Special Species Flashcards
An adult tortoise is presented with a recent history of cloacal straining and depression. Gentle manipulation/rocking of the animal allows palpation of a firm coelomic structure. What is the presumptive diagnosis?
A - retained eggs
B - plastron fracture
C - abdominal neoplasia
D - fecaliths
E - uroliths
A - retained eggs Egg retention in chelonians is nearly impossible to detect without radiographs. However it is difficult to decide whether the eggs are ok or retained.
A clinic’s waiting room has:
A Rottweiler dog with foreleg osteosarcoma
A white mouse with a mammary gland tumor on her belly
A Norway rat with a mammary gland tumor near the neck
A snot-nosed ferret with a chin rash and crusts around the eyes
A thin boa constrictor that can’t right itself from dorsal recumbency
Which of these animals has the BEST prognosis?
Norway rat
Mammary gland tumors are typically benign in rats, but malignant in mice.
A rabbit is presented with inflamed and chapped membranes of the anus and genital region. The genital area is scalded and raw, with brownish crusts and purulent exudate. What two conditions top the ddx list?
A. Treponematosis, Hutch burn
B. Tularemia, Cystitis
C. Myxomatosis, Moist dermatitis
D. Glomerulonephritis, Coccidiosis
E. Pasteurellosis, Ulcerative pododermatitis
A - Treponematosis, Hutch burn
Treponematosis, AKA rabbit syphilis or vent disease, is a venereal disease caused by Treponema paraluis cuniculi and affects the genitalia, eyes and nose.
Hutch burn, AKA urine burn, is caused by wet/dirty floors and affects the anus and genetalia. It may result in secondary severe dermatitis.
A client calls in the middle of the winter to say her furnace went out the night before and the whole house became very cold. This morning one pet hamster appears to be dead and several others are lethargic. What message should be communicated to the owner?
A. The other animals are likely to die
B. The hamster is not dead
C. Put tetracycline in the water and maintain ambient temperature
D. Need to examine the lethargic animals and increase calorie intake
E. Males are more likely to die from cold stress
B - the hamster is not dead
Hamsters will enter PSEUDOHIBERNATION at temperatures under 41 F (5 C).
A large male guinea pig from a group of four is presented with swollen and scabby hind feet from which Staphylococcus aureus is cultured. Which one of the following recommendation is the most appropriate choice?
A. Isolate affected animal, treat with oral amoxicillin
B. Improve sanitation, install smooth-floored enclosure
C. Cull affected animal, increase ventilation of environment for remaining animals
D. Tetracycline-mediated water for all animals
E. Debridement and topical 1% butenafine cream
B - improve sanitation, install smooth-floored enclosure
BUMBLEFOOT (pododermatitis) is usually secondary to poor sanitation, obesity, and wire cage floors or rough bedding.
Chlorhexidine soaks and debridgement can help feet, but prognosis is guarded
Avoid penicillins in guinea pigs
