Diagnostic Laboratory Rounds
From the Director’s Desk Craig Carter, DVM PhD Dipl. ACVPM UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) Lexington, KY
Spring came a little late--but better late than never, right?
Our Lincoln Memorial University cooperative teaching agreement for senior DVM students in our laboratory continues to go well. Today I gave my introductory lec- ture to the last block of students in the class of 2018 that are scheduled to graduate on Saturday, May 19th. It was encouraging to learn that all but one student in this group of ten already has a job or an internship. Last week, we hosted the AVMA Council on Education’s third visit to our laboratory. Tey spent the morning at UKVDL and the afternoon at the Gluck Equine Research Center to assess the strength of our units as a mandatory part of the LMU curriculum. Te team stated they would re- lease a final report on accreditation of the new CVM in September.
All in all, our faculty and staff have enjoyed
having the students on board and feel that the program is a major success. With the UKVDL having experienced five recurring State budget cuts over the last ten years, the additional funds from the contract have been instrumen- tal in helping us to accomplish our mission.
Many of you may have met, remember or have been taught by Dr. Eugene T. Lyons, a veterinary parasitologist and longtime University of Kentucky Department of Vet- erinary Science faculty member, died Dec. 7. He was 86. A memorial reception was held in his name on Friday, January 19th at the Hilary Boone Center on the UK cam- pus. Lyons joined the department’s faculty in 1963 and still had an active parasitology research agenda until his death. In his 56-year career, his work continues to attract interest in the field of equine helminth infections. He was the first to demonstrate the transmission of helminth par- asites from mother seals to their offspring through their milk; this observation was later extended to a number of equine helminth infections and altered current thinking on the epidemiology of different endoparasitic diseases of the horse. Dr. Lyon was an outstanding mentor, col- league and friend and will be greatly missed on the UK campus and farms.
You may have had the pleasure of meeting or consulting with Dr. Michelle Arnold who serves as the Ruminant Ex- tension Veterinarian on our faculty at the UKVDL. Over the last several years, Dr. Michelle Arnold has developed and implemented a continuing educational and comprehensive clinical consulting program for
22 KVMA News
Food Animal Veterinarians that has become the envy of many other states. You may have attended one or more of her full-day symposia on food animal health. In this role, she works closely with submitting veterinarians to interpret complex diagnostic testing results and provide guidance on the development of prevention, management and treatment programs. She is a very prolific and skilled writer of animal-health related extension newsletter and lay articles in such periodicals as the KY Cow Country news, boasting a 10,000+ readership. Trough her most recently awarded research funding by NIFA “Case-Based Distance Learning for Food Animal Veterinarians”, Dr. Arnold is leading the University of Kentucky animal ag- ricultural programs toward a position of regional and na- tional prominence. We consider it a great honor to have her on the UKVDL faculty.
Tanks for your confidence in our laboratory—please let us your ideas for how we can improve our services to you!
Liver Disease in Horses Debbie C. Reed, DVM, MPH Director, Breathitt Veterinary Center
As a mixed animal practitioner, I saw liver disease in small animals on a regular basis, as most of you do. Liv-
er disease in horses? Rarely. According to Dr Tomas Divers of Cornell, liver failure in horses is relatively rare. Liver disease, on the other hand, is fairly common and is usually associated with the filtering and detoxification process, in other words, exposure to toxic plants or feed toxins. Infections and bile stones can lead to liver disease as well.
Symptoms
Clinical symptoms can be as vague as a fever, colic, an- orexia or lethargy (“He just ain’t right Doc”).
Jaundice,
abnormal behavior like head pressing or seizures and leg/ ventral edema certainly put primary liver disease on the diagnostic rule out list.
As with other mammals, over 70% of the liver must be damaged before symptoms of liver disease begin to show up. Liver disease can be present for an extended period of time before significant symptoms are present.
Toxic plants or feed toxins likely cause most of the liver disease seen by the private practitioner. Plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) such as fiddleneck (western US), groundsel, ragwort, hounds tongue (western US)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
