The role of veterinarians is becoming more significant and necessary to support the welfare and health not only of non-traditional companion animals and wildlife animals, but also of humans and the environment. The importance of the One Health/One World concept and its social impact is increasing significantly, accompanied by the notoriety of new emerging and reemerging zoonoses. This paper aims to review and anchor the main concepts and professional applications of zoological medicine, which has been extensively discussed and adapted in recent decades. In addition, we analyse the main social demands, training, and educational needs and the perception of veterinary professionals relating to this specialised veterinary discipline. Our final goal is to reinforce the use of the term zoological medicine and contribute to highlight the need to foster and underpin specific educational policies and programs on this matter in the veterinary curricula. Zoological medicine should be the appropriate and agreed-upon term in the academic language concerning the veterinary medicine of pets, wild, or zoo species, excluding traditional domestic animals, and integrating the principles of ecology and conservation, applied to both natural and artificial environments. This discipline has suffered an intense evolution covering applications in private clinics, zoos, bioparks, and wildlife. All this implies current and future challenges for the veterinary profession that can only be addressed with greater and better attention from multiple perspectives, especially the education and training of professionals to improve and specialise in their professional scope of services.

The restriction or ban of antibiotics as feed additives in poultry production in many countries, including those in the European Union, has prompted the need for safe and effective natural alternatives. This study evaluated the potential of Nigella sativa L. (black cumin) seed extract as a feed additive in broiler chickens, focusing on its effects on performance, carcass traits, blood biochemistry, digestive microbiota, and immune response. A total of 200 one-day-old Ross 308 male chicks were randomly divided into five treatment groups: a control group receiving Virginiamycin (0.2 g/L) and four groups supplemented with 0, 150, 300, or 450 mg/l of N. sativa extract in drinking water from day 1 to 42. Birds receiving 150 mg/l of N. sativa showed significantly higher weight gain, final live weight, carcass yield, and breast and drumstick mass (p < 0.05) compared to other treatments. This group also exhibited lower total cholesterol and LDL levels at day 42, alongside reduced coliform counts and increased Lactobacilli, indicating beneficial effects on gut microbiota. Although feed intake remained unaffected, N. sativa influenced immune parameters: IgG levels decreased at 300 mg/l, while IgM levels increased at 450 mg/l. These results suggest that supplementing broiler diets with 150 mg/l of N. sativa extract may serve as an effective alternative to antibiotics, promoting growth performance, improving metabolic health, and supporting intestinal microbial balance. Further studies are warranted to confirm its efficacy, assess long-term safety, and clarify the mechanisms involved in its growth-promoting and cholesterol-lowering effects.

The European domestic rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus) is commonly kept as a pet, with increasing popularity among pet owners. Despite the increasing body of information on lagomorph medicine and pathology, comprehensive published compilations of causes of mortality in pet rabbits are limited. We analyzed health disorders, pathology findings, and most probable causes of death in 100 pet rabbits submitted to the Anatomopathological Diagnostic Service of the Veterinary School of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, from 2011 to 2022. We reviewed clinical data and gross and histopathologic findings to classify the various disorders into infectious ( n = 39), noninfectious ( n = 45), and idiopathic conditions ( n = 16). Within infectious disease processes, Encephalitozoon cuniculi infection ( n = 14) and rabbit hemorrhagic viral disease ( n = 14) had the highest prevalence. Regarding the noninfectious conditions, perioperative mortality ( n = 10), gastrointestinal syndrome ( n = 7), and trauma ( n = 6) were the most common clinicopathologic entities observed.