Veterinary Services

Dogs and Cats

An apparent outbreak of respiratory disease in eight-week-old Labrador puppies resulted in two deaths. The second puppy affected developed abdominal pain, vomiting and bloody diarrhoea terminally. The private veterinary surgeon involved carried out post mortem examinations. Although Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated from fresh lung tissue submitted, histopathological examination of intestine confirmed the presence of a parvoviral enteropathy in both puppies. Parvovirus enteritis was also confirmed at necropsy of a dog from a rescue centre. Examination of faeces from a nine-week-old pup with loose faeces and a questionable growth rate revealed 400 Toxocara canis epg.

The Inverness Centre diagnosed haemangiosarcoma  post mortem in a ten-year-old female domestic long haired cat which had collapsed. The carcass was pale and the kidneys were most severely affected but there were also small dark masses in the spleen.

Rabbits

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis was isolated from systemic cultures of a year-old pet rabbit. The rabbit was from a colony of five and had died suddenly.

Otter

Chronic pyothorax was diagnosed at necropsy of an adult female otter.  The carcass had been recovered by the police from the banks of the river Eden in Fife and poisoning was suspected.  The otter was in poor bodily condition with muscle wasting and loss of fat reserves.  The thorax was full of thick, grey fluid.  No recognisable tissue remained.from the right lung. The diaphragm, chest wall and pericardial sac were coated in a thick layer of grey material and a thin layer of similar material was present over the caudal lobe of the left lung.  The urinary bladder was distended by more than 15ml of slightly bloody urine but no obstruction to outflow was present and small haemorrhages were evident in the kidney cortices.  Culture of the chest fluid yielded a heavy, pure growth of Pasteurella sp., a common respiratory pathogen in other species.  Tissues were collected and frozen for possible pesticide toxicological analysis if required.