Preface

Veterinary pharmaceuticals are compounds or substances employed in the diagnosis, prevention, control, and treatment of animal diseases. Generally, they are mainly medicines needed to keep animals healthy.

Animals form a significant part of the food chain. Animals serve as food, and also form part of the environment. Humans are exposed to various forms of infectious diseases, resistant microorganisms, and residual levels of veterinary pharmaceuticals through the consumption of food animals. Thus, human existence and the quality of life experienced by humans have a correlation with the exposure to animals and animal food.

The management of animal health with human-specific pharmaceuticals was common until the development of veterinary-specific pharmaceutical agents. The economic benefits of veterinary pharmaceuticals to manufacturers', sovereign nations, and business-oriented persons remain enormous.

However, the public health-related implications of the widespread and intensive use of veterinary pharmaceuticals mainly to increase yields in food producing animals, has compelled nations and regulatory agencies (national and international) to come up with safer and stricter measures for regulating veterinary pharmaceuticals.

The main objective of this book is to expose the research and academic environments, in the use, application, and consequences of routine application of veterinary pharmaceuticals.

This book covers a wide range of issues on veterinary diseases and their management, especially with secondary metabolites or bioactive compounds from plant extracts, socio-economic and institutional factors that inform and influence farmers' decisions on using veterinary services, and the antimicrobial resistance pandemic and related public health issues, especially in developing countries. Other relevant concerns with respect to the occurrence and analytical detection techniques employed in the effective determination of residual levels of veterinary pharmaceuticals in food has also been covered. Furthermore, aspects of dairy cattle production and the probable transfer of antimicrobial resistant genes to humans has also received significant attention in this book.

Topics in each chapter are arranged in clear language and provide:


It is our belief that this text will continue to:


This book would be valuable to students of veterinary medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and public health.

I must use this platform to congratulate all authors whose works made this book possible.

It must be noted that all sources of information are well documented and acknowledged.

Special gratitude also goes to our publishers (IntechOpen) for their immense support.

Comments on this book are welcome.

**Samuel Oppong Bekoe and Reimmel Kwame Adosraku** Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

It is an excellent book for veterinary students, researchers, and practitioners with cutting-edge references to the signs, diagnoses, treatment, and better care of dogs. The book contains core information to evaluate major clinical issues concerning dogs. Information has been updated and diagnostic plans have been refined and revised on the basis of the newest diagnostic techniques.

The depth of information provided with excellent photos in all chapters provide detailed information in a number of important areas. In particular, we hope that the book also serves as a practical source for advancing the diagnosis and treatment of ascites, pericardial effusion, duodenal disorders, and canine mastitis.

The editors are grateful to the authors for sharing their valuable information in the form of book chapters.

> **Dr. Mani Saravanan and Dr. PK. Ramkumar**  Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, India

Section 1
