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TAURANGA KATIKATI TE UNA & PAPAMOA VILLAGE VETS - YOUR ANIMAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

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For more information visit www.bopvets.co.nz, call 0800 VETS BOP (0800 8387 267) or visit one of our clinics; Tauranga, Te Puna, Katikati or Papamoa

Feeding and other considerations

for your horse through winter

Autumn is here, grass quality is deteriorating and growth rates have slowed down. With shorter days and deteriorating weather

a lot of horses also stop being exercised regularly and begin coming into a stabled environment. So how might these chang-es affect your horse’s diet and what else should we be considering at this time of year? Forage

Make sure there’s enough available grazing, if not supplement with hay or haylage. It’s a good idea to order this early or seek out a reliable supplier early. In drought years it becomes hard to source, and expensive. Small bag baylage/haylage can be a good alternative to hay and the small bale size means there is less wastage and risk of mould contamination. Managing your grass now with break feeding can leave you with more to play with over winter.

Remember most of a horse’s nutritional needs come from forage. This is the most important consideration, not the hard feed component!

Teeth To make effective use of increased dry matter content of winter forage horses need good dentition. Watch out for signs of quidding (balling

up food, dropping it over the stable door etc). If your horse hasn’t had a dental ex-amination in the last 12 months, now is a good time to organise one. Young horses (less than 5) and older horses (more than 15) are more likely to have problems.

Hard feed If your horse stops exercising regularly over winter then cut back on the concentrates. They can be used to help supply essential vitamins and minerals when not using a mineral block or can be dropped all together if the forage ration is of good quality and your horse isn’t working.

Weather Watch out for high leaf and seed falls after windy

weather. It increases the risk of poisoning if your horse is near avocados or acorns for example. Use electric tape to control grazing access if necessary. WormingNow is the time when worm larval stages start to become arrested in their development in the gut wall building up numbers over winter which can lead to mass emergence in the spring. In severe cases this may be associated with marked weight loss and diarrhoea or more typically, poor condition and malaise. Moxidectin (Equest) or five consecutive days of oxfenbendazole (pana-cur) are effective. Equest plus also contains praziquatel which treats tapeworms.

ColicIf your horse has now started coming in at night or has to be stabled for other reasons, consider giving them some cut grass or grass sods to smooth the transition. Remember sudden changes in management and especially feeding rations are one of the common causes of colic. If your horse shows any signs of pain (lying down repeatedly, rolling, flank watching), you should call your vet. The earlier the better!

April 2016

Abortions or slips can occur at any time during pregnancy, some of them are caused by infections and others are due to natural causes. If the incidence of abortion exceeds 3-5% in a herd, or if there are

several cases close together, then it is likely that some infec-tious disease is the cause.

Determining the cause of a single abortion can be difficult, and investigating an outbreak is challenging but using a

systematic approach we can often find the cause. Samples need to be taken from the aborted foetus and the placenta as well as blood samples from the dam in order to give us the best chance to identify the causative agent.

Abortion in dairy cattle can be due to bacteria, fungi and protozoa, the most commonly diagnosed cause in recent times is Neospora. Abortions due to this protozoa usually occur mid-gestation, between April and June and are more common in younger cows. Dogs are known to be the host for this organism and although rarely affected by it they spread it through faeces. Preventing dogs from eating placentas and raw meat, and stop-ping them from defecating on pasture are important measures to reducing the likelihood of transmission.

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea can also cause abortions mainly in the early part of gestation, often seen as late returns but it can also cause late abor-tions too. Another viral cause is Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Bacteria that can cause abortion include Campylobacter, Listeria, Leptospirosis and Salmonella.

Fungal abortion due to either Aspergillus or Mortierella occur when cattle eat moldy hay or silage, infection with the latter can also result in the cow dying from a fungal pneumonia.

Macrocarpa, cypresses and Pinus radiata trees can cause abortions if cows are allowed to ingest their foliage or bark, so making sure that pregnant cattle are kept away from these trees or any fallen branch-es is the only way to prevent losses.

Other causes of abortion include trace element deficiencies, nitrate poisoning and genetic defects.

If you have any concerns that you may be experiencing higher than expect losses due to abortions or slips, please contact us to discuss your concerns with one of our qualified vets who can investigate to find the cause and suggest suitable preventative measures.

elcome to the April edition of our Large Animal Newsletter. With Easter already gone, there’s a definite crispness in the air. This month our Vets discuss Liver Fluke and Abortions, as well providing an update

on Facial Excema. We’ve also included an Equine article written by David Howes which looks at optimal feeding through the winter months. Merial’s ‘work wear’ offer linked to their drenching products is still valid through April, so we’ve included a reminder for you about this. Grab a drink and we hope you enjoy the read.

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Abortions

We’re available to talk to you on the phone too. So don’t hesitate to contact us anytime Tauranga 07 578 4044 | Te Puna 07 552 4015 | Katikati 07 549 0215 | Papamoa 07 572 2334

Tauranga Vets

www.bopvets.co.nz

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Become a Fan onWe hope you have enjoyed this latest edition of the Tauranga, Katikati, Te Puna and Papamoa Village Vets newsletter

In follow up to our previous newsletter regard-ing facial eczema, we have continued to see rising spore counts around the Bay of Plenty region and are still seeing marked disease on farms. Facial eczema is a result of direct liver damage from toxins produced by a fungus

Pithomyces chartum. The consequent liver damage causes a build up of phylo-erythrin – a toxin that causes hypersensitivity to the sun and UV light.

We are still recommending zinc supplementation as a preventative treatment for those cattle and sheep that are still at risk. There are a range of zinc products available such as zinc slurries, zinc administrations into the water supply and zinc boluses. Zinc boluses provide the most accurate and stable level of zinc over a long period of time. We sell FaceGuard at all four of our clinics and can provide the tools

and advise for correct administration of the boluses.

Treatment for those animals that show clinical signs of the disease is limited. There are no drugs that can repair the extensive liver damage and so management of affected stock is the priority. It is recommended (if feasible) to put those affected animals into complete darkness during the day (putting sheep into the wool shed, putting tarpaulin covers over yards). These animals should be fed hay and given ample water supply. Affected animals can then go out to graze at night.

The current recommendation for drenching against Cooperia is with a combination drench that includes Levamisole. We stock a range of combination products which are available as oral, injectable or pour-ons. Eclipse or Matrix are examples of combination drenches withh abamectin to combat Ostertagia, Trichostongylus and Lungworm, and Levamisole to target the ML resistant worms including Cooperia.

� Zinc for facial eczema� Regular worm drenching for calves� Liver submission forms for trace

element testing available� Tat spray twice daily at milking� Feacal sample for horse parasites� Book your dry cow management consults

CHECKLIST

Liver Fluke is an important internal parasite of cattle and sheep. It can also affect a range of other species

including horses, pigs, goats, alpacas and deer. It lives in the liver and bile ducts and can cause severe production losses and death in stock. Liver fluke has a complex life cycle which includes water snails as an intermediate host. This parasite is therefore more common on farms where there is lots of slow moving water for the snails and a climate that suits the development

requirements for both the snails and the liver flukes. In sheep and cattle, the “acute” disease may not be obvious and animals may show abdominal pain or become jaundiced followed by sudden weakness and death. This is uncommon in NZ but must be considered as a cause of sudden deaths when very hungry stock have access to snail/fluke infected wet environments. The sudden and massive ingestion of encysted larvae leads to an invasion of the liver by the immature flukes which effectively destroy the liver The “chronic” form is more common, in which case sheep and cattle lose condition, have poor milk production, show chronic diar-rhoea, develop a soft fluid swelling under the jaw (“bottle jaw”), become weak and may die. Clos-er examination will reveal pale eye linings and gums caused by the loss of blood. In NZ the chronic form probably has the greatest potential

impact. If you notice any of these signs please contact the vet clinic to arrange further investiga-tion. There is a blood and faecal test available and surveillance from the slaughter premises can provide evidence of the extent of liver fluke infection in animals from the property.

Treatment Prevention

There is a range of liver fluke drenches that are effective against liver fluke in cattle and sheep but they vary according to the age of the flukes. Pop into your local clinic to see which option is best for you. Prevention involves restricting access to high risk areas of the farm. Attempts to eradicate the disease have generally been unsuccessful because both snails and liver fluke need to be eradicated at the same time. Don’t forget that multiple species can be affected so consider treatment/prevention programmes for all of your livestock classes.

Treatment and Prevention

Facial Eczema update

Eclipse Pour-On for Cattle

Matrix C