Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine最新文献

Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) is a rapidly lethal infectious viral disease of the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) characterized by high mortality rates, acute hepatic necrosis, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Although this disease is considered enzootic in Europe and parts of Asia, it is rarely seen in the Western Hemisphere since its eradication from Mexico in 1992. In recent years, three cases of RHD have been identified in the United States. Due to the quick action of veterinarians these cases were confined and controlled before the disease could spread.

Adrenal disease in ferrets is commonly diagnosed in exotic pet practice. Ferret adrenal disease is characterized by sex steroid production, histamine production, and adrenal tissue neoplasia. While the underlying causes of the disease are being investigated, including the effects of prepuberty gonadectomy on the adrenal glands and subsequent development of the disease, effects of the longer light cycle imposed by keeping these animals as house pets, and the probability of one or more types of tumor suppressor genes aberrancies, this still leaves the practitioner with the dilemma of treating the individual pet ferret, which may present with the disease well under 1 year of age. Surgery to remove one or more diseased glands is often considered the primary treatment option. In those cases where adrenalectomy is not feasible or desired, or as an adjunct to surgery, several options exist for medical management of excess hormone production and control of symptoms.

The lack of Federal Drug Administration-approved drug products in the United States for avian and exotic animals creates daily challenges for the practitioner. The day-to-day practice of avian and exotic animal medicine requires us to meet these challenges in many ways, including by: extralabel use of domestic human and animal products; simple compounding or other manipulations in the clinical setting; using a pharmacy compounding service; using medicated feeds; and using imported pharmaceutical products. These may present legal and ethical issues to the practitioner that he or she may not be aware of. This paper will discuss some of practical and legal implications of these methods (based on U.S. laws), with an emphasis on compounding and extralabel use.

The liver plays a major role in the body’s metabolism and, as such, is subject to a multitude of insults—infectious, toxic, metabolic, nutritional, traumatic, and neoplastic. Consequently, liver disease is not uncommon in avian and other exotic patients. As diagnostic modalities (and our experience in using them and interpreting them) improve, veterinarians are becoming more aware of the presence of (often subclinical) liver disease in their patients, and often of the specific nature of that disease. Through new research, veterinarians also are more able to appreciate the liver’s unique function and metabolism and the role it plays in the function of the body as a whole. This understanding has led to a better awareness of how the liver responds to disease, and this has allowed refinements in the treatment of diseased and damaged livers. However, treating liver disease is not just about treating the organ; the patient as a whole must be supported and treated until a successful resolution has been achieved. Treatment therefore must be aimed at supporting the patient, treating the specific condition, and creating an environment that allows the liver to heal and regenerate. This article briefly reviews the anatomy and physiology of the liver and how it responds to insult. Treatment of liver disease then is discussed using the aims described above.

Therapeutic drugs legally available for human use have gone through exhaustive pharacodynamic testing and clinical drug trials. Far fewer drugs have been evaluated for common companion animals such as dogs and cats, and practically none have been rigorously evaluated for the exotic patient. Much of our information on dosing, efficacy, and adverse reactions is anecdotal or based on extrapolation from other species. Very little information exists on drug-to-drug interaction in vivo. However, a few recognized therapeutic contraindications exist, and many have been well documented in the field of laboratory medicine. A common example is corticosteroid usage in laboratory rabbits. The exotic animal practitioner needs to be fully aware of these limitations and implications and be willing to perform a thorough literature search for already established information when contemplating the use of a novel drug in exotic animal species.

Neoplasia is common in pet birds, especially psittacines, and mainly involves the integument and urogenital system. Before treatment options are considered, a definitive diagnosis should be made and the extent of the disease determined. Treatment should initially be directed at tumor eradication and may involve using several modalities together or sequentially. Surgery, radiotherapy, and photodynamic therapy are used against localized tumors, while chemotherapy and biological response modification are also used against metastatic disease. In combination or adjunct therapy, surgery is used to excise or debulk the tumor, radiotherapy to sterilize local regional disease and chemotherapy and biological therapy to help prevent metastatic disease. The tumor control program should be rationally planned before application, rather than added on when one modality fails, as is commonly practiced. Tumor response to therapy should be regularly assessed both in the short and long term and wherever possible, assessment should be quantitated. Work place health and safety procedures for radiation and cytotoxic drugs should always be practiced.

Appropriate husbandry and management are fundamental to the health of the Bearded Dragon (Pogona spp.) in captivity. This article discusses the application of the important parameters of lizard husbandry as part of a clinical examination of the different species of Bearded Dragon found in Australia.

Sugar gliders have become popular pocket pets particularly in the United States, Canada and Japan. They are also a popular small marsupial in zoo collections throughout the world. In zoo collections they are generally hardy, presenting to the veterinarian mainly with issues of periodontal disease or traumatic injuries. Pet sugar gliders may present with more veterinary problems particularly associated with inappropriate housing and diet. This article summarizes the husbandry and veterinary care of sugar gliders, with an emphasis on providing the specific needs for which the animal is adapted in the wild.