Companion Animal Science: Domestication, Genetics, Health, Welfare, and Nutrition

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering companion animal science principles, including domestication history, genetics and breeding, disease and health, welfare frameworks, and animal nutrition.

Domestication

A multigenerational process in which humans influence the breeding of a population, leading to inherited changes that make animals more suited to living with humans or serving human purposes.

Taming

A process occurring in an individual animal where it becomes accustomed to humans over its lifetime, without necessarily altering the population or species genetically.

Artificial Selection

A selective breeding process where humans deliberately choose which animals reproduce based on desired heritable characteristics such as coat color, size, temperament, or working ability.

Natural Selection

The evolutionary process whereby traits that affect survival or reproductive success in a given environment naturally influence which organisms reproduce.

Belyaev's Silver Fox Experiment

An experiment begun in $1959$ by Dmitry Belyaev selecting silver foxes exclusively for tameness toward humans, demonstrating that selecting for one behavioral trait can simultaneously yield physical and developmental changes associated with domestication.

Domestication Syndrome

A collection of morphological and behavioral traits observed across multiple domesticated animals, including lighter coat colors, smaller teeth, reduced brain size, floppy ears, shorter snouts, and prolonged juvenile behavior.

Neural Crest Cells

Embryonic cells that contribute to the development of parts of the nervous system, facial structures, and adrenal glands, whose altered development is hypothesized to drive domestication syndrome traits.

Breed

A distinct group within a domesticated species whose members share specific physical, behavioral, or functional characteristics maintained over time through selective breeding.

DNA

The biological molecule that carries genetic information and instructions influencing inherited traits.

Gene

A specific section of DNA associated with a functional product or inherited characteristic, such as coat color.

Chromosome

A cellular structure composed of DNA and associated proteins that carries many genes.

Allele

An alternative version or variant form of a gene, often designated by letters such as $B$ or $b$.

Genotype

The specific combination of alleles that an individual animal carries for a particular trait (e.g., $BB$, $Bb$, or $bb$).

Phenotype

The observable physical or behavioral characteristic expressed by an organism, such as coat color or ear shape.

Homozygous

The state of possessing two identical alleles for a specific gene (e.g., $BB$ or $bb$).

Heterozygous

The state of possessing two different alleles for a specific gene (e.g., $Bb$).

Dominant Allele

An allele that determines the phenotypic outcome in a heterozygote under simple dominant-recessive inheritance.

Recessive Allele

An allele whose phenotypic expression is masked by a dominant allele in a heterozygote and only appears when homozygous.

Punnett Square

A diagrammatic grid used to calculate and predict the mathematical probabilities of offspring genotypes and phenotypes from a parental cross.

Inbreeding

The mating of closely related individuals to fix desired breed traits, which increases the likelihood of offspring inheriting two copies of harmful recessive alleles.

Line Breeding

A specialized breeding strategy utilizing related animals to preserve and maintain specific family lines or traits.

Outcrossing

The breeding of individuals from less closely related genetic lines to introduce genetic diversity into a breeding population.

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)

A variation occurring at a single nucleotide position in DNA, which is evaluated in high-density chip tests to estimate genetic ancestry and traits.

Infectious Disease

A disease category characterized by the invasion of a disease-causing pathogen, such as a parasite, bacterium, or virus (e.g., heartworm).

Nutritional Disease

A disease category directly resulting from dietary intake imbalances, deficiencies, or excesses, exemplified by obesity.

Metabolic Disease

A disease category involving malfunctions in the physiological processes through which the body regulates, processes, and utilizes substances and energy.

Genetic Disease

A disease category primarily caused by inherited genetic abnormalities or inherited susceptibility, exemplified by hip dysplasia.

Zoonotic Disease

An infectious disease that can be naturally transmitted across species between animals and humans.

Urinary Calculi

Mineral formations commonly called urinary stones that develop within the urinary tract, found in dogs and cats and occurring more frequently in male cats.

Cushing's Disease

An endocrine disorder resulting from excessive cortisol production, marked in cats by increased thirst, increased urination, thin fragile skin, pot-bellied appearance, hair loss, and muscle wasting.

Hypothyroidism

An endocrine condition characterized by inadequate thyroid hormone production, leading to disturbances in metabolic regulation across multiple organ systems.

Fel d 1

A glycoprotein that acts as the primary cat allergen, secreted mainly by sebaceous skin glands and in smaller amounts by salivary and anal glands; produced in highest amounts by uncastrated males.

Brachycephalic

A cranial conformation featuring a shortened or flattened muzzle and skull (such as in Bulldogs and Pugs), which often creates narrowed nostrils and upper airway respiratory compromises.

Deciduous Teeth

The initial temporary baby teeth that develop in puppies and kittens before being shed and replaced by adult permanent teeth.

Flehmen Response

A characteristic behavioral response where an animal curls its upper lip and positions its mouth to transfer chemical signals and pheromones to specialized nasal olfactory structures.

Animal Welfare

The broader state of an animal encompassing its physical and mental well-being and how well it copes with its environment, including comfort, stress levels, and positive experiences.

The Five Freedoms

An animal welfare paradigm defining basic conditions: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, and disease; freedom to express normal behavior; and freedom from fear and distress.

The Five Domains

An animal welfare framework that assesses how four physical and functional areas (Nutrition, Environment, Health, and Behavior) collectively contribute to the fifth domain: an animal's Mental State.

Enrichment

The practice of enhancing an animal's environment to support psychological and physiological well-being, divided into environmental, social, and cognitive varieties.

Systematic Desensitization

A behavioral training procedure in which an animal is exposed to a fear- or arousal-inducing trigger at very low, gradual intensities that the animal can tolerate without distress.

Counterconditioning

A behavioral modification technique designed to change an animal's underlying emotional response to a trigger by pairing the trigger with a positive, rewarding stimulus.

Precocial

A developmental classification referring to animal young that hatch or are born relatively mature, mobile, and functionally capable of independent movement.

Altricial

A developmental classification referring to animal young that are born relatively helpless, immobile, blind, and highly dependent on parental care.

Gross Energy (GE)

The total gross amount of chemical energy contained in a foodstuff before accounting for any digestive or metabolic losses.

Digestible Energy (DE)

The nutritional energy remaining from food after subtracting the energy lost in the animal's feces.

Metabolizable Energy (ME)

The energy remaining after subtracting fecal energy losses as well as energy lost in urine and combustible digestive gases.

Net Energy (NE)

The usable energy available to the body for maintenance and productive functions after subtracting the heat increment associated with digestion and nutrient metabolism.

Facultative Carnivore

An animal, such as the domestic dog, with an evolutionary history centered on meat consumption that retains the physiological capacity to utilize non-animal dietary ingredients.

Cardiomyopathy

A primary disease of the heart muscle that has been linked in companion animal nutrition discussions to grain-free pet food diets.

AAFCO

Association of American Feed Control Officials, the voluntary organization that establishes ingredient definitions, nutritional standards, and label guidelines for pet food.

Ad Libitum Feeding

A feeding practice in which food is kept continuously accessible to an animal at all times rather than being restricted to scheduled, measured portions.

Body Condition Scoring

A standardized visual and palpation method used to assess an animal's body fat reserves and muscle coverage to determine whether it is underweight, ideal, or overweight.