Inner Mongolian herders benefit from vet services

All prefecture-level areas in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region are now covered by veterinary services, which has boosted herders' incomes by saving injured livestock.

Headquartered in the grassland of Xilingol League, the largest veterinary care facility in the region boasts operating and rehabilitation rooms, a pharmacy and a lab equipped with microscopes, blood cell analyzers and micronutrient analyzers.

The government-sponsored animal hospital built in June also has a telemedicine center to provide remote diagnostic services to 63 subsidiary branches and more than 100 veterinarians located in every prefecture-level area.

The medical service for livestock has the capacity to treat 1.5 million sheep and 200,000 cows.

Odenchogte, a veterinarian at the animal hospital, recently performed surgery to remove dead tissues from a cow.

"The cow was hit on its abdomen during a fight, and was left untreated for a month," said Odenchogte, who like many from the region uses only one name.

The cow is recovering in the hospital.

Its owner, herder Bayar, said the treatment cost him 500 yuan ($76), but taking into consideration the cow's value of 18,000 yuan, he decided it was worth it.

"Herders used to dismiss minor illnesses and injuries to their livestock," Odenchogte said. "A lot of livestock died because of delayed treatment. Now, with the convenient livestock medical service, more and more herders have become aware of treating the small problems to save on losses."

Bilgee, another vet at the hospital, recently treated a lame pony. He said he used acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Mongolian medicine to treat its neurological disease.

The pony was able to walk freely after 10 days of therapy.

"We keep all medical records on file, and pay regular return visits until the animals fully recover," Bilgee said.

Having been in the profession for nearly 20 years, Bilgee said that in the past vets only dealt with livestock during difficult births, but they now see more cases of dyspepsia and malnutrition.

Xilingol, boasting 18,333 hectares of grassland, is one of four major pastoral regions in Inner Mongolia.

Otgeenbayaar, a local herder, said the medical service for livestock reduced the risk of expanding stocks of cattle and sheep. He said the veterinarians can conduct remote diagnoses or make on-site visits to pastures.

"They are just one call away, and they have treated scores of livestock and reduced our losses," he said.

The animal hospital also performed surgery to fix a fractured leg of a lamb sent from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.