What percentage of their time do private practitioners spend with each species of animal?

The results of this survey of 1058 private veterinary practitioners through out Australia indicate some differences in the percentage of time spent on the different species. At present, dogs occupy 54% of the time of the avera ge city practitioner and cats 35%. The average country practitioner spends 63% of time on dogs and cats, but this is higher for females (79%) than mal es (54%) and is higher than 10 years ago (45%). On a national level, about 10% of the time of private practitioners is spent with each of cattle and h orses, but no more than 1% with each of sheep, pigs and poultry. The increa sing focus on companion animals, coupled with the increasing proportion of women in the profession, presents significant challenges for those responsi ble for making decisions regarding veterinary education and the profession generally.