Piglet survival is a problem of great significance in pig production, affecting both animal welfare and economic aspects negatively. In Sweden it is illegal to use farrowing crates for sows on regular basis. To encounter this problem there is a proposal of an animal welfare program to allow the use of crates for sows during, and a number of days after, farrowing. The proposal aims to reduce piglet mortality and improve pig welfare. This present review aims to analyse how crating affects the welfare of sows, gilts and piglets as well as piglet mortality.

The incidence of many of the most common diseases in dairy cattle has been proven to be highest during the time closest to calving. It is possible that the current breeding strategy with 12 month calving intervals increases the risk for disease in dairy cattle, which is problematic concerning both animal welfare and for economic reasons. The economic incentives behind a calving interval of 12 to 13 months have mainly been based on milk- and feed- costs and no costs due to diseases or fertility disturbances have been included.The aim of this study was to see if a lengthening of the calving interval would result in lower disease frequency. The hypothesis is that cows with a planned calving interval of 15 months have a lower disease incidence than cows with a calving interval of 12 months due to less number of calvings. Therefore the difference in disease frequency should be larger when compared over a long period of time, such as over lifetime, since cows with a longer calving interval experience fewer calvings.The study was performed between August 17th, 1994, and January 24th, 2007.

The Swedish Welfare Act § 4 says that "Animals must be kept and cared for in a good environment for animals and in such a way that promotes their health and allow them to behave naturally." Pigs in the wild spend 80% of their waking hours walking around and rooting for food, eating and exploring their environment with its snout. Fattening pigs in commercial farms spend 80% lying doing nothing. A lactating sow is lying down most of her day, and only 10-20% of the body surface is in contact with the floor, so the pressure is high on these spots. Piglets lie down and paddle with their legs, with high liquid content in the tissues, several times an hour, to stimulate and massage the sow's udder. In the existing system, these individuals are held more often on floors that are anything but inviting to sleep on.

Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia with a tropical monsoon climate and distinctive wet and dry seasons. Poverty is a widespread problem in Cambodia and 30 percent of the population were classified as poor in 2009. About 80 percent of the populations live in rural areas where poverty is an even greater problem. In agriculture, rice cultivation is dominating and the crop is cultivated on 85 percent of the arable land. Livestock keeping is also a traditional part of Cambodian agriculture.

This essay is intended for veterinary nurses and its purpose is to contribute to an increased knowledge about the ferret and there by a better nursing care at clinics. The essay discuss in briefness origin and earlier use of the ferret but also anatomy, physiology and reproduction. The senses of the ferret, as vision and hearing, are described in connection with behaviour. The part of the essay where nursing care is described bring up procedures as handling when collecting blood, medical techniques and how the clinic best should be suited for these animals. The main part of the essay is based on literature studies but it also contains a study visit at Blå Stjärnans animal hospital in Göteborg. 23.

Swedish dairy production has during the last decades undergone considerable structural rationalisation and the number of dairy herds has decreased to less than 7000. At the same time the average herd size has increased and a large proportion of those investing in new buildings today choose automatic milking (AM). During 2008 more than ten percent of the Swedish cows will be milked with AM. The development has been faster than expected and the need for consulting has increased rapidly. This study aims to evaluate whether a check list originating from the FRISKKO (?healthy cow?) programme can be a useful tool when assessing how well the herd functions in various areas.

Pica is a behavior that can be seen in several animal groups. In cats, it means that they are eating, chewing or licking on material that is non-food. In this study the data was collected through an online survey. In total 522 responses, of which 26% of the cats were exhibiting pica. It was found that 28% of the housecats and 26% of purebred cats exhibited pica.

Lupus is the result of an investigative project in illustration. In my degree-work I have investigated the different guises of the wolf, which I have thenillustrated visually combined with some portions of text. The result, presentedin the form of a book of 36 pages, is narrated in a poetic and free style with meas a personal author. The images of the book tell the story of both the wolf of fleshand blood, as well as the wolf as a symbol. My work is produced with the hope thatby talking about the wolf in a way other than the standard, new ways of regarding apresently endangered but valuable animal, can arise..

Background. Anesthetic-related death in small animal anesthesia is about ten times more common than in human anesthesia. Recent research identifies the early postoperative period as particularly risky and highlights the need for regular and careful monitoring of the veterinary patient during this period. Objective. The aims of this study were to investigate whether there are standard procedures in terms of regulated routine patient observations and record-keeping during the early postoperative period at Swedish veterinary clinics, and if there are any guidelines for monitoring the veterinary patient during recovery. Methods. A small survey including ten Swedish veterinary clinics was carried out as well as a literature review. Results.

A cattle producer that buys calves that are younger than six months to the herd should have a starter stable to prevent infection spreading in the herd. According to the Swedish animal welfare regulation there has to be a starter stable if more than 50 calves that are younger than four months are bought in yearly to the herd. The aim of the study was to improve the knowledge about bovine buildings and management of starter stables to obtain optimal weight gain and health of the calves. The hypothesis 1) The younger the calves are when purchased, the higher the calf mortality and 2) Purchasing calves from a high number of herds involves a higher risk of calf health problems and calf mortality were tested in the study. The objective of the study was to give advices by way of presenting ideal solutions of how a starter stable should be constructed and managed. A field study was done during June to September 2008 to collect knowledge and experience from existing starter stables.

The trend in milk production is similar in Sweden and across the world; the farms are getting fewer but increasingly bigger. The costs for hiring workers are increasing, which results in more cows per animal keeper. Sensors can then be a great tool for keeping track of animals which need special attention. With a reported decreasing fertility, sensors that can detect oestrus even at low levels can be especially helpful in bigger herds to pinpoint the cows that may be in oestrus. The number of farms with dairy cows that install AMS, Automatic Milking Systems, are increasing, and that also increases the need for sensors to control milk quality and composition when there is no visual control of the milk by a milker before milking starts.For the sensor data to be useful you have to have software designed to analyze and interpret the data to get relevant information that the farmer can use.

This master´s thesis in Library and Information Science examines the experiences of children who read to a dog. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the interactions between the librarian, the readingdog-handler, the child-ren and the dogs and what the benefits from the interactions might be. The aim is also to examine how the child-ren express their literacy during the readingsessions and how to develop the readingsessions at a specific library. The author follows a reading dog project for seven weeks, in collaboration with a specific school and library. Action research was used as a research strategy, and since action research is done on the basis of practice, a coll-laboration with the participating children, the librarian and the readingdog-handler was significant in this study.The theoretical framework concists of theory and concepts from the sociocultural theory developed by Ro-ger Säljö, and human-animal studies with concepts from Donna Haraway.

One of many difficult issues in veterinary medicine is the assessment of an animal's experience of pain. As a licensed veterinary nurse in Sweden you are obligated by law to work by the concept of evidence based medicine. To achieve this the author of this study sees the need for standardized methods of pain assessment. A Swedish version of Short form of the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS-SF) has recently been translated and developed. Furthermore, a psychometric validation needs to be performed to ensure its validity and reliability.

Today?s feeding methods can determine the domestic pig?s abilities to fulfill basic behavioral needs, such as foraging, and the way in which pigs are feed is an important aspect. Feed does not only provide the energy and nutrients critical for survival, but feeding is also associated with a number of other factors contributing to well-being and reproduction. Today the feed for gestated sows is often composed by high energy and low dietary fiber grain products such as wheat. Three kg of this kind of feed can often be consumed by the sow within 20 minutes.

Ticks and the diseases they transmit are of major importance throughout the world. In Uganda, cattle are the most important livestock from an economic point of view. Livestock keepers fear bi-directional transmission of tick-borne pathogens between their livestock and wild animals. This cross-sectional study was conducted to establish and compare the sero-prevalence of the tick-borne pathogen Babesia bigemina among randomly selected Ankole Long-horned cattle and European crossbred cattle on 30 farms in Kiruhura district, in two sub-counties near Lake Mburo National Park in South-western Uganda. Half of the farms were situated in close proximity to the park and thereby housed cattle with more frequent wildlife-livestock interface (Sanga), whereas the other half had less frequent contact (Kikatsi).