Exotics: Preventative Medicine Flashcards
What are the different strategies for preventative medicine?
- Husbandry/diet review and advice
- Routine health checks
- Vaccination
- Parasite control
- Disease testing and quarantine
- Surgical neuter
- Hormonal implants- chemical neuter
- Routine procedures- beak, nails, and wing clips
What should be checked for a husbandry review?
Specifically for reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish
- Current diet provided
- Any dietary supplements
- Any new animals in household
- Reptiles- temperature, humidity, UV-B bulb replacement
- Birds- cage, location, time spent outside cage, toys
- Mammals- substrate, toys, excercise, social interactions
- Fish- temperature, water parameters
What are the different methods of giving husbandry advice?
- Verbal
- Client handouts
- Directing to websites, books, orgsanisations
What vaccinations can rabbits recieve?
Myxomatosis
Viral haemorrhagic disease 1 and 2
Myxo-RHD plus
Myxo-RHD- only VHD 1
Filavac- VHD 1 and 2
When are rabbits vacinated for myxo using Myxo-RHD plus?
What about other vaccines?
Myxo-RHD plus
* First dose from 5 weeks
* Immunity in 3 weeks
* Yearly booster
Other vaccines
* Myxo-RHD from 5 weeks
* Filavac from 10
* Yearly booster
* Vaccines 2-3 weeks apart
What can ferrets be vaccinated for?
Distemper
* Currently no vaccines licensed for ferrets in UK
* Nobivac
* First dose at 12 weeks, yearly booster
Rabies
* Ferrets travelling to/from countries
* Nobivac
* First dose at 12 weeks
* Booster every 18 months
What can happen to ferrets 5-25 mintutes after a vaccine?
Anaphylactic reactions
* Hyperaemia, vomiting, hypersalivation, occasionally diarrhoea
* More severe- dyspnoea and cyanosis
* Independent of previous vaccine history
* Any vaccine
How can ferret reactions to vaccines be prevented and treated?
Prevention:
* Careful selection of vaccine
* Reconstitute vaccine with sterile water/saline
* Diphenhydramine orally, SC 15-30 mins before vaccine
* 3-4 weeks between vaccine
* 20-30 mins post-vaccination
Treatment
* Adrenaline- IV, IM, IT
* Diphenhydramine- IM, IV, PO TID-BID
* Dexamethasone or prednis
* Supportive care- O2, IVFT
- How are canids (racoon-dog and foxes) vaccinated?
- How are procyonids (raccon and caoti) vaccinated?
- Distemper- 8 weeks, 12 weeks, yearly booster
- Distemper as above, Tricat (panleucopenia) 8, 12 weeks and yearly booster
What are meerkats vaccinated for and when?
Distemper
8 weeks, 12 weeks, yearly booster
How are pigeons, canaries and poultry, ducks, turkets and geese vaccinated?
Pigeons
* Avian pox and paramyxovirus (colombovac)
Canaries
* Avian pox- (poximune C)
Poultry, turkeys, ducks, geese
* Same as industry?
What are the 4 different strategies to parasite control in exotics?
- Adequate husbandry- immune system
- Regular cleaning/hygiene- reduced environment load
- Routine faecal testing- early detection
- Preventitive worming
- What is the common name for oxyurids?
- What species are they commonly found in faecal testing?
- What should be considered before dispensing medicine?
- Pinworms
- Reptiles, rabbits, occasionally rodents
- Faecal flotation test results, patient, environment (history)
Considered commensals, numbers increase in immuosuppressed patients
- What is the common name for oxyurids?
- What species are they commonly found in faecal testing?
- What should be considered before dispensing medicine?
- Pinworms
- Reptiles, rabbits, occasionally rodents
- Faecal flotation test results, patient, environment (history)
Considered commensals, numbers increase in immuosuppressed patients
- What species are commensally affected by ciliates?
- How are they detected?
- Tortoises, herbivore lizards
- Detected with wet mounts
Significant on any other species
- What species are commensally affected by ciliates?
- How are they detected?
- Tortoises, herbivore lizards
- Detected with wet mounts
Significant on any other species
What are common medicines used for wormers?
- Praziquantel- tape worms (oral, injectable, spot-on)
- Oxfendazole- Nematodes (oral administration)
- Fenbendazole- CARE- toxicity describred, immunesupression (oral)
- Ivermectin- nematodes and external parasites (injectable, oral and spot-on)
What species is ivermectin toxic to?
- Chelonians
- Skinks
- Some snake species
What external parasite control mat be used?
Unlikely to be required
- Fleas- occasinally in rabits and ferrets- imidaclopride
- Fly strike- rabbits- cyromazine
- Lice/mites- rodents- ivermectin
- Feather live- permethrin powder/sprays
When is heartworm prevention important in ferrets?
What is used?
In endemic heartworm areas (dirofilaria immitis)
Moxidectin applied monthly
When is quarentine recomended?
What are the guidlines?
Medium to large zoological collections or breeders- mainly birds and reptiles
Guidlines
* Ideally 2 months
* Seperate facilities and objects
* 2x facal testing (start and end)
* Species specific disease testing
What may psittacine and snake collections be tested for during quarentine?
Psittacine- PCR
* Bornavirus
* Circovirus/PBFD
* ± polyomavirus
* ± chlamydophila psittaci
Snake- PCR
* Cryptosporidium
* Arenavirus/IBD
* Ferlavirus/paramyovirus
* Reovirus
* Adenovirus
What species regulalry have surgical neutering?
What species have an increased risk of complications with routine ops?
Neutering- rabbits, male guine pigs, male rate
Guinea pigs and rodents have increased risk for routine spay- anaesthesia, surgical anatomy, post op complications
What are the benefits of rabbits spays?
- Population control
- Reduced unwanted behaviours
- Prevents uterine neoplasia
What are the key structures to rabbbits female repro anatomy?
- Suspeonsory ligament (ovary-kidney)
- Broad ligament with variable amount of fat
- Uterine horns = 2 independent uterus
- Well developed vaginal vestibulum
- Uterine and vaginal blood vessels
What are the key structures to rabbbits female repro anatomy?
- Suspeonsory ligament (ovary-kidney)
- Broad ligament with variable amount of fat
- Uterine horns = 2 independent uterus
- Well developed vaginal vestibulum
- Uterine and vaginal blood vessels
What are the benefit and surgical approaches to rabbit castration?
Benefits
* Population control
* Reduced unwanted behaviours
Surgical approaches
* Pre-scrotal
* Scotal incision- closed
* Scrotal incision- open
What are the key structures for rabbit castration?
- Inguinal canal remain open
- Ligament between epididymis and tunica vaginalis
What are the surgical approaches to guinea pigs and rats?
Abdominal
Pre-scrotal
Scrotal (open or closed)
What can commonly cause aplastic anaemia in Jills?
Hyperestrogenism causing bone marrow suppression
Due to being induced ovulators- can stay in oestrus
What reproductive managment is no longer advised in ferrets?
Surgical neutering
Increases the risk of adrenal gland
Why does neutering cause adrenal disease in ferrets?
- Produce androgens
- Corticosteroids are produced diffusely in several other tissues
- Affected by circadian rythms/photoperiod
- Gonads provide negative feedback to hypothalamus-hypophysis- suppressing adrenal function
- If gonads are removed this negative feedback disappears
What is the purpose of a deslorelin implant?
- GnRH agonist implant- instead of neutering
- Apply every 18-24 months
- Needs a very brief GA to apply
- Close skin with cyanoacrylate tissue glue
What are routine procedures for the following species?
Birds
Mammals
Reptiles
Birds- nail clipping/burring, beak burring/correcitons, wing clipping, ID chip
Mammals- nail clipping, ID chip
Reptiles- nail burring, ID chip, beak burr in chelonians
How are birds nails and beaks burred?
How are they ID chiped?
Nails- use dremmel or high speed burr, avoid using nail clippers
Beak burring/correction- knowledge of normal size, shape, apply eye lube, some require GA/sedation
ID chip: birds >150g, L pectoral muscle, consider GA/sedation, apply tissue glue on skin
- What species are routinely wing clipped?
- What feathers are clipped?
- Where are they clipped?
- Routinely done in psittacines
- Primary/secondary flight feathers
* Small species- 2 aries and 1 aries
* Medium- clip 5-6 outermost 1 aries
3- Clip as close as possible to skin
