Placement of bone screws in a standing horse for treatment of a fracture of the greater tubercle of the humerus

A mature Thoroughbred gelding that was used as a high level jumper presented for evaluation of a nonweightbearing forelimb lameness following a fall. Radiographs revealed a complete, noncomminuted, minimally displaced sagittal fracture of the greater tubercle. Supporting limb laminitis was a major concern in the short term based on the severe lameness at presentation. Open reduction with internal fixation was chosen over stall rest in an attempt to more rapidly return the weightbearing function to the limb. The procedure was performed standing and 3 bone screws were placed standing in an attempt to avoid implant or catastrophic bone failure that can accompany recovery from general anaesthesia. The day following surgery the lameness was significantly improved as the horse was able to bear some weight on the heel. The gelding was discharged 5 days following surgery and was fully weightbearing at the walk. Six months following surgery the horse was free of lameness and resumed training. This report describes our experience and rationale in placing bone screws in a standing horse for treatment of a greater tubercle fracture.     

Conservation Program Participation and Adaptive Rangeland Decision-Making

This paper analyzes rancher participation in conservation programs in the context of a social-ecological framework for adaptive rangeland decision-making. We argue that conservation programs are best understood as one of many strategies of adaptively managing rangelands in ways that sustain livelihoods and ecosystem services. The framework hypothesizes four categories of variables affecting conservation program participation: operation/operator characteristics, time horizon, social network connections, and social values. Based on a mail survey of California ranchers, multinomial logit models are used to estimate the impact of these variables on different levels of rancher involvement in conservation programs. The findings suggest that ranchers with larger amounts of land, an orientation towards the future, and who are opinion leaders with access to conservation information, are more likely to participate in conservation programs.     

Palatal erosion and oronasal fistulation following covered nasopharyngeal stent placement in two dogs

Treatment options for dogs with nasopharyngeal stenosis include fluoroscopic placement of metallic stents. Reported complications include entrapment of hair and food, obstruction and persistent nasal discharge. Two toy breed dogs were examined for persistent nasal discharge and halitosis at 4 and 20 months after placement of permanent metallic stents for acquired nasopharyngeal stenosis. Full thickness defects were found in the palate of both dogs, with extensive communication between the mouth and the nasal passages. Portions of the metal stent were observed within the lesion in both patients. Additional treatment was declined by the owner of one dog; the stent was removed through the fistula in the other dog. Palatal erosion with secondary oronasal fistulation is a potential complication of nasopharyngeal stent placement in dogs.     

Mannosidosis — A cause of neonatal mortality in angus calves

Abstract

Extract

Mannosidosis, a lethal inherited neurological disease associated with a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme α-mannosidase (Hocking et al., 1972 Greene, H. J., Leipold, H. W., Hibbs, C. M. and Kirkbridge, C. A. 1974. Congenital osteopetrosis in Angus calves. J. Am. vet. med. Ass., 164: 389–395.  [Google Scholar]) has been described clinically as affecting Angus calves usually in their firstyear of life (Whittem and Walker, 1957 Hocking, J. D., Jolly, R. D. and Batt, R. D. 1972. Deficiency of α-mannosidase in Angus cattle. Biochem. J., 128: 69–78.  [Google Scholar]; Jolly, 1970 Jolly, R. D. 1970. Diagnosis and control of pseudolipidosis of Angus calves. N.Z. vet. J., 13: 228–229.  [Google Scholar], 1975 Jolly, R. D. 1975. “Mannosidosis of Angus cattle: A prototype control program for some genetic diseases”. In Advances in Veterinary Science and Comparative Medicine, Edited by: Brandly, C. A. and Cornelius, C. E. Vol. 19, London and New York: Academic Press. In [Google Scholar]). Although it has been suspected as a significant cause of neonatal mortality in herds at risk, figures and diagnosis supporting such an hypothesis have not been available.     

Lymphocystis disease in imported tropical fish

Lymphocystis disease, affecting snake-skin gouramis (Trichogaster peltoralis) and blue gouramis (T. tricopterus), was diagnosed histologically in 2 shipments of imported tropical fish. Typical virus particles were readily demonstrated by electron microscopy in negatively stained preparations and in sectioned tissues. Attempts at viral isolation in 2 fish cell lines (RTG-2 and FHM) were unsuccessful as were attempts to transmit the infection to pearl gouramis (T. leeri).     

Experimental tuberculosis in red deer (Cervus elaphus)

This study was designed to investigate experimental Mycobacterium bovis infection of red deer (Cervus elaphus). Three intravenously inoculated deer (dose 10µg–1000µg) developed miliary tuberculosis of the lungs and all died within 28 days of being infected. No clinical illnesses were observed in four subcutaneously (dose 1 uµg–100uµg) and three intratracheally (dose lµg–100µg) inoculated deer. At the conclusion of the experiment six weeks post inoculation, these seven animals reacted to 2 mg/ml of bovine purified protein derivative. The principal lesions in the intravenously inoculated deer were in the lungs which had multiple foci of necrosis containing very large numbers of acid fast bacilli. A gradation of changes was seen in the subcutaneously inoculated deer. The animal receiving the 1µg dose only had lesions at the injection site and the draining prescapular lymph node. Deer receiving higher doses also had histopathological changes in the lungs and liver. Microscopic changes in the intratracheally infected animals were restricted to the thoracic cavity. The ability of the deer to control infection was related to the route of inoculation.     

Macrocyclic lactone toxicity due to abamectin in farm dogs without the ABCB1 gene mutation

Abstract

CASE HISTORY: A 5-year-old entire female Huntaway from a sheep and beef farm was one of four dogs that developed clinical signs including hypersalivation, depression, blindness and ataxia after the death of another dog. A 4-year-old female Huntaway farm dog from a second farm was observed to be sitting down more often than usual on the day after being fed part of a calf carcass that had been treated with an abamectin pour-on.

CLINICAL FINDINGS: The first dog was ataxic and depressed but did respond to sound. The second dog presented with an acute onset of blindness, mydriasis, absence of a menace response, hypersalivation, gait abnormalities (e.g. high stepping gait and ataxia), and depression. Other presenting signs included muscle tremors, dehydration and difficulty eating. No abnormalities were detected from routine haematology and biochemistry. Analysis of samples of plasma from both dogs revealed concentrations of abamectin of 0.149 mg/L and 0.260 mg/L for the first and second dogs, respectively. Buccal swabs taken from the first dog for DNA testing for the ABCB1 gene mutation, gave a negative result.

DIAGNOSIS: In addition to the presenting signs which suggested a toxicosis, both dogs had measurable concentrations of abamectin in plasma confirming exposure.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Farm dogs exposed to concentrated pour-on products containing abamectin have been poisoned and recover or die. The product labels do not carry any warnings as to the risk of poisoning to dogs. This paper discusses two incidents affecting six farm dogs, but the authors are aware of more toxicoses in farm dogs exposed to abamectin.