Veterinary Services

• Blood in milk of suckler cows
• Compressive cervical myelopathy in Beltex sheep
• Swine dysentery identified during routine abattoir monitoring
• Antifreeze (ethylene glycol) poisoning in cats

Disease alerts

The following conditions featured in the SAC C VS report for October 2010. Given similar climatic and production conditions, they could also be important this year:

• Parasitic bronchitis in cattle
• Sudden deaths due to hypomagnesaemia in adult cattle
• Louping ill confirmed in adult cattle and young sheep
• Polyarthritis due to Mycoplasma hyorhinis in growing pigs

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

In July Scotland’s weather was very different between the east and west coasts. Eastern areas experienced a wet month with twice the average rainfall in places. In contrast the west enjoyed a relatively dry month with Orkney and the Western Isles in particular receiving only a third of the usual rainfall. Western Scotland had one of the sunniest Julys since 1929. The east was markedly duller and the periods of rain and showers were often heavy and thundery. The combination of warm and wet weather resulted in good grass growth such that SAC issued warnings about the risks associated with autumn-calving suckler cows reaching calving above the recommended body condition score of three.