Approach to coelamic disorders associated with the GIT and the liver Flashcards
What are the clinical signs of coccidiosis?
Hunched, tail down, fluffed up
Penguin stance
Oral lesions
Crop distension
Regurgitation
Emaciation and cachexia
Abnormal droppings
Reduced activity and behaviour
How do you approach disease in commercial birds?
Full intestinal inspection to localise the lesion
Further investigations= microscopy of content and intestinal wall scrape
Histology
Electron microscopy
Virus isolation
How do you approach disease in pet birds?
- Clinical examination including
palpation of crop and abdomen to
localise the lesion - Faecal smears [FEC, FOC,
Microscopy (coccidian,
spirochaetes), Gram stain
(clostridia)] - Faecal culture (Salmonella
Gallinarum, Salmonella Pullorum
or Brachyspira species) - Biochemistry/Haematology
- PM if died
What are the two types of diarrhoea you can find?
Intestinal diarrhoea
Caecal diarrhoea
What does trichomonas cause?
Motile protozoa
causes plaques in the upper GIT
need to perform scrapes and microscopy
What causes mild gizzard ulceration?
Trauma, Foreign Bodies
What causes severe gizzard ulceration?
Adenovirus
Mycotoxins
What is coccidiosis?
Non-motile protozoa - Eimeria
Costs industry £500million
What is the summary of the coccidia lifecycle?
Oocyst in faeces is initially noninfectious.
Infectious in 2 days with ideal
humidity, temperature and
oxygen.
Progeny released by killing caecal
intestinal cell at each stage.
1 ingested oocyst can give rise to
millions of progeny in 7 days
How would you treat coccidia?
Amprolium
Toltrazuril
Supportive = temp, feed, vitamins, electrolytes
How would you prevent coccidia?
Coccidiostats
Live vaccination (5 or 8 strains)
Hygiene – reduce carry-over of
oocysts between crops
Control litter moisture
Reduce stocking density
What is enteritis?
MULTIFACTORIAL, including stress, coccidiosis, enteric viruses e.g. reovirus, rotavirus etc.
Clostridia overgrowth (should be in caeca not jejunum!)
Can develop into necrotic enteritis if not managed.
What is the treatment of enteritis?
- Balanced diet
- Nursing – see slide
- Amoxycillin if Clostridial
What causes necrotic enteritis?
- Clostridium perfringens
ubiquitous, commensal (caeca) - Multifactorial
- Acute overgrowth and toxin
formation (mainly C.perfringens
type A)
What are the clinical signs of necrotic enteritis?
→ Severe necrosis of mucosa
→ Haematochezia, melena,
anaemia, “sudden death”
How do you treat necrotic enteritis?
Penicillin, Tylosin
What is spironucleosis?
Motile protozoa
How would you treat spironucleosis?
None, Oxytetracycline
to control secondary bacteria
infection.
Electrolytes
Supportive
What are the signs of histomoniasis?
sudden death, black head
What does egg bound mean?
Usually salpingitis
What is the treatment for salpingitis?
GA, analgesia, cloacal palpation,
using a 18G needle penetrate the egg
and drain it to reduce likelihood of
infection. Break the egg up by forceps
and remove it gradually. She is likely to
pass pieces of egg in the next few days
What are the clinical signs of peritonitis?
Sick hen with no temperature and no
abdominal distension, not emaciated
and clear fluid on coelomcentesis
