Tracing the history of animal nursing is difficult, but it has always been recognised that ill or wounded animals need care. This was driven more by economic rather than welfare considerations, but the latter factors were of significance for some horses and companion dogs.
Early animal nursing
An interesting observation was made by Palladius Aemilianus in Opus Agriculturae (circa fourth century AD). When writing of cattle, Palladius noted: “Pain in the stomach or intestines is also calmed by the sight of swimming birds, especially a duck. If an animal with internal pain catches sight of a duck, it is quickly relieved of its torment. The sight of a duck also quickly cures mules and horses with even greater success.” That this was written indicates that it was a recognised practice. One can see the logic, and it can be classed as a part of nursing the sick animal.
As veterinary medicine developed and diseases became defined, the emphasis was always on finding a cure – if treatments failed, the normal recourse was to turn to spells and magic. However, animal care and nursing did become a crucial feature of certain activities. The most famous of these is illustrated in The Book of Hunting by Comté Gaston Phebus (1331-1391), who was a French nobleman and hunting enthusiast. The illustrations – of exceptional artistic quality – are one of the masterpieces of medieval art. Two are of particular interest to those fascinated by the development of veterinary nursing.
As veterinary medicine developed and diseases became defined, the emphasis was always on finding a cure – if treatments failed, the normal recourse was to turn to spells and magic
The first depicts eight dog “valets” and their master, each caring for a dog suffering from a different problem. They show the valets inspecting the mouth, ears, paws and eyes; the arts of bandaging fractured legs and cutting claws; and the use of a footbath of salt water or a mixture of vinegar and soot for painful or wounded feet. The second illustration shows twice daily exercise in a meadow, where the dogs could eat “the grass necessary for purging their stomachs”. The valets are shown combing the dogs’ coats and rubbing them down with straw to make their coats shine and eliminate parasites – a schedule of procedures that would apply well today.
The advent of modern veterinary nursing
The 19th century
Veterinary nursing as a serious discipline did not really begin until the 1800s, when in 1824, Delabere Blaine, one of the first true small animal veterinary practitioners, wrote that sick dogs “require great attention and care to insure their recovery […] their minds should be soothed by every means in the power of those around them”.
Veterinary nursing as a serious discipline did not really begin until the 1800s, when in 1824, Delabere Blaine […] wrote that sick dogs ‘require great attention and care to insure their recovery […] their minds should be soothed by every means in the power of those around them’
In 1881, John Woodroffe Hill, MRCVS, wrote: “The health of the patient is in the majority of cases as much in the hands of the nurse as of the professional attendant.” He added that a dog was “endued with imagination, instincts, and thought, has a language of its own, is sensible of neglect, harshness, yea, even cross looks on the part of those ministering to it”. An understanding of dedicated care was being recognised!
Further, in 1888, J H Steele, MRCVS, wrote that nursing required “strict attention to the animal’s comfort and well-being in matters of warmth, quietude, cleanliness, pure air and diet”.
All three of these authors recognised the importance of the animal’s mental health.
Inter-war period
In 1925, Louis Sewell (veterinary surgeon to Queen Alexandria) wrote that live-in, “specially trained canine nurses” cost from £2.10 to £3.00 per week. There was also a distemper hospital in Montpelier Place, Knightsbridge, with four wards and “an ample staff of day and night nurses”. At that time, distemper was the major canine infectious disease and was invariably fatal. Vaccines had not yet been developed.
By 1934, F W Cousens (veterinary surgeon to King George V) was describing his nursing home with a medically qualified hospital matron in charge and nurses under her for training. He claimed that this “was the first attempt at training women nurses for dogs in this, or any other country”.
‘The profession of canine nursing will then have not only a properly disciplined training but that recognition which it deserves and which is a necessary safeguard for the public’
Cousens also tried to get the RCVS to recognise the title “Canine Nurse” after passing a suitable examination and being granted a certificate of efficiency. He recorded “the Council would not entertain the idea”, adding: “Of course the Council will come round to my views, probably sooner than later; and the profession of canine nursing will then have not only a properly disciplined training but that recognition which it deserves and which is a necessary safeguard for the public.” He did not realise that it was going to be nearly 30 years before his dream would come true. Some things never change!
World War II
The 1939 to 1945 war slowed progress, but in 1947, a new edition of Hobday’s Surgical Diseases of the Dog and Cat appeared. This included a chapter on veterinary nursing by Phyllis Peake, who was uniquely qualified as an SRN and MRCVS. She discussed her subject in a highly competent manner, and stated that to be a good animal nurse, one needed “a strong vocational call […] for self-sacrifice, tenderness and the ability to consider the patient as an individual”. She wrote: “A good nurse ‘has a way with dogs and cats’, there seems to be a bond of sympathy and trust between them […] kind words and an occasional caress are of more value than medicine.”
Peake also made the prescient observation: “There is scope for a registration system whereby the veterinary surgeon can regulate the activities, and the certificate of registration could be seen as a sign of competence which would be of great value to the prospective employer.”
In the following year, Hamilton Kirk, MRCVS, a leading practitioner, wrote that nursing is an important part of the successful treatment of pets. He stated that for all treatment, “the first consideration is the provision of a capable and conscientious nurse […] [they] should have limitless patience […] exercise gentleness and forbearance and possess the ability to observe”.
In a post-war world
Eventually, in 1961, the Registered Animal Nursing Auxiliary (RANA) scheme was introduced by the RCVS and became an officially recognised professional qualification in 1967. The word “nurse” was protected for human use until 1984, when the British Veterinary Nursing Association was finally able to use its chosen name. Finally, the title “veterinary nurse” was protected in law by the amended Veterinary Surgeons Act in 1966.
The word “nurse” was protected for human use until 1984, when the British Veterinary Nursing Association was finally able to use its chosen name
The establishment of the RANA register by the RCVS in 1961 marked a notable advance in the development of small animal practice. It demanded the creation of a comprehensive text and reference book for trainees and veterinary surgeons at approved training centres. As soon as the syllabus of subjects to be covered in the examinations became known, the British Small Animal Veterinary Association council directed that a book be prepared to aid students undertaking tuition.
The first edition, named Animal Nursing, appeared in 1966; the second edition was published in 1972 and was renamed as Jones’s Animal Nursing until the fourth edition in 2004. It is now in its sixth edition, published as the BSAVA Textbook of Veterinary Nursing. In its 58 years of publication, it has expanded into a behemoth of knowledge related to every aspect of nursing of dogs, cats, small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. The coverage of the text illustrates the spread and depth of current practice, demonstrating the importance of animal nursing.
The progression of veterinary nursing across species
Animal nursing has advanced most with companion animals because they are easier to handle and to establish a close relationship with. For livestock, nursing appears as animal welfare tempered with economic reality rather than true nursing. Historically, while the army recognised that sick or injured horses needed attention, the records from the 1700s indicate a poor level of care. The farrier was the “veterinary” person who bled, docked and nicked the tails and administered dreadful remedies and treatments.
Gradually there was improvement in health, disease prevention and diet. Equine “hospitals” existed from the 1820s but were used more to indicate the health of the service’s equine strength. By World War I, the well-planned hospitals in France did excellent work in treating and nursing many thousands of horses. The majority were suffering from malnutrition and exhaustion; they were fed and nursed back to health.
Today good equine nursing procedures are practised and specialist equine nursing hospitals are available.
Conclusion
From the beginning of animal ownership, there has been a very erratic development of what were to become veterinary nursing procedures. The eventual formal recognition of nursing as an essential part of the veterinary team was a significant advance.
An important feature of successful nursing is the development of a bond of sympathy between nurse and patient through touch and kind words
An important feature of successful nursing is the development of a bond of sympathy between nurse and patient through touch and kind words. This requires limitless patience, quietude, gentleness, a peaceful atmosphere and careful observation.
The greater recognition of animal mental health has enhanced the role of the veterinary nurse. It seems Palladius was on the right track in the fourth century!
