Texas A&M Develops Vaccine for PDDAugust 13, 2015Researchers at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences have developed a vaccine against Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD). It is caused by a virus called avian bornavirus. Use of the vaccine against this virus prevented the development of disease in captive birds with no obvious adverse effects. “Proventricular Dilatation Disease is an especially nasty infection that kills large numbers of captive birds each year,” said Dr. Ian Tizard, the project leader and director of the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center at Texas A&M. “Parrot owners are naturally very distressed when their beloved pet dies in such a manner. The new vaccine is expected to stop the development of this disease and prevent much suffering.” The next step in the development of this vaccine will be to seek USDA licensure and then to manufacture the vaccine commercially. This will require extensive field testing to ensure that the vaccine is safe and that it is effective in many species of pet birds. Thus it will take some time before the vaccine becomes available to parrot owners. Current plans …
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New Avian Health Complex Opens August 13 at Texas A&MAugust 11, 2015A new avian health complex will be formally opened Thursday, August 13, 2015, at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), which hosts one of the top avian medicine programs in the nation. The ceremony will begin at 1 p.m. The new climate-controlled aviary will provide an environment for a variety of birds in various conditions, CVM officials note. Containing approximately 11,000 square feet of floor space, the state-of-the-art complex includes a functional hospital, receiving area with quarantine capabilities, three isolation rooms, a Biosafety Level 2 laboratory for infectious disease research and separate areas for infected and healthy birds, along with teaching, classroom and office space. The center conducts research into all aspects of diseases in wild and captive birds, as well as avian genetics, genomics, nutrition and behavior. The results of research at the center are already being applied to improve the health of birds kept by zoos, aviculturists and individual pet owners, as well as conserving threatened avian species in the wild, according to Texas A&M. Courtesy Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Tufts Veterinarians to Equip Chicken with 3D Printed LegAugust 5, 2015A surgery is taking place at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University today. It’s not a spay or neuter surgery, or even one on a dog or cat. This surgery is an amputation of a chicken’s leg. The chicken, named Cecily, is a rescue currently in the care of Andrea Martin, a chicken rescuer out of Clinton, Massachusetts. Martin could see that Cecily’s quality of life was poor, given that the bird had a deformed leg caused by a slipped tendon that never got fixed, CBS Boston reports. Martin and Cecily’s new owner decided that instead of euthanasia, amputation surgery and a prosthetic would be the better option. They are splitting the $2,500 veterinary bill, according to CBS Boston. The surgery today will be performed by avian orthopedic specialist, S. Emi Knafo, DVM. With Cecily under sedation, Dr. Knafo will amputate the chicken’s right leg and do a CT scan of her left leg, Reuters reports. The scan will be used to make a 3D-printed prosthetic leg for Cecily. According …
Ins and Outs of Bunny Rabbit Treatment and CareAugust 3, 2015Originally published in the July 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News. Love this article? Then subscribe today! If a rabbit hasn’t had something going in one end and out the other in as little as half a day, it’s time to get the patient in for a visit right away, said Nicole Wyre, DVM, Dipl. ABVP (avian). “They should be eating and pooping all the day,” said Dr. Wyre, who specializes in exotics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital. “If it’s been more than six to eight hours, it’s an emergency.” This may be a sign of gastrointestinal stasis and a signal that treatment is urgently needed, Wyre added. She and other veterinarians who specialize in treating rabbits said “eating and pooping” are easy and critical signs that general practitioners can cue in on. Sari Kanfer, DVM, owner of Exotic Animal Care Center in Pasadena, Calif., noted that GI stasis can range from mild cases, in which the GI tract slows down, to severe, when there is an intestinal blockage and the rabbit is hypothermic and in shock. “The cause may be stress, any …
LafeberVet Schedules Webinar on Feather Destructive BehaviorJune 11, 2015Feather destructive behavior can be one of the most common and frustrating behavioral problems seen in captive psittacine birds. To learn more about this, attend LafeberVet's free, interactive, RACE-approved webinar “Feather Destructive Behavior in Psittacine Birds” on Sept. 20 at 4 p.m. ET. The presentation is worth 1 hour of continuing education credit in jurisdictions that accept American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) RACE approval. Lynne Seibert, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist, will review feather picking, feather chewing and self-inflicted trauma to soft tissue in parrots and their case management. Registration opens in early September. For more information, go to LafeberVet.com.
What You Need to Know About RatsJune 5, 2015Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Veterinary Practice News Exotics veterinarians who regularly handle rats say there are a few common ailments that general practitioners should be on the lookout for. Skin ectoparasites (mites and lice), mammary tumors, pneumonia and upper respiratory infections are the four most common issues that Matthew S. Johnston, VMD, Dipl. ABVP (Avian), has come across in his rat patients. Specialists like Dr. Johnston, an associate professor of avian, exotic, and zoological medicine at Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, say general practitioners who have rat patients should get used to seeing and dealing with these common problems. La'Toya Latney, DVM, head of exotics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital, warned that aggressive diseases seem to be commonplace among rats of all ages. “It’s pretty common for us to see respiratory diseases in them across all ages,” Dr. Latney said, adding that the bacteria Mycoplasma pulmonis is often the cause of serious secondary respiratory infections in rats. Latney, a consultant at the Brandywine Zoo in Delaware, also said rat owners tend to complain of ocular discharge, nasal discharge and sneezing. Often these pet owners indicate that their rat’s eyes or nose are bleeding. …
The Latest on Proventricular Dilatation DiseaseFebruary 6, 2015Researchers are making progress in the fight to track and treat one of the most common illnesses affecting exotic birds. Proventricular Dilatation Disease, or PDD, is the result of an avian bornavirus infection and is characterized by intestinal paralysis, which results in food becoming stuck in the bird’s proventriculus. The intestine swells, causing discomfort, and when the gut cannot absorb nutrients from the stalled food, the bird dies. Interestingly, not all birds with PDD show these symptoms, and some can live years after exposure to the virus—as many as six or seven—before developing the illness. PDD was once called Macaw Wasting Disease, as it was originally thought just to impact macaws, but we now know it can be found in parrots, finches, lovebirds, quaker parakeets, and cockatiels, as well as wild water fowl such as geese and mute swans. Scientists have made some headway in their quest to better understand the disease in the past three years. Dr. Ian Tizard, DVM, Ph.D, and director of the Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center at Texas A&M University, has made PDD a career-long focus. Recent progress has provided something of a good news/bad news situation, according to Tizard. Recent projects have revolved around …
Accreditation Panel Says Oregon Zoo UnderstaffedOctober 17, 2014The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is urging the Oregon Zoo to beef up its veterinary staffing to better serve the park’s 2,000 animals. An AZA team surveyed the Portland, Ore., zoo in July in advance of an accreditation inspection scheduled for the summer of 2015. Besides looking at the zoo’s veterinary operations, AZA examined the park’s emergency response protocols, organizational structure and relationship with Metro Regional Government, the owner and operator. The Oregon Zoo employs two veterinarians, two veterinary technicians and a part-time hospital keeper—numbers that AZA called too low. “Four days per week there is only one veterinarian and one veterinary technician onsite,” AZA noted. “Vet techs also serve as part-time keepers for hospitalized animals after the animal keeper leaves for the day.” Another issue, AZA reported, is that “people are ‘stretched thin,’ which can lead to reactive versus proactive responses to procedures, preventative health and communications.” The 64-acre zoo opened a new hospital, the Veterinary Medical Center, in early 2012 and is building or planning the construction of elephant, polar bear and primate exhibits and an African savanna. The zoo is close to hiring a hospital administrator, spokesman Hova Najarian said. AZA stated that …
Veterinarian Wins High Praise for Saving GoldfishSeptember 16, 2014 George the goldfish is back in his home pond after an Australian veterinarian successfully removed a brain tumor. The 45-minute operation on an uncommon veterinary patient cost the owners a couple of hundred dollars, according to Lort Smith Animal Hospital, and brought admiration from around the world as news and photographs of the surgery went viral. “Thanks for treating fish with the respect they deserve,” one Facebook user wrote on the clinic’s page. “That might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” another wrote. “And to those that question the use of financial resources for a goldfish, some varieties can fetch amazingly high prices. Some are treasured pets. Who are we to judge?” The International Brain Tumor Alliance weighed in as well, stating, “We have heard of dogs and cats having brain tumors removed, but this is the first time we have heard of a fish undergoing brain surgery. Way to go, George!” The doctor was Tristan Rich, BVSc, who heads exotics and wildlife medicine at the Melbourne hospital. “The fish was having trouble eating, getting around and he was getting bullied by other fish,” Dr. Rich told The Telegraph newspaper. …
Avian Vet Specialist Part IFebruary 23, 2014Take a virtual tour of vet offices, and find out how vets run their offices, ORs and more. brightcove.createExperiences(); Watch Part 2 here.
