Human chronome research at the service of veterinary medicine: a legacy of Erna Halberg.

The time has come for humans to return the debt to the many non-human species that were studied for the sake of humanity and to extend the motto of "doing unto oneself first what eventually is to be done to others" when the "others" are the patients of veterinarians. As physiologic monitoring benefits from advances in hardware and software, much chronobiologic information can be obtained on the chronomes of the different species cared for by veterinarians for a new health care focusing on prevention, implemented perhaps by recognizing and treating earliest rhythm alteration rather than merely the fact of overt disease.