Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook.pdf - Mr. Walnuts

GLOSSARY • 591
Exudate A liquid discharge that contains pus and bacteria.
FDA Food and Drug Administration; licenses the use of human and veterinary
drugs.
Fertility In stud dogs, the ability to impregnate the bitch. In brood bitches,
the ability to conceive and carry a litter.
Fetus A conceptus older than 28 days’ gestation, generally after the stage of
organ development.
Fibrosis The replacement of normal tissue by scar tissue.
Flatus Breaking wind; passing gas from the rectum.
Follicle A growth within the ovary that contains an egg. Also, the cells in
the skin from which hairs grow.
Fontanel The soft spot on the top of the skull where the bones of the skull
come together. It normally closes before or shortly after birth.
Fresh semen Semen that is artificially inseminated into the bitch within a
few hours of collection.
FSH Follicle-stimulating hormone; produced by the pituitary gland. It
causes the ovaries to produce egg follicles.
Furuncle A small skin boil, about 2 to 3 millimeters in size.
Gastroesophageal junction The anatomical area formed by the junction of
the esophagus and the stomach.
Gastroscopy A procedure that uses an endoscope to view the interior of the
esophagus, stomach, and duodenum.
GDC Institute for Genetic Disease Control in Animals.
Gene The basic unit of heredity. Each gene contains the code that produces
a specific protein or molecule.
Genome The map that gives the locus (chromosome and site) of all the
genes that control the makeup of an animal (80,000 in dogs); the complete
set of hereditary factors.
Genotype The combination of genes that determine a physical characteristic.
Gestation Length of pregnancy; the period from conception to birth. It averages
63 days from the day of ovulation, with a normal range of 56 to 66 days.
GI An abbreviation for gastrointestinal. GIT is sometimes used to denote
the gastrointestinal tract.
Gn-RH Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone; triggers the release of FSH and
LH from the pituitary gland.
Gonadotropins Hormones released from the pituitary gland or placenta,
acting on the ovaries or testicles to cause them to manufacture and release the
sex hormones.