Vets have always been in the vanguard and served as the front lines for the detection and reporting of foreign animal diseases. We have been exceedingly fortunate in the U.S. to have not experienced a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, for example. It is unrealistic to envision that this status will continue indefinitely. Should an outbreak of foot-and-mouth or any other foreign animal disease occur, it will be your vet who is trained to make the initial diagnosis and take steps to immediately contain a potentially catastrophic disease outbreak.

As I squatted over the opened carcass and exposed organs of a necropsied calf recently, much like a vulture attracted to roadkill, it struck me that in another way I was also emulating my Roman ancestors. In ancient times, high priests would predict the future by sacrificing a sheep or calf and reading the entrails. Termed “haruspication,” the seer (or haruspex) would examine the liver, intestines and spleen and make a prophecy.

“Two for the price of one” is a common marketing scheme to tempt consumers to buy a product. After all, who wouldn’t want twice the value at half the cost? Unfortunately, in the case of dairy cow twinning, it’s a very bad deal. Cows were not designed by nature to routinely carry, deliver and raise two calves simultaneously. While it can and does happen with frequency, twinning in dairy cows is not a desired outcome of a successful breeding program.