The most common reason for a horse owner to seek veterinary care for their horse is related to the musculoskeletal system. Assessment of the horse's movement pattern is essential in the equine veterinary work. How uniformly Veterinarians evaluate the lame horse may have both diagnostic and prognostic significance, such as follow up examination by the same or different Veterinarian. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether there are between-Veterinarian differences in assessing lameness in the same horse. In total 12 Veterinarians evaluated 80 video sequences of 4 horses with induced lameness and made an evaluation of the affected limb as well as the degree of lameness.

After having reviewed the cases in the Veterinary Disciplinary Board of Sweden regarding certificates year 2000 to October 2007 I have found that these cases more often than in all other cases result in disciplinary action. The punishment is to a greater extent the more serious form, i.e. warning. When I examined the reasons for imposing the punishments and the material that constituted the foundations of the reports, I came to the conclusion that the statistics above do not depend on a general lack of knowledge in the Swedish veterinary profession. A possible cause is that the demands set upon the Veterinarian are exceptional and that the responsibility board has a physical object to examine (the certificate) and regulations that describe how the certificates are supposed to be formulated. The fact that the knowledge about how to write veterinary certificates does not generally seem to be lacking does not exclude that lessons can be learned by examining the mistakes made by others.

As a pet owner you are likely to someday face the decision to euthanize your pet and as a Veterinarian or veterinary technician you are the one to perform this euthanasia. The reason for euthanasia may be depending on the animal, for instance illness, age and behavioral problems or depending on the needs of the owner or the society, so called convenience euthanasia. Many different euthanasia methods can be used when putting an animal to sleep. The method preferred in animal hospitals is pharmacological euthanasia either by inhalation of anesthetics or by injection of a euthanasia agent. If the pet owner wishes to be present during the procedure it is important to prepare him for what will happen. Many animals are sedated before the euthanasia in order to reduce anxiety and to ensure a softer transition between life and death. The euthanasia agent can then be administrated for instance intravenously or intraperitonealy.

We know that more than 2/3 of insured dogs in Sweden are put to death by a Veterinarian, which means that almost one third are killed in trauma, lost or die in some other way. An unknown number of these are killed by their owner with no Veterinarian involved. This graduate thesis contains a specification of the laws that control euthanasia of dogs and cats in Sweden, and the veterinary medical basics on how to perform euthanasia. The objective is also to give understanding on how pet owners choose to put their animal to death and why, and to discuss whether that is an animal welfare problem. It is legal to kill dogs and cats by shooting, using a sporting gun, provided that it is done according to laws and regulations.

Background: Evaluation of lameness in horses is traditionally performed by a Veterinarian who subjectively evaluates the movements of the horse. Accordingly, lameness diagnosis varies with the Veterinarian and circumstances for which the horse is examined. Research within the area has long tried to establish an objective and standardized method for lamenessevaluation in horses. Several methods have been shown to be reliable and are used regularly within research, for example measurement of forces between the hoof and ground, and measurement of movements with high speed cameras or accelerometers. However these methods require considerable preparation, standardization, and expensive equipment as well as produce large amounts of data that are incomprehensible for the clinician.

Too many dogs are euthanized because of different kind of behaviour problems today. Is it really necessary? Who has the main responsibility for this action? Do breed differences matter when it comes to increased risk of euthanasia of the dog? The purpose of this piece of work is to find the answers to these questions and also to find out what kind of behaviour problems that can lead to euthanasia of dogs in general. The most common reason for dogs being euthanized is aggression. The aggression can be directed toward humans or other animals, mostly other dogs. There are some important factors of the dog that increases the risk of being euthanized, and these are the breed, the gender and sexual status and also the size of the dog.

Today there are various methods to use when euthanizing horses. Earlier the use of free or captive bullet was the most common method, but in recent decades this has changed and chemical euthanasia is now considered the most common method. The chemical euthanasia has in Sweden been dominated by the use of barbiturates. Somulose® entered the market in the beginning of the 90?s as an alternative to previous chemical euthanasia.

Diabetes Mellitus is one of the most common endocrinologic disorders among dogs. The disorder has a complex background, and successful treatment requires a well-functioning co-operation between pet owners and the Veterinarian. The purpose of this study is to investigate the owners? perspective of diabetic treatments offered, and to estimate expected length of survival post-insulin therapy. The research findings are based on a survey mailed to 77 pet owners, whose dogs were diagnosed with diabetes between 1999 and 2003 at the small animal clinic of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The median survival for the dogs that underwent insulin treatment was 31 months, i.e.

This student report is a literature study about cardiac insufficiency in cats and it is written mainly for veterinary nurses. It is about cats with an underlying heart disease that has led to an incompensated heart failure.It presents a general basis on normal anatomy and physiology, and also how to make the diagnosis, therapy and intensive care.The student report is also about the role of the veterinary nurse during the process of the disease, how to help the Veterinarian in the best way, how to handle anesthesia in cats with a heart disease, which factors that can have a significant matter in feeding, and what advices to give to a pet owner with a cat with a incompensated heart failure..

60 million years ago the horse was the size of a small dog, and walked on four toes. Today it can weigh up to 500-1000 kg and has evolved to walking on only one phalanx. The anatomy of the horses? legs and hooves allow them to run at high speeds, and at the same time enables them to bear the extremely high concussions applied to the foot at high speeds or jumps. Every horse owner has his or her own opinion on how to manage their horses? hooves, and whether the horse should be shod or unshod. The knowledge, commitment and attention of the owner determine the quality of the hoof care, but also the time between the arising of symptoms of abnormalities of the hoof until care is sought with a farrier or Veterinarian. New laws will be applied at the beginning of 2015 which bring on changes in authorization for farriers.

Background The Shetland Sheepdog is a popular breed of dogs in Sweden. The breed is mostly used as a companion dog and is also popular within certain dog sports such as agility. The Shetland Sheepdog is not included in any breeding programs regarding joint health. The animal insurance company, Agria had recently informed the Swedish Shetland Sheepdog Club (SSSK) that they had noted an increasing number of arthritis in the elbow joints, therefore they wanted to exclude elbow joints from the insurance until SSSK started a breeding program against elbow dysplasia. After the start of this study Agria withdrew their demand, but the study went on as planned. Aims of this study The aims of this study was to investigate if there is any data that may show if there is a larger or smaller reason than before to suspect that the breed has a problem with elbow dysplasia and therefore would benefit from a breeding program regarding this.

The relationship between the pet and it's owner is a very important and interesting issue. Unfortunately there is not so much research on this and in addition to that Swedish Veterinarian education does not put much emphasis on pet's role in society or their pattern of behaviour nor treatment. This thesis is based on an opinion poll that 20 dog owners and 20 cat owners contributed. The main purpose of the thesis was to compare the relationships that the pet (dog or cat) and its owner can have. The issues such as the pet owner's attitude to his/her pet, how the pet owner percieves and interprets the signals from the animal, and what they think about the natural behaviours and needs that their pets (might) have. The results show that dog- and cat owners are people who generally love animals, that they used to have even other animal species in the past, but when it comes to choice between a new dog or a new cat they choose the one that they previously have had and that they are used to. Most of a dog owners choose the dog to be their pet because of the company while the majority of a cat owners choose cat because cats are independent and they are used to cats.

Photodynamic therapy is a relatively new treatment for superficial squamous cell carcinoma in cats. There are no publications indicating that the method is being used in veterinary practice in Sweden at the present time. The method uses the interaction between a photosensitive agent which has been administered to the tumor area, light of a wavelength that can be absorbed by the photosensitiser and the presence of oxygen. In this study photodynamic treatments were performed at the Queen?s Veterinary School Hopital of Cambridge University between 1998 and 2002.

This work is intended primarily for animal nurses/veterinary technicians and describe parts of the rabbits digestive tract, causes of gastrointestinal disease, symptoms, diagnosis, general care of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease and how to prevent that gastrointestinal illness occur. The work is largely based on literature studies but also on a questionnaire sent out to rabbit owners to get answers on how they generally hold and care of rabbits, which gastrointestinal diseases that are most common, how owners care for their animals at home during illness and to examine if the owners think that the knowledge of this subject is good at his Veterinarian/clinic.The purpose of this work is to improve the skills of animal nurses but also to improve the skills of owners through competent advice from animal nurses.The result show that gastrointestinal disease often is caused due to improper feeding and care of rabbits and therefore is advices from animal nurses an important part of preventive care. Animal nurses are also an important part of treatment of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease when supportive care as fluid therapy, supportive feeding and supply of a stress free environment is important for the animals to recover..

This work is intended primarily for animal nurses/veterinary technicians and describe parts of the rabbits digestive tract, causes of gastrointestinal disease, symptoms, diagnosis, general care of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease and how to prevent that gastrointestinal illness occur. The work is largely based on literature studies but also on a questionnaire sent out to rabbit owners to get answers on how they generally hold and care of rabbits, which gastrointestinal diseases that are most common, how owners care for their animals at home during illness and to examine if the owners think that the knowledge of this subject is good at his Veterinarian/clinic.The purpose of this work is to improve the skills of animal nurses but also to improve the skills of owners through competent advice from animal nurses.The result show that gastrointestinal disease often is caused due to improper feeding and care of rabbits and therefore is advices from animal nurses an important part of preventive care. Animal nurses are also an important part of treatment of rabbits with gastrointestinal disease when supportive care as fluid therapy, supportive feeding and supply of a stress free environment is important for the animals to recover..