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Tuesday, August 01, 2006
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Alpacas – The New Kid on the Block - carlyle @ 11:48 am PST
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Our practice has seen a dramatic increase in clients farming alpacas over the past five or so years. This increase in popularity nationwide has seen the forming of a Camelid special interest branch of the New Zealand Veterinary Association.
They are different to most other species even to the terminology used. When talking alpaca – Girls are ‘Hembras’, boys are ‘machos’ and babies ‘crias’. Mating is referred to as ‘packing’ and birthing ‘unpacking’! The pregnancy lasts around 11 months – similar to a horse.
As a veterinarian they are a pleasure to deal with and from a health point of view alpacas have relatively few problems. However, when they get sick they are adept at concealing the early signs of illness. An experienced owner may detect problems early as they know their animals well.
Last winter caught several owners by surprise with a rare condition for New Zealand - Vitamin D deficiency (Ricketts). The northern hemisphere where winters are longer and animals are housed for long periods, see this phenomenon commonly. Llamas and Alpacas appear to have a higher requirement for UV light due to their evolution in the high altitudes of their natural habitat - the Andes.
Vitamin D occurs in two forms. Vitamin D2, produced in pasture after exposure to UV light, vitamin D3 results from UV light on an animals skin.
Low sunshine hours in June 2005 (relatively few clear frosty days) created the syndrome in several young alpaca – up to 2 years of age were affected and some did not survive. NIWA have predicted similar conditions for May to July this year.
Alpaca owners need to be vigilant in supplementing their animals, especially autumn born cria, with injections of Vitamin D. The regime needs to be discussed with their veterinarian.
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Autumn Grass Staggers - carlyle @ 11:35 am PST
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Hawkes Bay has seen a higher incidence of Grass Staggers (also called Hypomagnaseamia or Lactation Tetany) this autumn/early winter than usual. Generally, the condition tends to occur late in pregnancy but if climatic conditions are right outbreaks of deaths can occur in autumn.
The body does not store appreciable amounts of magnesium so the delicate balance of blood magnesium levels depends largely on adequate daily intake. Several outbreaks in autumn have been associated with poor feed intake for 3-5 days after weaning.
Rapidly growing pasture in spring, which also occurs in autumn in mild, wet conditions such as those experienced in April and May this year, have a lower content of available Magnesium than mature pasture. Pasture analysis may suggest the levels are sufficient but this does not imply that it is available to the animal after digestion. At the lowest, as little as 4% of the total Magnesium in pasture may be able to be extracted by the animal.
Other factors which may be involved include; heavy applications of nitrogen rich fertilizer; high soil potassium levels (especially after potash fertiliser application); low energy levels in the ration; more likely to occur in older cows.
Prevention involves anticipating the risk periods and ensuring there is adequate feed available to supply the cow’s magnesium requirements. Dusting pasture with magnesium powders (e.g. CauseMag) is used when break feeding cows as they may not be able to extract sufficient magnesium from the feed offered. Other options include application of bolus products, preferentially feeding cows in the older age group and use of magnesium molasses licks. Salt blocks contain some magnesium but cannot be relied upon as not all cows will use them.
Your specific needs should to be discussed with your veterinarian who will suggest an appropriate option for you.
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Monday, November 07, 2005
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Important Notice to Farm Clients - Campyvax - carlyle @ 1:26 pm PST
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Staff News
Some things never stay the same for long! Many of you will have met Donald Watson over the past year or so. Recently he accepted a position as ¡§Operations Manager¡¨ for Beamish Farms Ltd and is responsible for implementing their strategic plan on a day to day basis among other duties. You are probably aware that Beamish farms manage the Rissington Breedline flock. Donald and Kirsten now reside in the Whana Whana valley and we wish him all the best in his career change away from veterinary clinical practice.
Alice is also departing in December. She has been with us since graduating from vet school and is moving on to take up a 3 year residency at Melbourne University Vet School in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine! Being offered that position is an honour and reflects her ability. Hopefully she will return to the Bay as she leaves family and her partner behind!
Ian Leadbetter began working in the practice at the end of October. Ian graduated 1 year ahead of Mike and has worked in a number of practices in the Waikato and overseas before settling into a 12 year stint in Dannevirke. Recently he returned from the UK after working and holidaying there for a coupe of years. Ian brings experience and skills in both large and small animal work and also grew up in Taradale. Very much a local lad!!
Drench
We are again offering the very popular Christmas Ham Promo for this season. Details are enclosed.
We carry the Ancare range of drenches for the following reasons:
„± A New Zealand owned company with the largest range of products developed to meet the needs of New Zealand farmers
„± Comprehensive range of anthelmintic products covering all drench families ¡V new formulations e.g. Matrix
„± Significant research and development continually ongoing
„± Acknowledges and actively supports that the veterinarian is the expert in herd health and their aim is to ensure the appropriate use of anthelmintics
„± Competitive prices!
A recent price comparison between Triton and Matrix:
Matrix Tape 10L = $548
Matrix Tape 20L = $995
Dose rate 1ml/5kg
20kg lamb = 4ml dose
= 0.21cents/lamb (10L price)
OR = 0.19 cents/lamb (20L price)
AND receive 1 x Christmas Ham per 20L
AND receive 1 x reversible vest per 20L
„± both contain Cobalt and Selenium
„± abamectin Matrix (the high potency, shortest tail macrocyclic lactone of choice from a resistacne point of view
„± easy flow formulation
Triton Tape purchase 2 10L @ $525 and bonus 5 L Free
20kg lamb = 5 ml dose (1ml/4kg) 25L = 5,000 doses
= 0.21 cents/lamb
Standard 10L price = 0.26 cents/lamb
Do feel free to contact us to discuss how the use of a 3 way or 2 way combination might fit into your lamb programme for the coming season.
___________________________________________________
There are some important changes this season with some of the vaccine products for sheep.
Toxovax
Users of Toxovax will be aware that the vaccine is living, and has a short shelf life so is made to order. AgVax have now contracted out the manufacture of the product to a company in Timaru on behalf.
As a result it will be essential this year to place any orders at least 4 weeks prior to your required date of use. Any orders within this time frame may not be able to be supplied. Remember Toxovax must not be administered within 4 weeks of contact with rams (i.e. Teasers or Fertile Rams).
To help you, an order form is attached. Please complete that and post, fax or drop it in to us. We will phone your prior to placing your order, to confirm the order details.
It is AgVax policy and an ACVM requirement that no biological product (i.e. vaccine) can be accepted for return. An important reason for this is the requirement for refrigeration which cannot be guaranteed once it has left the controls of the manufacturer or veterinary practice. Excess vaccine can not be returned to us for re sale.
We also recommend that you bring a chilly bin with ice packs with you when collect any vaccine (i.e. 5 in 1, Toxovax, Salmonella, Campyvax etc)
Campyvax
Campyvax 3 is now Campyvax 4!
You may recall that Campyvax 3 included 3 sub strains of Campylobacter fetus subsp fetus which gives protection against 7 of the 8 strains of C. fetus fetus present in New Zealand. In comparison the single strain present in Campylovexin protects against 4 of those 8 strains.
In New Zealand 41% of sheep abortions are due to Campylobacter and of those 70% are C. fetus fetus. Other Campylobacter species make up the remaining 30%. The majority of these other isolates according to New Zealand laboratory reports are caused by Campylobacter jejuni.
C. jejuni has been isolated from a large variety of hosts including sheep, cattle and poultry. It is also a common cause of food poisoning in humans. Ewes orally infected late in pregnancy often abort. Surveys in New Zealand showed up to 31% of normal adult sheep shed C. jejuni in their faeces. If a severe enough challenge occurs then abortion may occur.
Until now we have not had a vaccine including C. jejuni. Campyvax 4 does that and in addition, contains a different adjuvant (base), which has been shown to provide an enhanced immune response when compared to Campylovexin.
For these reasons we recommend Campyvax 4 as the preferred vaccine to protect against ¡§Vibrio¡¨ abortion.
Good News ¡V there is no price increase.
Campyvax 4 will cost the same as Campyvax 3.
Salmonella Vaccine
Over the past 2 years we have experienced supply problems with Salvexin B later in the season due to batch failures and unprecedented demand by South Island farmers wishing to protect against Salmonella brandenberg abortions.
We have managed to secure vaccine stocks for our requirements arriving in November to avoid this situation in 2006. Please indicate the quantity you require on the order form to help us ensure we have sufficient stocks earmarked for you.
Michael A Lintott BVSc MACVSc
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Tuesday, July 27, 2004
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TOXOPLASMOSIS AND PREGNANCY - carlyle @ 10:52 am PST
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WHAT IS TOXOPLASMOSIS?
Toxoplasmosis is the disease syndrome caused by a protozoan organism called Toxoplasma gondii. It affects most animals (most notably sheep, cats, and humans.), but even insects, fish, and earthworms may be carriers. Because of the risk to an unborn child, many medical doctors go so far as to recommend that pregnant women do not keep cats as pets.
WHAT IS THE RISK TO AN UNBORN CHILD?
A human with an acute Toxoplasma infection experiences varying degrees of illness: fever, swollen lymph nodes, muscle stiffness, joint pain, swollen liver, and spleen (manifested as a sore upper abdomen). These symptoms may be so mild as to go unnoticed. Illness lasts 1-12 weeks and is often dismissed as a bad cold or mononucleosis.
However, if the person infected is a pregnant woman, the Toxoplasma organism may cross the placenta. The amount of damage done depends on the stage of pregnancy at the time of infection. Infection in early pregnancy may result in miscarriage or stillbirth. Infection in early pregnancy may result in a child with varying degrees of blindness (due to inflamed retina) and/or various severe neurological conditions including hydrocephalus, microcephaly, and retardation. Sometimes problems are not evident at birth and show up late in life.
Fortunately, only 30-40% of infections in pregnant women result in damage to the fetus.
The problems described above occur only when someone is infected with Toxoplasma for the first time; that is, a person who has already had the infection is not likely to get sick again nor is she likely to transmit the organism to an unborn child. (It is estimated that one third of the U.S. population has already had Toxoplasmosis.) In general, people who do experience more than one acute episode are severely immunosuppressed (as from AIDS or cancer therapy.)
HOW DO PEOPLE GET THIS DISEASE?
There are two basic forms of Toxoplasma organism: the "oocyst," which is shed in the cat feces, and the Toxoplasma tissue stages, which live in the flesh of such food animals as hogs and lambs. A person who inadvertently eats either of these forms of Toxoplasma is liable to become infected.
IF MY CAT HAS TOXOPLASMA, WON'T HE BE OBVIOUSLY SICK?
Not necessarily. The form of infection which is contagious to humans is the "intestinal form" in which the cat sheds oocysts in its feces. The cat may or may not show diarrhea.
Cats may experience an acute illness similar to that which humans experience, however, in adults cats, symptoms are usually mild and go unnoticed. This form of infection is not contagious to humans, though a pregnant cat could transmit the disease to her kittens.
HOW IS MY CAT A RISK TO ME?
The cat has probably been over-emphasized as a carrier of Toxoplasma; most human infections result from eating tissue stages of Toxoplasma in undercooked meat.
Usually a cat will only shed oocysts after the first infection of Toxoplasma; a cat that has already had a Toxoplasma infection usually will not re-shed the oocysts unless its immune system has been compromised (as through the feline leukemia virus infection or drugs.) Cats shedding oocysts generally do so for 5-14 days.
Oocysts require 24-48 hours to sporulate --- that is, grow into a form which is dangerous to people. For this reason, the cat's litter box should be changed daily or twice daily. Dangerous oocysts when gardening. Note that freezing weather will not reliably kill dangerous oocysts in soil nor will freezing meat kill the dangerous tissue forms.
Your cat may be tested to see if he/she has already had Toxoplasmosis; a cat that has already been infected is unlikely to shed dangerous oocysts in the future.
HOW CAN I AVOID INFECTION?
1. Probably the most important thing is to be careful when cooking raw meat, especially lamb and pork. DO NOT EAT MEAT OR TASTE MEAT BEFORE IT IS FINISHED COOKING.
2. Wash your hands after handling your cat and his/her litter box.
3. Do not allow your cat to eat raw meat. Feed only commercial cat food and do not allow your cat outside to hunt.
4. Change the litter box daily or twice daily. It is best of course, if someone else changes the box while you are pregnant.
5. Do not dump the litter box into the backyard. Always wear rubber gloves when gardening.
6. Do not allow the cats access to barns where food animals are kept. This is how food animals get infected.
7. Do not drink raw milk, especially goat's milk
Although it is possible to get Toxoplasmosis from cats, no correlation has been found between cat ownership and Toxoplasma infection. There is, however, a very strong association between Toxoplasma infection and working with raw meat as in a slaughterhouse or as a butcher. Be careful handling raw meat.
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Dogs Suffer In Silence During the Cold Snap - carlyle @ 10:24 am PST
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Make sure your dog gets a much-needed checkover!
With the cold winds and winter conditions of the last few weeks, it¡¦s unlikely that people in Hawkes Bay are feeling their most active. Stiff joints, aching bones and unexercised muscles abound¡K and it¡¦s not just us that are feeling the effects!
Did you know that 20% of all dogs suffer from arthritis, and one in two dogs over the age of six have some form of musculoskeletal problem? So how do you know if your pet is OK?
Arthritis develops slowly so it¡¦s possible for a dog to adapt to the problem and the associated pain and effectively hide it from you. As dogs tend to ¡§suffer in silence¡¨ and seldom complain, when they do you can be sure they¡¦re in significant pain.
If your dog is to live life to the full, avoiding increasing pain and stiffness, you need to be aware of the clues which may help to identify potential problems early. That way, you can take the necessary action as quickly as possible.
Although arthritis is a year-round problem it can often get worse in the cold and wet of winter. Veterinarian Dr Alayne O¡¦Reilly-Nugent said ¡§Like us, dogs are more susceptible to arthritis during the winter months and given the recent cold snap, I would strongly encourage Hawkes Bay dog owners to take their dogs to their vet for a winter check up now ¡V a canine checkover if you like.
¡§This will help spot the early signs of stiff joints. Your vet will advise on suitable exercise regimens, appropriate diets to ensure the joints aren¡¦t being overloaded and suitable treatments aimed at reducing pain and stiffness.¡§
Dr O¡¦Reilly-Nugent continues, ¡§If your dog is suffering from arthritis, treatment may need to be given every day. Often we are terrible at remembering to take our own medicine regularly and people can be just as forgetful with their dog¡¦s medicine too. That¡¦s why, where possible, the simpler the administration for the pet the better. ¡§
Dr O¡¦Reilly-Nugent explained ¡§Dogs can be very smart and often they find even cunningly hidden tablets and eat around them, so they don¡¦t benefit from the full dose of the medication. The owner then rightly worries that the dog isn¡¦t getting the pain relief it needs. So on the whole, for long-term treatments, the easier it is for the owner to give, the more likely it will be that the dog gets its vital medication¡¨.
Dr O¡¦Reilly-Nugent continued, ¡§Tablets can be a problem and owners should be aware that the alternative of a liquid oral suspension is available. Designed with the owner and dog in mind, Metacam„¥ Oral Suspension has a pleasant honey taste, can be tailored to the exact weight of the dog and can be added to the dog¡¦s food
with a dropper or special syringe. Metacam„¥ eliminates the need to split tablets into smaller pieces to get a correct dose as well as avoiding the problems of crushing and hiding tablets in the dog bowl.¡¨
In an overseas study with over 200 vets, 97% of dog owners who used both oral suspension and tablets, when given a choice, said that they prefer Metacam„¥ Oral Suspension, to traditional tablets.* Dr O¡¦Reilly-Nugent concluded ¡§It¡¦s definitely one for Hawkes Bay dog owners to discuss with their vet to help ensure their dogs don¡¦t suffer in silence any more.¡¨
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Animal Remedies and Goats - carlyle @ 10:23 am PST
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A frequent question asked whenever I am in the company of other goat farmers is whether a certain product is safe to use on their goats. I have noted in this newsletter and others recently, comments about the use of Ewegard and Impress in goats. Both are used ‘off label’, meaning no registration claim is made for that product for use in goats in New Zealand.
What gives me grave concern is the misuse of the word TRIAL. Quote from ‘Simply Boers’ Issue 5 September 2003, “A North Island Angora breeder has been trialing this product” and “Again being trialed on an Angora flock”.
There are two issues here. Firstly, what constitutes a clinical trial? Such a trial involves a significant number in a group - treating some animals, not treating others, (controls), knowing pre treatment levels of say, parasites, bodyweights etc and comparing those two groups following treatment. Statistical analysis to prove the significance of any difference is also required.
To merely use a product and claim ‘it appears to be working well’ is not adequate and very misleading. Secondly, how many reading those comments realise that the anthelmintic (drench) active ingredient in Ewegard is exactly the same as Vetdectin or Cydectin (moxidectin), two products commonly used already in goats!! Some farmers may have used Ewegard not realizing the active ingredient was the same as they had used all season or previously.
As time passes fewer and fewer products will be licensed for use in the ‘minor species’ due to the increased costs of registering then under the new ACVM Act. Minor species includes not just goats but alpacas, deer, llamas, not to mention rats, mice, hedgehogs, dolphins, NZ fur seals and all other species we as veterinarians treat on a daily basis. There are no antibiotics registered for use in dolphins worldwide!! Also there is no 5 in 1 vaccine licensed for deer in New Zealand!!
As veterinarians we have clear and firm guidelines when recommending the ‘off label’ use of an animal remedy. Since many goats ultimately end up in the food chain, of particular concern is the withholding period prior to slaughter. We must firstly assess whether there is a registered product available which is suitable for use to treat or prevent that condition. Sufficient research must be carried out to assess the information available with respect to the probability of residues of the medicine in food, fibre, or other products derived from the animal to be treated. Where that is not possible a minimum safe withholding time of 60 days must be set.
In some cases this may entail the veterinarian contacting the company producing the product and enquiring re the registration of the medicine in other countries, for use in a particular species. Sometimes that information is available due to a larger market in that country. A good example of this is ‘Zapp’ – A Spray On version similar to that just released in New Zealand – is licensed for use in South Africa in goats.
It is therefore still possible to use a range of non registered veterinary medicines in goats. At the end of the day if they are on ‘over the counter’ product the onus is on the user should residue issues occur in meat or fibre.
When a veterinarian supplies a product the onus is on his/her shoulders. Work with your veterinarian to research the use of a particular product if necessary or direct him/her to other veterinarians who may have already done the research – no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’.
Goats have been maligned rightly or wrongly by many commercial farmers largely for their issues with feet and parasites following experiences of the boom days in the 80’s. When using a product such as Impress, the great unknown is the blood levels following application of the product to goat skin. If those blood levels are not high enough to kill worms, then they are exposed to sublethal levels of the drug (only makes them sick!), – GREATLY enhancing the development of resistance.
Ancare, the makers of Impress do not support it’s use in goats at all, (yet they have a vested interest in selling the product!). The same active – abamectin can be given orally as Genesis with reasonable assurance that adequate blood levels are reached.
To quote from an article by Dr Ray Kaplan, Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia:
“The systemic availability (= blood levels) of the avermectins and moxidectin when administered topically is significantly lower in goats than cattle. This leads to lower efficacy and longer sub therapeutic levels –a perfect situation for selecting resistant worms”. “In the southeast (USA), we are surprised when these drenches are effective in goats!”
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