2019 - 88 (6)

A short description is given of horse- and dog-powered machines, which freed humans from several types of hard slave labor. Horse-driven norias helped to evacuate water in the construction of canals. The well-known horse mills were mainly used for milling wheat and other grains to meal. On dairy farms, dog-powered treadmills took over from maids and peasant women the heavy task of producing butter by keping cream in rapid motion in order to separate fat. Dogs also powered very diverse ustensils such as roasting spits in large kitchens and bellows in forgeries.

Meniscal injuries in the dog are nearly always seen in combination with a cranial cruciate ligamentrupture. The medial meniscus is, by far, most commonly affected. Clinical signs indicative for a meniscaltear are severe lameness or a sudden increase of lameness in dogs with a cranial cruciate rupture.Persistent or recurrent lameness after cranial cruciate surgery can equally be caused by a meniscal tear.Different imaging techniques can demonstrate a meniscal lesion, or also arthroscopic or direct inspectionvia arthrotomy may show the lesion. There are several surgical treatment options.

A two-year-old Arabian filly was referred with symptons of colic. Clinical examination revealedsigns associated with endotoxemia. Ultrasonographic examination of the abdomen demonstratedsevere distention of the stomach and distended loops of small intestine with reducedmotility. With nasogastric intubation, eight liters of hemorrhagic reflux were retrieved. Gastroscopicexamination showed a severe degree of gastric ulceration scored as equine gastric ulcersyndrome (EGUS) grade IV. Based on these findings, EGUS and gastroduodenitis (GD) werediagnosed. Initially, the horse was treated using parenteral pantoprazole, which was supplementedby adding enteral ranitidine and sucralfate when the horse ceased refluxing. The horse wasdischarged eleven days after presentation with a 75%-healing of the gastric ulcers. A control gastroscopicexamination was performed thirty days after discharge showing a 90%-healing (EGUSGrade I). To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first case report in which pantoprazole in combinationwith ranitidine and sucralfate has been used to treat a severe degree of gastric ulceration.

A six-year-old warmblood horse was presented with a longstanding frontlimb lameness with mild digital flexor tenosynovitis and swelling of the distomedial pastern. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance revealed a dense mass lesion in the distal aspect of the digital flexor tendon sheath, with a partial lamellar architecture, absence of internal vascularization and adjacent smooth pressure osteolysis of the middle phalanx. After surgical excision, histopathology confirmed an epithelial inclusion cyst. Epithelial inclusion cysts, also known as keratinizing or follicular cysts, are expansile benign mass-like lesions of aberrant epidermal tissue. In the horse, they are known to occur in cutaneous and several non-cutaneous tissues. In the digital flexor tendon sheath, they have rarely been described. Given their often chronic presentation in this location, they may appear as an atypical dense mass on imaging, uncommon for cystic lesions. Complete tenoscopic removal, even for larger masses, is achievable and considered curative with good prognosis for return.

A Red-and-green Macaw (Ara chloropterus) was presented with regurgitation and passage of undigested seeds in the feces. Radiographic examination revealed dilatation of the proventriculus. Contrast radiography was performed and revealed that the proventricular dilatation and associated clinical signs resulted from circumferential thickening of the proventricular wall leading to severe narrowing of the lumen of the proventriculus. Testing for parrot bornavirus (PaBV) was negative. After the initiation of antimicrobial treatment because of suspected bacterial overgrowth, all clinical signs resolved two weeks after the start of the treatment, and radiographs taken four months after initial presentation revealed a normal appearance and size of the proventriculus. In the present case, bacterial proventriculitis associated with hyperplasia of the proventricular wall was put forward as a final but presumptive diagnosis highlighting the need to differentiate bacterial proventriculitis from other causes of proventricular dilatation in macaws.

Vaccination is used as a control and prevention tool for infectious bursal disease (IBDV) inpoultry. A new strategy for improving vaccination efficiency is the use of in-feed immune modulatingingredients. The aim of this study was to test if the use of beta-(1,3)-glucans in feed canenhance IBDV vaccination. The trial was conducted in ROSS 308 broilers. In the study, a negativecontrol group (not vaccinated, not supplemented), a positive control group (vaccinated, notsupplemented) and a treated group (vaccinated, supplemented with beta-(1,3)-glucan) were included.All broilers, except the negative control, were orally vaccinated at 18 days of age with alive IBDV vaccine. Blood samples were taken at day 18 and 35 to measure antibody titers againstIBDV. Serological analysis showed the presence of maternal derived antibodies at time of vaccinationin some birds. The beta-(1,3)-glucan supplemented birds showed decreased CV% (coefficientof variation) and significantly increased average antibody titers compared to non-supplementedvaccinated birds. Additionally, the beta-(1,3)-glucan group showed increased number ofbirds with antibody titers above the titer threshold for protective immunity. The results obtainedin the current trial clearly indicate that beta-(1,3)-glucan can increase seroconversion and serologicalresponse to IBDV vaccination.