Medical

In this session we will take an evidence-based medicine approach to ancillary therapy of bovine respiratory disease, bovine toxic mastitis, bovine neonatal enteric disease, and retained placenta/metritis. The literature reviewed here is not presented as being all-inclusive, but rather as a summary of many commonly cited articles on these subjects.

Please note: this calendar is only designed to serve as an aid in designing a herd/flock health program. Adjustments should be made according to specific animals health needs, production goals and climate.

Myths, or 'old wives tales' have always been prevalent in veterinary medicine. We hear these commonly in practice (I know he's sick 'cause his nose is warm.

Diagnostic procedures

Cats handle drugs in a different fashion than dogs. While this is not a surprise, there are some drugs that every practitioner should be aware of that work really well for their feline patients. The focus of this discussion will be to highlight these drugs and their uses, showing why they deserve to be in the feline medicine cabinet.

Beef production is shifting toward a consumer focus and new areas are achieving more attention including: individual animal identification, value-based marketing, food safety, as well as source, process, and age verification.

Forelimb lameness can often be a diagnostic challenge in sporting breeds and active family pets. Commonly the owner reports the presence of a long standing lameness which has not resolved with the application conservative treatment modalities such as physical therapy (rest, therapeutic ultrasound, aquatic therapy), NSAIDs, nutraceuticals, and other traditional modalities.

Multiple recalls of commercial pet food, treats, and supplements have occurred in the United States in the past several years, on account of potential contamination with Salmonella.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) all differ structurally, but have the same ability to inhibit presynaptic neuronal reuptake of serotonin.

Extralabel use of drugs in small ruminants can be a confusing issue, highlighted by complicated regulations, an openness for interpretation, and in individual animal's intended use. In this session, I will attempt to give an overview of the regulations regarding extralabel drug use in small ruminants, some guidance in decision-making, and resources I have found useful.

An absolute requirement for treating ketosis in cattle is to identify and treat the primary cause for the negative energy balance. Symptomatic treatment for ketosis without attacking the primary cause is doomed to failure.

According to Webster's dictionary, inflammation is defined as "a local response to cellular injury that is marked by capillary dilatation, leukocytic infiltration, redness, heat, and pain and that serves as a mechanism initiating the elimination of noxious agents and of damaged tissue."

The primary role of the immune system is to protect against infectious disease. The mechanisms employed vary in efficiency for intra- vs extracellular pathogens. Nonspecific immunologic resistance involves interferon – stimulates production of proteins with antiviral activity.

The triage examination is the initial and brief examination that occurs in the first few minutes after a patient presents to the emergency room. The triage examination is crucial to assessing a patient and determining if life-threatening problems are present. Point-of-care testing is a term used to refer to immediate testing in an emergency room.

Assessment and emergent treatment of the dyspneic cat is often considered one of the most difficult tasks of the emergency clinician. Underlying causes of shortness of breath can vary considerably, and must often be decided with only a history and a brief physical

Traumatic injuries of the respiratory system are fairly common in the dog and cat. Most of these injuries can lead to life threatening complications. It is important that the veterinary clinician be familiar with the clinical signs associated with these injuries and be prepared for aggressive intervention when required.

Health management can be a critical component in adding value to calves. Whether calves are sold at weaning, after pre-conditioning or backgrounding or retaining ownership through the feeding phase a health management program is important.

Cats with fevers (103? F-106? F) are a common occurrence in everyday practice. Most cases respond to antibiotic therapy or are self-limiting (abscesses, viral infections, post-surgical fevers). However, the most frustrating case is one in which a routine course of antibiotics does not improve the clinical condition of the cat, routine diagnostics do not identify the cause and the fever is ongoing.

A large focal right sided ping (>3" diameter) is due to an abnormality of the abomasum or large intestine. Rarely, post-parturient cattle with metritis may have a vague right sided ping in the right caudo-dorsal abdomen due to gas in the uterus.

The ability to accurately assess your patient is a key feature of success for a veterinarian. Although the importance of proper patient assessment is applicable to all fields of veterinary medicine, it is most apparent for the emergency/critical care clinician who may need to make rapid decisions based on observations obtained in a very short period of time.

First compartment (C1) fluid examination is a diagnostic aid for animals exhibiting abdominal distension, reduced fecal output, anorexia, and abnormal first compartment texture or motility.

Antidotes can be divided into three broad catagories: chemical antidotes, pharmacologic antidotes, and functional antidotes. Chemical antidotes act directly on the toxicant to make it less toxic and/or more readily excreted.

A small intestinal dysbiosis is an alteration of the small intestinal microbiota in either composition or numbers. There are several different terms that describe similar clinical conditions: antibiotic-responsive diarrhea, tylosin-responsive diarrhea, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), and intestinal dysbiosis.

Oxygen is an ideal therapeutic agent because it is easy to administer, readily available and if used correctly relatively safe. There are very few contraindications to oxygen supplementation.

Cats who cannot breathe are the most fragile patients we treat each day. Cats tend to be more compromised on presentation as they hide their breathing issues better from their owners. It is important to balance diagnostic procedures with therapeutic intervention so that these cats can be quickly stabilized and effectively treated.

Parasite infestations in camelid herds frequently cause insidious disease and go unrecognized until an individual animal succumbs to the disease. For this reason, cases of severe parasitism in an individual should lead to a herd investigation of prevalence and management techniques.

Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted reproductive disease of cattle caused by Tritrichomonas foetus (formally named Trichomonas foetus). There has been a re-emergence of the disease due to increased movement of breeding cattle across the country. The disease is characterized by infertility and early embryonic death.

Smoke inhalation injury represents a unique form of lung injury in dogs in cats. Despite the prevalence of house fires in the United States, smoke inhalation is uncommonly encountered in veterinary emergency practice.

There has been a lot of discussion in the past 10-15 years regarding the number of Food Supply Veterinarians (FSV) and/or Rural Veterinary Practitioners (RVP). The difference in these two populations is that FSV include government veterinarians (APHIS and FSIS), researchers, educators and other veterinarians that are somehow connected with a food animal production.

Adverse reactions to food are quite common in both dogs and cats. However, contrary to common believe, only few cases of adverse food reactions are due to true food allergies. Adverse food reactions represent a group of disorders that are defined by gastrointestinal, dermatological, and less commonly respiratory signs in response to ingestion of a certain food. It should be remembered that there are other specific conditions that are either thought to be due to or worsened by diet that are not considered adverse food reactions such as acute pancreatitis, megaesophagus, or portosystemic shunts.