Ferrets. Examination and preventive medicine.

As ferrets are anatomically and physiologically similar to dogs and cats, the basic elements of ferret examination, disease processes, and preventive health are familiar to small-animal practitioners. Like other domestic carnivores, ferrets are tolerant of handling and medical procedures, especially compared with rabbits, rodents, and most nondomestic mammals. These characteristics make ferrets amenable to many of the highly specialized diagnostic and therapeutic techniques that are now available in small-animal practice. Veterinarians who wish to add ferrets to their practices should be familiar with the ferret literature, but they should not forget to draw from the wealth of knowledge in canine and feline medicine when managing unusual or difficult ferret cases.     

Examination and preventive medicine protocols in psittacines.

Preventive medicine is the best insurance for effective avian health maintenance and infectious disease control. Psittacine birds should have a yearly physical examination including a thorough history. Additionally, these animals require adequate management and husbandry including a commercial bird food diet supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables. A complete preventive medicine program should include diagnostic tests as deemed necessary by the avian veterinarian in addition to strict quarantine, vaccination, and disinfection. Necropsy and histopathology are also important components of an effective preventive medicine program.     

Interfacing professional training in health maintenance and preventive medicine.

Because of emerging economic realities of the latter half of this century, the practice of preventive medicine, as opposed to curative medicine, is becoming essential in developed and developing countries. This holds true in veterinary medicine as well as in human medicine, and as we become increasingly aware of this fact, we also recognize the increasing interdependence of both fields. To determine the extent to which veterinarians are prepared to deal with this change in emphasis, two surveys have been prepared; one directed to various specialty groups within the profession and the other directed to schools of veterinary medicine. The first survey was designed to identify areas in which veterinarians felt their training had been deficient relative to decision making in applied preventive medicine. The second survey queried the schools to determine what changes had been made in their curricula to remedy these inadequacies.