2016 - 85 (6)

In this review, updated and precise definitions of the most common postpartum uterine diseasesin dairy cows are provided. An aberrant uterine environment at inappropriate stages of thereproductive cycle inflicts damage to gametes and zygotes, impairing the reproductive performanceof dairy cows. This involves major economic losses for the milk production unit. Consequently,an accurate diagnosis of postpartum uterine diseases is indispensable for practitionersto set up a prompt and efficient treatment. This review furthermore emphasizes on the new perspectivesregarding diagnosis and treatment of subclinical endometritis, a highly prevalent uterinedisease that is often overlooked by practitioners while causing major reproductive problems.Based on a more profound clinical understanding of the postpartum uterine disease complex,practitioners will be able to better use the available diagnostic tools and therefore apply a moreefficient therapeutic approach.

‘Slaughter’ and ‘slay’, words of Germanic origin, and ‘beat’ and ‘abattoir’ of Latin descent, all referto a primitive way of rendering animals unconscious, of ‘knocking them out’, before actually killingthem with a knife by cutting the throat or the main blood vessels in the heart region. The situation iscomplicated by religious traditions. Ritual slaughter in the Islamic and Judaic traditions dates back toBiblical times, when Abraham (Ibrahim) was prevented by God (Jahweh, Allah) from offering (sacrificing)his only son, who was replaced on the altar by a ram. In the orthodox Jewish tradition, the killingof animals for food is complicated by a strong taboo against blood. This came to expression in the strictrules for killing the conscious animal with a sharp knife and for avoiding contact with the animal’sblood. In the Christian tradition, the taboos disappeared after the early period because it was realizedthat Jesus, as the Lamb of God, has sacrificed himself in order to save and redeem mankind. The notionof sacrifice is still associated with killing animals for food or other human use. In the biomedicalliterature, the term ‘sacrifice’, originally meaning ‘offer’, is frequently used to designate the killing ofexperimental animals. In four surahs in the Koran, the importance is stressed of offering all animalsbeing put to death for food to the One and Only Allah. The slaughtering technique is not stipulated inany further detail, except for the rule that the animals should not be beaten to death and that the bloodevacuated should not be consumed.

Enterotoxemia is characterized by a highly fatal hemorrhagic enteritis in cattle, caused byClostridium perfringens. Production systems with intensive feeding, such as the veal industry,are predisposed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the effect of solid feedprovision on fecal C. perfringens excretion in veal calves. Ten Holstein Friesian bull veal calveswere randomly assigned to one of two test diets. Group 1 received solemnly milk replacer twicedaily, while group 2 received milk replacer and a maximum of 300g solid feed/day, consisting ofa mixture of 30% barley, 30% corn, 30% hulled wheat and 10% chopped straw. The number ofC. perfringens per g feces or fecal clostridial counts (FCC) were determined for all calves. MeanFCC were significantly lower in the calves fed milk replacer and solid feed, than in the calves fedsolemnly milk replacer. Although the correlation between FCC and enterotoxemia risk remainsto be determined, the provision of solid feed to veal calves reduced clostridial excretion, whichmight contribute to the prevention of this disease.

A dog with combined atypical primary hypoadrenocorticism and primary hypothyroidismis described. The dog presented with waxing and waning, vague complaints since more than ayear and had been treated with several drugs without complete resolution of signs. Based onthe abnormalities on physical examination, blood examination and abdominal ultrasonography,atypical primary hypoadrenocorticism and primary hypothyroidism were diagnosed.Glucocorticoid supplementation was started and gradually tapered to maintenance rate becauseof polydipsia. Ten days later, levothyroxine supplementation was started at a very low dose andwas gradually increased based on serum total thyroxine concentrations. The dog rapidly improvedand recovered completely. Follow-up over a one-year period did not reveal new abnormalities.The presence of combined primary hypoadrenocorticism and primary hypothyroidism has beeninfrequently described in dogs and may resemble the Schmidt’s syndrome in humans.

A five and a half-month-old, male domestic shorthair of 1.4 kg was presented with severeconstipation. Physical examination showed a dull, small cat with a poor hair coat and excessivescaling, hypothermia and a large amount of feces in the abdomen. Body proportions showeddisproportional dwarfism with a large head and a short neck and limbs. Radiographs revealedmarked epiphyseal dysgenesis with delayed maturation and ossification. Megacolon was present.Based on an undetectable level of TT4 and an elevated TSH level in serum, congenital primaryhypothyroidism was diagnosed. On scintigraphic examination, the diagnosis was confirmed.After several months of levothyroxine therapy, the cat was bright and alert, showed no signs ofconstipation and developed normally.

The objective of this case series was to illustrate in which cases soft contact bandage lenses canbe used in the dog and the cat and how beneficial they are, supported by the literature. The benefitof the lenses was determined by how long the lenses stayed in place and if they contributed tothe comfort of the patient. The average time the contact lenses stayed in place in both the dog andthe cat was 9.8 days. Premature lens loss was seen in a limited number of cases (7% of the cases).Soft contact bandage lenses provided comfort and protection either in the initial healing phase,until the ulcer had healed (in cases of superficial corneal ulceration or cases of corneal ulcerationwith a limited stromal defect) or until surgery was performed (nasal trichiasis, entropion). Incases of corneal dystrophy, increased comfort for the patient was reported.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of chloroquine treatment on cystexcretion in calves naturally infected with Giardia duodenalis. The calves were randomly assignedinto two groups based on placebo (group I, n=7 untreated control calves) or treatment (groupII, n=7 calves treated orally with 2.5 mg/kg chloroquine twice daily for five consecutive days).The G. duodenalis isolates were identified by molecular characterization with β-giardin nestedPCR and gene sequence analysis as assemblage A3. Cyst excretion was determined on days 0, 3,7 and 10, before and after treatment. Geometric means of the number of excreted cysts did notchange significantly in the control group during the trial. The reduction in cyst excretion afterchloroquine treatment was 99% on day 3 and 100% on days 7 and 10. Chloroquine treatment ismost probatly practically applicable, relatively inexpensive and highly effective against giardiosisin calves.

The benefits of physiotherapy have been extensively demonstrated in human medicine. Althoughphysiotherapy has been performed in veterinary medicine for already several decades,it is only very recently that scientific research on this subject is increasing. The purpose of thispaper is to give an overview of the different veterinary physiotherapeutic assessment andtreatment techniques and possibilities, and correlate them to the data in the veterinary literature.