In practice

The Sterycat project is a scientific study financed by the Federal Public Service of Public Health,Food Chain Safety and Environment, in which the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine collaborated withseventeen Flemish animal shelters, to investigate the effect of prepubertal gonadectomy on the healthand behavior of cats. To be able to efficiently integrate prepubertal gonadectomy of shelter cats ingovernmental policy, it is important to know the opinion on this topic of people in the field. For thispurpose, at the end of the Sterycat project, a survey (16 questions, 70 copies in total) was distributedamong shelter veterinarians and staff workers of the participating shelters.Thirty-five individuals completed the survey (10 shelter veterinarians, 25 staff workers). The majorityof them (85%) were in favor of continuing prepubertal gonadectomy in shelter cats after theSterycat project had ended. However, some respondents were concerned about potential complicationsdue to the procedure (58%) and about viral disease outbreaks (72%). Whether prepubertal gonadectomycould be implemented successfully seemed to be dependent upon the financial feasibility andthe development of a framework to prevent income loss for non-shelter veterinarians.Rest of the abstract:cf. full text

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is one of the most important viruses to cause disease in cattle worldwide. The virus is endemically present in Belgium. Clinical diagnosis of BVDV infection is difficult. Therefore, monitoring through testing is necessary to detect the presence of the virus on farms. As vaccination alone does not suffice for eradication, a combination of measures is required for successful control. Via a questionnaire, the BVDV policy on 241 selected Flemish cattle farms was investigated. This revealed some striking results. For the majority of the herds, the BVDV status was unknown (63%), and only 23% had a monitoring program in place. Furthermore, on seven out of ten (71%) BVDV-vaccinating farms, vaccination against BVDV was implemented as a strategy without knowing the actual BVDV status. 

The local skin temperature is an important clinical parameter in lameness examination in horses. New cost effective devices to measure local temperature are now widely available these days. Several important areas of the equine legs can quickly and easily be screened and clinically important differences in local temperature can be measured without disturbing the horses.

This case report intends to introduce a diagnostic technique into veterinary science. CT-guidance provides a safe and accurate means of obtaining a percutaneous guided biopsy of deep lesions. Furthermore, it is a good alternative for surgical biopsies.