Backyard pig stuff cow vets need to know

Veterinarians develop and maintain skills allowing them to serve communities in a diverse set of ways. This is an opportu­nity and privilege, but can sometimes be daunting. Since gradu­ating veterinary school in 2019, I have spent nearly every aspect of my professional career focused on swine – swine production, nutrition, safety of feed supply, etc. With a well-rounded edu­cation, knowledge and skills are still present, albeit likely in a disorganized manner in my mental filing cabinet. Bovine prac­ticioners in the course of their routine clinical practice likely will be faced with the dreaded “show pig” question at some point in their career. The base skills of the bovine practicioner should serve as a solid foundation, and with some additional reading and a few phone calls, you should feel comfortable with the quality of medicine and services you can provide to swine clients with non-commercial operations. The goal of this manu­script and presentation is to highlight some of the key areas of swine medicine that bovine practicioners should be familiar with to best serve their diverse set of clientele. These include a brief overview of the production and show pig industries, bugs and drugs, and a short list of important procedures to be aware of that with some practice can readily be incorporated into your skillset. Terrific resources exist elsewhere and this is certainly not a single source for all relevant information, rather intended to be a refresher of key concepts to guide communication with small scale swine producers and owners.