Manuals - sample chapters

Animal welfare and ethics are not sub-disciplines within veterinary science or medicine, they are integral to everything veterinary professionals do. Emotional and intuitive assessments and decisions have their place, but often one can feel more confident when more structured and reflective methods are used. This chapter covers legal, professional and moral responsibilities, outcomes that matter to animals and others, how domesticity/captivity compromises welfare, key legislation and ethical issues applicable to small animal veterinary practice and animal advocacy. This chapter also contains a downloadable admission form.

The retroperitoneum is an extraperitoneal space situated ventral to the vertebrae and paraspinal muscles; it extends along the length of the entire abdomen from the diaphragm to the anus. The lateral boundaries are the abdominal and pelvic walls. The ventral boundary is the dorsal parietal peritoneum. Therefore, conditions affecting the peritoneum may spare the retroperitoneum. Organs that project freely into the abdominal, pelvic or scrotal cavities with an almost complete covering of peritoneum are considered to be intraperitoneal. However, those organs situated close to the walls of the abdominal or pelvic cavities and covered on one side only by peritoneum are considered to be retroperitoneal. Some of these organs are too small to be seen, whilst others are commonly seen on radiographs because they are surrounded by fat. Normal retroperitoneum; Ultrasonography; Overview of additional imaging modalities; and Retroperitoneal diseases are all addressed in this section.