Small Ruminant Urinary Disease Flashcards
1
Q
What is Ulcerative posthitis
A
- Bacterial infection of the:
- sheath
- prepuce
- glans penis
- Etiologic agent:
-
Corynebacterium renale
- Gram + blunt rod
- normal Flora
-
Corynebacterium renale
2
Q
How does ulcerative posthitis develop?
A
-
C. renale proliferates in the presence of high urea
- animals on high grain, or large amounts of legumes have alkaline urine with high urea content
- Urease produced by C. renale cleave urea into ammonia
- Ammonia irritates the glans penis and preputial tissues leading to ulceration and swelling
- exacerbated by wool/hair near the prepuce that traps ammonia in the area
3
Q
What are the clinical signs of Ulcerative posthitis?
A
- Moist ulceration on glans penis, prepuce and preputial oriffice
- thin brown malodorous scabs
- Dysuria
- Reluctance to breed
- arched back
- swelling of entire sheath
4
Q
How is ulcerative posthitis diagnosed?
A
- preumptive:
- history
- clinical signs
- Definitive:
- culture or PCR
5
Q
How is ulcerative posthitis treated?
A
- Clip wool/hair from ventral abdomen and prepuce
- Feed change - limit/eliminate diet high in urea
- Topical antibiotic
- Systemic antibiotics: penicillin, oxytet
- Anti-inflammatories: flunixin meglumine, meloxicam
6
Q
small ruminants
What is Obstructive urolithiasis?
A
- life threatening condition
- formation is mucltifactoral and largely the result of:
- diet
- urine pH
- water balance
- Uroliths are concentrations of organic matrix and organic/inorganic cystalloids that precipitate in supersaturated urine
- Can occur in both sexes
- male anatomy predisposes them
7
Q
What factors affect urine supersaturation?
A
- impaired excretion of calcium/phosphorus
- poor water consumption
- alkaline urine
- presence/absence of crystallization inhibitors
- Infection - minor factor
8
Q
Where do urolith obstructions occur?
A
- Anywhere within the urinary system from renal pelvis to urethral process
- Most common locations:
- sigmoid flexure
- urethral process
9
Q
What are the different types of uroliths? causes of each?
A
- Struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate)
- high grain diet
- Apatite (calcium phosphate)
- high grain diet
- Calcium carbonate
- high calcium diet
- Silicate
- raised in sandy soil
- Calcium oxalate
- consumption of oxalate containing plants
10
Q
What are the clinical signs of obstructive urolithiasis?
A
- Depend upon the degree, location and duration of urethral obstruction
- Nonspecific to colic
- straining
- excessive posturing to urinate
- Vocalization while straining to urinate
- Flagging tail with pulsation of urethra distal to anus during attempted urination
- swelling of ventral abdominal distention +/- fluid wave (consistent w/ urinary bladder rupture)
11
Q
How is obstructive urolithiasis diagnosed?
A
- Presumptive:
- history of high grain diet
- consistent PE findings
- failure to urinate
- Clin Path:
- Azotemia (⇡BUN & CREA) - takes time
- acute obstructions may not have time to develop
- Mild decreases in Na & Cl
- Hyperkalemia -
- ruminants excrete phosphorus & potassium in saliva ⇢ may have lower potassium values compared to monogastric species
- Azotemia (⇡BUN & CREA) - takes time
- Abdominal US:
- confirm enlarged bladder
- confirm urethral distention / presence of debris w/in urethra
- Confirm free fluid w/n abdomen of suspected uroabdomen
12
Q
What crystallization inhibitors are in urine
A
- Mucopolysaccharides
- Peptides
- Ions
- Organic acids
13
Q
what predisposes Struvite/Apatite uroliths to occur?
A
- Grain-based diets
- High phosphorus diet
- Ca:P ratio < 2:1
- Pelleted rations
- Alkaline urine pH
- Struvite - 7.2-8.8
- Apatite - 6.5-7.5
14
Q
What are Calcium carbonate uroliths?
A
- Look like golden BBs
- Do not dissolve with urine acidification
- lush, rapidly growing clover pasture
15
Q
What are the differential diagnoses for a male small ruminant straining to urinate and anorexic?
A
- Obstructive urolithiasis
- Ulcerative posthitis
- Colic
- Tenesmus (GI or neurologic origin)
