Do you want to learn more about animals and how to care for them? This course has been designed to help you understand animal health care and basic veterinarian practices.
Scope of Animal Health Work
People have domesticated animals for various reasons, in particular, as pets (to keep them company), and as farm animals (to either work or to provide a product such as meat, wool or dairy produce).
Whatever the reason animals are being kept, it is now well accepted that the owners of any animal have a responsibility toward the animal they keep. That responsibility is both a matter of ethics, and increasingly is also a matter of law.
Lesson Structure
There are 12 lessons in this course:
Introduction to Animal Health Care
Common Health Problems in farm animals and pets
Animal Behaviour
Signs of Ill Health
Veterinary Facilities
Safety Procedures
Administration of Animal Health
Animal First Aid
Preventative Health Care
Routine Health Treatments
Health Problems in Domestic Pets
Rehabilitation Care
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
To be able to describe the scope of services offered by animal care services, including veterinary practices.
Describe common health problems in various animals, including injuries & diseases
Explain the natural behaviour of different types of domestic animals in different situations.
Identify common signs of ill health in different animals.
Describe the purposes of different facilities used in veterinary practice.
the first aid kit
enclosures for animals
Determine safety procedures for a veterinary practice.
Describe different administration procedures in a veterinary practice.
What You Will Do
Contact several bodies/organisations that are concerned with animal welfare, and obtain any literature or other information which you can, regarding issues such as:
Restrictions placed by local councils upon the keeping of pets.
Legal requirements on animal owners, with respect to animal welfare
Find two different types of domestic animals which you can observe (ie. different species).
Observe each on two different occasions, for at least 15 minutes each time.
Make notes of their behaviour.
Note any similarities between behaviour on the different occasions, and between the different types of animals.
Describe methods used for controlling/restraining animals during an examination
List as many things as you can that might cause a dogs temperature to go to 40oC.
Contact a state government veterinary/agriculture department, and find out anything you can about health risks to humans from domestic & farm animal diseases in your country.
