Cranial cruciate ligament rupture in the dog—a retrospective study comparing surgical techniques

SUMMARY Three surgical techniques, grouped as intra-articular techniques, extra-capsular techniques and fibular head transposition, were used for repair of the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL)-deficient stifle in 113 dogs over a 4 year 4 month period. The clinical outcome of the techniques were compared using information provided by the owners and physical examination. Regardless of surgical technique, 85.7 to 91.0% of dogs showed clinical improvement after surgery. However, less than 50% of dogs became clinically sound on the operated leg and 9.0 to 14.3% of dogs remained persistently lame on the operated leg. No statistical association was found between result after surgery and age, body weight, sex, duration of injury before surgery, association with injury, tibial plateau angle, degree of radiographic osteoarthritis before surgery or the presence of concurrent medial meniscal injury. On physical examination, extra-capsular techniques appeared superior to the fibular head transposition in terms of joint stability and limb function. Concurrent medial meniscal injury necessitating meniscectomy existed in 48.0% of cases. Twenty-two percent of dogs ruptured their contralateral CCL at an average of 14 months after the first.     

Treatment with ivermectin of sarcoptic mange in pigs

Ivermectin injectable solution (1% w/v) was highly effective against Sarcoptes scabiei var suis when administered subcutaneously once to swine at 300 mcg/kg body weight. There were significantly (P < 0.05) fewer Sarcoptes mange mites counted on pigs treated with ivermectin than on untreated pigs at each count up to day 56 after treatment. The results indicate ivermectin should provide an efficient, practical means of control of sarcoptic mange in intensive piggeries.     

Differential Expression of IGF Family Members in Heat‐Stressed Embryos Produced In Vitro from OPU‐Derived Oocytes of Nelore (Bos indicus) and Holstein (Bos taurus) Cows

The IGF system is related to embryo quality. We aim to determine the effect of the heat stress on the mRNA expression of IGF1 and IGF2, IGFR1 and IGFR2, IGFBP2 and IGFBP4, and PAPPA in in vitro production (IVP) blastocysts from Nelore and Holstein after ovum pick up (OPU) to better understand the differences between these breeds. Oocytes from four Nelore and seven Holstein were collected in six OPU sessions. Following in vitro maturation and fertilization using six Nelore or Holstein sires, embryos were divided into control (cultured at 39°C) and heat stress (HS; exposed to 41°C for 9 h). Blastocysts were submitted to RNA extraction. The IGF1 expression was higher in blastocysts under HS in both breeds, and the expression of IGFBP2 and IGFBP4 was higher in Holstein blastocysts under HS. The high PAPPA expression and the low expression of IGFBP2 and IGFBP4 are associated with a more efficient degradation of IGFBPs, which results in greater IGF bioavailability in Nelore blastocysts and may contribute to the superior HS tolerance in Nelore, when compared to Holstein.     

Freezing equine semen: the effect of combinations of semen extenders and glycerol on post-thaw motility

Objective   We evaluated combinations of two commercial semen extenders and three concentrations of glycerol to determine the combination that yielded the highest post-thaw sperm motility.
Design   A randomised 2 × 3 block design was used.
Procedure   Semen was collected from four stallions (6 collections per stallion). The sample was diluted with either a dried skim-milk glucose extender (EZ Mixin Original Formula) or a chemically defined, milk-free diluent (INRA 96), and each was used in combination with 2%, 3% or 4% glycerol in standard commercial freezing medium. Sperm motility was assessed by microscopy in fresh and post-thaw semen.
Results   There was a significant difference between the two extenders in the motility of spermatozoa after cryopreservation (48.9% for INRA 96; 38.6% for EZ Mixin OF; P < 0.0001). Glycerol at 4% in freezing medium yielded the highest post-thaw motility, significantly better than 2% ( P < 0.05). Three of four stallions had significantly higher post-thaw motility using INRA 96 relative to EZ Mixin OF ( P < 0.01), and two of four stallions had significantly higher post-thaw motility using 4% glycerol ( P < 0.05). The combination of INRA 96 and 4% glycerol in freezing medium gave the highest average post-thaw motility of 51.5%.
Conclusion   In this study, INRA 96 combined with 4% glycerol yielded an average recovery of progressively motile sperm consistently above the 35% target.