Ultrasonography of the reticulum, rumen, omasum, and abomasum in 10 calves before, during, and after ingestion of milk.

The reticulum, rumen, omasum, and abomasum were assessed via ultrasonography before, during, and 15, 30, and 120 minutes after feeding milk to 10 healthy calves. The ultrasonographic examinations were conducted using a 5.0 MHz linear transducer. Loops were recorded on video for further evaluation. The reticulum could be visualised before feeding in seven calves. Its appearance and pattern of contractions were similar to those in adult cattle, although the amplitude (1.7 ± 0.75 cm) and velocity (2.7 ± 1.34 cm/s) of the first contraction were smaller than in adult cattle. The reticulum could not be visualised in any of the calves during feeding as it was displaced cranially and laterally and therefore being obscured by the lungs as the abomasum expanded with the ingested milk. 2 hours post ingestion it remained obscured in 5 individual and was visualized again the other 5. The position and size of the entire rumen including the dorsal and ventral sacs and the ruminal contents were assessed. There were no changes in the ultrasonographic appearance of the rumen during or after feeding. Except for its smaller size, the ultrasonographic appearance of the omasum of calves was similar to that of adult cattle. Milk flow through the omasum could not be seen in any of the calves, and there were no changes in the appearance of the omasum during and after feeding. The abomasum was seen to the left and right of the ventral midline before feeding in all calves; it occupied considerably more space on the left than the right. The flow of milk into the abomasum and milk clotting, which occurred 15 minutes after feeding, could be seen in all calves. The milk clots started to slowly disintegrate 30 minutes after the start of feeding, and by 2 hours post feeding, this process was greatly advanced but remained incomplete. Ultrasonography is an ideal tool for the evaluation of the reticulum, rumen, omasum, and abomasum before, during, and after the ingestion of milk in calves.

Ultrasonography of the reticulum, rumen, omasum and abomasum before, during and after ingestion of hay and grass silage in 10 calves.

The reticulum, rumen, omasum and abomasum were assessed via ultrasonography in 10 healthy female calves before, during and 2 h after feeding hay and grass silage. The evaluations were made using an ultrasound machine with a 5.0 MHz linear transducer. The reticulum could be visualized before feeding in all the calves. Its appearance and pattern of contractions were similar to those in adult cattle, although the amplitude (5.2±1.06 cm) and velocity (3.5±1.42 cm/s) of the first contraction were markedly less than in adult cattle. The position and size of the entire rumen including the dorsal and ventral sacs and the ruminal contents were assessed. Except for its smaller size, the ultrasonographic appearance of the omasum of calves was similar to that of adult cattle. The abomasum was seen to the left and right of the ventral midline before feeding in all calves; it occupied considerably more space on the left than the right. Compared with its appearance before feeding, the ultrasonographic appearance of the rumen, omasum and abomasum did not change during or after feeding. Ultrasonography is an ideal imaging tool for evaluating the reticulum, rumen, omasum and abomasum before, during and after feeding in calves.

[Severe inflammation of the muzzle caused by a nose ring in a breeding bull]. / Schwere Flotzmaulentzündung infolge Nasenrings bei einem Zuchtstier.

This report describes the findings in a bull with severe inflammation of the muzzle and nose attributable to a nose ring. The most striking finding was that the bull continually licked the right side of the upper lip. The muzzle and right upper lip were swollen, hard, reddened and partially depigmented. Mucopurulent nasal discharge and salivation were also noted, and palpation of the right upper lip was extremely painful. Based on the findings, purulent infection of the right side of the muzzle, right naris and external nasal passage was diagnosed. After removing the nose ring the affected areas were washed daily for four days with a camomile-containing solution after which a chlorhexidine and dexpanthenol salve was applied. The bull also received ceftiofur and ketoprofen. The general condition and appetite of the bull normalised within a few days, and the inflammatory lesions resolved with the exception of the areas of depigmentation. After ten days of treatment, the bull was considered healthy and discharged from the clinic.

[Ultrasonographic findings in a cow with extraskeletal chondroblastic osteosarcoma of the neck region]. / Ultraschallbefunde bei einer Kuh mit extraskelettalem chondroblastischem Osteosarkom am Hals.

This case report describes the clinical, ultrasonographic and pathological findings in a five-year-old Swiss Braunvieh cow with extraskeletal chondroblastic osteosarcoma of the neck region. The cow was referred because of a firm, non-painful swelling, approximately 25 cm in diameter, which was situated mainly on the lower left side of the neck but extended to the right. Ultrasonographic examination of the mass revealed a chambered structure containing echoic material that was separated by hyperechoic septa. Chondroblastic osteosarcoma was diagnosed based on histological evaluation of a biopsy sample, and the diagnosis was confirmed by postmortem examination.

Ultrasonographic findings in 63 cows with haemorrhagic bowel syndrome.

Cows with haemorrhagic bowel syndrome were examined by ultrasonography. A 5.0 MHz linear transducer was used to scan the right side of 63 standing, non-sedated cows. The small intestine was found to be dilated and had a diameter of 4.3 to 12.0 cm (mean [sd] 6.76 [1.78] cm), and there was markedly reduced or absent small intestinal motility in all the cows. In 22 (34.9 per cent) cows, empty poststenotic segments of small intestine were seen in addition to empty prestenotic intestine. In 12 (19 per cent) cows, the intestinal lumen contained localised hyperechoic material consistent with blood clots. Fluid with or without fibrin was seen between intestinal loops in 39 (61.9 per cent) cows. Accumulation of ingesta in the abomasum and sometimes in the omasum and rumen was seen in 14 (22.2 per cent) cows. Ultrasonography was considered to be a useful tool for the diagnosis of ileus. However, this imaging modality could be used to make a definitive diagnosis of haemorrhagic bowel syndrome only when a blood clot was seen in the intestinal lumen.

Sonographic findings in an alpaca with Mycobacterium kansasii infection.

This case report describes the clinical, ultrasonographic and postmortem findings in an alpaca with Mycobacterium kansasii infection. The alpaca was referred because of chronic weight loss and weakness. The results of clinical examination, haematology and serum biochemistry were not diagnostic. Ultrasonography of the liver revealed multiple, hyperechogenic lesions with a diameter of 1 to 3 cm. Histological evaluation of a liver biopsy sample showed acute, multifocal, suppurative, necrotising hepatitis. Despite treatment with antibiotics, the alpaca died. Postmortem examination revealed nodular to coalescing lesions in the liver, lungs, mediastinum, pleura and greater omentum, which could not be differentiated macroscopically or histologically from lesions caused by tuberculosis. Ziehl-Neelsen staining showed massive numbers of rods within epithelioid macrophages, which were identified as Mycobacterium kansasii by polymerase chain reaction analysis.

An unusual cause of traumatic reticulitis/reticuloperitonitis in a herd of Swiss dairy cows nearby an airport.

This report describes the findings in five cows from one dairy herd, in which all 31 cows were slaughtered or euthanised because of traumatic reticuloperitonitis. All the cows had numerous thin sharp pieces of metal attached to a magnet in the reticulum, giving the magnet a hedgehog-like appearance. Investigation revealed that the cattle had eaten forage harvested from a field immediately adjacent to an airport. The snow was cleared from the airport runways with a machine that had a wire-bristle brush attachment. Mechanical wear resulted in numerous wire bristles breaking and these were blown with the snow onto the field in question. The wire then became accidentally incorporated into the hay and grass silage at harvest the next summer and was ingested by the cattle in the fall and winter. To prevent further cases, approximately 200 tonnes of hay and grass silage contaminated with wire were discarded and 30 hectares of the 50-hectare field were cultivated and re-sown. The wire-bristles of the snow plow were replaced with plastic bristles. The cost of this and the livestock loss was several hundred thousand Swiss Francs.

Characterisation of HTO diffusion properties by an in situ tracer experiment in Opalinus clay at Mont Terri.

A long-term single borehole diffusion experiment using tritiated water as tracer was carried out in Opalinus clay, an argillaceous rock formation that is accessible at the Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory, situated in the Swiss Jura. The tracer was diluted in reconstituted formation water and introduced into a packed-off section of a borehole located in saturated rock. Pressure in this interval was maintained equal to the pore pressure of the surrounding rock in order to prevent any hydraulic gradient around the borehole and to avoid advective transport processes. The evolution of the tracer concentration in the injection system was monitored over time. After 1 year of diffusion, the claystone surrounding the interval was retrieved by overcoring the whole borehole and packer system, and by an adjacent oblique borehole. Compressed air was used as drilling fluid to reduce rock disturbances. The recovered overcore was sampled along profiles perpendicular to the borehole wall with a view to determining the tracer-concentration profiles in the rock. To avoid further evaporation of tritiated water, subsamples were immediately transferred into polyethylene bottles and disaggregated by adding a known amount of tracer-free water. Fifteen profiles were determined and showed a decreasing tracer concentration with distance into the rock. The pore-water contents were constant along those profiles, confirming that only very little water was lost during overcoring operations. The evolution of tritium-tracer concentration in the injection system over time and in situ profiles were interpreted with a 3-D numerical simulation of the experiment. That allowed for the identification of the transport parameters (orthotropic diffusion tensor and porosity) by minimising the relative quadratic error between the experimental and simulated data. The fitting is good and the results are consistent with data obtained on drill-core samples. The result of tritiated water is discussed regarding (1) the potential effect of mechanical and/or chemical disturbances around the injection borehole and (2) the specific behaviour of tritiated water.