Does Clinical Treatment with Phenylbutazone and Meloxicam in the Pre‐ovulatory Period Influence the Ovulation Rate in Mares?

The presence of anovulatory haemorrhagic follicles during the oestrous cycle of mares causes financial impacts, slowing conception and increasing the number of services per pregnancy. Non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as meloxicam and phenylbutazone are used in the treatment of several disorders in mares, and these drugs can impair the formation of prostaglandins (PGs) and consequently interfere with reproductive activity. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of treatment with NSAIDs on the development of pre‐ovulatory follicles in mares. In total, 11 mares were studied over three consecutive oestrous cycles, and gynaecological and ultrasound examinations were performed every 12 h. When 32‐mm‐diameter follicles were detected, 1 mg of deslorelin was administered to induce ovulation. The first cycle was used as a control, and the mares received only a dose of deslorelin. In the subsequent cycles, in addition to receiving the same dose of deslorelin, each mare was treated with NSAIDs. In the second cycle, 4.4 mg/kg of phenylbutazone was administered, and in the third cycle, 0.6 mg/kg of meloxicam was administered once a day until ovulation or the beginning of follicular haemorrhage. All of the mares ovulated between 36 and 48 h after the induction in the control cycle. In the meloxicam cycle, 10 mares (92%) did not ovulate, while in the phenylbutazone cycle, nine mares (83%) did not ovulate. In both treatments, intrafollicular hyperechoic spots indicative of haemorrhagic follicles were observed on ultrasound. Thus, our results suggested that treatment with meloxicam and phenylbutazone at therapeutic doses induced intrafollicular haemorrhage and luteinization of anovulatory follicles.     

Testing Usability of Butylated Hydroxytoluene in Conservation of Goat Semen

The objective of this study was to investigate whether butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) could be used as a suitable supporter or alternative of egg yolk during preservation of goat spermatozoa. Three in vitro experiments and a fertility test were conducted to evaluate the effect of BHT on viability of chilled‐stored semen as well as motility and kidding rate of frozen‐thawed spermatozoa. In the first two experiments, ejaculates (n = 30/experiment) were collected from 10 bucks, split, diluted with egg yolk‐based and egg yolk‐free extenders supplemented with or without 0.3, 0.6, 2, 5 and 8 mm BHT and stored at 5°C for 168 h. In the third experiment, 30 ejaculates were collected from the above‐mentioned bucks, split and diluted with egg yolk‐free extenders supplemented with or without 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 mm BHT and egg yolk‐based extenders supplemented with or without 5 mm BHT. Diluted semen was cooled to 5°C over a period of 4 h, frozen and thawed in the form of 0.3‐ml pellets. In the fertility test, 75 ejaculates were collected from two proven fertile bucks, split, diluted with egg yolk‐free extenders containing 0.6 mm BHT and egg yolk‐based extenders supplemented with or without 5 mm BHT, frozen and thawed as described above. An insemination volume of 0.6 ml containing 120–140 × 10⁶ progressively motile spermatozoa was used for a single cervical insemination of cloprostenol‐synchronized does (n = 230). The results showed that addition of 5 mm BHT to egg yolk‐deficient (2.5%) extenders significantly improved viability of chilled‐stored semen together with motility (48.5%) and fertility (62.5%) of frozen‐thawed spermatozoa. Replacement of egg yolk in semen extenders by 0.6 mm BHT could sustain not only viability of chilled‐stored semen but also post‐thaw motility (47.5%) and fertility (53.75%) of frozen‐thawed spermatozoa. In conclusion, supplementation of semen diluents with BHT can ameliorate preservability of goat sperm.     

A primary extraskeletal osteogenic sarcoma arising in the spleen of a dog

This paper describes a primary extraskeletal osteogenic sarcoma arising in the spleen of an 11-year-old, male, cross-bred Terrier. Initial diagnosis was made after surgical removal of a splenic mass, at which time the liver and other abdominal viscera appeared grossly normal. However, elevations in the activities of alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase in blood taken 7 days after laparotomy suggested that hepatic metastases were developing. This was confirmed when the dog died 3.5 months after surgery, with massive hepatic metastatic involvement. There appears to be no previous report of the spleen being the primary site of such a neoplasm in the dog.     

Resynchronising returns to service in anoestrous dairy cows in the South Island of New Zealand

AIMS: To investigate the effect of targeted resynchronisation of cows treated for non-observed oestrus before the planned start of mating (PSM), that were not detected in oestrus or pregnant 23 days after treatment (phantom cows), on the proportion pregnant at 42 days after PSM and the end of mating.

METHODS: Farm staff from eight herds in two regions of the South Island of New Zealand identified 1,819 cows not showing oestrus by 10 days before PSM. These cows were treated with intravaginal progesterone for 7 days, and I/M gonadorelin 10 days and 1 day before PSM. Three days before PSM they were injected with cloprostenol and equine chorionic gonadotrophin, with fixed time artificial insemination (FTAI) at PSM. By 23 days after PSM, 1,218 cows had not returned to oestrus. Of these, 161 cows confirmed not pregnant by transrectal ultrasonography were randomly assigned to no treatment (control group; n=74) or were resynchronised 25 days after PSM using the same treatment programme as above, with FTAI 35 days after PSM (n=87). All cows that returned to oestrus were artificially inseminated until 42 days after PSM, when natural mating was used. All cows were examined using transrectal ultrasonography 80 to 90 days after PSM to confirm conception dates.

RESULTS: Of the 1,819 anoestrous cows treated before PSM, 526 (29 (95% CI=23.1–34.0)%) had not been observed in oestrus by 23 days after PSM and had not conceived, so were diagnosed as phantoms cows. For resynchronised cows, 42/87 (48 (95% CI=37.8–58.8)%) were pregnant by 42 days after PSM compared to 21/74 (28 (95% CI=18.1–38.7)%) control cows (p=0.009). At the end of mating 58/87 (67 (95% CI=56.6–76.7)%) cows in the resynchronised group were pregnant and 46/74 (62 (95% CI=50.9–73.2)%) in the control group (p=0.554). The hazard of conception from 21 to 42 days after PSM was 1.9 (95% CI=1.07–3.12) times greater for resynchronised than control cows (p=0.026).

CONCLUSION: In cows not observed in oestrus and treated before PSM, resynchronisation increased the proportion pregnant by 42 days after PSM.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The benefit of resynchronisation depends on the number of anoestrous cows before PSM and the number of phantom cows after PSM. However at the herd-level it is likely that providing advice to reduce the known risk factors for cows not being observed in oestrus before the PSM may well be more cost effective than identifying and treating a sub-population of phantom cows.     

The clinical biochemistry of experimentally produced lupinosis in the sheep

Lupinosis was produced in sheep in four experiments by administering a toxic extract of Phomopsis leptostromiformis by various routes and at various dose rates. The course of the intoxication was followed by plasma biochemical analyses for a number of electrolytes, metabolites and enzymes. Results from these analyses suggested that in addition to being an hepatotoxicity, lupinosis also resulted in injury to muscle, kidney and adrenal cortex. This was confirmed by microscopic examination of these tissues.