here - Teme Veterinary Practice

Farm Newsletter
Winter 2014
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all
at Teme Vets
Farm dogs: To Worm or Not To Worm?
There is an estimated £5 million cost to the sheep industry
caused by condemnation of
carcases infected with dog
tapeworm.
Dogs carry multiple gut parasites, with little to no symptoms seen, of which the dog
tapeworm is of most concern
to sheep farmers. Infected
dog faeces contain thousands
of tapeworm eggs which remain infective for up to a year.
Inside this issue:
Tapeworm in farm dogs
1
New vet
1
Calf Pneumonia
2
Fluke
2
Pregnancy scanning sheep
3
Dates for your diary
4
Cases in this area
4
These eggs are easily ingested
by sheep where dogs have
passed faeces on pasture or
forage. The eggs hatch in the
gut of the sheep and the larvae travel through tissue to
reach their target – different
species preferring different
areas ( e.g. muscle, liver,
heart) – where they form a
cyst. The sheep show little to
no clinical signs. Presence of
these cysts at the abattoir
results in part to whole carcase rejection.
To prevent infection of sheep:
Consult your vet for a
regular worming plan
for your farm dogs,
some dog worming
products do not actually treat tapeworm.
Prevent dogs gaining access to fallen stock –
ingestion of a cyst reinfects the dog and
the cycle begins
again
Consider signs at regularly
used footpaths on
your land, informing
the public of the risk
untreated dogs pose.
Meet our new team member!
We welcome a new member to
our veterinary team, Alice Paxman. She is new graduate
from Liverpool University with
a keen interest in farm animal
medicine, particularly lameness in cattle and sheep flock
health. She will be based
mainly in our Tenbury Wells
branch and is soon to start TB
testing.
We are currently offering a buy one get
one free on wormers for farm dogs.
Please ask us for
more details.
Page 2
Winter 2014
Prevention is better than cure — Calf Pneumonia
Pneumonia in calves results in
significant production loss,
especially during the housing
period.
perature, ventilation,
moisture levels
2.
Multiple factors contribute:
1.
Housing design – tem-
3.
Mixed age groups –
older animals are a
reservoir of infection
Animal’s immune
status
Many different virus and bacterial causes contribute.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN
CURE. By the time animals
start to show clinical signs
there has already been a production loss. Costs are estimated to be £30 for a mild
case and £500 for an animal
that dies. The biggest cost of
all is the weight loss during
illness, including that of the in
contact animals, not just the
sick animal!
Vaccines are available to reduce risk of respiratory disease in calves and can be
incorporated into your herd
health plan. Please ask for
veterinary advice for treatment
of pneumonia in calves.
Our vet Emily, has recently
undertaken a CPD course regarding housing for cattle and
is more than willing, along with
our other vets, to provide simple, cheap advice on improvements to your cattle housing.
The issue with Fluke in Cattle and Sheep
Liver fluke in cattle and sheep
can often go unnoticed but will
result in inevitable production
loss due to growth and fertility
problems. This parasite is always an issue in late autumn
and winter and the recent increase in liver condemnations
at the abattoir suggests it is
now becoming more widespread. The same parasite
infects both cattle and sheep
and an important stage of the
lifecycle involves the mud
snail.
The stage of the lifecycle that
takes place in the snail creates
a strong link between the
weather and risk of challenge
of infection by the
parasite, purely
because the snail is
only around in mild
wet weather. This
year’s dry summer
has meant that
there is a low risk
from fluke at the
moment however,
with the sudden
onset of rain we
have seen some
cases of sudden
death associated
with acute fluke infestation.
This year’s wet and mild autumn may also contribute to a
bigger problem next year.
In a spell of mild, wet weather,
there can be a sudden increase in the amount of potential infective stages on the
pasture. This can contribute to
immediate onset of the acute
and subacute stages of the
disease. If the amount of potential infective stages on the
pasture is low, the animal is at
risk of developing the chronic
disease. Fluke can also cause
sudden death from the clostridial ‘Black disease’ in unvaccinated animal.
Symptoms
1) Acute
Sudden death, more commonly sheep than cattle.
Caused by sudden migration of
large amounts of the immature
stage of fluke through the liver.
On post-mortem = severe liver
damage and haemorrhage.
2) Subacute
Again more common in sheep.
Tend to see rapid loss of body
condition and poor fleece quality with losses from December
onwards.
3) Chronic
Signs seen in both cattle and
sheep are similar occurring
from mid winter onwards.
Chronic weight loss, scour,
poor fertility, little milk and
increased risk of infection and
metabolic disease in late pregnancy/early lactation.
The disease typically occurs in
late autumn which is when we
need to be treating the immature stages with products containing triclabendazoles (e.g.
Combinex, Fasinex) . This is a
less effective drug at other
times of the year and so we
should consider using products that kill the mature stages
of fluke such as nitroxynil and
oxyclozanide (e.g. Trodax,
Zanil) to tackle the sub-acute
and chronic parts of disease
which would otherwise result
in production loss. Please consult your vet for more information on which product to use.
Winter 2014
Page 3
Pregnancy Scanning Ewes
Scanning for pregnancy in
sheep is an extremely useful
management tool in modern
sheep farming. It allows for a
more productive and cost effective lambing period on both
the individual sheep and flock
basis.
Scanning is recommended to
take place between 70 and
105 days of pregnancy (please
contact the scanning company
to check what stage of pregnancy they prefer). The majority of sheep scanning services
provide an idea of number of
lambs per ewe and will find
barren ewes within the flock.
Please don’t just sell those
barren ewes straight away!
They could potentially be an
early indication of an abortion
problem within your flock! The
2 most common causes of
abortion in sheep; Enzootic
and Toxoplasma, both can
cause barren ewes from early
pregnancy loss. These can
both be tested for by sampling
the ewe’s blood. Any positive
results will allow plenty of time
for your vet to work with you to
produce a plan to reduce lamb
losses in the event of an abortion outbreak at lambing time.
We recommend that, if you
have a greater than 2% barren
rate at scan, these ewes
should be blood tested. Once
the blood sample as been
taken, these ewes can be sold
to take advantage of the winter mutton prices.
Scanning allows us to know
the number of lambs carried
by each ewe allows for cost
effective nutrition of the flock.
This also reduces lambing
difficulties by ensuring each
ewe is in the right condition to
lamb and is less likely to develop metabolic issues such as
twin lamb disease.
Knowing what to expect gives
you the advantage during the
lambing period. Lamb losses
will be reduced if you are
aware that that ewe with 2
lambs has another on the way
and therefore should still be
monitored. Grouping singles
and triplets next to each other
also makes fostering lambs on
to another ewe easier.
MSD are offering a free barren
ewe blood test in January
2015 run through the SAC to
look for infectious causes of
abortion in your barren ewes.
Please ask us for more information.
“Scanning is
recommended to
take place between
70 and 105 days
of pregnancy”
Dates for your Diary
17th December 2014 –Our vet Emily will
be speaking at an ADAS/EBLEX
meeting on the evening of the 17th at the
Ludlow Rugby Club.
Contact Details
Early February 2015—We will be holding
an evening on ‘Preparing for Lambing’ with
The Casemill
Temeside
Ludlow
Shropshire
SY8 1JW
MSD. Date and venue will be confirmed
Free Tests Available
Phone: 01584 872 147
Fax: 01584 874 523
Please visit our website:
www.temevets.co.uk
MSD are currently offering free tests through the SAC.
DairyCheck and BeefCheck are currently on offer, to screen
your herd for BVD, IBR and Leptosporosis. Additional
charged tests offered through the programme include
Johne’s, fluke (dairy only) and Neospora (beef only). In
January 2015 they will also offer FlockCheck, to screen
barren ewes for infectious causes of abortion. Please ask
one of the vets of how this could benefit you.
Diseases seen in this area: Laryngeal Chondritis
We have recently seen multiple cases of this disease in the
area. There is frustratingly little
known about this condition
and it can lead to sudden
death in sheep
Laryngeal chondritis is a
known disease occurring most
commonly in Texel sheep but
has been seen in the Charollais and Beltex breeds. There
is thought to be a genetic link
in these breeds. Not much is
known about the disease but
other potential suggested
causes include drenching injuries, rough handling and dry,
dusty feed. Symptoms seen
with affected sheep include
struggling to breathe, noisy
breathing, swelling of the
throat and even sudden death.
The disease is thought to be
caused by an infection
(although no-one knows the
exact bacteria involved) which
causes chronic infection of the
throat and sudden swelling.
This swelling blocks the airway
and which can cause sudden
death.
Symptomatic treatment
can be given but must be
administered in the early
stages to be of success.
Frustratingly it is often
fatal.