
Tag Archives veterinary medicine

Ending antimicrobial resistance with a SNAPP
Straight from the Hip with Brenda Schoepp
The United Nations has declared antimicrobial resistance a global fundamental threat. It is interesting that the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has really taken a short time in our human history to become a near epidemic. Today antibiotic use is considered suboptimal and in many cases unnecessary because of the widespread use without the confirmation […] Read more

Practical ways to reduce our use of antibiotics
The livestock industry has made great strides in addressing the topic of antimicrobial usage and indirectly lessening the opportunity for the formation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. From veterinarians setting treatment protocols to cow-calf and feedlot producers implementing effective coping strategies, progress is being made in minimizing the incidence of disease and thus reducing the need for […] Read more

Atypical interstitial pneumonia in cattle
Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke
Atypical Interstitial Pneumonia (AIP) continues to plague the beef industry in unpredictable ways. Also known as acute bovine pulmonary emphysema and edema, AIP is a common cause of sudden respiratory distress in cattle, particularly adult beef cattle grazing lush pastures through late summer and fall and in feedlot cattle through the finishing period. Sudden onset […] Read more

Don’t fret too much over sand cracks in hooves
They look bad but rarely cause lameness
Cracks in the hoof wall are fairly common in beef cattle. Dr. Chris Clark, associate professor of large animal medicine at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, says many older cows on the Prairies in Western Canada develop cracks in the hoof but you might not notice this unless the cow is lame. […] Read more

Intranasal vaccines get around maternal antibodies
Animal Health: Maternal antibodies unpredictable
Calves are born without fully functioning immune systems, making them reliant on passive immunity from maternal antibodies for disease protection. As a result, we assumed for a long time that vaccinating calves at an early age was a complete waste of time and money as the maternal antibodies would attack any pathogens introduced in the […] Read more

Calf implants done right
Slow-release growth-promoting hormone implants for beef calves have been in use since the mid-1960s in Canada. With that many years of research and approval from Health Canada behind these products you’d be hard-pressed to argue that they don’t safely do what the manufacturers say they do — improve average daily gain and feed efficiency. The […] Read more

Not all lameness is foot rot
Animal Health: Two things need to be present for foot rot to occur
Foot rot is an infectious disease that causes swelling, pain, heat and inflammation in the foot, resulting in severe lameness that appears suddenly. The opportunistic pathogens require a break in the skin, however, to enter the foot. The main bacterium we deal with is Fusobacterium necrophorum. Importance of diagnosis Lameness may be from a nail […] Read more

Pneumonia: the disease that won’t go away
The three categories of pneumonia and how to tell them apart
Environment, germs and immunity are top of mind when thinking of all the risk factors that could set the stage for pneumonia in cattle. The forgotten factor is one beyond producers’ control and the reason why pneumonia will always be a problem — anatomy. Bovine lungs are very small relative to the animal’s oxygen requirements, […] Read more

Deadly cattle condition called fog fever returns to the Prairies
Cases of fog fever, a type of pneumonia that causes severe cattle mortality, have been recently diagnosed in Alberta
Fog fever — a condition that causes cattle to suddenly drop dead — has returned to Alberta and Saskatchewan. “Fog fever isn’t extremely common” said Nathan Erickson, a veterinarian and assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan. “Some of these old diseases, we start forgetting about them because we’ve managed our way out of them. […] Read more

Criteria for selecting the right antibiotic
There are a lot of factors at play and all of them need to be considered in every case where antibiotics are an option
Although a few very effective antibiotics have been removed from the marketplace over the years, the choice has never been greater. The challenge is there are so many factors hinging on the outcome, so deciding which antibiotic to use — or if one is necessary at all — can be a very difficult decision. Also […] Read more