Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. A third trochanter on the lateral shaft of the femur is a feature of which species?
Ox
Dog
Horse
Sheep
Answer and working
C. Horse
The horse femur carries a third trochanter for the insertion of the superficial gluteal muscle. The ox, small ruminants and dog have no third trochanter; do not confuse it with the lesser trochanter, which all have.
Veterinary Gross Anatomy · Comparative osteology
2. A practitioner has to fix a liver biopsy of about 15 cm³ and wants to follow the recommendation of 20 volumes of fixative per volume of tissue. What is the minimum volume of 10% neutral buffered formalin needed?
315 mL
300 mL
150 mL
35 mL
Answer and working
B. 300 mL
Volume of fixative = 20 x tissue volume = 20 x 15 cm³ = 300 cm³ = 300 mL. 150 mL is the tenfold minimum (10 x 15), which is the absolute floor, not the stated recommendation; 35 mL comes from adding 20 and 15 instead of multiplying; 315 mL adds the tissue's own 15 mL to the fixative. Too little fixative leaves the centre of the tissue autolysed.
3. A male cat with urethral obstruction has a plasma potassium well above the reference interval. What happens to the resting membrane potential of its cardiac muscle cells?
It reverses to a positive value at rest
It becomes more negative (hyperpolarised)
It does not change, because potassium is mainly intracellular
It becomes less negative (depolarised)
Answer and working
D. It becomes less negative (depolarised)
Resting potential lies near the potassium equilibrium potential. Raising outside potassium reduces the out/in gradient, so the potential moves towards zero. Early this raises excitability; later it inactivates sodium channels and slows conduction, giving bradycardia and ECG changes. Hyperpolarisation is what low potassium does.
Veterinary Physiology I: Body Fluids, Blood, Circulation, Respiration and Excretion · Cellular basis of physiology
4. A young adult German Shepherd dog has a ravenous appetite, weight loss and large volumes of pale, fatty faeces. Serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity is very low. Which physiological loss best explains the signs?
Loss of gastric parietal cell acid and intrinsic factor secretion (atrophic gastritis)
Loss of pancreatic acinar enzyme secretion (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency)
Loss of ileal bile acid reabsorption
Loss of colonic water absorption
Answer and working
B. Loss of pancreatic acinar enzyme secretion (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency)
Acinar atrophy removes lipase, proteases and amylase, so fat and protein are maldigested and the dog is hungry and thin. Low trypsin-like immunoreactivity reflects reduced acinar mass. Loss of gastric acid alone does not cause steatorrhoea of this degree, and colonic disease causes diarrhoea without maldigestion.
Veterinary Physiology II: Digestion, Muscle, Nerve, Endocrinology, Reproduction, Lactation, Growth and Climate · Digestion in monogastric animals
5. Lactose, the sugar of milk, is made of which two monosaccharides?
Glucose and fructose
Galactose and glucose
Glucose and glucose
Galactose and fructose
Answer and working
B. Galactose and glucose
Lactose is galactose beta-1,4 glucose. Glucose plus fructose is sucrose, and two glucose units form maltose.
Veterinary Biochemistry · Biomolecules and their interactions
Practise it, and prove it
These notes are free to read here, with no account.
What the Laisha app adds:
1373 original practice questions, marked, with every answer explained.
A certificate when you pass a paper at 70 per cent, with a code anyone can verify.
Professional calculators that show their working, and the full exam map for your country.
Free for ten days, then a subscription. We would rather write that here than have you find it later.