Veterinary Work Research Articles

Growth and cardiovascular development are repressed by florfenicol exposure in early chicken embryos

Florfenicol (FLO) is one of the most popular antibacterial drugs used in veterinary clinics and aquaculture. The drug was found to decrease the hatchability of eggs laid by treated hens in veterinary clinics and research work. However, the pathological changes in developing embryos and their cardiovascular system and the mechanism underlying FLO-induced embryonic death remain unclear. In the present study, fertilized eggs laid by hens treated with a therapeutic dose of FLO were collected and incubated. Results showed that FLO exposure repressed embryonic development and induced early embryonic death. As a result, FLO decreased the hatchability and increased the proportion of weak chicks. Moreover, FLO exposure led to embryonic lethality and inhibited the development of chick embryos as characterized by decreased weights, lagging distribution of Hamburger–Hamilton stages, and dysplastic eyes. Pathological examination indicated that FLO exposure affected the normal development of the heart in 4.5-day-old chick embryos, as characterized by shorter transverse cardiac diameter, disordered arrangement of trabecular muscles in ventricles, and reduced thickness of ventricular walls. Furthermore, FLO decreased blood vascular densities and downregulated the expression levels of key angiogenesis-related genes, including the vascular endothelial growth factor and fibroblast growth factor, in the yolk sac membrane. These findings indicated that FLO exposure restricted vascular development during early embryonic development. In summary, our data suggest that the restricted growth and abnormal cardiovascular development may be responsible for FLO-induced early embryonic death. Thus, these findings can be useful for guiding the proper use of FLO and in laying a foundation for further studies on the mechanism of FLO-induced embryonic toxicity.

Imported rescue dogs: lack of research impedes evidence-based advice to ensure the welfare of individual dogs

If you are a veterinary professional working in general practice in the UK, you cannot have failed to notice the increase in the number of dogs originating from overseas being...

Supporting vets in rural and remote areas

Last month, BVA President Daniella Dos Santos travelled to Inverness to find out about the realities of rural and remote veterinary work from members of the Highlands and Islands Veterinary...

Rationing of work of veterinary specialists serving small domestic, ornamental and wild animals

Veterinary specialists have been rationing the work in the Russian Federation for more than 60 years. During this period, a lot of material has been accumulated on the development of scientific, methodological and regulatory problems. Recommendations on the regulation of labor of specialists in the field of veterinary medicine have been developed and approved: the time standards for the implementation of anti-epizootic, treatment-and-prophylactic, veterinary-sanitary measures for servicing cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, birds; diagnostic tests carried out by veterinary laboratories, and veterinary and sanitary examination of animal and vegetable products as well. The market of veterinary services in the cities of our country requires the expansion of the list of veterinary services in the field of servicing small domestic, decorative, exotic and wild animals. The article presents: features of the regulation of labor of veterinary specialists; classification of veterinary work depending on their direction, labor capacity, significance for ensuring epizootic well-being; norms of time for performing about 300 types of veterinary work when servicing small pets, 35 wild animals, 32 decorative and exotic animals. The established norms of labor costs for the implementation of veterinary measures in small domestic, decorative, exotic and wild animals will be used for: analysis of personnel support for veterinary institutions; planning their staffing levels; studying the effectiveness of the use of labor resources; establishing reasonable prices for paid veterinary work; determination of reserves for increasing labor productivity of veterinary specialists.

Potential sources of infection with selected zoonotic agents in the veterinary work environment - pilot studies.

The problem of occupational biohazards is very important, especially in the field of agriculture and in human and veterinary medicine. The aim of the study was to determine the potential sources of infection in veterinary professionals with selected zoonotic agents, including: Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia duodenalis, Leptospira spp., Cryptosporidium spp. and Coxiella burnetii. A total of 50 air samples from barns, piggeries and veterinary surgeries were examined for the presence of Leptospira spp. and C. burnetii DNA. Serum samples of 86 pigs and 80 cows were tested for the presence of antibodies to Leptospira spp. and to phase I and II C. burnetii antigens. Serum of 70 cats were tested for the presence of antibodies to T. gondii and 65 samples of cat faeces for the presence of T. gondii oocysts. The presence of G. duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. were examined in 50 of dog faeces and 50 of bovine faeces samples. DNA of Leptospira spp. was detected in 2 air samples from the piggeries (4%). C. burnetii DNA was not found in any sample. Anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies were detected in 51 (59.3%) of examined pigs. Neither anti-Leptospira spp. nor anti-C. burnetii antibodies were found among samples of bovine serum. Anti-T. gondii antibodies was found in 52 cat serum samples (74.3%). Among samples of cat faeces, no T. gondii oocysts were detected. In one sample of cattle stool (2%), G. duodenalis was detected and in another (2%) - Cryptosporidium spp. G. duodenalis was detected in 7 samples (14%) and Cryptosporidium spp. in 2 samples (2%) of dog faeces. The results of this study demonstrate the potential risk of infection with Leptospira spp. in veterinarians working with pigs. Veterinarians could be also be at risk of infection with T. gondii and G. duodenalis.

Challenging identity: development of a measure of veterinary career motivations

BackgroundWhile little is known about the motivations underpinning veterinary work, previous literature has suggested that the main influences on veterinary career choice are early/formative exposure to animals or veterinary role...

Meaningful work and well-being: a study of the positive side of veterinary work

ObjectivesMental health is a growing concern in many healthcare professions, including veterinary medicine, as research suggests that veterinarians report higher levels of distress, burnout and suicidal ideation than other healthcare...

Best Practice in Supporting Professional Identity Formation: Use of a Professional Reasoning Framework.

Professional identity and professionalism education are increasingly important to veterinary education, but many of the concepts remain intangible to veterinary students, and engagement is a persistent challenge. While whole-curriculum integration is recommended for a successful professional studies program, this is complicated by clinical faculty's discomfort with the content. Where professional studies education is centered around professional identity formation, a key element of this is the multi-perspective nature of veterinary work, with the veterinarian negotiating the needs of multiple stakeholders in animal care. Constructing teaching around a framework of professional reasoning, which incorporates the negotiation of different stakeholder needs, ethical decision making, communication, teamwork, and outcome monitoring, offers the potential to make professional identity a concept more visible to students in veterinary work, and guides students in the contextualization of taught material. A framework is presented for veterinary professional reasoning that signposts wider curriculum content and helps illustrate where material such as veterinary business studies, animal welfare, the human-animal bond, and professional responsibility, as well as attributes such as empathy and compassion, all integrate in the decisions and actions of the veterinary professional. The aims of this framework are to support students' engagement in professional studies teaching and help them use workplace learning experiences to construct an appropriate professional identity for competence and resilience in the clinic. For faculty involved in curriculum design and clinical teaching, the framework provides a tool to support the integration of professional identity concepts across the extended curriculum.

Comments on the dilemma in the May issue: Managing a high publicity crowdfunded shelter puppy with head trauma

In the dilemma discussed in the May issue of In Practice, Wesley Cheung and Anne Fawcett described a scenario where you are a veterinarian working in an animal shelter. An...

Analysis on Big Data Frame Design and Key Technology Application of Veterinary Drug Supervision

This paper introduces the construction technology of veterinary drug big data framework, veterinary drug big data collection and processing technology, veterinary drug big data storage and calculation technology, veterinary drug big data sharing and exchange technology and veterinary drug big data multi-dimensional analysis technology, and expounds the significance of big data in veterinary drug supervision work, such as whole industry chain information aggregation of veterinary drug big data, visualization of flow and direction of veterinary drugs, traceability of veterinary drug safety and prediction of animal diseases. The application of big data in veterinary drug supervision promotes standardization, intellectualization, refinement and precision of veterinary drug production and management, promotes the development of agricultural modernization in China, and inserts the wings of science and technology into the construction of agricultural modernization.

Occupational standard for veterinary assistant (small animal)

Veterinary assistant is career which assists routine veterinary work and is needed in veterinary practices. Occupational standard is a tool for setting-up new or improving existing manpower according to market needs This research aimed to formulate occupational standard which can be used in vocational school, for middle level labor who would like to pursue this career, also as benefit for all stakeholders in this industry and as a guideline for curriculum development for Office of Vocational Education Commission and Thailand Professional Qualification Institute (TPQI). This research comprised of 2 stages, the first stage, defining the occupational standard for Thai veterinary assistants (Small animal). A descriptive research used the functional analysis to define the key roles, units of competence, elements of competence and performance criteria. The target group agreed on preparing the occupational standard, comprised of 91 voluntary veterinarians: 2 presidents of the Veterinary Council of Thailand, 50 veterinary practitioners; government and private veterinary hospitals; 29 veterinarians from private veterinary companies; and 10 veterinary lecturers. Ideas from discussions from the meeting were collected to identify the needs of occupational standards for veterinary assistants. The second stage verified questionnaires about the occupational standard which was mailed to 102 veterinarians, working in both private and government clinics and hospitals. They all agreed that the occupational standard for Thai veterinarian assistants (small animal) showed well reflection on the current needs of the sector. Method of this paper was analyzing data by statistic tools, median and interquartile.Result revealed that the key purpose of the veterinarian assistants in assisting the veterinary practitioners, divided into to three key roles 1) assist and work in veterinary practices with standard focus on care and welfare of animals consisting of 5 units of competence and 17 elements of competence; 2) sanitation and clinical care consisting of 3 units of competence and 9 elements of competence; 3) front office customer service and workplace skills consisting of 4 units of competence and 9 elements of competence. The target groups all agreed with the set of occupational standards which was made and commented that the roles of working were good and according to right functions of veterinary assistants.

Predicting career sector intent and the theory of planned behaviour: survey findings from Australian veterinary science students

BackgroundProducing graduates for a breadth of sectors is a priority for veterinary science programs. Undergraduate career intentions represent de-facto ‘outcome’ measures of admissions policy and curricula design, as intentions are strong predictors of eventual behaviour. Informed by Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour, this study aimed to identify if contextually relevant attitudes and self-ratings affect student intentions for veterinary career sectors.ResultsSurvey responses from 844 students enrolled in five Australian veterinary programs in 2014 were analysed. Intention was measured for biomedical research/academia, industry, laboratory animal medicine, public health/government/diagnostic laboratory services, mixed practice, intensive animal production, companion animal practice, not work in the veterinary profession, and business/entrepreneurship. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis enabled comparison of explanation of variance in intent by demographics, animal handling experience, species preference, and attitudes to aspects of veterinary work. Career sector intentions were highest for mixed or companion animal clinical practice, then business/entrepreneurship, then non-clinical sectors. Overall, intent was explained to a greater extent by species preferences than by animal experience, attitudes to aspects of veterinary work and demographics (with the exception of mixed practice intent) with gender having no significant effect. Several variables exerted negative effects on career intent for less popular career sectors.ConclusionAjzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) provides a framework to increase understanding of and predict career sector intentions. Incorporation of attitude and self-efficacy measures in our study revealed preference for species types contributes greatly to career sector intentions for veterinary students, particularly for the more popular practice based sectors. Importantly, specific species preferences and other attitudes can have a negative effect on intent for non-aligned veterinary sectors. Further research is required to identify additional attitudes and/or beliefs to better explain variance in intent for less popular career sectors. Veterinary admissions processes may benefit from utilising the TPB framework. Identified effects revealed by this study may stimulate innovation in marketing, recruitment, admissions and curricular design, such as timing and role modelling, to utilise positive effects and mitigate against negative effects identified for sectors requiring greater representation of career intent in the student body.

What do clients want in a veterinarian?

How well we, as veterinarians, can meet the needs and desires of our clients is inextricably linked with our ability to optimise clinical outcomes, animal welfare and personal wellbeing, as...

Who's a good boy then? Anthropocentric masculinities in veterinary practice

Veterinary surgeons (vets) provide us with a fascinating platform to study anthropocentric and zoocentric beliefs, which we argue are gendered in both their genesis and practice. Gendered in the sense of the double meaning of our title ‘who's a good boy then?’, which reflects both a default male gender and a patronizing masculine claim to mastery over the animal. In addition, veterinary practices are organized in specifically masculine ways that, despite the demographic feminization of the profession, are oblivious to distinctively gendered practices and concerns and thus to the reproduction of gendered inequalities. The research also focuses on how there is a tendency for vets to neglect their own bodies for the sake of the animal's welfare (zoocentrism) but, at the same time, this reflects and reproduces masculine anthropocentric demands for human supremacy involving linear rational and effective control over the animal as a necessary part of their commercial and career success. In the empirical presentation, we show how organizational gendering within the gendered organization of veterinary surgery occurs at all levels, sometimes openly and explicitly, but also covertly and implicitly. In seeking to interrogate the covert and implicit in gender asymmetry, we draw on post‐humanist feminist philosophical perspectives that facilitate our challenging of the gendered anthropocentric organization of veterinary work.

Effect of Weather and Climate on Animals

AbstractLiesbeth Ellinger is a veterinarian working together with three physicians in Centaurea. This homeopathic center for humans and animals is situated in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. Liesbeth is an experienced teacher in veterinary homeopathy and is also active in research into the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment and prophylaxis for animals. In this article, she shares animal cases.

Practice makes perfect? Skillful performances in veterinary work

Is vetting a craft that must be learned owing to the limitations of scientific discipline, or simply a question of practice makes perfect? This question arose from our empirical research on veterinary surgeons (vets), who we found were often struggling with the divergence between the precise and unambiguous knowledge underlying the training and the unpredictability and imprecision of their everyday practices. These are comparatively underexplored issues insofar as the literature on vets tends to be descriptive and statistical, focusing primarily on clinical matters and associated human-animal interactions. Our cliché title has a question mark because while many vets remain embedded in the disciplined ‘certainties’ and causal regularities within their training, in practice this ordered world is rarely realized, and they are faced with indeterminacy where the ‘perfect’ solution eludes them. Vets often turn these unrealistic ideals of expertise back in on themselves, thus generating doubt and insecurity for any failure in their practices. In analysing vets’ experiences, we pay attention to the anatomical models of science, where linear causal analysis is expected to provide orderly and predictable outcomes or ‘right’ answers to problems, as well as notions of expertise that turn out to be illusory.

A Cat with an Itch

AbstractLiesbeth Ellinger is a veterinarian working together with three physicians in Centaurea. This homeopathic centre for humans and animals is situated in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. Liesbeth is an experienced teacher in veterinary homeopathy and is also active in research into the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment and prophylaxis for animals. In this article, she shares animal cases.

Risk factors for occupational Brucella infection in veterinary personnel in India

Brucellosis is an important animal and human health issue in developing countries. This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with occupational Brucella infection in veterinary personnel in India. Blood samples were collected from 279 veterinary personnel working in the public sector. Sera were tested with rose bengal plate test (RBPT), standard tube agglutination test (STAT), and IgG and IgM ELISAs. Information about participant demographics, risk of exposure and infection control practices was collected using a self-completed questionnaire. The outcome measure of Brucella infection was created based on a positive RBPT or STAT test and a positive IgG ELISA test. Binomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate associations between explanatory variables and the outcome variable. Of the 279 participants, 61 (21.9%), 67 (24.0%), 55 (19.7%) and 150 (53.8%) were positive in RBPT, STAT, IgM and IgG ELISA, respectively. Compared to a trained veterinarian, veterinary pharmacists and animal handlers had greater odds of being test positive, suggesting that they were at greater risk of Brucella infection. Number of years spent working with animals was associated with greater odds of a person being positive for Brucella infection (p=.015). Counter-intuitively, those using personal protective equipment (PPE) for handling sick animals were found to be at greater risk, suggesting that either the use of PPE is inappropriate-making it ineffective-or that it is reverse association whereby those experiencing brucellosis symptoms start using PPE. Brucellosis is a common occupational zoonosis among veterinary personnel in India with the risk being higher in paraveterinary staff than veterinarians and in those who have been practicing for a longer period of time. Further investigations are required to clarify the effectiveness of PPE to reduce Brucella infection in veterinary personnel in India.

A Special Risk Group for Hepatitis E Infection: The First Record of North Cyprus.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is transmitted by a fecal oral route from animals to humans following exposure to the body fluids of infected animals. We investigated the seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis E (anti-HEV) antibodies by monitoring IgG and IgM virus antibodies amongst employees in the animal industry in North Cyprus through a cross-sectional study. Samples were taken from individuals without occupational exposure to animals and from those who worked with animals (doing animal husbandry, veterinary work or butchery). Enzyme-linked immunoassays were used to detect anti-HEV IgG and IgM in the blood samples. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG antibodies was 3.0% (12/400), while the prevalence of anti-HEV IgM antibodies was 0.25% (1/400). The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG amongst the samples received from females was approximately 2.5-fold higher than samples received from males (2.4%). Anti-HEV IgG was detected amongst 7% of animal husbandry workers and amongst 2% of veterinarians and butchers. The current findings represent the first records of HEV surveillance in Cyprus. We investigated the seroprevalence of anti-HEV by monitoring IgG and IgM virus antibodies amongst employees.

Occupational standard for veterinary assistant (small animal)

Veterinary assistant is career which assists routine veterinary work and is needed in veterinary practices. Occupational standard is a tool for setting-up new or improving existing manpower according to market needs This research aimed to formulate occupa- tional standard which can be used in vocational school, for middle level labor who would like to pursue this career, also as benefit for all stakeholders in this industry and as a guideline for curriculum development for Office of Vocational Education Commission and Thailand Professional Qualification Institute (TPQI). This research comprised of 2 stages, the first stage, defining the occupational standard for Thai veterinary assistants (Small animal). A descriptive research used the functional analysis to define the key roles, units of competence, elements of competence and performance criteria. The target group agreed on preparing the occupational standard, comprised of 91 voluntary veterinarians: 2 presidents of the Veterinary Council of Thailand, 50 veterinary practitioners; government and private veterinary hospitals; 29 veterinarians from private veterinary companies; and 10 veterinary lecturers. Ideas from discussions from the meeting were collected to identify the needs of occupational standards for veterinary assistants. The second stage verified questionnaires about the occupational standard which was mailed to 102 veterinarians, working in both private and government clinics and hospitals. They all agreed that the occupational standard for Thai veterinarian assistants (small animal) showed well reflec- tion on the current needs of the sector. Method of this paper was analyzing data by statistic tools, median and interquartile. Result revealed that the key purpose of the veterinarian assistants in assisting the veterinary practitioners, divided into to three key roles 1) assist and work in veterinary practices with standard focus on care and welfare of animals consisting of 5 units of competence and 17 elements of competence; 2) sanitation and clinical care consisting of 3 units of competence and 9 elements of competence; 3) front office customer service and workplace skills consisting of 4 units of competence and 9 elements of competence. The target groups all agreed with the set of occupational standards which was made and commented that the roles of working were good and according to right functions of veterinary assistants.