Effect of age, sex, and county on postmortem findings in goats and sheep in Tennessee (USA), 2017-2021.

Small ruminants, including sheep and goats, play an important role in the economy of American agriculture. They are susceptible to a variety of diseases that impact animal welfare and production. This study evaluated postmortem data from two different diagnostic laboratories in the state of Tennessee to discern common causes of death of small ruminants that were brought in for necropsy between 2017 to 2021.

Serum steroid and thyroid hormone concentrations in healthy domestic male and female alpacas.

Alpacas are high quality fiber producing animals, kept for production purpose and as pets. Endocrine imbalances from adrenal glands, gonads, or thyroid gland may result in coat abnormalities in domestic animals and affect reproduction. Contrary to many domesticated animals, information on hormone concentrations in alpacas is scarce.

Copper oxide wire particles effective against gastrointestinal nematodes in adult alpacas during a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To determine whether copper oxide wire particles (COWP) administered as an oral bolus effectively decrease fecal gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) egg counts in adult alpacas.

Animals: 57 adult alpacas.

Procedures: A double-blind clinical trial was performed during the months of April through August 2019.

Control of Salmonella Dublin in a bovine dairy herd.

Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin (S. Dublin) was diagnosed in a dairy herd after signs of acute gastroenteritis and sepsis. Two hundred eighty-three Holstein cattle were sampled resulting in 700 observations, and serology for S.

Alterations in pregnancy-associated glycoprotein concentrations of pregnant sheep experimentally infected with bovine viral diarrhea virus.

Objective: To compare pregnancy-associated glycoprotein 1 (PAG1) concentrations in maternal (jugular vein) and fetal (uterine vein) circulations and amniotic fluid samples between pregnant ewes that were and were not experimentally infected with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV).

Animals: 11 healthy pregnant yearling ewes.

Procedures: Before study initiation, all ewes were naïve to BVDV and confirmed pregnant by transabdominal ultrasonography at approximately 60 days of gestation.

Evaluation of the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of transdermal flunixin for pain mitigation following castration in goats.

The mitigation of pain associated with common management procedures is a rising concern among veterinarians, producers and consumers. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are vital compounds for this purpose due to their cost, convenience, and efficacy. A transdermal formulation of flunixin meglumine (FM) was approved for the treatment of pain in cattle; however, the efficacy has yet to be determined for small ruminants.

Evaluation of intramuscular injection of oxytetracycline for use as an experimental model to induce pain and assess the efficacy of pain mitigation strategies in dairy cows.

Objective: To evaluate IM injection of oxytetracycline as an experimental model to induce pain and assess the analgesic efficacy of flunixin meglumine (FM) in dairy cows.

Animals: 15 healthy nonlactating Jersey (n = 10) and Holstein (5) cows.

Procedures: In the first of 2 experiments, 5 Jerseys were administered oxytetracycline (10 mg/kg, IM), divided between the right side of the neck and left hind limb.

Spontaneous Appearance and Transmission of Polydactyly in Dexter Cattle.

A 3-yr-old Dexter cow and her yearling Dexter heifer calf exhibited polydactyly. Neither animal was linebred within 5 generations. This cow-calf pair represented the first reported occurrence of polydactyly in Dexter cattle in the US or abroad.

Sodium balance and the dysnatremias.

The dysnatremias are defined as abnormalities in serum sodium concentration. Depending on the magnitude and duration of the sodium abnormality and the nature of any concurrent or primary disease, hypernatremia and hypernatremia may result in no consequences, subclinical impairment of health and productivity, or severe clinical disease. Dysnatremias can be the sequelae to diseases or environmental conditions that promote fluid gain or loss from the body, as well as medical interventions that add excessive amounts of sodium or water to the extracellular fluid.

Evaluation of sample handling effects on serum vitamin e and cholesterol concentrations in alpacas.

Clinical cases of vitamin E deficiencies have been diagnosed in camelids and may indicate that these species are more sensitive to inadequate vitamin E in hay-based diets compared to other ruminant and equine species. In bovine, cholesterol has been reported to affect vitamin E concentrations. In order to evaluate vitamin E deficiencies in camelids, the effects of collection and storage of the blood samples prior to processing were necessary.