Avian & Exotic

Soft tissue surgery is commonly performed on small exotic mammals for preventative health, control of reproduction, and to manage conditions warranting surgical intervention. The principles of surgery for dogs and cats also apply to cases involving exotic pets.

Providing veterinary care to exotic pets is challenging and rewarding, offering the veterinary technician the chance to work with a wide variety of species. There is an inherent challenge for those working with these pets given the large variety of species presented for care.

There are thousands of reptile species worldwide and more reptile species are kept as pets than any other taxa. For as many types of reptiles that are kept, there are as many natural history strategies that these species demonstrate in their wild habitat.

For a veterinary technician overseeing an avian or exotic animal patient, diagnostic testing is an essential tool in formulating a definitive diagnosis, prognosis and treatment plan. Diagnostic testing is simply not a luxury for veterinary teaching hospitals, but a necessity for every clinical practice that sees these patients.

Urinary diseases are frequently encountered in exotic animal pets and an understanding of the renal physiology and pathology of these diseases is important for effective treatment.

One of the most common avian presentations at our veterinary hospital is the predator attack. These cases often present with severe lacerations, limb amputations and crushing injuries.

When developing a fluid therapy protocol it is incumbent upon the veterinarian to understand what the best products to use are and why in order to achieve the best physiologic response. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of scientifically based information regarding the underlying assessment parameters for fluid therapy protocol in individual avian species.

The first condition a veterinarian must consider when a case presents for abnormal feather loss is whether the feather loss is normal.

Treating dermal injuries, fracture stabilization, stabilization of fracture sites after internal orthopedic repair, joint injuries and prevention of self trauma are common reasons bandages are used on avian patients.

It is a clinical challenge when veterinarians have to administer therapeutic procedures to pet avian patients. The thoughtful use of therapeutic procedures on a debilitated patient is often correlated to the success or failure of treating a patient.

There are many therapeutic options open to veterinarians when treating patients. Unfortunately, as case numbers increase treatment options are narrowed due to different reasons.

Decontamination of patients with ingested toxins is achieved by emesis induction or gastric lavage, followed by administration of charcoal (adsorbs toxins enabling their excretion from the GI tract). Cathartics may be added to activated charcoal to hasten elimination.

Feline coronaviruses are large enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses. They can be classified into two subtypes, of which Type I is the most prevalent. Type II originated from recombination of Type I FCoV and canine coronavirus and has been used in development of the FIP vaccine.

What ocular abnormality is present in this leopard gecko?

Turtles are found throughout the world on all continents and in all oceans except Antarctica. There are over 300 species of turtles (far fewer than snakes or lizards) that belong to about 90 genera in 13 families (http://www.reptile-database.org/db-info/SpeciesStat.html; accessed 7/09).

Sacculus rotundus; spherical thick-walled enlargement at ileocecal junction. The adjacent cecum has a round patch of lymphoid tissue called the cecal tonsil. The increased thickness of these two lymphoid structures is due to aggregates of organized lymphoid tissue and macrophages in lamina propria and submucosa. Important to recognize this palpable thickening as normal.

Turtles appeared in the fossil record over 200 million years ago and were on earth long before mammals and other forms of present day reptiles. They occur in terrestrial, freshwater aquatic, semiaquatic, and marine environments.

Invertebrate animals comprise 95% of the animal kingdom's species, yet non-parasitic invertebrates are vastly underrepresented in the typical veterinary school curriculum. These notes and the accompanying lecture provide a brief introduction to some of the more prominent invertebrate groups (coelenterates, mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, insects, the horseshoe crab, and spiders) and review the state of the science with regards to clinical techniques.

Invertebrate animals comprise 95% of the animal kingdom's species, yet non-parasitic invertebrates are vastly underrepresented in the typical veterinary school curriculum. These notes and the accompanying lecture provide a brief introduction to some of the more prominent invertebrate groups (coelenterates, mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, insects, the horseshoe crab, and spiders) and review the state of the science with regards to clinical techniques.

A mid-morning e-mail query from Dr. Craig Harms alerted me to the possibility of impending deployment to the Gulf of Mexico area for oiled sea turtle triage, treatment, and rehabilitation. Apparently the veterinary support for the Audubon Nature Institute's effort was about to head home and a relief team was needed pronto to provide clinical continuity.

Proper positioning is critical. Use of anesthesia and/or restraint boards will reduce the human exposure to radiation, but may pose increased risks to the compromised patient. These risks should be assessed prior to obtaining radiographs.

In areas where outdoor breeding is common, psittacines may contract parasitic burdens of ascarids (Ascaridia sp.) that can be harmful or fatal. Fecal direct smears/floatation may demonstrate parasitic ova, however; negatives fecals will occur in some parasitized birds. In endemic areas, outdoor breeding birds and their offspring should be routinely dewormed for nematodes. See table below of pyrantel pamoate dosages.

Xanthomas are generally friable, yellow-colored fatty-appearing masses that may be located anywhere on the body, but are often seen on the distal wing, in the sterno-pubic area and on the keel. The origin of xanthomas is unknown, however, dietary improvement, including sufficient Vitamin A or Vitamin A precursors, has been noted to be curative in less advanced cases.

State-of-the-art improvements in how we feed and provide medical and surgical care for exotic mammals has resulted in a greater lifespan for these beloved family pets. Many exotic mammal owners are dedicated to the health and well-being of their pets and expect the best in medical care including perioperative care. Utilizing the practice team to provide superior medical and surgical care is the goal.

When performing surgery in ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs and rodents one must take into consideration the small size, rapid metabolic rate and unique physiology of these species. Perioperative supportive care including fluid therapy, prevention of hypothermia, and pain management are essential in ensuring the successful outcome of these small surgical patients. In general, ferrets are very hardy surgical patients and can withstand a high degree of surgical trauma, whereas rabbits and guinea pigs are sensitive surgical patients that require minimal tissue handling and close anesthetic and post operative monitoring.

Over the past twenty-five years, avian husbandry and medicine have undergone drastic changes, including a significant increase in domestically raised pet birds and major advances in avian nutrition. Despite the potentially adverse psychological effects of incubator hatching and hand-raising (which is a separate but critical concern), these changes have resulted in birds that are living longer. Just as in human medicine, coping with the process of aging is a necessary consequence of greater longevity.

The average life span for the domestic ferret is six to eight years, the domestic rabbit seven to ten years, the guinea pig three to four years and for the rat two to three years. Veterinarians consider the ferret and rabbit to be middle-aged at three years and geriatric at five or more years of age, while a two year old rat is already entering its senior years.

The group of animals commonly referred to as "fish" is a paraphyletic group of some 30,000-plus described species (www.fishbase.org). That is, it includes all of the descendants of the common ancestor of the vertebrates (subphylum Vertebrata) with the exception of the tetrapods (subclass Tetrapoda–amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, totaling around 23,000 species), a fairly significant branch of the subclass Sarcopterygii alongside lungfish and coelacanths.

An excellent resource for information on the testing, treatment, zoonotic and legal implications of this disease can be found in the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV) Psittacosis Compendium (www.nasphv.org).

Metabolic bone disease: Inadequate calcium and Vitamin D3 intake may present as generalized osteopenia and/or folding fractures.