2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Final year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students and Animal Science undergraduate students participated in the study. Students completed a questionnaire about their prior livestock experience. Seventy female goats of Spanish/Boer breeding were digitally recorded as they moved through an alley. The footage was consolidated into a 3-second segment with each animal's identification followed by 15 seconds of the animal standing in the alley. Students viewed the videos and estimated weights to the nearest pound. Seventy-one students participated, 30 Animal Science and 41 DVM students. Goats ranged from 78-208 lb (mean 121.9 lbs). Overall, students underestimated weights 65.2% of the time. Weight estimations were within 10% of the actual weight only 36.6% of the time. Prior livestock experience and student classification had no significant effect on the number of estimates within 10% of the actual weight. The weight of the goat was also not significantly associated with accuracy of liveweight estimation. Results indicated that underestimation of goat live-weight is frequent, and that livestock experience prior to and during veterinary education does not have a significant effect on weight estimation accuracy. This study highlights deficiencies in live-weight estimation of goats in animal science and veterinary trainees, which may be a contributor to anthelmintic resistance. Chronic or vagal indigestion refers to a group of functional and/or mechanical disturbances of the stomachs that result in impairment of the gastrointestinal transit. The term chronic indigestion (CI) is generally used to describe a ruminant presented with the following clinical signs: poor appetite, weight loss, abdominal and ruminal distension, dehydration, reduced fecal output and bradycardia. Many other terms have been used over the years, vagal indigestion being the one bringing the most confusion since it implies that the vagus nerve is necessarily involved in the pathophysiology of the disease.