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 aim of the thesis is twofold: the first aim is to identify a number of reproductive logics that are used to construct Swedish regulation of embryo donation for reproductive use as either ethical or unethical in the governmental ? and medical discussions ? and to examine how these logics are interconnected with notions of gender and parenthood. The second aim is to identify a number of tensions that arise in the application of the governmental ethical logic on the embryo and embryo donation and discuss how these tensions can be solved with a feminist material approach. I argue that the terminology used to distinguish between genetic, biological, social and legal parenthood in my material is insufficient for understanding the value of the embryo outside its pre-human status. I therefore argue for an embryonic feminist bioethics that is attentive to the embryos post-human status, and for a reformulation of the parenthood terminology in line with what I call ?reproductive ties?..

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.

The object of this thesis is the foundation of ethics. The question is whether there exists a universal core to ethics consisting of a fundamental ethical principle across cultures. This principle could for example be the so-called Golden Rule, which goes as follows: ?You should do to others what you want them to do to you?. The Golden Rule is to be found in many of the world?s religions and is also reflected in secular society.

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.

The aim of this thesis is to study how public libraries in Sweden use alternative shelf arrangements that differ from the library?s original classification system, which in Swedish public libraries usually is the SAB-system. I sent out a survey to 169 public libraries, where I received 114 replies. 77 of these stated that they had some kind of alternative shelf arrangement, therefore these are the ones that are included in my study. I wanted to investigate in what way the libraries had changed their shelf arrangement and why this decision was made.

Denna studie syftar till att beskriva patienters upplevelse av läkemedelsassisterad behandling för opiatberoende (LARO), även kallad underhållsbehandling. I studien undersöks hur upplevelsen av LARO är och hur den beskrivs utifrån två olika patientgrupper; de patienter med en mindre välfungerande behandling som dagligen går till mottagningen för att ta medicin övervakat och som lämnar urinprov två gånger i veckan, samt de patienter med en välfungerande behandling som går till mottagningen två gånger i veckan för att lämna urinprov men hämtar medicin på apoteket. I uppsatsen har sex patienter intervjuats om hur de upplever LARO. Uppsatsens resultat illustrerar bland annat upplevd brist på delaktighet och empowerment i behandlingen samt vikten av en god relation mellan patienter och personal på LARO-mottagningen. Studiens slutsats är att Patient empowerment bör vara grundstenen i all arbete med omvårdnad och behandling..

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.

Kalvningssvårigheter och dödföddhet är problem som finns hos svenska mjölkkor och som ökat under de senaste åren, speciellt bland förstagångskalvare. Problemen försämrar kornas välfärd och kostar pengar för bonden. Flera studier har gjorts för att kartlägga så kallade quantitative trait loci (QTL) kopplade till kalvningsegenskaper och många kromosomregioner har hittats som kan innehålla gener som påverkar dessa egenskaper. En viss oenighet finns i resultaten från studierna, men flera studier har hittat QTL kopplat till kalvningsegenskaper på kromosom 4, 6, 7, 10 och 18. Sverige har inkluderat kalvningssvårigheter i det traditionella avelsprogrammet sedan 1995 men inga större genetiska framsteg har gjorts.

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.