ICAR AIEEA (PG): Master's entrance, Veterinary Science and Animal Sciences · India · NTA for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersThe production diseases of high-yielding animals and the mineral and vitamin deficiencies: milk fever, ketosis, grass tetany, downer cow and their relatives.
In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF core group 07 (Medicine); China comprehensive paper cattle; a recurring topic across Indian PG, PhD and state PSC syllabi
ICAR AIEEA-PG (Veterinary Science, code 13)
Synonyms and definitions (parturient paresis, azoturia, pine, swayback, perosis), the ketone bodies and which test detects which, the cause of each deficiency sign, and the biochemistry of propionate, B12 and gluconeogenesis.
How our questions for ICAR AIEEA spread across the units of Veterinary Clinical Medicine II: Metabolic, Production and Deficiency Diseases. Difficulty: 19 easy, 13 medium, 2 hard.
| Vitamin deficiencies | 6 | |
| Trace mineral deficiencies | 5 | |
| Milk fever | 4 | |
| Metabolic profile testing | 3 | |
| Ketosis | 3 | |
| Fatty liver syndrome | 3 | |
| Hypomagnesaemia | 2 | |
| Azoturia | 2 | |
| Rickets, osteomalacia and osteodystrophy | 2 | |
| Endocrine disorders of dogs and cats (diabetes mellitus and DKA, hypo- and hyperadrenocorticism, thyroid disease) | 2 | |
| Downer cow syndrome | 1 | |
| Post-parturient haemoglobinuria | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
The metabolic profile test, in which blood values of groups of dry, early-lactation and mid-lactation dairy cows are compared to judge nutritional adequacy, was first developed by:
C. Payne and colleagues at Compton, England, around 1970
The Compton metabolic profile test was developed in England by Payne and co-workers around 1970. It is a nutritional monitoring tool, not a disease-reporting scheme, and it is not specific to cobalt deficiency.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
Which of the following is NOT a ketone body?
D. Propionate
The three ketone bodies are acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetone. Propionate is a volatile fatty acid made in the rumen and is the main glucose precursor in ruminants, so it counters ketosis.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
Hypomagnesaemic tetany of calves most often occurs in calves:
B. Of about 2 to 4 months of age fed mainly on milk or milk replacer
Milk is low in magnesium, and absorption efficiency falls as the calf ages, so milk-fed calves of 2 to 4 months without supplementary feed become deficient. Early introduction of forage and concentrate with magnesium prevents it.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
Post-parturient haemoglobinuria of dairy cows and buffaloes is most closely associated with a deficiency of:
A. Phosphorus
PPH typically occurs in high-yielding animals on phosphorus-deficient soils or rations and serum inorganic phosphorus is very low. Copper deficiency has been linked in New Zealand but is not the main association.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
Enzootic ataxia (swayback) of lambs is caused by deficiency of:
C. Copper
Copper deficiency in pregnant ewes impairs myelination in the fetal nervous system, causing congenital or delayed swayback. Cobalt deficiency causes wasting; selenium deficiency causes white muscle disease.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
Perosis (slipped tendon) in poultry is caused mainly by deficiency of:
C. Manganese
Manganese is needed for cartilage matrix formation; deficiency leads to shortened, thickened bones and slipping of the gastrocnemius tendon. Choline and biotin deficiency can cause similar lesions.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
Growing pigs on a diet high in calcium and plant phytate develop thick, crusted skin lesions (parakeratosis). Which deficiency is responsible?
A. Zinc
High calcium and phytate reduce zinc absorption, causing parakeratosis. Correcting the calcium level and adding zinc resolves the lesions.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
The earliest clinical sign of vitamin A deficiency is usually:
B. Night blindness
Vitamin A forms rhodopsin in the retinal rods, so dim-light vision fails first. Curled toe paralysis is riboflavin deficiency, perosis is manganese or choline deficiency, and scurvy is vitamin C deficiency.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine 11th ed.; Goff 2008; Oetzel 2004; Suttle, Mineral Nutrition of Livestock 4th ed.
Bracken fern poisoning in horses produces incoordination that responds to thiamine because bracken contains:
B. Thiaminase
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) and horsetail (Equisetum) contain thiaminase, causing thiamine deficiency in monogastric herbivores such as the horse (bracken staggers). In cattle, bracken causes other diseases, including bone marrow suppression and enzootic haematuria.
Further reading: Reed, Bayly & Sellon, Equine Internal Medicine 4th ed.; Constable et al. 11th ed.
A dog hospitalised for severe pneumonia has a low total thyroxine (T4) and a normal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), with no clinical signs of hypothyroidism before the illness. What is the best course of action?
A. Treat the pneumonia and retest after recovery; this is probably euthyroid sick syndrome
Non-thyroidal illness and several drugs lower T4 in euthyroid dogs. Hypothyroidism is diagnosed by low total or free T4 together with raised TSH in a dog with compatible signs, and testing is best done when concurrent illness has resolved. Treating a low T4 alone risks unnecessary lifelong medication.
Further reading: Feldman et al., Canine and Feline Endocrinology 4th ed.; Ettinger, Feldman & Côté 8th ed.
Ten here, 34 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ICAR AIEEA in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
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