small ruminant disease and procedures

what is an ewe

female sheep

what is a lamb

young sheep

what is a ram

male sheep

what is a kid

young goat

what is a doe/nanny

female goat

what is a buck/billy

intact male goat

what is a wether

castrated male sheeps/goats (?)

sheep breeds for wool

• Merino (fine)

• Suffolk (medium)

• Romney (long)

sheep breed for meat

Texel

sheep breed for dairy

East Friesian

goat breed for meat

Boer

goat breeds for dairy

Saanen and Nubian

goat breeds for fiber

ANgora and Cashmere

goat breed for pets

Pygmy

what can occur from overgrown hooves

• moisture and foot rot

• gait and spin issues

which part of the hoof grows faster

toes

restraint for trimming hooves

• Can remain standing or younger goats can be lateral

• Trim in the “set up” position

what should the bottom of the hoof be parallel with when trimming

the coronary band

how often should hooves be trimmed

every 4-12 weeks; depending on environment

why do we castrate males

• Remove male behavioural traits (aggression)

• remove odour (goats and pigs)

• manage medical conditions (testicular cancer)

how soon can we castrate males

first week of life if a meat animal

• 5-6 months old if a pet to allow full development of the urethra

where does Tetanus live

lives in soil and wounds, can grow if wound not sutures

how often do we Vx for Tetanus

annually

tetanus antitoxin

works immediately and lasts for 10 days

tetanus toxoid

stimulates antibody production in 2 weeks

why is proper pain control important for procedures (economically)

if too painful they wont eat/drink, causing them to lose weight = less profit for farmer

methods of castration

1. elastrator

2. surgical (Newberry)

3. Emasculatome (Burdizzo)

elastrator technique

very tight rubber ring around testes to cut off blood supply to testes

• Done when 1-7 days old; sloughing begins within 3 weeks

how old should the animal be for surgical castration

at least 1 day old (wait for colostrum)

emasculatome (Burdizzo) castration method

least painful method

1. Done at >1 week old

2. Push spermatic cord laterally, crush each cord separately

3. Testes will atrophy in scrotum in 1-2 months

4. Bloodless, no open wounds

5. If crushed too low

which castration method is the leats painful

burdizzo

what do we have to consider when gicing any sorts of medication or pain relief

withdrawl times

why is tail docking done

• Done in lambs because some breeds have naturally long tails

• Prevents accumulation of feces/diarrhea → Flystrike and maggot infestations

how old for tail docking

1-7 days old, want them to have colostrum

pain control for tail docking

NSAID + local anesthetic

how long should the remaining tail be after docking

should cover genitals (anus and vulva), up to the 4th intervertebral joint

methods of tail docking

1. Cautery

2. Elastrator 

3. Emasculator

4. Burdizzo and knife

5. Surgical 

where do horns grow

at cornual process of the frontal bone (keratinized epithelium with bone)

what does the frontal sinus form

cornual diverticulum (pocket) at 6 months old

how old for disbudding

1-10 days old

sedation and analgesia for disbudding

Sedation = xylazine (0.01-0.04 mg/kg IV or IM)

Analgesia: NSAIDs, caudal nerve blocks, local infiltration

what local anesthetic is used for nerve blocks

lidocaine

• max dose = 5-7 mg/kg

how much lidocaine per site for nerve blocks

0.1-0.5 ml/site in kids

0.75-1ml/site in adults (4 sites)

how old for thermal cauterization (disbudding)

< 7-10 days old

• Contact time = <5 seconds

• Removes scent glands in bucks

why is general anesthesia required for dehorning

removing skin with a scalpel

• Sawing off the horn with a wire

what are risks after dehorning

Tetanus, sinusitis, and myiasis

which diseases are zoonotic

• Contagious Ecthyma (ORF)

• Caseous lymphadenitis (CL)

what is ORF and what organism causes it

Contagious Ecthyma - Parapox virus

how is ORF transmitted

• shed from the skin and is persistent in the environment for years

• Infection through broken skin (direct transmission)

• from mom to lamb from lesions of teats

ORF treatment

antibiotic

how to prevent ORF

• Isolate new animals

• Good barn hygiene

• Vaccine available (not in Canada), but not 100% effective; only for chronic endemic ORF

clinical signs of ORF

• Pustules or scabs in/around mouth, feet, and udder

• Poor condition, lameness, mastitis (secondary infection)

what is CAE, what organism causes it

Caprine arthritis and encephalitis - Retrovirus: related to Ovine Progressive pneumonia

which breeds is CAE more common in

dairy breed vs meat/fiber breeds

clinical signs of CAE

Adults: polyarthritis, mastitis, muscle wasting, pneumonia

Kids: neurologic form → weakness, ataxia

transmisison of CAE

• Ingestion of infected colostrum or milk

• Direct contacts

• Blood contamination of needles and equipment

who do you report CAE cases to

CFIA, annually

how to diagnose CAE

serologic testing

preventing CAE

• Heat treating colostrum

• Test and remove carriers to prevent vertical transmission (to new generations)

• Serologic testing of herd twice a year

what is caseous lymphadenitis (CL) caused by, and transmission

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis

• Contamination of an injury with purulent material during shearing, tagging, tail docking, etc

• Organism can survive in environment for 1 year

clinical signs of CL

Abscessed LN: parotid, submandibular, prefemoral) → if they burst, purulent material gets into environment

how to diagnose CL

Culture of the LN aspirate (smear)

treatment of CL

• Culling → the bacteria lives in phagocytes, so not affected by antibiotics

• Lance and drain

• Surgically remove

• Tx with tulathromycin, injected into the abscess

which cell does the bacteria of CL live

phagocytes; so not affected by antibiotics

types of clostridial disease

1. lamb dysentery

2. pulpy kidney

3. tetanus

4. bighead

5. infectious necrotic hepatitis

6. blackleg

7. malignant edema

which Clostridium strain causes Lamb Dysentery

Clostridium perfringens type B and C → part of normal gut flora

how does lamb dysentery occur

• Overgrowth of bacteria from excessive rich feed

• Produces a toxin that attacks the intestine 

how to treat clostridial disease

• penicillin (attacks bacteria)

• antitoxin (neutralizes bacteria)

• supportive care

what vaccine is used for most clostridial disease

COVEXIN10

when can we vaccinate for clostridial diseases

• ewe’s/does before birth

• kids/lambs at 6 weeks

clinical signs of lamb dysentery of type B and type C

Type B: acute bloody diarrhea in lambs

Type C: diarrhea in lambs and adults, more common in North America

clinical signs of pulpy kidney

Diarrhea, sudden death of fatty lambs, neurologic, soft/swollen kidney

which clostridium strain causes pulpy kidney

Clostridium perfringens type D → also part of normal gut flora

how does pulpy kidney occur

Excessive feed or milk causes bacterial overgrowth → produces toxin → attacks blood vessels in the kidney and brain

• More in single lambs and kids opposed to twins bc they get more food from mom

which disease is reportable

bluetongue

clinical signs of bluetongue

Fever, MM ulcers, congestion, dyspnea

transmission of Bluetongue

Biting midges → Culicoides sonorensis

how to treat/prevent bluetongue

• Vaccine (MLV)

• Insect control

clinical signs of malignant catarrhal fever

• No symptoms in sheeps/goats

• Severe disease or acute death in bison, deer and some cattle → mucus build up in airway

transmission of malignant catarrhal fever

Ovine herpesvirus-2, and caprine herpesvirus-2 (doesnt cause disease in sheep or goats, ONLY bison)

• aerosol/airborne

clinical signs of urolithiasis

• Stranguria, hematuria

• Tenesmus, tail twitch, restless

• Inappetance, bloat, vocalization

what can cause uroliths

• High grain diet + low Ca:P ratio → struvite

• Silica-rich soil → silica

• High calcium (clover) → calcium carbonate

• Sugar beets, halogeton? → calcium oxalate

• Electrolyte imbalances

how to treat urolithiasis

• Fluids, antispasmodics, tranquilizers

• Cystotomy and diet management

• Perineal urethrostomy

• Urethral process amputation

Sudden death of the best-conditioned lambs is characteristic of which disease

pulpy kidney

Thermal cautery disbudding should generally have contact time of:

<5 seconds

A 500kg horse requires approximately how much water daily at 2ml/kg/hr?

24 L

Which small ruminant disease is zoonotic and caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis?

Caseous lymphadenitis

The frontal sinus extends into the horn at how old

6 months

Tetanus antitoxin provides protection for how long

10 days

what is the most common transmission route for CAE

Milk/colostrum ingestion

stop trimming hooves when you see:

pink tissue