Use of sodium monoiodoacetate to fuse the distal hock joints in horses

SUMMARY Intra-articular injection of sodium monoiodoacetate (MIA) was investigated as an agent for chemical arthrodesis of the distal hock joints in the horse. Five horses diagnosed with either spavin (three horses), a small tarsal bone fracture or a failed surgical arthrodesis, had 150 mg of MIA injected into the tarsometatarsal (TMT) joint of the affected hock(s). Eight joints were treated in the five horses. Follow-up evaluation by clinical and radiological examination took place over 9 to 14 months. Two of the five horses were sound at the conclusion of the study and one horse, although lame after flexion, was considered by the owner to have been treated successfully. One of eight TMT joints showed complete radiographic fusion. Complications after treatment included pain, chronic lameness and swelling. It was concluded that chemical arthrodesis using this technique can not be recommended as being a superior treatment as compared with surgical arthrodesis at this time but is deserving of further clinical evaluation.     

Blood parameters and turnover data in calves infested with lice.

Erythrokinetic and plasma protein turnover studies using 51Cr-red cells, 59Fe-transferrin and 125I-albumin, were carried out on young Ayrshire calves naturally infested with the long-nosed sucking louse Linognathus vituli. Throughout the trial none of the animals lost their appetite. Liveweight gain was greater in the uninfested animals but not significantly so. The infestation did not cause the animals to become anaemic, but plasma iron turnover rates were decreased and there was a significant increase in the red cell survival time. The circulating volumes of red cells and plasma were not significantly affected and the fractional catabolic rate of albumin was not markedly altered. At the end of the trial the mean red blood cell and mean total blood content of one louse was evaluated at 0.157 microliters and 0.443 microliters respectively, using 51Cr, and 0.120 microliters and 0.350 microliters respectively, using 59Fe. Using 125I the mean albumin content of one louse was 98.4 micrograms.     

Production responses to internal parasite control in dairy cattle

A significant increase in milk production, averaging 164 litres per cow per lactation (a 4.8% increase), was seen after cows infected with gastrointestinal nematodes, paramphistomes and Fasciola hepatica were treated with broad-spectrum anthelmintics. Three hundred and ninety pairs of cows from eight herds with year-round calving were studied. One cow in each matched pair was given 7.5 mg/kg fenbendazole, 7.5 mg/kg levamisole hydrochloride and 15 mg/kg oxyclozanide in March, May and August of one year; the other cow in the pair received no anthelmintic. The number of nematode and trematode eggs was significantly decreased in the faeces of treated cows.