2014 - 83 (3)

Er wordt een overzicht gegeven van de volksdiergeneeskunde aan de hand van een boekjeover dit onderwerp door J. Wouters, in eigen beheer gepubliceerd in 1966 in Wetteren, waar deauteur werkzaam was als practicus. Het bevat een rijke schat aan gegevens over de manierenwaarop onze voorouders dierenziekten probeerden te behandelen of te voorkomen. Het gaatdaarbij om elementen uit het christelijk geloof, gemengd met volksgeloof, heidense rituelen enoverlevering. De talrijke natuurlijke behandelingen met planten gaan eveneens terug op heeloude kennis, onder andere te vinden in het bekende werk van de plantkundige Dodoens. De inhoudomvat tal van unieke gegevens door de auteur zelf verzameld in zijn praktijk en door zijnkennissenkring. Het werk is echter niet altijd logisch geordend en bevat dikwijls herhalingenbedoeld om de nadruk te leggen. De auteur volgt ook niet altijd de vooropgestelde indeling vande behandelde onderwerpen. Maar al bij al is het de moeite waard als een te bewaren en te raadplegentijdsdocument.Dit eerste deel bevat een korte ontleding van de inhoud en behandelt vooral de algemenegrondslagen van de volksdiergeneeskunde zoals die door Wouters naar voor gebracht worden.In een tweede deel worden de aandoeningen per diersoort nader bekeken.

   

In de voorliggende studie werd de kwaliteit van de inductie en de recovery vergeleken bij 146paarden na totale intraveneuze anesthesie met guaifenesine, ketamine en detomidine, ten behoeve vancomputertomografie (CT). Ze werden willekeurig ingedeeld, waarbij de ene groep romifidine (n=110)en de andere groep detomidine (n=36) als premedicatie kreeg. De anesthesie werd geïnduceerd meteen combinatie van ketamine/midazolam. De gemiddelde anesthesieduur van de CT was kort (gemiddeld+/- SD: 23,5 +/- 8,8 minuten). Er bleek geen significant verschil te zijn voor de inductiescore. Welbleken paarden gepremediceerd met romifidine een significant betere recoveryscore te hebben. 

Chronic progressive lymphedema (CPL) is a well-known problem in the Belgian draft horse.However, tools for clinical diagnosis have not been standardized. Therefore, the exact diseaseprevalence and the possible CPL risk factors have not been investigated in the Belgian breedyet. The aim of the present study was to assess a uniform CPL clinical examination method toincrease diagnostic objectivity as well as to determine the occurrence and severity of lesions.Using univariate and stepwise multivariable logistic regression models, the association of factors,such as age-gender interaction, coat color and season, with CPL occurrence was examined. In thisstudy, it was demonstrated that CPL is highly prevalent in the Belgian draft horse: 60.66% of thehorses of the total sample were affected, including a large proportion of young horses (< 3 years),whereas 85.86% was affected in a subset of older horses (≥ 3 years). In the latter, the lesions weremore explicit as CPL is a chronic disorder. In some horses (i.e. 14% of the yearlings), mild clinicalsymptoms appeared at approximately the age of one, while distinct onset of the disease occurredfrom the age of three onwards. The factors age-gender interaction, coat color and season, whichare significantly associated with CPL occurrence, were identified and quantified. In this study,a standardized diagnostic protocol is proposed that will enhance future data collection andfurthermore will offer a foundation for quantitative genetic research. Ultimately, it will help toreduce CPL occurrence in the Belgian draft horse by means of selection.

In this study, the incidence of auricular hematomas in weaned piglets was examined, and it wasinvestigated whether the incidence was linked with certain risk factors. In total, five successive batchesof weaned pigs (n=10,657) were investigated from weaning (three weeks of age) until the end of thenursery period (ten weeks of age). The mean incidence was 2.3%, ranging from 1.3% to 2.9% for thedifferent weaned batches. The incidence in barrows was 2.1% and in female piglets 2.5% (P > 0.05).The incidence in piglets from primiparous sows was 0.92% and in piglets of multiparous sows 2.45%(P < 0.001). The highest incidence was observed four to five weeks after weaning. There was a twotimes-higher risk to develop an auricular hematoma at the ear with the ear tag (RR=2.28 [1.74 – 2.98]).Further research, preferably in more herds, is warranted to confirm and/or explain the present resultsand to further optimize control measures. 

Two cats were presented with a recent history of difficulty in walking and jumping. Neurologicalexamination was consistent with a lumbosacral or a sciatic nerve lesion in both cases withan additional C6-T2 spinal cord segment lesion in case 2. Differential diagnosis included neoplastic,inflammatory/infectious (neuritis, meningomyelitis, discospondylitis) and compressivedisc disease. Computed tomography (CT) revealed an enlarged, contrast enhancing sciatic nervefrom the L7-S1 intervertebral foramen, to the distal third portion of the femoral shaft. In case 2,CT also revealed an enlarged femoral nerve and an extradural mass causing mild compressionof the spinal cord at T1-2 and T3-4. Ultrasonography allowed to perform fine needle aspirationof the affected sciatic nerve. Cytology was highly suggestive of indolent, small cell lymphoma incase 1, and confirmed a high-grade lymphoma in case 2, both belonging to the large granularlymphoma subtype.