Acute urea toxicity in sheep.

Twenty-seven sheep were assigned to three groups in order to study acute urea toxicity. Groups I, II and III were dosed with 0.5, 0.6 annd 0.75 g/kg of urea, respectively. The mean survival times were 165, 109 and 60 minutes, respectively. The following clinical signs such as pronounced muscle fasciculation, trembling, grinding teeth, ataxia, lateral recumbency, bloating, regurgitation, hyperesthesia, mydriasis and convulsions were observed. Anuria and lack of salivation were also present. The primary cause of death in this study was due to respiratory arrest and not cardiovascular collapse. Plasma examinations showed a marked increase in glucose, ammonia and urea levels but no change in ketone body concentration.

A new antiviral agent (P2) in the purpose of treatment of bovine leukemia.

Thirty five cows and heifers, all positive reactors on ID test and all showing persistent lymphocytosis (15 with markedly enlarged lymphatic glands) were divided in 4 experimental groups and treated with P-2, a new antiviral agent, previously shown to be effective for several RNA type viruses. In table are indicated groups, range of dosages of P-2, and variability in WBC and lymphocyte. White blood cells found to be at the lowest level (P less than 0.02) one month after treatment with P-2, a less marked reduction (P less than 0.05) was found when the experiments ended at 7 months. A significant (P less than 0.05) fall in lymphocytes was found one month after treatment but this was not significant at the end of experiment. In 12 animals with lymphosarcomatous disease significant retraction of lymphatic glands. It is not clear whether the sudden drop in WBC and lymphocytes is due to the virostatic effect of drug or an effect of drug per se. New series of experiments will be made to treat BLV with two agents: one virostatic and other cytostatic.

Prevention of thiopental and thiopental/halothane cardiac sensitization to epinephrine in the sheep.

The effects of epinephrine (5 microgram/kg of body weight) on ten unanesthetized sheep were experimentally tested: all sheep displayed serious arrhythmias. Sheep anesthetized with thiopental and thiopental/halothane combination displayed cardiac arrhythmias of the order of 10% and 20% respectively. Challenge injections of epinephrine (5 microgram/kg of body weight) to ten sheep anesthetized with thiopental, and to the same number of animals after 45 minutes of anesthesia with thiopental/halothane, produced serious arrhythmias. However, following preanesthetic treatment with acepromazine maleate (0.5 mg/kg) to 15 sheep, serious arrhythmias were prevented in all of them when they were given arrhythmic doses of epinephrine.