirements.
Creep, starter, grower and finisher rations.
• Feeding of pigs for lean meat production. Low
cost rations for swine.
• 1.8 Poultry nutrition. Special features of
poultry nutrition. Nutrient requirements for
meat and
• egg production. Formulation of rations for
different classes of layers and broilers.
2. Animal Physiology
• 2.1 Physiology of blood and its circulation, respiration,
excretion. Endocrine glands in health
• and disease.
• 2.2 Blood constituents.—Properties and functions—blood
cell formation-Haemoglobin
• synthesis and chemistry-plasma proteins production,
classification and properties,
• coagulation of blood; Haemorrhagic disordersanticoagulants-blood groups-Blood
• volume-Plasma expanders-Buffer systems in blood.
Biochemical tests and their
• significance in disease diagnosis.
• 2.3 Circulation.—Physiology of heart, cardiac
cycle, heart sounds, heart beat,
electrocardiograms. Work and efficiency of hearteffect of ions on heart function-metabolism of
cardiac muscle, nervous and chemical regulation
of heart, effect of temperature and stress on
heart, blood pressure and hypertension, osmotic
regulation, arterial pulse, vasomotor regulation of
circulation, shock. Coronary and pulmonary
circulation, Blood-Brain barrier—Cerebrospinal
fluid- circulation in birds.
• 2.4 Respiration.—Mechanism of respiration, Transport and
exchange of gases –neural control of respiration-chemoreceptors-hypoxia-respiration in birds.
• 2.5 Excretion-Structure and function of kidney-formation of
urine-methods of studying renal function-renal regulation
of acid-base balance: physiological constituents of urinerenal failure-passive venous congestion-Urinary secretion in
chicken-Sweat glands and their function. Bio-chemical test
for urinary dysfunction.
• 2.6 Endocrine glands.—Functional disorders their
symptoms and diagnosis. Synthesis of hormones,
mechanism and control of secretion- hormonal receptorsclassification and function.
• 2.7 Growth and Animal Production- Prenatal and postnatal growth,
maturation, growth curves, measures of growth, factors affecting growth,
conformation, body composition, meat quality.
• 2.8 Physiology of Milk Production.—Reproduction and climatology –
various parameters and their importance. Animal ecology.
• Physiology of behaviour. Effect of stress on health and production.
• Mammary development, milk secretion and milk ejection, Male and
• Female reproductive organs, their components and functions. Digestive
organs and their functions.
• 2.9 Environmental Physiology.—Physiological relations and their
regulation; mechanisms of adaptation, environmental factors and
regulatory mechanisms involved in animal behaviour, climatology –
various parameters and their importance. Animal ecology.
• Physiology of behaviour. Effect of stress on health and production.
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Animal Reproduction:
• Animal Reproduction:
• Semen quality—Preservation and Artificial Insemination—
Components of semen,
• composition of spermatozoa, chemical and physical
properties of ejaculated semen,
• factors affecting semen in vivo and in vitro. Factors
affecting semen production and
• quality, preservation, composition of diluents, sperm
concentration, transport of diluted
• semen. Deep freezing techniques in cows, sheep, goats,
swine and poultry. Detection of
• oestrus and time of insemination for better conception.
Anoestrus and repeat breeding.
Livestock Production and
Management:
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Commercial Dairy Farming—Comparison of dairy farming in India with advanced
countries. Dairying under mixed farming and as specialized farming, economic
dairy
farming. Starting of a dairy farm, capital and land requirement, organization of the
dairy
farm. Opportunities in dairy farming, factors determining the efficiency of dairy
animal.
Herd recording, budgeting, cost of milk production, pricing policy; Personnel
Management. Developing Practical and Economic rations for dairy cattle; supply of
greens throughout the year, feed and fodder requirements of Dairy Farm. Feeding
regimes
for young stock and bulls, heifers and breeding animals; new trends in feeding
young and
adult stock; Feeding records.
Livestock Production and
Management:
• 4.2 Commercial meat, egg and wool production—
Development of practical and economic
• rations for sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits and poultry.
Supply of greens, fodder, feeding
• regimes for young and mature stock. New trends
in enhancing production and
• management. Capital and land requirements and
socio-economic concept.
• 4.3 Feeding and management of animals under
drought, flood and other natural calamities.
5. Genetics and Animal Breeding
• History of animal genetics. Mitosis and Meiosis:
Mendelian inheritance; deviations to
• Mendelian genetics; Expression of genes; Linkage and
crossing over; Sex determination,
• sex influenced and sex limited characters; Blood groups
and polymorphism; Chromosome
• aberrations; Cytoplasmic inheritance. Gene and its
structure; DNA as a genetic material;
• Genetic code and protein synthesis; Recombinant DNA
technology. Mutations, types of
• mutations, methods for detecting mutations and
mutation rate. Trans-genesis.
5. Genetics and Animal Breeding
• 5.1 Population Genetics applied to Animal Breeding—
Quantitative Vs. qualitative traits;
• Hardy Weinberg Law; Population Vs. individual; Gene
and genotypic frequency; Forces changing gene
frequency; Random drift and small populations; Theory
of path coefficient; Inbreeding, methods of estimating
inbreeding coefficient, systems of inbreeding, effective
population size; Breeding value, estimation of breeding
value, dominance and epistatic deviation; Partitioning
of variation; Genotype X environment correlation and
genotype X environment interaction; role of multiple
measurements; Resemblance between relatives.
5. Genetics and Animal Breeding
• 5.2 Breeding Systems—Breeds of livestsock and Poultry.
Heritability, repeatability and genetic and phenotypic
correlations, their methods of estimation and precision of
estimates; Aids to selection and their relative merits;
Individual, pedigree, family and within family selection;
Progeny testing; Methods of selection; Construction of
selection indices and their uses; Comparative evaluation of
genetic gains through various selection methods; Indirect
selection and correlated response; Inbreeding, out
breeding, upgrading, cross-breeding and synthesis of
breeds; Crossing of inbred lines for commercial
production; Selection for general and specific combining
ability; Breeding for thresholdcharacters. Sire index.
Extension
• 6. Extension:
• Basic philosophy, objectives, concept and
principles of extension. Different Methods
• adopted to educate farmers under rural
conditions. Generation of technology, its
transfer
• and feedback. Problems and constraints in
transfer of technology. Animal husbandry
• programmes for rural development.