Cervical lung lobe herniation in dogs identified by fluoroscopy

This study aimed to determine the frequency of cervical lung lobe herniation (CLLH) in dogs evaluated fluoroscopically and to identify associated characteristics. Reports of diagnostic procedures and patient summaries from 2008 to 2010 were reviewed retrospectively. Signalment, body weight, duration of cough, presence of heart murmur and airway collapse, and radiographic findings were compared between dogs with and without CLLH. Of the 121 dogs that were examined, CLLH occurred in 85 (70%). The extra-thoracic trachea kinked during herniation in 33 (39%) dogs with CLLH. Collapse of the intra-thoracic trachea (assessed fluoroscopically or bronchoscopically) and collapse of major bronchi (assessed fluoroscopically) were strongly associated with CLLH. Although redundant dorsal tracheal membrane on radiographs was associated with CLLH, extra-thoracic tracheal collapse, assessed fluoroscopically or bronchoscopically, was not. No other associations were found. Cervical lung lobe herniation was present in most dogs evaluated during cough and was associated with intra-thoracic large airway collapse, but not duration of cough.     

Diurnal variations of central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure in dogs from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm

Diurnal variations in central corneal thickness (CCT) and intraocular pressure (IOP) and their relationships were studied in healthy dogs. Central corneal thickness was measured by ultrasonic pachymetry and IOP by applanation tonometry in 16 beagle dogs. Measurements were taken every 90 min over 12 h (08:00 am to 08:00 pm). The mean CCT and IOP values obtained during the sampling period were 545.6 ± 21.7 μm (range: 471 to 595 μm) and 15 ± 2.2 mmHg (range: 10 to 19 mmHg), respectively. The CCT and IOP showed statistically significant decreases at 6:30 pm and 5:00 pm, respectively (P < 0.001). Central corneal thickness and IOP values were lower in the afternoon/evening than in the morning and were positively correlated. Both findings are important for the diagnostic interpretation of IOP values in dogs.     

Effect of lactating sows’ diet supplemented with cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) on feed intake and reproductive and productive post-weaning performances

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The effect of cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) added to the diet of lactating (21&nbsp;days of lactation) sows on voluntary feed intake, and its impact on...     

The effects of spatial restriction on the behavior of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Companion rabbits can be housed in a wide variety of accommodations including hutches of smaller dimensions as compared with those that are legally required for laboratory and farmed rabbits. Small rabbit enclosures may restrict behavior patterns including hopping, stretching, and rearing and may compromise rabbit welfare especially when these activities are important to the rabbits. To investigate this possibility, 19 rabbits of different sizes and breeds were housed in small pens equivalent to floor areas of hutches (0.88 m²), medium pens approximately twice the floor area of conventional hutches (1.68 m²), and large pens approximately 4 times the floor area of conventional hutches (3.35 m²). Through scan sampling, 24-hour time budgets of the rabbits were determined and their response to a change in enclosure size was assessed by continuously sampling their behavior for 2 hours after their transfer into different-sized pens. Mixed model analysis using rabbit as the repeated measure found that rabbits were generally more active and interacted more with environmental resources in larger pens compared with smaller pens (P < 0.05). Also, rabbits exhibited a rebound effect in activity and rearing when moved from a smaller sized pen to a larger sized pen (P < 0.05). These findings show that larger pens provide behavioral opportunities that are restricted in smaller pens, and suggest that smaller hutches can jeopardize rabbit welfare.     

When can a veterinarian be expected to detect classical swine fever virus among breeding sows in a herd during an outbreak?

The herd sensitivity (HSe) and herd specificity (Hsp) of clinical diagnosis of an infection with classical swine fever (CSF) virus during veterinary inspection of breeding sows in a herd was evaluated. Data gathered from visits to herds during the CSF outbreak in 1997-1998 in The Netherlands were used for the analysis. Herds were visited one or more times by the same or by different veterinarians. On the basis of the veterinarians' reports, each visit was coded as 0 (negative clinical diagnosis) or 1 (positive clinical diagnosis). The HSe for clinical diagnosis of CSF was modelled as a function of days elapsed since introduction of the virus. The moment of introduction of the CSF virus in the CSF-positive herds was unknown, so for each herd, a probability distribution for the unknown number of days since introduction was derived from serum samples collected at depopulation. The information from the reports of the veterinarians and from the test results of the serum samples at depopulation was combined in a Bayesian analysis. Data from CSF-negative herds were analysed to estimate HSp of clinical diagnosis of CSF. The HSe of clinical diagnosis was 0.5 at 37 days after virus introduction (95% CI: 31, 45) and reached 0.9 at 47 days after virus introduction (95% CI: 41, 54). The estimated herd specificity was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.64, 0.79). Dependence of HSe and HSp on characteristics of the veterinarians and the herds also was studied. Specialisation of the veterinarian significantly, although not markedly, affected the HSe.     

IMAGING DIAGNOSIS—MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING FINDINGS OF AN INTRACRANIAL EPIDURAL TUBERCULOMA IN A DOG

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is highly sensitive for detecting tuberculomas in human patients but the specificity of the MR imaging features is low. Misdiagnosis with intracranial neoplasia is common, especially with dural‐based lesions or lesions located in the epidural space. We describe the MR imaging characteristics of an intracranial epidural tuberculoma caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in a dog. The intracranial mass and skull flat bone lysis and erosion are similar to those described in human caseating tuberculomas and can mimic intracranial neoplastic disease.     

No foot-and-mouth disease virus transmission between individually housed calves

The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in The Netherlands in 2001 most likely started on a mixed veal-calf/dairy-goat farm. The outbreak among the 74 calves on this farm appeared to be limited to four animals, and no clinical signs of FMD were reported. Also on a second veal-calf farm minor clinical signs and limited virus transmission were observed. Since FMD is known to be a very contagious disease, and can cause severe lesions, these observations were disputed. Therefore, we carried out two experiments to determine whether the Dutch FMD virus isolate from 2001 does spread among individually housed calves with limited contacts, either indirect (experiment 1) or direct (experiment 2). In experiment 1, four pairs of calves were housed in an individual box at 1m distance from each other. In experiment 2, two groups of three calves were housed in individual boxes, directly bordering each other. We infected one animal per pair in experiment 1, and the calf in the middle in experiment 2. We recorded clinical signs, virus shedding in saliva and the development of antibodies. In addition, we determined whether the virus was transmitted from the inoculated calves to the neighbour(s). All inoculated calves showed mild signs of FMD--fever, and some vesicles on hooves and/or in the mouth--but only one calf showed signs that were visible without physical examination. All inoculated calves shed virus in the saliva and developed neutralising antibodies. None of the contact animals seroconverted, indicating that virus transmission did not occur. These experiments showed that no virus transmission among individual housed calves can occur. This finding supports the hypothesis of the route of virus introduction to The Netherlands in 2001 and show that the observations on the two veal-calf farms were not impossible.