Guttural pouch hemorrhage associated with lesions of the maxillary artery in two horses

A two year old Thoroughbred gelding, presented with guttural pouch hemorrhage, had the internal and external carotid arteries ligated. Guttural pouch mycosis was detected on endoscopic examination. After one month of topical antifungal therapy, the horse was returned and euthanized because of recurrent epistaxis. A bacterial infection of the guttural pouch with associated ulceration and hemorrhage from the maxillary artery was found at necropsy.

A two year old grade gelding had ulceration and hemorrhage from the external carotid artery. Utilizing balloon-tipped catheters and arterial ligation, hemestasis was achieved in the internal carotid artery and the external carotid artery and its branches. Mycotic ulceration of the internal carotid artery was detected endoscopically and treated with local antifungal therapy for one month. Thirty-three days postoperatively the horse returned, bleeding from a lesion in the maxillary artery. The rationale for surgical intervention to prevent epistaxis associated with guttural pouch mycosis and possible etiologies for postsurgical epistaxis are discussed.

     

Seasonal transmission of Fasciola hepatica to cattle in northwestern United States

Sentinel steers were placed with 3 beef herds on irrigated pastures in southern Idaho for 1-month periods from May until November 1982 to determine the transmission pattern of Fasciola hepatica. Transmission was found to increase through the pasture season, reaching a peak during November. Overwintering of metacercariae or snail-borne stages was not found to contribute to infections in the year under study. A variety of species of Lymnaea were found to be available in southern Idaho as potential intermediate hosts. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was found to be a good serologic indicator of light infections with F hepatica. The serum gamma-glutamyltransferase activity was not diagnostically significant when the degree of fluke infection was low.     

Radiographic diagnosis of an expansile bone lesion in a dog

An old dog had an expansile lesion affecting the ulnar diaphysis. The lesion had clinical and radiographic features typical of a bone cyst; however, computed X-ray tomography indicated that the lesion had a tissue content incompatible with a true cyst. The histological diagnosis was osteosarcoma. This report emphasises the highly variable radiological appearance of canine osteosarcoma; biopsy is required to establish the diagnosis because the radiological signs may mimic a lesion of different aetiology.     

Induced Acute Ruminai Acidosis in Goats Treated with Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and Bicarbonate

Ruminai acidosis was induced in twenty-one 10-month-old West African Dwarf Goats by feeding a suspension of 80 g wheat flour per kg body-weight (day 0) through a stomach tube. Ruminai and systemic acidosis was diagnosed on day 1 in all goats. Clinical signs included loss of rumination and appetite, trembling, and watery diarrhoea. The detection of acidic faeces during the first 24h was considered of diagnostic importance. Subgroups were treated orally on days 1,2, and 3 either with 1 g of sodium bicarbonate per kg bodyweight, with 1 g of baking yeast per kg, or with a combination of these treatments at 0.5 g of each per kg. A fourth group served as untreated controls.Peroral bicarbonate neutralization was highly effective in the treatment of rumen acidosis, whereas the use of yeast was found ineffective. The combined treatment had a moderate effect probably due to the bicarbonate.Three fatal cases (60%) occurred in the untreated group compared with none in the bicarbonate group, and 2 in each of the remaining groups. This corresponded to 33% of the yeast treated group and 40% of the combined treated group. Details were given on post mortem examinations performed on all survivors on day 11. Lesions included subacute rumenitis and abomasal ulcers. No lesions were found in 3 of the bicarbonate treated goats and in 2 of the animals receiving combined treatment.     

A Field Study on Group Housing of Lactating Sows with Special Reference to Sow Health at Weaning

Four farms that group-housed sows from 2 weeks of lactation until weaning (G-farms) and 3 farms that kept the sows individually penned throughout the 5 to 6-week-long lactation period (C-farms), were compared in terms of sow health. All sows were crossbred Swedish Yorkshire × Swedish Landrace. The daily food ration was similar on all farms except during the group-housing period, when G-farm sows were fed ad libitum. Sows were grouped in the breeding section and kept grouped on deep litter in the dry sow section on all farms. Individual health examinations were performed at the time of weaning (±4 days) on 179 G-farm sows and on 167 C-farm sows. Teat- and udder skin wounds occurred less frequently (p<0.001) in G-farm sows than in C-farm sows. In addition, preweaning atrophy of all mammary glands occurred in 6.6% of the G-farm-sows but not in a single C-farm sow (p<0.001). This indicates that sow-piglet interactions decrease when sows are group housed. However, these differences did not occur in primiparous sows, suggesting that the relation between the primiparous sow and her litter is not affected. Mastitis frequency was the same in the 2 systems. Moreover, the frequency of locomotor disorders was the same in the 2 groups, and hoof overgrowth was common in both systems. These similarities could be due to the fact that all farms group housed dry sows on deep litter. A strong relation (p<0.001) between hoof overgrowth and locomotor disorders was evident. Low access to food due to low rank among primiparous group-housed sows was indicated by a lower (p<0.05) backfat thickness compared with multiparous sows, and a higher (p<0.001) frequency of skin wounds compared with individually housed primiparous sows.     

Toxicosis in newborn pigs associated with cutaneous application of an aerosol spray containing chlorpyrifos

Weakness, lethargy, ataxia, lateral recumbency, limb paddling, tremors, salivation, and diarrhea were observed in newborn pigs on a commercial swine farm. Many pigs became moribund and died. All had been treated with an aerosol wound spray containing 2.5% chlorpyrifos. A controlled study was undertaken to determine whether the aerosol spray was the cause of these clinical signs. Pigs exposed to aerosol spray containing 2.5% chlorpyrifos at 3 hours (n = 4) and 6 hours (n = 3) after birth developed clinical signs similar to those on the farm; none survived. Pigs exposed at 24 hours (n = 5) after birth developed clinical signs consistent with those that had developed in pigs on the farm; 3 died and 2 survived. Of 3 pigs exposed to the same spray at 36 hours after birth, 1 developed tremors 7.5 hours later and diarrhea 9 hours later, then returned to normal.     

Effect of vehicular volume on the early pulmonary injury and inflammatory response in rats inoculated intratracheally with silica

The effect of vehicular saline solution volume on early lesions induced in rats by intratracheal administration of silica was evaluated. Seventy-two male Long-Evans rats were randomly assigned 6 each to 12 factorial groups (3 X 2 X 2): 3 doses of silica (0, 2.5, and 5 mg), 2 volumes of vehicle (saline solution; 0.1 and 0.5 ml), and 2 postinoculation times (1 and 3 days). Lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase activities in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid supernatant and cell viability of bronchoalveolar cells were used as indicators of cell injury. The number of pulmonary alveolar macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes were used as indicators of inflammatory response. Dose of silica and postinoculation time had a significant (P less than 0.05) effect on the biochemical and cellular composition of lavage fluid. The volume of vehicle in which silica was suspended significantly (P less than 0.05) enhanced the pulmonary injury and inflammatory response. However, dose-volume interaction was only significant (P less than 0.05) in 1 of 6 parameters, indicating that the effect was additive, but not synergistic, in nature. Seemingly, vehicle volume had an enhanced effect on the injury and the inflammatory response induced by intratracheal inoculation of silica.     

Demonstration in live chickens of the carrier state in infectious laryngotracheitis

Two separate groups of nine-week-old specific pathogen free cockerels maintained in isolation were infected with a field strain of infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) virus, either by intratracheal or combined intranasal and supraconjunctival inoculation. Birds were monitored for virus shedding from five sites on alternate days during the acute phase and three times weekly until week 17. They were then treated with cyclophosphamide on three consecutive days and thereafter swabbed daily. During the acute phase clinical signs were observed and virus was recovered from ocular and nasal sites for up to six to eight days. Initially after the acute phase no virus could be detected. However, from the seventh week after infection intermittent, apparently spontaneous shedding was detected in four of five birds in each group. There was no clear effect of cyclophosphamide treatment on re-excretion patterns, possibly because of the high levels of virus shedding already occurring. Thus, a carrier state for ILT virus has been demonstrated experimentally in live clinically recovered birds.     

Propofol as an intravenous anaesthetic agent in dogs

Studies in dogs with an emulsion formulation of the intravenous anaesthetic, propofol, showed that induction of anaesthesia was smooth and it was possible to maintain anaesthesia by intermittent injection. The mean dose for induction of anaesthesia in unpremedicated dogs was 5.95 mg/kg body-weight. When no premedication was administered anaesthesia was maintained by a total dose of approximately 0.806 mg/kg/minute. Premedication with between 0.02 and 0.04 mg/kg of acepromazine reduced the mean induction dose by about 30 per cent and the maintenance dose by more than 50 per cent. In 68 unpremedicated dogs given one dose, recovery was complete in a mean time of 18 minutes and after maintenance of anaesthesia by intermittent injection in 65 dogs the mean recovery time was 22 minutes from administration of the last dose. Premedication with acepromazine did not produce statistically significant increases in these recovery times. The quiet, rapid and complete recovery proved to be most valuable in cases where the animal had to be returned to the owners' care with the minimum of delay.