Veterinary surgeon

“ We advise calling a Veterinary Surgeon and having him perform the operation as soon as possible, as the disease is usually curable if properly handled and it cannot be transmitted to man or to the other animals. ”

“ These few practical directions and suggestions are not intended to take the place of the veterinary surgeon, whose skill and experience are often of the greatest value in dealing with cases of a serious nature, but just to give inexperienced persons some idea what to do, in case of emergency; as, in all cases of illness or accidents to animals, immediate treatment is often most important. ”

“ The rare instances in which animals can be seen by the veterinary surgeon in the earliest stages of disease, and when this would prove most amenable to medical treatment; delay, generally due to the inability of those who have the care of animals to perceive these early stages; the fact that animals cannot, except in a negative manner, tell their woes, describe their sensations or indicate what and where they suffer ”

“ A dog is often brought to the veterinary surgeon, with no apparent disease about him except a staggering walk from weakness of the hind limbs. He eats well and is cheerful, and his muzzle is moist and cool; but his belly is tucked up, and there are two longitudinal cords, running parallel to each other, which will scarcely yield to pressure. The surgeon orders the castor-oil mixture twice or thrice daily, until the bowels are well acted upon, and, as soon as that is accomplished, the dog is as strong and as well as ever. ”

“ On the first appearance of illness in his kennels the wise dog-owner at once calls in the skill of a good veterinary surgeon, but there are some of the minor ailments which he can deal with himself whilst he ought at least to be able to recognise the first symptoms of the dreaded Distemper and give first aid until the vet. ”

“ The veterinary surgeon is less likely to commit error; but there are, however, few of the profession who devote attention to the dog with the zeal which the comprehension of its diseases and their treatment demand. Huntsmen and gamekeepers are generally from practical experience not altogether inapt dog doctors, where the larger and more robust kind of animal is to be treated, but for the smaller and petted species these persons ought not to be consulted. ”

“ It is not a dangerous thing to attempt, although it is very problematical whether much advantage would accrue from the operation. With a favourite dog it may, however, be tried; and, to prevent all accidents, a veterinary surgeon should be entrusted with the case. ”

“ The detestable argument given at that time to qualify this barbarism was that the veterinary surgeon should be familiar with the reactions of a living animal, and that, as a guarantee of being able to perform an operation on a diseased horse, he should have already practised the same operation several times, not on the dead body, but on a horse full of life and vigour, able to defend himself, and obliged therefore to be held down motionless by special processes. ”

“ This was the first direct slap at the Doctor's veterinary powers. He had a request from York to bring with him a veterinary surgeon; but he was now consulted by a British nobleman about the treatment of a horse. Well, thought the Doctor, let us hear the complaint; for after all it may be the fault of the rider more than of the beast. ”

“ The use of antiseptics in veterinary surgery is saving many animals from the painful and serious consequences of wound infection. The methods of restraining animals for operation are also being improved. Veterinary hospitals are increasing in number and popularity so that animals are receiving more humane treatment when it is necessary for them to come under the surgeon's knife. A like interest is being taken in the advancement of internal medicine. Methods of nursing sick animals that will give to the patient the greatest comfort possible are coming into use. ”

“ If they would try them unshod, they might be agreeably surprised at the result. Setting aside their superior performance, they would find, when they came to sell them, that the veterinary surgeon would always pass them as free from all suspicion of brittle hoof, sandcrack, seedy toe, thrushes, corns, pumice-foot, cutting or brushing, or navicular disease. No unshod horse ever suffers from any of these diseases or defects, no matter how hard his work or over what ground. This much is allowed, as we have seen, by veterinary surgeons. ”

“ To mechanical therapeutics pertains the whole domain of surgery. Medicinal therapeutics has to do especially with internal medicine. Each of them, however, encroaches more or less on the other. Modern surgery is essentially aseptic or antiseptic, and antisepsis is secured by medicinal agents. In medicine when cups are applied we adopt an essentially mechanical treatment. Both methods then must remain open to physician and surgeon. Another and no less important branch of treatment which is open to physician and surgeon alike is diet and general hygiene. ”

“ While the employment of anæsthetics has made only slow progress in veterinary practice, a considerable number of the English veterinary surgeons resort to them on all possible occasions, and find them of great advantage. ”

“ Before beginning their professional studies students of veterinary medicine must pass an examination in general education equivalent in every respect to that required of students of human medicine. The minimum length of the professional training is four years of three terms each, and during that course four searching examinations must be passed before the student obtains his diploma or licence to practise as a veterinary surgeon. ”

“ No time should be lost in filling up the ranks of the veterinary surgeons, and in giving them assistance, for when the numbers are complete they will have at least 100 such animals each to attend to, and these not trifling cases, but terrible sore backs, the last stages of lung-disease, and the local plague. ”

“ A gentleman of high standing in society, and well known in the sporting world, having, some years since, derived great advantage from the Water-cure, determined on trying its effects upon animals, by becoming his own veterinary surgeon; the consequence is, that for five or six years he has not spent one shilling upon drugs of any kind. ”

“ It is not sufficiently acknowledged, or understood, that veterinary surgeons have to deal with people who generally want their ‘say’ in all cases of lameness. In other matters they are more tractable; but every one thinks he knows something about lameness, and almost every one tries to shirk what every practitioner would recommend, if he conveniently could—rest. ”

“ Nothing on this point is more worthy of consideration than the evidence in veterinary surgery, given before the Royal Commission by Mr Hobday, one of the very foremost veterinary surgeons in this country (Reports of Evidence, vol. iv. Q. 16284-16523) . The opponents of all experiments on animals are apt to believe that dogs and cats must be bound and fastened on boards, and then have the anaesthetic given to them. That is not the case. They can take the anaesthetic first, and then be put in position; just as we, for many of the operations of surgery, are bound in position. ”

“ In 1876 the college instituted a higher degree than membership—that of fellow (F.R.C.V.S.) , which can only be obtained after the graduate has been five years in practice, and by furnishing a thesis and passing a severe written and oral examination on pathology and bacteriology, hygiene and sanitary science, and veterinary medicine and surgery. Only fellows can be elected members of the examining boards for the membership and fellowship diplomas. The graduates of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons registered from its foundation in 1844 until 1907 numbered about 6000. ”

“ The service is paid and pensioned on the lines of the other Indian civil services, and offers an excellent professional career to those whose constitution permits them to live in the tropics. The work comprises the investigation of disease in animals and the management of studs and farms, in addition to the clinical practice which falls to the share of all veterinary surgeons. ”

“ We met a people that work all the time, and never take any recreation except churning and rocking babies, and yet never have to call a doctor, because there are no doctors except veterinary surgeons, who care for dogs and cattle. ”

“ In 1907 the bureau consisted of ten divisions, employing the services of 815 veterinary surgeons. It deals with the investigation, control and eradication of contagious diseases of animals, the inspection and quarantine of live stock, horse-breeding, experiments in feeding, diseases of poultry and the inspection of meat and dairy produce. It makes original investigations as to the nature, cause and prevention of communicable diseases of live stock, and takes measures for their repression, frequently in conjunction with state and territorial authorities. ”

“ On leaving school he devoted several years to the study of agriculture and veterinary science. In 1867 he qualified as member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and shortly afterwards was appointed professor of veterinary surgery at the Agricultural College, Cirencester. ”

“ The veterinarian must pronounce on the prompt and perfect curability of the case, on the outlay that will be requisite for treatment, on the depreciation which will be entailed on the patient, and whether, in certain lesions that do not harm the carcass, it would not be more judicious to butcher the subject. The physician is expected to do the best he can for life and health, and even a very imperfect recovery brings him a mead of gratitude. ”

“ The parts which have been restored to their natural position must be kept there, without disturbance or agitation, until the perfect formation of a callus, and it is here that ample latitude exists for the exercise of ingenuity and skill by the surgeon in the contrivance of the necessary apparatus. One of the most important of the conditions which are available by the surgeon in treating human patients is denied to the veterinarian in the management of those which belong to the animal tribes. ”

“ Nothing can be done save to order continuous antiseptic baths and antiseptic irrigation of the wounds with a quittor syringe, and to attend to the general health and condition of the patient. At the best it is but a sorry look-out both for the veterinary attendant and the owner of the animal. Even with resolution incurable lameness results, and the animal is afterwards more or less a walking exhibition of the limitations of surgery, while the owner, unless the animal is valuable for the purpose of breeding, finds himself encumbered with a life that is practically useless. ”

“ The manipulation is thereby made easier for the surgeon, and, it is claimed, safer for the patient. The possibility of danger attending these methods has led many veterinarians in Europe, and in the United States as well, to prefer the operation with the animal in the standing posture. ”

“ The work of this Division is ample proof of the error in the opinion that an army without horses would have no need for veterinary services. When it is considered that there are at least 80 diseases which are communicable from the lower animals to man, and that the laboratory animal is a necessary part of research dealing with human diseases, the importance of veterinary knowledge and services becomes apparent. ”

“ In man the entire heart and connecting blood vessels are so open to examination that the physician can pronounce with the greatest accuracy not only concerning the existence of disease, but also its precise locality and nature. In the quadruped no such facility is open to us, and veterinarians have too generally refused to face the difficulty, preferring to ignore heart diseases, or still worse seeking to cover their ignorance by the assertion that such affections rarely exist. ”

“ With advancing knowledge of veterinary medicine the subject of prophylaxis is steadily assuming a more important place, and especially in the classes of enzootic and epizootic diseases. Indeed for the fatal infectious diseases of animals one can fairly estimate the medical intelligence of the people by the extent to which therapeutic treatment is still allowed. ”

“ The only method of treatment that can be practised, therefore, is that of palliation. Seeing that the trouble the veterinary attendant will have to deal with is loss of a portion of the weight-bearing surface, his attention is immediately directed to the shoeing. ”

“ TREATMENT IN MAN. The surgical treatment of glanders in man does not differ materially from that given for animals. It is more frequently possible to deal with the local lesion in its early stages and then a thorough cauterization of the infected sore, and a little later the complete excision of the primary nodule, or the limited regional infiltration, the curetting of the adjacent parts and the maintenance of thorough disinfection by irrigation, sponging and compress will often be followed by success. ”

“ The veterinarian on the other hand must be an expert not only on disease, but on animal values, and if his treatment, however skillful it may be, results only in the prolonging of the life of an useless animal, the owner may charge him with imposing upon him an unnecessary outlay. ”

“ In the determination of disease in the human being the physician, in making his diagnosis, is aided by both subjective and objective symptoms, but the veterinary physician, in a very large majority of cases, is obliged to rely almost solely upon objective symptoms, and perhaps in no class of diseases is this more true than in the exploration of those under consideration. This condition of affairs has a strong tendency to develop observation and discernment in the veterinarian, and not infrequently do we find that the successful veterinary practitioner is a very accurate diagnostician. ”

“ The substantial advances in veterinary pathology, bacteriology, hygiene, surgery and preventive medicine point to a still greater rate of progress. The schools in every way are better equipped, the education and training—general and technical—of students of veterinary medicine are more comprehensive and thorough, and the appliances for observation and investigation of disease have been greatly improved. ”