Archives

THIS MONTH

Furries, shoebox pets all the rage
Veterinary Nurse refresher courses
Next Clin Path Club meeting
What was it? answer
Rabies Virus in UK
Interesting facts about Rabbits
FAQ’s 1. Rats as pets 2. Guinea pigs and vitamin C
Tail End: Rabbits play nurse maid to ostriches
 

FURRIES 
The rising popularity of shoe box pets
Furries, shoebox or pocket pets, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats, chinchillas, ferrets to name but a few, are rapidly becoming a common sight in the surgery. No longer is the £5 rabbit or the £2 hamster considered to be a disposable pet. 

Rabbits are the number 3 pet in the UK and rapidly becoming a status symbol among the young and upwardly mobile. Owners of such pets are increasingly inclined to seek veterinary advice when their pet falls ill and expects the same standard of workup traditionally afforded to cats and dogs. That, in many cases means laboratory tests. A number of tests and profiles have been added to our list during the past 12 months, not all of these appear in the current price list. These include, a rabbit profile (RABP) and a Small Pet Profile (SPP). 

Test Name: Rabbit Profile
Code: RABP 
Tests: Haemogram, AST, GGT, LDH, Total Protein, Albumin, Globulin, Urea, Creatinine, CK and Triglycerides.
Samples: Serum and EDTA
Cost: £18.00 + vat

Test Name: Small Pet Profile 
Code: SPP
Tests: Haemogram, AST, GGT, LDH, Total Protein, Albumin, Globulin, Urea, Creatinine, CK and Triglycerides, Sodium, Potassium.
Samples: Serum and EDTA
Cost: £19.00 + vat
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Renal Disease in Gerbils
A Gerbil is old at 2½
Renal disease is most common in the older gerbil, 2½ to 4 years of age. Patients may present with a history of poor appetite, lethargy, weight loss and loss of muscle mass. An increase in water consumption may also be observed. A Small Pet Profile should provide confirmatory information. 

Only supportive treatment is feasible in rodents, with emphasis on providing ample fresh, clean water and food at all times. Interruption of food and water supplies may trigger full renal failure. It is also important to avoid stress. For example, avoid fluctuations in temperature, do not keep cages on a window sill.
A useful gerbil resource can be found at – The Gerbil Formulary
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VET NURSE REFRESHER
Failed your lab techniques practical?
One day refresher sessions will be run on : Tuesday 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th November. Fee £90 per session 15% discount for NWL clients.
To ensure you get the most out of these sessions we will aim to cover your weak points. On the application form you will be asked to list the subject areas you wish to cover. 
Contact Joanne Kenyon on 01253 899215 and reserve your place as soon as possible. Places are limited.
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CLIN PATH CLUB
Next Meeting 
Thursday 2nd November
Venue
Myerscough College, Bilsborough, Lancashire
Programme

• Haematology workshop.
• The leucocyte – Illustrated talk
• Practical blood film making – A hands on session
• Case book studies

Please note: the date of the next meeting will be Thursday 2nd November to avoid clashing with the BSAVA meeting on the 9th November.
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WHAT WAS IT?

Answer:- Beech pollen
Thank you to all those who replied. No one identified it as Beech but there were plenty who recognised it as pollen. First name out of the hat was Mike Nolan, Darley House, Bolton who wins a £10 Amazon book voucher.
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Rabies Virus in UK Bat
First recorded recovery of rabies virus from a bat in the UK.
Rabies virus (ELB2) has been recovered from a Daubenton bat found in the cellar of a Newhaven public house. The Daubenton bat is an insectivorous species, one of the 15 species of European bats found in the UK. It was estimated that the bat possibly originated from the Franco-Swiss border having arrived on the wind or via a “carrier”. There has been an increasing recovery of rabies virus from bats throughout Europe but this is the first recorded recovery in the UK.
 There have been 3 recorded deaths associated with rabies infection from bats in Europe. A pregnant woman working for the “bat hospital” that rescued this bat was bitten while caring for the bat and subsequently received appropriate treatment.

Reference
Whitby J.E. et al, Veterinary Record (2000) 147, 385-388
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FAQ’s
Are rats a suitable pet for someone with an allergy to animals?
Allergy to cats and dogs is associated with dander. With gerbils, hamsters and rats their main allergen is contained in the urine and saliva. 
With a rat the main risk of contamination is from the fur which becomes heavily contaminated with urine through contact with bedding etc. It is possible to minimise this contamination by regularly bathing your rats, frequently changing the bedding and washing out their quarters. Male urine tends to have a higher allergen content than female urine. So in theory it may be possible to keep rats rather than a cat or dog.

Do Guinea Pigs need extra vitamin C if they are on a commercial diet?
Yes. Vitamin C has quite a short half life in commercial feeds. It can lose up to half it’s potency in 6 weeks or even sooner under poor storage conditions. Feed should checked for manufacture date when purchased. Buy in small amounts and store in a light proof, air tight container in a cool dry place. But even so extra vitamin C should be provided in the water which should be in an opaque drinker as sunlight soon inactivates it. Requirement is 10mg/kg/day rising to 30 for pregnant sows, change regularly.
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Interesting facts about rabbits
In 1859 there were 2 rabbits in Australia now look how many there are.

The Origins
The domestic rabbit originates from the European wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Domestication began during Roman times, and progressed from monasteries in France in the 6th century to rabbit gardens("leporaria") in Elizabethan times. In mainland China, rabbits have apparently been raised for domestic purposes for at least 2000 years. Nautical exploration is probably responsible for the distribution of the rabbit throughout the world. Wild rabbit was a popular source of meat on board ship and islands were frequently populated with rabbits to provide a ready food supply for future voyages. It is reputed that in 1859, a single pair of rabbits were released in Australia by an English colonist. By 1890 the population was estimated to have increased to 20,000,000 and the rest is history.

Classification
The rabbit is classified as "Lagomorph" (Order: Lagomorpha) because of their dentition. The 2 central front incisors are grooved, giving the impression of 4 teeth. There are 2 small lateral incisors behind the upper incisors which provide a wearing surface for the 2 lower incisor teeth. The incisors grow up to 10-12 cm/tooth/year.

Rabbit GI tract
The rabbit is a herbivore and has a highly adapted GI tract. The ileum expands at the ileocaecal junction to form the sacculus rotundus ("ileocaecal tonsil"), a thick walled sacculated structure. The large intestine is relatively large and complex, and has a large, thin-walled coiled caecum which terminates in the vermiform process or appendix.  More than 50% of lapine lymphoid tissue is gut-associated. An interesting feature of which is the normal presence of gram positive bacilli within macrophages in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue.

Domesticated and wild rabbits pass "night faeces", a soft mucus coated pellet of material (caecotroph) secreted by the caecum. Occasionally the typical greenish mucus pellets can be found amongst the droppings but they usually go un-noticed as they are passed around dawn and re-ingested directly from the anus. The process is variously described as "coprophagia", "re-ingestion" and "caecotrophy". This material is rich in B complex vitamins, nutrients and bacteria and appears to be an essential feature of normal nutrition and digestion. The heavy mucus coating is thought to enable the pellets to survive passage through the aggressive acid environment of the stomach. Interestingly coprophagia does not occur in cecotomized or germ-free rabbits. The normal rabbit intestinal flora is diverse including ciliated protozoa, large anaerobic metachromatic bacteria and non-sporulating Gram positive rod shaped bacteria. Clostridia and E. coli are usually considered to be abnormal findings in the rabbit GI tract.

Urine
The urine is alkaline (pH of around 8.2), usually cloudy, and contains crystalline material consisting of salts of calcium carbonate and triple phosphates which precipitate out at the usual basic pH of rabbit urine. The rabbit appears to absorb relatively large quantities of calcium and phosphorus, and the surplus is excreted via the urinary system. Depending on the diet, dark red urine is occasionally seen in normal domestic rabbits, often during the winter months this is due to porphyrines derived from plant pigments. Haematuria is very rare in rabbits.

Oestrus cycle
The rabbit does do not have a regular oestrous cycle, females ovulate on stimulation (approximately 9-13 hrs post mating) and will usually accept the buck at any time.
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Tail End
Rabbits play nursemaid to ostrich chicks
Pet rabbits have been recruited as nursemaids to comfort baby ostriches that are hatched and reared away from their natural mothers. 

Vets have found that the rabbits have a calming effect on agitated chicks hatched from eggs and reared in nurseries to guarantee their survival. 

The partnership has proved so successful that deaths and injuries from panic attacks and stress have been reduced among ostrich chicks, which need to be cosseted in the first few weeks of life. 

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