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Vet Med - Veterinary glossary Category: Agriculture and Industry > Veterinary terms Date & country: 20/01/2014, USA Words: 1662

disinfectant
Germicidal chemical that destroys microorganisms and the potential infectivity of a material

disinfection
To destroy germs by using chemicals (disinfectants) or by physical means such as high temperature.

diskospondylitis
Infection of the intervertebral disk with concurrent osteomyelitis of contiguous vertebrae.

discoid lupus erythematosus
A form of systemic lupus erythematosus which only onvolves the skin.

direct lifecycle
Single host direct transmission from the environment.

direct lifecycle
There is a single host and the host animal is the animal that is being infected.

discharge summary
A description of a patient's workup. May include an overview in client terms of what tests were performed and test results as well as a description of treatment and care for the patient.

discharge summary
A written overview of the evaluation of a patient written in lay terms for the animal owner. The summary includes what was done to the animal, what were the results of tests and what treatment is to be performed at home and how to do it.

diphenhydramine HCL
Benadryl. An antihistamine.

dimethyl sulfoxide
An organic solvent used to deliver other substances that themselves are less soluble.

digital examination
Using gloved fingers to examine. Usually refers to rectal or vaginal exams.

digital manipulation
Manually stimulating the penis in order to obtain a semen sample for analysis.

dihydrotestosterone
The form of testosterone used by the prostate gland.

dihydrotestosterone
The form of testosterone utilized by the prostate gland.

dimensions of pain
There are 3 dimensions of pain: sensory-discriminative, motivational-affective and cognitive-evaluative, which influence how an individual interprets and responds to a painful stimulus.

digestible energy
Energy that is available to the animal by digestion; measured as the difference between gross energy content of a feed and the energy contained in the animal's feces (gross energy minus fecal energy.)

digestion
The changes that occur to a feed within the animal's digestive tract to prepare it for absorption and use.

digestive system
An organ system that absorbs and digests food. The digestive system includes the esophagus, stomach, intestine, liver and pancreas.

dietary scours
When the calf is getting so much nutrient intake they can not absorb it all and it is fermenting in the colon producing gassy, large volume, smelly diarrhea.

differential diagnosis
A possible cause for a patient's problem. Also called a rule out.

differential diagnosis
Differential diagnoses are also known as rule-outs and are possible causes for the problems displayed by a patient. For example, kidney failure is one possible cause for polyuria in a dog or cat.

Diff-Quik stain
A 3-step staining process to stain cytology samples.

digestibility
A measure of the extent a feed or nutrient is digested; usually expressed as a percent.

diestrus
The stage of the estrous cycle which follows estrus. In the bitch diestrus lasts 62-63 days from the LH peak.

dietary history
This includes: the diet the animal is currently receiving and for how long? Have they ever home cooked a hypoallergenic diet (potato and pinto beans, lamb and rice)?

diestrus
A stage of the female reproductive cycle that follows the period of receptivity.

diarrhea
A stool that is looser than normal.

diabetes mellitus
Also known as sugar diabetes. An insufficient amount of insulin is produced by the pancreas resulting in a high blood sugar level.

diagnostic plans
Diagnostic plans are made in order to determine if a certain disease is present. For example you may plan to perform bile acid analyses to determine if liver failure is present.

diagnostic tests
These are tests performed to find the cause of a pet

diamond eyes
A combination of severe entropion and ectropion involving both upper and lower eyelids. Most commonly seen in Saint Bernard dogs.

dextrose 5%
5% dextrose is hypotonic relative to extracellular fluid. It contains only dextrose, no electrolytes. 5% dextrose is a constituent of most maintenance solutions. It can be used a sole fluid for rehydration for animals who cannot tolerate the administration of sodium, such as those with cardiac disease. More commonly, it is used as part of the rehydration solution in these sodium intolerant animals, used in combination with lactated Ringer

dextrose hypertonic
Hypertonic dextrose is any percentage of dextrose which has an osmolality in excess of extracellular fluid. Dextrose is available in several commercial strengths. Any concentration of dextrose can be created by adding additional dextrose to a commercial solution. The predominant use of hypertonic dextrose solutions is as a calorie source in total parenteral nutrition solutions. There is also an indication to promote urine flow in patients with oliguric acute renal failure. TPN solutions containing 50% dextrose are extremely hypertonic and can cause an irritation to the blood vessel if given in a small peripheral vein, such as cephalic or saphenous. Hypertonic solutions are typically given in larger veins such as the jugular vein in which blood flow is faster to dilute the hypertonicity of the infused solution and reduce irritation to the lining of the blood vessel.

descemetocele
Very deep ulcers right down to decemets membrane.

Descemet's membrane
A clear membrane forming the inner boundary of the cornea.

dextran
High molecular weight polysaccharides used to expand blood volume. A colloid. Dextrans have an average molecular weight of 40,000 daltons (Dextran 40) or 75,000 daltons (Dextran 70).

dextrose
Another term for sugar.

dermoid
A piece of skin growing on the cornea.

dermatophytosis
Ringworm. Dermatophytes live and grow only on non-viable keratinized tissue (skin, hair, nails). They will not grow in living cells.

dermis
The dermal layer of the skin that contains blood vessels, hair follicles, sebaceous glands, erector pili muscles, and apocrine sweat glands.

dermis
The layer of skin between the epidermis and the subcutaneous tissues.

dermatophyte test medium
Agar for growing fungi. Dermatophyte test media (DTM) contains phenol red as a pH indicator and substances to inhibit growth of saprophytic fungi and bacteria.

dermatophilosis
Pyoderma caused by the aerobic and facultative anaerobic actinomycete: Dermatophilus congolensis. Also called Streptotricosis, rain scald, and streptothricosis (horses)

dermatomyositis
A immune-mediated, familial dermatopathy suggested to be a primary vasculopathy with secondary dermatitis and myositis. Breed predilection includes Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs.

dermatologic examination
The dermatologic exam should include examination of the entire hair coat, careful palpation of the skin, careful examination of the skin surface over several areas of the body, visual examination (otoscopic) of the external ear canals, and inspection of the foot pads. In many cases it is helpful to clip hair from the patient so that specific lesions may be seen more clearly. It is also helpful to have a form for the medical record, on which lesions may be drawn and recorded, as well as other information.

dermatitis
Inflammation of the skin.

dermatitis herpetiformis
A pruritic, vesiculoulcerative dermatitis which is poorly documented in veterinary medicine and is associated with IgA deposition and gluten enteropathies in man.

demodicosis localized
Also called squamous. One or more well circumscribed areas of alopecia with mild scaling and erythema usually located on the forelimbs, face and on periocular skin.

dehydration
An inadequate amount of fluid in the body. The minimum amout of dehydration that can be detected is about 5% loss of total body weight as fluid loss.

dehydration
Loss of fluid from the bloodstream and tissues.

delayed wound closure
This is a wound you will suture but not immediately; first you debride the wound several times through bandage changes to make it more amenable to closing.

demodicosis generalized
Also called the pustular form. Many small focal areas of involvement or a diffuse generalized distribution. Lesions include generalized erythema, crusting, scaling and patchy to diffuse alopecia.

degradable intake protein
Portion of intake protein that is degraded (broken down) by rumen microbes to ammonia and amino acids. DIP is used for microbial synthesis.

defecation
To pass feces, stool or manure.

definitive host
Where sexual reproduction takes place.

defecation
The act of passing stool (feces).

defecation
Passing of stool.

deep mycoses
Diseases incluing Histoplasmosis, Blastomycosis, Coccidioidomycosis and Cryptococcosis.

days open
The number of days between calving (parturition) and conception. Should be less than 120 days.

dead-end host
It can not be transmitted from human to human. Example: brucellosis.

debride
To clean out dead or dying tissue from a wound.

deciduous teeth
Non-permanent teeth(baby teeth)that will be shed and replaced with permanent adult teeth.

decubital ulcers
Pressure sores, usually seen over bony prominances.

data base
The first component of a problem-oriented record in which information is gathered. There are several types of data bases.

days in milk
The number of days a cow has been milking in her current lactation, same as days since fresh.

dapsone
Diaminodiphenylsulfon, Alvosulfon

data base
The data base is information that is collected by the user of the medical record, either the veterinarian or a technician. In order to collect a similar amount of baseline information about all patients, and to avoid omissions, the minimum data base should be defined in advance and should always be collected. The data base may include laboratory tests, radiographs, or other diagnostic tests.

dacryocystorhinography
A technique in which radiopaque contrast material is injected into the punctum and flushed through the nasolacrimal duct, followed by lateral and VD radiographic views of the skull, to evaluate the nasolacrimal system and surrounding bony structures.

daltons
A term used to indicate a unit of mass equal to 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom.

DAMN IT acronym
A method of looking at possible causes for a problem.

DAMNIT
A acronym that serves as a memory aid to identify potential causes for a patient's problems.

dacryocystitis
Inflammation of the lacrimal sac usually as a result of infection.

cytoplasmic droplet
A round drop of cytoplasm that moves from the neck of the sperm down it's tail and is gone by the time normal sperm are ejaculated.

cythioate
Proban

cytokine
A protein secreted by cells, that carries a signal to other cells.

cytokines/interleukins
regulatory proteins secreted primarily by lymphocytes to facilitate interaction between other lymphocytes and macrophages e.g. IL-2, IL-12, CSF, TNF.

cytology
Looking at normal and abnormal cells with a microscope.

cytology
The microscopic evaluation of cells removed from an organ or tissue.

cycloplegic
A drug that paralyses the ciliary muscle and helps reduce pain.

cyst
A fluid-filled structure.

cystic endometrial hyperplasia
Morphological changes occurring in the uterus under the influence progesterone secreted from the corpus lutei (CLs) of the ovaries during diestrus.

cystitis
Inflammation of the bladder.

cystocercus
The larval stage of a tapeworm encysted in muscle.

cyclophosphamide
Trade name is Cytoxan

cycle
Events that happen in the female such as ovulation, hormone production, receptivity, etc. In camelids the cycle does not follow regular time periods as it does in horses or cattle.

cyclitis
Inflammation of the ciliary body.

cyclo0xygenase
An enzyme involved in the production of prostaglandins from arachidonic acid in cell membranes. There are 2 forms, COX 1 & COX 2. COX 2 plays a greater role in inflammation.

cyclocryotherapy
A freezing probe is applied to sclera to destroy the underlying ciliary body in treatment of glaucoma.

cutaneous lupus erythematosus
Discoid lupus. A form of systemic lupus erythematosus which only onvolves the skin.

cutaneous vasculitis
Skin lesions caused by deposition and subsequent activation of soluble immune complexes along the basement membrane of blood vessels.

Cushing
A disease of the adrenal gland that produces too much of the hormone cortisol. Too much cortisol causes signs including drinking, eating and urinating increased amounts and loss of hair on the body. Also called hyperadrenocorticism.

cush
The laying down position of the female camelid during mating.

culture
Evaluating a sample of fluid or tissue for bacterial growth.

CSAW
Center for the Study of Animal Well-being

cull cow
Cow removed from a herd due to poor profitability. Generally due to poor production, reproduction, or mastitis.

cryptorchidism
The failure of one or both testicles to descend into the scrotum.

crystalloid
A solution containing small particles. The particles can pass through a semipermeable membrane. Lactated Ringers is an example of a crystalloid solution.

crystalloids
Crystalloid solutions are solutions that contain small particles, particles with molecular weights of less than a few 100 molecular weight units. Examples of crystalloid solutions are lactated Ringer

crust
Dried exudaet on the skin surface.

crutching
Removing the wool from around the breech area.