NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination) · USA / Canada · International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA); scored by NBME, delivered by Prometric
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersFeeding pigs, poultry, rabbits, laboratory animals, fish and pets: amino-acid balancing, feed additives and their withdrawal, and mycotoxins in feed.
In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF core group 05; ICAR AIEEA-PG 14 (Animal Nutrition)
NAVLE, RCVS SME, AVE, SAVC, NLEV, PRC VLE and EGEL Plus MVZ
Cases: mulberry heart disease, parakeratosis, salt poisoning, post-weaning diarrhoea, feed-related nervous disease in chicks, cage layer fatigue, ionophore toxicity in horses, equine leukoencephalomalacia, feline taurine and thiamine deficiency, large-breed puppy calcium, rabbit dental disease and gut stasis, zearalenone in gilts, vomitoxin feed refusal.
How our questions for NAVLE spread across the units of Applied Animal Nutrition II: Non-ruminants, Poultry, Laboratory and Companion Animals. Difficulty: 3 easy, 17 medium, 4 hard.
| Pet food and companion-animal nutrition | 8 | |
| Mycotoxins in feed | 4 | |
| Non-ruminant digestive nutrition | 3 | |
| Rabbit nutrition | 3 | |
| Pig feeding standards | 2 | |
| Poultry feeding standards | 2 | |
| Enzymes and probiotics as feed additives | 1 | |
| Antibiotic growth promoters and their withdrawal | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Broiler parent-stock pullets are fed restricted amounts from early life. Why?
C. Unrestricted, their appetite makes them obese, with poor fertility and egg production
The genetics that make broilers fast-growing also give their parents a large appetite. Without restriction, breeders become overweight, with poor fertility, more multiple ovulations and lower egg and chick output.
Further reading: NRC, Nutrient Requirements of Poultry, 9th rev. ed. (1994); Leeson & Summers, Scott's Nutrition of the Chicken
A giant-breed puppy is fed a complete growth diet, and the owner adds calcium supplement 'for strong bones'. What is the main risk?
D. Developmental orthopaedic disease from excess calcium
Large and giant-breed puppies cannot fully regulate calcium absorption, so excess calcium increases the risk of developmental orthopaedic disease. Nutritional secondary hyperparathyroidism results from too little calcium relative to phosphorus, as in all-meat diets.
Further reading: NRC, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006); WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines
A cat fed mostly raw fish shows ventroflexion of the neck, ataxia and seizures. What is the most likely cause?
C. Thiamine deficiency due to thiaminase in raw fish
Some raw fish contain thiaminase, which destroys thiamine, and cats are sensitive to thiamine deficiency, with ventroflexion and seizures. Oily fish without vitamin E causes steatitis, a painful fat inflammation, not these nervous signs.
Further reading: NRC, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats (2006); WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines
A 500 kg pony with a cresty neck and regional fat is grazing lush spring pasture. Which condition is the main nutritional risk?
C. Laminitis associated with insulin dysregulation in equine metabolic syndrome
Obese ponies with regional adiposity often have insulin dysregulation, and lush pasture high in non-structural carbohydrate can trigger laminitis. Equine motor neuron disease follows vitamin E deficiency, not excess, and fumonisins are found in maize.
Further reading: NRC, Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 6th rev. ed. (2007)
Why are pet rabbits fed large amounts of lucerne prone to sludgy urine and urolithiasis?
B. They absorb calcium in proportion to intake and excrete the excess in urine
Rabbits absorb dietary calcium largely without regulation and excrete the surplus in urine, normally cloudy with calcium carbonate. High-calcium diets increase sludge and stones; rabbit urine is normally alkaline.
Further reading: De Blas & Wiseman, Nutrition of the Rabbit, 2nd ed.
A rabbit stopped eating two days ago after a stressful event, produces no faeces and has a doughy stomach on palpation. Which approach is most appropriate?
B. Treat as an emergency, with analgesia, fluids and prompt return to fibre intake
Gastrointestinal stasis is an emergency, and anorexia can lead to hepatic lipidosis. Oral lincosamides can cause fatal enterotoxaemia in rabbits, and starch worsens caecal dysbiosis.
Further reading: De Blas & Wiseman, Nutrition of the Rabbit, 2nd ed.
Pigs reduce their feed intake, some vomit, and they prefer old feed to a new batch of wheat that was harvested in a wet season. Which toxin is most likely?
C. Deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin)
Deoxynivalenol, a trichothecene from Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum, causes feed refusal and vomiting, and pigs are the most sensitive species. Wet weather at flowering favours Fusarium head blight.
Further reading: Constable et al., Veterinary Medicine, 11th ed.
Ten here, 24 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to NAVLE 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.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
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