My Veterinary Essentials

Today I worked on a Black Duiker. This medium sized ungulate (hoofed animal) weighed 20 kilograms or about 44 pounds. Duikers are in a group of animals called ruminants. Ruminates such as deer, cows and duikers spend a lot of time eating and re-eating their food. Their stomachs consist of 4 chambers, each chamber aiding in the digestion of food. Part of the digestive process in ruminants as well as other herbivores is the ability to pulverize the plant material effectively enough so the plant can be digested. These animals use their teeth to grind their food, and can often times be seen moving their lower jaw across their upper jaw in a sideways motion. In order for them to be able to make this motion, their teeth must be fairly flat without any sharp edges or points. Horses require periodic teeth grinding to remove sharp points from their teeth; this procedure is often called 'floating' of the teeth. The Black Duiker had this procedure done as well.