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Vet advice

Blackleg: A pasture nemesis
Features, Livestock, Vet advice

Blackleg: A pasture nemesis

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
Blackleg is an acute, febrile, highly fatal disease of cattle, sheep and goats caused by Clostridium chauvoei characterized by swellings with pockets of trapped air that produce crepitation (crackling) over affected areas. Although blackleg can affect any muscle in the body, including the heart and diaphragm, heavy muscles of the front and hind limbs are […] Read more
Although the efficacy of blackleg vaccines is occasionally disputed in North America, there are few veterinary practitioners who would be comfortable convincing producers to stop using the vaccine.
Beef Cattle, Vet advice

A vaccine that saved the cattle industry

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
Blackleg, a disease of many ruminants, is universal. It is most commonly seen in sheep, cattle and goats. Outbreaks have been reported in farmed bison and deer. The acute nature of the disease makes successful treatment difficult. Although the efficacy of commonly used blackleg vaccines has been disputed by the occasional academic based on the […] Read more
Gruinard Island off the northwest coast of Scotland.
Vet advice

Fake News: A chance to learn about forbidden places

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
The story appeared in the Scottish Sunday Herald, Saturday, March 31, 2018. “A group of Russian oligarchs is bidding to buy Gruinard Island off the northwest coast of Scotland. Gruinard is known as Anthrax Island after being used for testing biological weapons during the Second World War. It is uninhabited today due to fears of […] Read more
When Canadian attitudes toward the food supply are tracked, 46 per cent are concerned about drug residues in meat.
News, Vet advice

Public trust is a ticket forward for the food industry

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
The economic, social and political environment around agriculture has changed. The public, particularly consumers, have influenced the landscape of food production in ways never before recognized. The closer an industry sector’s shift is toward the supermarket meat counter and grocery shelves, the more advanced is the call toward public reckoning about matters involving the food […] Read more
A process to mass-produce penicillin was discovered by USDA scientist Andrew Moyer, shown here in his lab in Peoria, Ill. (Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)
Livestock, Vet advice

Vet Advice: New regs to preserve old and new drugs

By
I’m often asked why even older antimicrobials are still considered medically important to human medicine. The premise, right or wrong, is to preserve antibiotic effectiveness by reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance attributed to wholesale use in animal agriculture. While debate still rages over the impact new legislation will have on preserving antimicrobial effectiveness in […] Read more
Cold and abomasal impaction
Features, Livestock, Vet advice

Cold and abomasal impaction

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
Beef cattle on the Canadian Prairies are subject to considerable environmental stress during winter. Starting with the early days of ranching and arrival of U.S. cattle onto the eastern slopes of the Rockies through the mid-1800s, survival of the beef cow meant adaptation to prolonged cold temperatures. Cold and the groundless belief that cattle could […] Read more
Understanding the new drug regulations
Features, Livestock, Vet advice

Understanding the new drug regulations

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
New regulations governing the purchase and use of antimicrobials (antibiotics) necessitate time spent between veterinarians and producers. Everyone has an opinion. Phrases like “prudent use,” “veterinary-client-patient-relationships,” “veterinary-pharmaceutical stewardship,” “veterinary oversight,” and “documented evidence” pepper the pages of government, academic and veterinary documents issued around antimicrobial use. There is a new vocabulary to be learned, the […] Read more
Farmer With Vet Examining Calf
Livestock, Vet advice

New drug regulations require adjustment

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

No issue over the past 15 years occupied more space in agriculture, veterinary or public health-related press than antimicrobial resistance (AMR). No single topic appears more often on conference and seminar agendas than topics addressing the use, abuse and prudent use of antimicrobials in humans and animals. Petitions, a plethora of committees of every description, […] Read more
Sustained intake of ergot contaminated feed will shut down blood supply to an animal's extremities, and over time, worsen its condition.
Beef Cattle, Cereals, Hay, Vet advice

Ergot poisoning: An ancient scourge remains a problem in modern rations

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
The negative impacts of ergot contamination in food were recognized as early as the fifth century AD. Ergot, a plant parasite, commonly affects rye grass, but wheat, rye, barley, oats, brome, fescue, blue, timothy, western and intermediate wheatgrass and other grasses can also be infected. Environmental conditions associated with a cool wet spring followed by […] Read more
cow eating hay
Beef Cattle, Vet advice

Sweet clover poisoning — an old problem persists

Vet Advice with Dr. Ron Clarke

By
Mouldy sweet clover poisoning in cattle is caused by the ingestion of sweet clover hay or ensilage containing dicoumarol. Poisoning is characterized by extensive hemorrhages into tissues throughout the body and severe blood loss after injury, surgery or parturition. Coumarol, a normal constituent of many sweet clover cultivars, is converted to dicoumarol through the action […] Read more

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