Nitrogen metabolism in growing swine receiving a bacterial protein supplement (Alcaligenes eutrophus) instead of soybean meal

In a balance trial with 10 pigs (mean body mass 50 kg) the influence of a bacterial protein supplement (Alcaligenes eutrophus) on N-metabolism was investigated. The bacteria were included into the diet at levels of 7 and 14% at the expense of extracted soyabean meal. Thus bacterial "pure protein" (bacterial non-nucleic acid N X X 6.25) amounted to 30 and 60% of the protein of the ration. Consuming 2 kg of feed dry matter per day the animals of the control group (I) and the experimental groups (II and III) ingested 48 g, 52 g and 55 g of total N respectively. The difference in N-intake is explained by the additional nucleic acid-N, amounting to 19,8% of total bacterial N. Daily weight gain (on average 1054 g) and feed conversion efficiency (feed ingested/weight gain; on average 1,9) were relatively improved at the highest dietary level of bacterial cell mass. Faecal N-excretion was increased significantly, whereas renal N-excretion remained unchanged. Mean apparent N-digestibility was 87,4% showing no significant difference between the experimental groups. N-balance values were noticibly increased following the intake of the bacterial protein supplement. The excretion of urinary urea-N was slightly reduced whereas 4-6 times as much allantoin-N was excreted when bacteria were fed. It is calculated that about 80% of the bacterial purines are renally excreted as allantoin and uric acid.     

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.

     

William osler and comparative medicine

During the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, comparative medicine deeply influenced veterinary education in Montreal, New York and Philadelphia. Of the many physicians and veterinarians involved in this movement, Sir William Osler has attracted the most biographical and historical attention. However, his contributions to comparative medicine have been characterized inexactly, partly because of his later prominence as a clinician and partly because little has been written about the history of veterinary education in Quebec.

Osler's teaching and research in comparative medicine as well as his efforts to promote a veterinary profession are described and set alongside the work of other physicians and veterinarians who were his contemporaries. As a result, Osler's contributions to comparative medicine are seen to be many and important but by no means unique. Other Quebec veterinarians, including Duncan McEachran, Orphyr Bruneau, Victor T. Daubigny and J.A. Couture, and such physicians as T. Wesley Mills and J. George Adami made as many, and in some cases greater, contributions to veterinary education in Quebec than did Osler. That they have not received the degree of recognition that Osler has received reveals Osler's ability to represent values and ideals and draws attention to some essential features of late nineteenth-century comparative medicine.

     

A review of cancer chemotherapy for pet animals

A review of the principles of cancer chemotherapy for pet animals is presented. The various pharmacological classes of antineoplastic drugs are described with specific references to those drugs that have been widely used in veterinary medicine.     

Behavior of ewes and lambs subjected to restraint fostering

The objective of this study was to investigate the development of maternal-filial social attachments between ewes and alien lambs using the technique of "restraint fostering." Forty-eight to 72 h after parturition, 22 Targhee -type ewes were separated from their natural lambs, placed in restraining devices ( stanchions ) and each exposed to a single alien lamb. After a period of 1 or 4 d of restraint, the ewes were subjected to five 10-min lamb acceptance tests over a 48-h period. The observer recorded butts and butt attempts by the ewe and successful and unsuccessful suckle attempts by the lamb. The ewe-lamb pairs were then housed in pens with other groups of ewes and lambs and observed intermittently for acceptance behaviors. Six of the 14 ewes restrained for 4 d and none of the eight ewes restrained for 24 h met the criterion for successful adoption within 48 h. After being housed in group pens, adoptions were achieved by three ewes in the 1-d group and an additional four ewes in the group restrained for 4 d. Ewes restrained for 24 h were significantly more aggressive toward fostered young than ewes restrained for 4 d. In addition, the proportion of successful suckling attempts was significantly lower for lambs fostered on ewes in the 1-d group. Both groups showed a decline in butts and butt attempts over successive acceptance tests, but while the proportion of successful suckling attempts declined for lambs housed with 1-d ewes, they increased over time for lambs fostered on ewes restrained for 4 d.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Papovavirus induced feather abnormalities and skin lesions in the budgerigar: clinical and pathological findings

Feather abnormalities and skin lesions caused by a papovavirus infection in budgerigars are described. Diseased one to 15 day old birds displayed a lack of nestling down feathers and filoplumes on the head and neck. Survivors older than 15 days exhibited retarded growth and temporary absence of feathers variable from bird to bird. Several birds between 15 and 25 days of age had flight feathers with total absence or marked sparseness of the vanes. After 25 days, feathers began to grow, although the tail and/or some flight feathers of some of the birds remained underdeveloped or absent for several weeks. Several of these affected birds were unable to fly and are called “runners”

Microscopic lesions in the feather follicles of the affected birds less than 15 days of age, were characterized by focal, multifocal or diffuse ballooning degeneration in the lateral and axial plate cells of the barb ridges with the presence of large basophilic or amphophilic intranuclear inclusions in the same cells. Focal areas of ballooning degeneration with intranuclear inclusions were also found in the epidermis. Clinical observations made on these birds are compared with those reported in the literature for French molt.