SMALL ANIMAL CARE
CHAPTER ONE

INVERTEBRATES –

VERTEBRATES - 370 million years

DINOSAURS –
180 million years

SMALL ANIMAL –
70 to 40 million years
420 million years
Domestication of animals.


Up to 12,000 years
ago-dogs
About 3,500 years
ago-cats
The Small Animal Industry


58.9% of all American
families own pets.
Cats now outnumber
dogs as most common
pet!
Small Animal Industry cont.




3rd in popularity is
Birds
4th is Rabbits
5th is Hamsters
6th is Fish
Small Animal Industry $$$$


10,500-11,000 retail
pet stores= $21 billion
in sales!!
Vet. Expenditures of
over $7 billion for dogs


Almost $4 billion for
cats
And over $91 million
for birds
CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANISMS

5 KINGDOMS





MONERA
PROTISTA
PLANT
FUNGI
ANIMALIA
CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANISMS

ALL AMIMALS WE WILL STUDY ARE IN
PHYLUM CHORDATA!

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHORDATA:
 NOTOCHORD
 DORSAL NERVE TUBE
 PHARYNEAL AREA
 REAR AREA TAIL
CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANISMS

CLASSES:




MAMMALIA – FEED YOUNG MILK
REPTILIA- SCALES OR BONY PLATES
AVES- WINGS
OSTEICHTHYES- LIVE IN WATER
BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE

GENUS- 1ST WORD, CAPITAL LETTER
SPECIES – 2ND WORD, LOWER CASE
LETTER


EXAMPLE:
 Canis familaria (dog)