Animal health and veterinary science.

Author 

Samiksha Phuyal
Krishi Innovation Hub
Rupandehi, Nepal (Currently)
Written: 13th April 2018

“As veterinarians are involved in curing pets and livestock, they develop a sense of closeness with animals and livestock. If you love animals, veterinary would be the great career option for you. Veterinarians have the power to guide the nations to the agricultural revolution.”

Imagine…the situation where your favourites pet falls ill. Just as we go to the hospital if we fall ill, our pets need to go to the hospital to be treated. They need to see their “doctors” in order to be treated. Yes, those “doctors” who are specialized in treating your ill pets are known as veterinarians or more simply “Vets”. In our society, generally, we address people who hold medical degrees and cure humans as “doctors”. We often overlook the most important people in our society, the vets. Since Agriculture and Animal Husbandry are an integral part of our lifestyle and culture, vets are the most important professionals in our society. And the science or the study relating to the diseases, injuries and treatment of farm and domestic animals is veterinary. And the professionals involved in this field are known as veterinarians.

Veterinarians usually treat diseases, disorder or injuries in animals which includes diagnoses, treatment and aftercare. The scope of practice, speciality and experience of the individual veterinarians will dictate exactly what interventions they perform but most will perform surgery (of different complexity). Since animals are unable to vocalize symptoms as a human would do, it is a daunting task to diagnosis the illness and tends to appropriate cure and veterinarians are specialized in this task. In order to diagnosis the illness, the veterinarian combines the information such as medical history provided by the owners along with the observations, the result of pertinent diagnostic tests such as radiography, CT scan, MRI, Blood test, urinalysis and others.

Similarly, most veterinary work is concerned with prophylactic treatment i.e practised related to prevention of illness in future. Common treatment includes vaccination against common animal illnesses such as distemper or rabies, and dental prophylaxis to prevent or inhibit dental diseases. This may also involve owner education so as to avoid future medical or behaviour issues.

Veterinarians may be involved in a general practice of treating animals. However, they may be specialized in a specific group of animals or may specialize in a special medical discipline such as surgery, dermatology or internal medicines.

As veterinarians are involved in curing pets and livestock, they develop a sense of closeness with animals and livestock. If you love animals, veterinary would be the great career option for you. Veterinarians have the power to guide the nations to the agricultural revolution.

Hence, as a veterinarian, you never run out of the opportunities. In fact, veterinary is a glamorous profession in the world. If you enjoy your company with animals and want to work with nature directly, you can choose veterinary as your future career. It not only opens up the sea of opportunities but also gives you the power to cure and understand the nature. Human’s doctors are limited to curing human patients but veterinarians are responsible for curing entire animal kingdom. Be it a  rageous beast of jungles or calm entity of sea, veterinarians hold the power to cure their illness. As an agricultural country, veterinarians play a vital role in keeping nation farming industries up and running with maximum efficiency. It would not be flattering to say veterinarians are “Guardians Of Nature”.