Avian & Exotic Flashcards
What are 2 potential causes of dysecdysis in snakes?
1) Mites
2) Incorrect humidity
3) Lack of proper substrate (contact surface)
4) Improper handling
5) Malnutrition
6) Dermatitis
7) Trauma
All may be associated with incomplete shedding of the skin (dysecdysis)
Name one risk associated with NOT providing a 30-minute water bath/soak at least daily for captive tortoises.
Dehydration, decreased defecation are most common; decreased activity and alertness are also possible.
Name 3 possible causes of abnormally soft-shelled (or shelless) eggs in laying hens.
1) Birds coming into lay
2) Newcastle disease/paramyxovirus
3) Infectious bronchitis
4) Egg drop syndrome 76 (atadenovirus-induced disease)
5) Avian rhinotracheitis
6) Treatment with sulfa-class antibiotics
Turtles have a plastron and a carapace. Which is dorsal and which is ventral? Are there scutes on the carapace, the plastron, or on both?
Carapace is dorsal and plastron is ventral. Both have scutes (keratinized epidermal outermost coverings).
What is the largest organ in the rabbit’s abdomen, containing approximately 40% of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract?
The cecum
Name 3 possible causes for urolith formation in reptiles.
1) Bacterial infection
2) Dietary calcium deficiency
3) Dietary oxalate excess (e.g. feeding spinach)
4) Dietary protein excess (e.g. when dog or cat food is given to herbivores)
5) Intraluminal suture remnant
6) Vitamin A deficiency
7) Vitamin D deficiency
What are 3 common causes of hypoglycemia in ferrets?
1) Insulinoma (most common)
2) Iatrogenic hypoadrenocorticism
3) Liver disease
4) Sepsis
5) Neoplasia
6) Reduced intake (in juveniles/kits)
Lymphoplasmacytic infiltration of peripheral and central nerve tissue is a characteristic of which common avian gastrointestinal disease?
Proventricular dilation disease (PDD)
This infectious disease of chickens produces upper respiratory infection due to a tropism for ciliated cells by the causative bacterium, Avibacterium paragallinarum. What is the name of the disease?
Infectious coryza, a disorder that produces high morbidity (highly contagious spread via aerosolization) and low mortality.
True or false: The kidneys routinely should be palpable on an awake, adult iguana.
True, per cloaca. A gloved, lubricated digit is inserted into the cloaca and the kidneys are palpable within the pelvic canal, on the dorsal aspect.
During necropsy, you identify pinworms (Passalurus ambiguus) incidentally in a rabbit. What do you tell the owner regarding zoonotic potential?
No concern; these oxyurids are host-specific to the rabbit.
Periocular alopecia and truncation of whiskers in a group of mice is due to barbering. What is the underlying cause?
Behavioral (hierarchical); it is a result of ‘‘dominant’’ males chewing the hair of submissive cagemates.
You want to immobilize a turtle for craniocaudal and lateral radiographs, and your seasoned technician recommends getting a roll of duct tape. As you start to tape the turtle down, the technician laughs at you. What have you done wrong?
You are supposed to place the roll of tape flat on the radiographic table and then just place the (untaped) turtle on top of it; with nothing for the limbs to make contact with, the turtle will be immobilized for a horizontal beam lateral projection.
How long should a budgerigar be fasted prior to undergoing general anesthesia?
2-3 hours, due to small bird’s high metabolic rate and poor hepatic glycogen storage; with cockatiel-sized and larger birds in good physical condition, removing the food for the night before does not appear to be harmful. Regardless, ensuring the crop is empty prior to anesthesia is very important due to the risk of regurgitation and aspiration.
Exudative diathesis (with extravascular leakage of plasma and blood), nutritional muscular dystrophy, and encephalomalacia (crazy chick disease) are recognized syndromes caused by deficiency of which vitamin in poultry?
Vitamin E deficiency
Which classes of organisms are considered pathologic and should not be apparent in the fecal Gram’s stain of a healthy pet passerine?
A healthy passerine’s fecal Gram stain preparation should be free of bacteria, yeast, and Macrorhabdus spp. organisms. This is in contrast to psittacines, where the Gran stain commonly identifies bacteria.
What is the treatment of choice for ferrets with estrogen toxicosis?
Ovariohysterectomy
What are ratites?
The family of flightless birds that includes ostriches, emus, cassowaries and kiwi.
Circovirus infection in pet birds can cause which clinical disease?
Psittacine beak and feather disease
An owner states that her adult rabbit begins to eat and then stops after only a few bites. There is hypersalivation. You reach for your otoscope for what reason?
To examine the caudal part of the oral cavity. When overgrown, dental malocclusion due to excessively long molars and premolars produces these characteristic signs.
Your necropsy of a middle-aged male chameleon reveals a liver that is dark brown to black, and multiple patches of black, and multiple patches of black coloration throughout the mesentery. What is your interpretation?
Normal finding in the chameleon and many reptiles.
Which external parasite would be the most likely cause of intense pruritus and dorsal truncal alopecia in the guinea pig?
Mites (mange), notably Trixacarus caviae in the guinea pig.
What is the most common clinical disorder caused by herpesvirus infection in tortoises?
Stomatitis and rhinitis
A malnourished cockatiel has wet feathers surrounding the mouth, and halitosis. An oral swab shows budding yeasts cytologically. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Candidasis
Name 2 physical signs of hyperkeratosis in birds.
Overgrowth of the beak, overgrowth of nails, chronically retained pin feathers.
It is typically caused by vitamin A deficiency.
Exotic Newcastle disease virus is shed through which body systems in infected birds?
Respiratory and gastrointestinal (feces)
What is the most common vector of avian poxviruses?
The mosquito; poxviruses require an injury such as a mosquito bite wound to enter the body
Which vein is most accessible for avian blood collection?
Right jugular vein
Which animal has an ear cavity and a tympanic membrane: an iguana or a snake?
An iguana; snakes have neither (they are deaf) and rely mainly on smell and sensation of ground vibrations for sensory input.
A hamster fed a seed-based die develops skeletal muscle dystrophy. What is the deficient nutrient?
Vitamin E
What are three acceptable methods to euthanize a chicken?
1) Cervical dislocation
2) Decapitation
3) Injectable barbiturate
4) Inhalation (Carbon dioxide, other)
What is the main reason an owner would want you to castrate his/her healthy green iguana?
Intact male green iguanas can become very aggressive (notably towards the owners) during the breeding period.
Chinchillas ‘‘dust bathe’’ (roll in sand and dry earth) daily for self-grooming. What is an expected complication of excessive dust bathing in pet chinchillas that justifies curtailing the duration of dust baths?
Conjunctivitis due to excess aerosolized dust.
What is the most common cause of epiphora in rabbits?
Dental disease (most commonly incisor malocclusion), resulting in blockage of the nasolacrimal duct, or irritation of the globe from tooth root elongation or abscessation.
When examining a bird, there are important indicators of when the patient is too compromised to safely be handled. Name 3.
1) A panting bird with an unrestrained head that is not looking for something to bite
2) You can place something in its mouth without it trying to bite
3) The bird’s grip with its feet is weak or non-existent
4) The bird’s eyes close during the physical exam
5) If in doubt, set it down
Your imbecilic brother-in-law shows you his ‘‘hilarious, piano-playing’’ iguana: there are rhythmic tremors of the digits of the forelimbs. What is the most likely explanation?
Muscle tremors caused by severe hypocalcemia, typically due to nutritional deficiency.
Can an intraosseous catheter be placed in a bird’s ulna, or would doing so potentially cause fluids to be administered into the respiratory system (air sacs)?
The ulna can be used in birds for placement of an intraosseous catheter, as its cavity contains marrow, not air sacs.
Besides tracheal intubation, name the other safe, effective means to ventilate an apneic bird.
Air sac canulation
While you are handling a gecko, a large portion of its skin suddenly detaches and remains in your hands. What is the most likely cause?
Normal defense/escape mechanism (not indicative of nutritional, endocrine or other similar disease)
Malnutrition and liver disease are characterized by changes in the number and distribution of bacteria on the fecal Gram stain of birds. In the later stages of malnutrition and liver disease, which changes are generally shown?
Increase in Gram-negative rods, and presence of yeast.
Why would a small litter size predispose a jill to prolonged gestation, leading to fetal death?
In ferrets, small litters may not provide sufficient hormonal stimulus to trigger parturition.
Which birds comprise the passerines?
Members of the order Passeriformes (the largest of all avian orders) e.g Finches, canaries, cardinals,…
Infection with which of the following organisms would be appropriately treated or prevented using monensin?
A) Bordetella avium
B) Eimeria spp.
C) Escherichia coli
D) Salmonella spp.
B) Eimeria spp.
Since monensin is a coccidiostat.
An adult rabbit is acutely depressed and weak. You identify signs of severe abdominal pain and a tympanic cranial abdomen. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Gastric outflow obstruction (classically due to a trichobezoar) causing gastric dilation
On a Gram stain of feces of psittacines, should the normal intestinal flora be Gram+ or Gram-?
Gram +; Normal fecal flora of psittacines is comprised of 100% Gram +, non-spore forming rods and cocci
Which organism is responsible for necrotic enteritis, a disease of chickens characterized by liquefactive necrosis of the intestine?
Clostridium perfringens
What is the most simple, gentle restraint technique of ferrets that appears to relax and immobilize them for simple procedures?
Suspension of the ferret’s body by grasping the loose skin at the nape of the neck (holding by the scruff)…
Name 2 adverse consequences that may occur as a result of chronic (excessive) egg-laying in a cockatiel.
1) Egg-binding/dystocia
2) Yolk coelomitis/peritonitis
3) Osteoporosis
What is the most common skin tumor of ferrets?
Mast cell tumor; Mast cell tumors in ferrets release vasoactive substances but rarely metastasize.
You recommend to the owner of ornamental fish that he add malachite green to the tank water once daily for three days. Which disease are your treating?
Mycoses (such as Saprolegnia spp.) or any of a number of protozoal infections (e.g. Dactylogridis spp./gill flukes, Ichtyopthirius multifilis/’‘ick’’) can be treated this way.
Several weanling pups in a litter of mice have severe diarrhea and rectal prolapse; two have died. The causative organism is Citrobacter freundii. What is the disease?
Transmissible murine colonic hyperplasia. At necropsy, intestinal mucosal thickening is a pathognomonic finding.
Is the green iguana (Iguana iguana) naturally an herbivore, an insectivore, or a carnivore; and is it oviparous or viviparous?
It is an herbivore (plant-eater) and it is oviparous (lays eggs).
Which family of etiologic agents causes duck virus enteritis, infectious laryngotracheitis of chickens, Pacheco disease, and Marek’s disease?
Herpesviridae
When assessing the abdomen of a normal bird, should the area between the caudal end of the sternum and the pubic bones be concave or convex?
Concave. If this area is convex, then abdominal distension is present.
In parrots, the syrinx is the ‘‘voice box’’. Where is it located?
A) At the bifurcation of the trachea
B) At the level of the larynx
C) In the caudal aspect of the oral cavity
D) In the infraorbital sinus
A) At the bifurcation of the trachea
Name 3 anatomic sites for obtaining a venous blood sample from a mouse?
1) Lateral tail vein
2) Retro-orbital sinus
3) Toenail clip
4) Tail clip
5) Cardiocentesis (Right atrium or ventricle)
What are the 3 chambers of the avian cloaca?
Coprodeum, urodeum, proctodeum
Feather-picking is a common behavioral abnormality of pet birds. Name 3 non-behavioral causes of feather picking in these animals.
1) Ectoparasites
2) Allergic dermatitis
3) Contact dermatitis (sprays, shampoos, etc)
4) Endoparasites
5) Renal disease
6) Hepatic disease
7) Air sac disorders
8) Coelomic granulomas
9) Enteritis
10) Neoplasia
11) Zinc toxicosis
12) Lead toxicosis
13) Nutritional deficiencies
What is the name of the infectious stage of the Clamydophila psittaci organism?
Elementary Body
Arrange the following life stages of young birds in increasing order of age (youngest to oldest): Fledgling, Hatchling, Nestling
1) Hatchling - 0-4 days old
2) Nestling - 4-10 days old
3) Fledgling - 10-14 days old
Chickens in a crowded, poorly ventilated henhouse show respiratory signs. Necropsy reveals pneumonia, pleuritis, sequestered necrotic lung lesions, and caseous arthritis. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Fowl cholera (Pasteurella multocida infection)
An adult boa constrictor has developed a deep bluish tinge to its skin and spectacles. What is the cause?
Imminent, normal shedding of skin (ecdysis)
A large, pulsatile mass effect is visible and palpable at the junction of the proximal and middle thirds of the body of a well-fleshed milksnake. What is the diagnosis?
Cardiomegaly. It is important not to overinterpret cardiomegaly in emaciated snakes, where the normal heart may be easily palpable.
Of all the avian species, quail are classically susceptible to this disease, caused by Clostridium colinum.
Ulcerative enteritis
How old is an altricial bird if its feathers are beginning to sprout, its eyes are open, it has downy feathers on its head, but it cannot yet perch?
4-10 days old. ‘‘Altricial’’: Requiring nourishment, i.e., dependent on parental feeding.
When administering medications or fluids to a lizard by intracelomic injection, you are careful to insert the needle in the ventrocaudal coelomic cavity, slightly off midline, to avoid two important structures. Which ones?
You are avoiding the lungs by being located ventrocaudally, and the ventral abdominal vein by being paramedian.
What are 3 differential diagnoses for lameness in chickens, excluding trauma?
1) Rickets
2) Osteomyelitis
3) Marek’s disease
4) Synovitis
5) Femoral head necrosis
Which one of these is common in ferrets?
A) Demodectic mange
B) Otodectic mange
C) Sarcoptic mange
B) Otodectic mange
Ear mites - Otodectes cynotis
Woodchucks are prone to viral-associated malignance of which organ?
Liver (hepatocellular carcinoma), which explains their use in oncology research.
Although causality has not been proven, an association exists between gastrointestinal lymphoma and which enteric bacterium in ferrets?
Helicobacter mustelae
Which one is TRUE regarding rats?
A) Epiphyses do not close and bones grow continuously
B) Forepaws have 5 digits, hindpaws have 4
C) Rats have left and right palatine tonsils, like dogs, cats and humans
D) The left and right lungs have an equal number of lobes
A) Epiphyses do not close and bones grow continuously throughout life.
In the rat, forepaws have 4 digits and hindpaws have 5; there are no tonsils; and the lungs are asymmetrical in size, where the left lung is very small and monolobar, and the right much larger and divided into 4 lobes.
What is the most common form of neoplasia in the rabbit, affecting up to 60% of those of more than 3 years old?
Uterine adenocarcinoma
If you are trimming a budgerigar’s beak and find that it bleeds easily, what is the most likely underlying disorder?
Nutritional imbalance. With poor nutrition, the vessels grow closer to the tip and bleed more profusely. Also, budgerigars and other parrots do not normally require beak trimming.
What is the primary cause of ingluvitis, inflammation of the crop?
Seed-based malnutrition; Ingluvitis can be prevented with properly formulated diets.
Koi herpesvirus has spread worldwide and can cause devastating mortalities in koi. What are the 2 best measures to take to prevent this disease in a stock of koi and to prevent further spread of the disease?
1) Purchase fish from reputable sources
2) Always quarantine new fish
This includes maintaining any new fish in separate systems for at least 3 weeks at a temperature of 75 degrees F (24 degrees C). Measuring antibodies in the serum of fish may help to see if a fish has ever been exposed to the virus.
A chick hatchery reports several dead-in-shell chicks; adult chickens show depression, respiratory difficulty, and loss of appetite. Necropsied chicks have peritonitis and culture of the viscera reveals a Salmonella species. What is this disease?
Pullorum disease (Salmonella pullorum)
When and how often do birds molt?
Most birds lose their feathers (molt) heavily twice yearly, in the spring and autumn. Continual heavy molts, and failure to molt, are abnormal.
Armadillos are used in genetic research because of a unique characteristic of their litters. What is it?
Armadillos give birth to monozygous quadruplets.
In snakes, the plasma half-life of gentamicin given intramuscularly is:
A) 2-3 hours
B) 6-8 hours
C) 12 hours
D) More than 24 hours
D) More than 24 hours
It is 10-40 times longer than in mammals, justifying a q72h or q96h interdosage interval.
What is the difference between the number of incisors in rodents versus lagomorphs?
Rodents have 4 incisors (2 upper, 2 lower) whereas lagomorphs have 6: the same 4 as rodents, plus 2 small additional incisors directly behind the upper incisors (‘‘peg teeth’’ in rabbits).
Name the nematodal parasite, common in starlings, crows, and other passerines housed in outdoor aviaries, whose adult stage lives in permanent copulation within the lumen of the trachea.
Syngamus trachea (gapeworm or red worm)
Which fungal disease of pet birds classically occurs after a stressful event, involves a saprophytic fungus, produces nonspecific systemic and respiratory signs, and causes thick white discharge in the trachea or white yellow plaques seen endoscopically in the air sacs?
Aspergillosis, a common, opportunistic, infectious (but not contagious) disease of stressed pet birds.
A textbook specifies that an intramuscular injection for a lizard should not be administered in the tail or hindlimbs. Why?
Many reptiles, including lizards, have RENOPORTAL circulation in the caudal part of the body, and injection in this site could lead to nephrotoxicosis, loss of systemic efficacy, or both.
Your radiograph of a sea turtle identifies a fish-hook in the stomach. Other than perforation, what are your two concerns?
1) Gastrointestinal obstruction, since fishing line attached to the hook often traps plastic and other debris
2) Leas toxicosis, since lead weights/sinkers can be attaches to the hook via fishing line
Which zoonotic skin mite causes profuse scaling, alopecia (typically in the interscapular region), and variable degrees of pruritus in rabbits?
Cheyletiella spp. mites (‘‘walking dandruff’’)
Ferrets are susceptible to all the following infectious diseases except one. Which one?
A) Canine distemper
B) Feline panleukopenia
C) Heartworm disease
D) Rabies
B) Feline panleukopenia
In a 5 year-old budgerigar, progressive hindlimb paralysis is the main manifestation of a renal neoplasm. Why would renal infiltration cause this specific neurologic deficit?
Because the sciatic nerve courses through the renal parenchyma in budgerigars and most other species of birds.
Normal bird droppings consist of feces and a white liquid. What is the name of the liquid and what gives it the white color?
Urates. Uric acid gives them their color.
Oviduct trauma or infections, obesity, nutritional imbalances, and oviduct fatigue are possible predisposing causes for which urogenital disorder in female birds?
Egg binding. Infertility would also be an acceptable answer.
An African grey parrot acquires this disease by inhalation of infected feather dust and initially develops clubbed, fractured feathers, leading to symmetrical, diffuse, near-total feather loss in the ensuing year. The bird ultimately dies of secondary infections. What is the disease?
Psittacine beak and feather disease
What is the primary anatomical site of gas exchange in the avian patient?
Parabronchial tissue in the lung
Which diet predisposes rabbits to gastric stasis syndrome?
A) High carbohydrate/low fiber
B) Low carbohydrate/low fiber
C) Diet has no significant effect on this syndrome
A) High carbohydrate/low fiber
Fiber promotes peristalsis
You have a gerbil and a hamster side-by-side. How do you know which is which?
The gerbil has a slimmer longer body shape than the hamster, the gerbil’s hindlimbs are much longer (allowing it to jump or stand virtually upright), and gerbils have longer, haired tails.
What is the minimum recommended duration of treatment for Chlamydophila psittaci infection in avian patients?
45 days
What is the function of the crop in birds?
It is a food storage organ. It allows birds to rapidly ingest food items in a short period of time and then retreat t save coverage to digest the meal, and to ingest and store feed in the evening before roosting, thus providing for overnight energy needs.
A commercial flock of several hundred chickens needs to be vaccinated. What are 3 ways you could administer the vaccine?
1) In the drinking water
2) By aerosol
3) By topical ocular application
4) By injection
5) In feed
6) In ovo
In birds, what is the inhalant toxin associated with non-stick cookware and what does it cause?
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon), which causes pulmonary congestion, pulmonary edema and/or hemorrhage, and death; associated with non-stick pans, self-cleaning ovens, and other PTFE-coated cooking utensils.
You perform a necropsy on a 12 year-old hyacinth macaw that died after exhibiting lethargy, anorexia, and diarrhea. You note hepatosplenomegaly and evidence of pneumonia. Histologically, Cowdry type A inclusion bodies are present in the spleen and liver. What is the diagnosis?
Pacheco’s disease, a herpesvirus (circovirus) infection that is sometimes called herpes hepatosplenitis.
What is the most common underlying problem leading to trichobezoars (hairballs) in rabbits?
Gastric hypomotility, which is typically caused either by inadequate coarse fiber content of the diet, or by anorexia (in turn potentially caused by dental disease, systemic illness, etc.)
When tube feeding a pet bird, you must choose to pass the tube directly into a central round opening at the base of the tongue or to the side of that opening. Which do you choose and why?
To the side. The central round opening at the base of the tongue is the tracheal opening, and intubation and administration of food would cause potentially fatal aspiration.
