Vet Terminology starting with O on Bruning.com – from Obligate carnivore to Oxytocin

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Obligate carnivore –
An animal that requires in its diet nutrients that are found in sufficient quantities only in meat or other animal products.

Obsessive compulsive –
A behavioral condition in which a pet repeatedly performs an action out of context. It is thought that the behavior is an expression of stress, frustration and/or conflict. Certain breeds are more prone to these behaviors. The behaviors include tail-chasing, some cases of excessive barking, continual licking, and biting the air as if snapping at an invisible fly.

Occult –
Indicating a disease or condition that is clinically not apparent.

Ocular –
Relating to the eye.

Off label –
Term used to describe the use of a medication for a condition for which it was not FDA approved. A large number of medications used in veterinary medicine are used ‘off label.’ If veterinarians only used FDA approved medications, options for treatments of certain conditions would be severely limited or nonexistent. The safety and efficacy of off-label uses of medications is often determined in university research settings, but the manufacturer of the drug does submit the results or go through the elaborate FDA approval process.

Offal –
Animal organs rejected at slaughter as unfit for human consumption, e.g., spleen, intestine, brain, lungs.

Omnivore –
Animal that eats both flesh and plants.

Opioid –
Narcotic drug which has an activity similar to that of opium.

Oral hypoglycemic –
A medication, given by mouth, which lowers the level of glucose in the blood. Example: glipizide.

Osmotic diuretic –
A compound that increases the amount of urine formed and rids the body of excess fluid by being filtered through the kidney into the urine in concentrated amounts and carrying water with it.

Osteomyelitis –
An inflammation and infection of the bone.

Otic –
Pertaining to the ear.

Ototoxic –
Destructive to the structures of the ear.

Over the counter –
Can be purchased without a prescription, like aspirin and vitamins.

Ovulate –
The release of an egg from the ovary of the female.

Oxidize –
To combine with oxygen.

Oxytocin –
A hormone that stimulates milk flow in lactating mammals (females nursing their young), and contractions of the muscles of the reproductive tract in many species.