Exotic animal medicine is one of the fastest growing fields in the veterinary profession. We now better understand the diseases these pets get and the clinical signs they develop when sick. Although our knowledge base is continuously growing, there is still much we don't know and diseases we don't fully understand enough to treat successfully. Because of this, much of exotic animal medicine is preventative medicine - trying to prevent the most common problems these pets develop by avoiding exposure to disease and supplying proper nutrition and husbandry. Many problems, when detected early, are easy to treat and control. This brings up another important fact - many exotic pets have the ability to hide their illness. Probably a protective mechanism- a wild animal noticed sick would quickly be killed by a predator. Many exotic pets can appear to be healthy until the end stage of a problem when recovery is unlikely and most animals succumb to their disease.

Preventative medicine includes proper nutrition, husbandry and trying to learn as much as possible about a species common diseases and problems. In this way we can avoid nutritional and environmental diseases (which are extremely common) and avoid common infectious diseases. Of course, we must also try to begin with a healthy pet. A physical exam by a qualified veterinarian is very important. This should include taking a weight on the animal so weight gains and losses can be monitored. Both subjective and objective findings on examination of various body systems hopefully will confirm a healthy pet from the start. The time should also be taken to review proper care, nutrition and basic needs. Sometimes a physical exam will not detect "hidden" problems and other ancillary tests may be recommended for a full evaluation of the patient. These tests are usually different depending on the type of pet. Let's briefly review some species.