In animal health and welfare, the following subjects/courses are included –
- Animal nutrition (for second-year veterinary students)
- Veterinary preventive care (for third and fourth-year veterinary students)
- Veterinary public health and epidemiology (for fourth-year veterinary students)
- Animal behaviour and training (for third and fourth-year veterinary students)
Again, the year-wise distribution of these subjects/courses may vary in different universities.
Animal nutrition
Animal feed, using different types of balanced feed, and feeding methods are specially discussed under the animal nutrition subject. It is the study of how animals obtain and use nutrients for maintenance, growth, production, and reproduction.
You will know the classification of different types of animal feed and the evaluation process. This subject also deals with the nutritional requirements of the animals according to their age, breed, production, and pregnancy and lactation.
The least -cost ration formulation is a very important topic under the animal nutrition subject. Thus, this subject plays an important role in improving animal production through balanced feeding.
Veterinary preventive care
In veterinary preventive care, you will actually learn vaccination, hygiene, sanitation, biosecurity, herd health management, and the process of zoonotic disease control. Thus, this subject knowledge helps you to prevention the animal diseases and maintain the animal’s health.
Quarantine of new animals, restricted visitors, and disinfection are the top topics under the biosecurity of animals. The herd health management is another hot topic under the veterinary preventive care subject/course.
Veterinary public health and epidemiology
This subject/course may be divided into two divisions in different universities: veterinary public health and veterinary epidemiology.
Here, the veterinary pubic health deals with these topics that help to protect people from animal diseases. Thus, from this subject, you will learn mostly about zoonotic diseases and their management strategies.
However, veterinary epidemiology deals with disease spread and control strategies. The epidemiological basic will be discussed here in veterinary epidemiology.
Observational study, experimental study, and outbreak investigation are the key topics of the veterinary epidemiology subject/course.
Animal behaviour and training
Animal behavior and training are very important both for the veterinarian and the pet owner. In this subject, you will learn how animals act and response to their surrounding environment.
This subject will deal with the different types of animal behaviours (innate and acquired). It will also describe the different training methods and the animal handling process.
The abnormal behaviour and factor affcting the animal’s behaviour will also be discussed on this subject/course.
Let’s check all the contents from the veterinary public health and epidemiology.