The impact of traditional management on seasonal internal parasite burdens and productivity of indigenous Tswana goats in southern Botswana

Data collected monthly over a period of two years were live weight, packed cell volume (PCV), nematode faecal egg counts (FECs) and coccidial oocyst counts from faecal analyses for 100 mixed age (3-7 years) indigenous Tswana does. The aims of this experiment were to determine seasonal FECs and coccidial oocysts in these goats and quantify the relationships of these burdens to liveweight and PCV. FECs significantly (P < 0.05) varied with season, with the warmer seasons viz spring, summer and autumn having higher log (x + 1) parasite burdens than the cooler winter, while seasonal trends for coccidial oocysts were not obvious. PCV was also significantly (P < 0.05) lower in the warmer seasons than winter. FECs and coccidial oocysts in all seasons were less than the mean log (x + 1) of 3.3 inferred to reduce production in small stock. Correlation coefficients were strongly negative: -0.95 for FECs and liveweight and -0.84 for FECS and PCV, indicating that these worms had a negative impact on productivity. A further study should be conducted to quantify the effects of controlling these parasites during the warm seasons on productivity.     

Treatment of sepsis in the small tarsal joints of 11 horses with gentamicin-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate beads

Gentamicin-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate beads were used to treat infective arthritis in the small tarsal joints of 11 severely lame horses. Under general anaesthesia, between five and 10 beads were placed into a 7 to 8 mm tract drilled across the affected joint and, in all except one horse, they were left in place for 14 days. Two of the horses were euthanased for reasons other than persistent tarsal joint sepsis, but the other nine survived and seven of them returned to their previous level of athletic performance.     

Jugular venous emboli of brain tissue induced in sheep by the use of captive bolt guns

Emboli of central nervous tissue were detected in the jugular venous blood of two of 15 sheep stunned with a conventional cartridge-operated captive bolt gun and in two of 15 sheep stunned with a pneumatically activated gun. No emboli were detected in arterial blood from these sheep or in venous blood from sheep stunned electrically. Emboli from an animal with BSE could transmit the disease to people.     

Asymmetric densitometric and mechanical adaptation of the left fifth metacarpal bone in racing greyhounds

The densitometric and mechanical structural properties of the left and right fifth metacarpal bones of 10 racing greyhounds with a fracture of the central tarsal bone and 10 without a fracture were investigated by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and a servo-hydraulic materials testing machine. In all the greyhounds the bone mineral density of the left fifth metacarpal bone was significantly greater than that of the right (P<0.001), but there was no significant difference between the degree of asymmetry in bone mineral density in the two groups. The ultimate torque and energy-to-failure of the left fifth metacarpal bone of the greyhounds with a fracture of the right central tarsal bone were significantly higher than in the right fifth metacarpal bone and higher than in both the left and right fifth metacarpal bones of the greyhounds with no fracture (P<0.05). The ultimate torque and energy-to-failure were significantly related to bone mineral density (P<0.005), and 22 per cent of the variation in these structural properties could be explained by variations in bone mineral density. Fifth metacarpal remodelling in response to asymmetric cyclic loading is bone-specific, and structural properties are enhanced in the left fifth metacarpal of greyhounds with a fracture of the right central tarsal bone.     

Controlled study of the efficacy of clavulanic acid-potentiated amoxycillin in the treatment of Chlamydia psittaci in cats

Twenty-four specific pathogen-free cats were inoculated with 3 x 10(3) infectious units of a field isolate of Chlamydia psittaci on to the corneal surface. Seven days later they were assigned randomly to three groups of eight and treated orally for 19 days with either clavulanic acid-potentiated amoxycillin, doxycycline or a placebo. Both treated groups responded rapidly, with a marked reduction in isolation rates and clinical scores which were significantly lower than in the placebo group within two and four days, respectively. After two days the group treated with potentiated amoxycillin had a significantly lower isolation score than the group treated with doxycycline. Forty days after they were infected the clinical signs recurred in five of the eight cats treated with potentiated amoxycillin, but a four-week course of potentiated amoxycillin resulted in a complete clinical recovery with no evidence of a recurrence for six months.