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Scottish Highland Cattle
Filed Under: Cows, General Care
Resembling a cross between the American Longhorn and a Yak, the Scottish Highland breed is ancient and is one of the purest and rarest breeds of cattle known today. It is estimated that their numbers are fewer than 10,000 worldwide, with most of the population surviving in the United States and Canada.
Scottish Highland cattle date back to the sixth century. They are believed to be the product of blending two ancient Asiatic breeds: the Bos primigenius and the Bos longifrons.
Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus, or BVDV
Did you know that “Bovine Viral Diarrhea” is actually an all-inclusive term for a clinical disease manifestation that potentially involves one or two distinct viruses? Two distinct biotypes of the virus, two viral states of infection and five distinct clinical forms of acute disease are seen with the Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV). This complex is also known as “Bovine Virus Diarrhea”, “Mucosal Disease”, or “Bovine Pestivirus Disease Complex”.
Top Ten Reasons for Owning a Pond
Filed Under: Dogs, General Care, Fish
10. Provides the family Labrador retriever a place to cool off.
9. Less water usage. Lawns and landscaping require watering. Often rainwater is sufficient to top off a pond once it has been filled, dependent on the area of the country.
8. The pond provides a wonderful local wildlife habitat.
7. Sludge collected by a pond filter may be used as a nutrient-rich fertilizer.
6. Just add fish and you have wonderful, easy to care for and entertaining pets.
5. A pond encourages young people to help preserve the planet and brings them in close contact with nature.
Cocklebur Poisoning
Filed Under: Horses, Cows, Poisoning, Pigs
Did you know that cockleburs (Xanthium genus), those annoying burs that stick to your clothes and scratch your skin, are toxic if consumed? Most people are not in the habit of consuming the prickly, spiny seed pods, but they can be incorporated into animal feeds and hay. Horses, pigs, and cattle can all become poisoned. Pigs are the species most commonly poisoned from these seedlings.
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease
The weather is so beautiful that you decide to take a hike along a stream or small river and you come across a deceased white-tailed deer in or around the water. Unfortunately, it is not an uncommon scenario. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease or EHD is a viral disease of white-tailed and mule deer that is spread by biting gnats. Domestic ruminants such as cattle and sheep are typically asymptomatic carriers of the virus but occasionally cattle will exhibit clinical disease.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or Mad Cow Disease
Are you a member of the meat-eating public? Then you might want to familiarize yourself with “Mad Cow Disease,” or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). First described in 1986 in Great Britain, this disease is a fatal, slow-onset encephalopathy, or disease of the brain, in cattle. “Why should I be concerned?” you might ask. Mad cow disease is the only known form of a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy to be transmitted from animals to humans, which makes it a lethal zoonotic disease.
Influenza Type A / Swine Flu
Have you wondered why the government is so concerned about a few cases of the flu? Think there is just a lot of drama going on for ratings week? There may be more to the hype than you think. Human, avian and swine flu strains are all interrelated. The orthomyxoviruses, or influenza A viruses, of all three species can easily exchange genetic material. This genetic exchange could possibly result in a new variety of human virus, which has the potential for severe morbidity and mortality.
Swine Flu: Media Scare or Major Threat?
Think the current swine influenza scare is just a bit of media drama? Don’t be too sure. Pigs have the potential to serve as a genetic “mixing vessel” for influenza viruses carried by birds, pigs and humans. Most viruses tend to be species specific but not those of the Influenza type A viruses. These viruses can easily swap genetic code between traditional avian, pig and human infections. It is feared that this mixing of genetic code may someday result in a flu pandemic to rival that of the 1918 Influenza epidemic.
Coral Reefs Currently Under Stress from a Changing Planet
Filed Under: General Care, Fish
Did you know that corals are actually marine animals? There are more than 2,000 known species of coral. These delicate creatures are under stress around the world due to warmer temperatures, changing pH levels, and even agricultural and fresh water runoff. Coral reefs provide homes to more than a quarter of the world’s saltwater fish. Coral reefs are typically found in shallow water areas, often close to the coast or island locations.
Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD)
Proventricular Dilatation Disease, or PDD, is a disorder of the central nervous system and a fatal viral disease that currently affects 50 different species of domesticated and wild psittacine parrots as well as 5 other Orders of birds. PDD was previously known as “macaw wasting syndrome” when it was mistakenly thought to infect only macaws. The Spix’s macaw, whose current population is estimated at 100 live birds, is currently one of the most endangered species of birds in the world, with its very existence being threatened by PDD.
Malignant Catarrhal Fever or Bovine Malignant Catarrh
Malignant Catarrhal Fever (MCF) or Bovine Malignant Catarrh are actually two diseases caused by separate herpes viruses that are almost always fatal to cattle, deer, bison, occasionally pigs, rabbits, and certain exotic ruminants. Neither virus causes disease in their principal hosts, either the wildebeest or the sheep.
Koi Herpes Virus
Koi are a highly personable and hardy ornamental carp whose popularity for pond owners has exploded in the past several years. When a pond is confronted with Koi Herpes Virus (KHV), the results are devastating. The virus has a mortality rate of 80% and the few survivors are typically euthanized, resulting in depopulation of the entire group of fish.
Lyme Disease or Borreliosis
Filed Under: Dogs, Horses, Cows, Diseases
In the United States, Lyme Borreliosis is the most commonly-reported tick-transmitted disease in humans. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi which is a spirochete (corkscrew-shaped bacteria) that is transmitted by various Ixodes ticks. Lyme disease is also seen in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and Australia.
Rift Valley Fever
Endemic to Madagascar, eastern, and southern Africa is an RNA disease causing virus named for the area in which it was first reported in 1930 called Rift Valley Fever (RVF). The virus has since been detected as far north as Egypt and over to the Arabian Peninsula countries of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Although an important pathogen in its native area affecting domestic ruminants and people, RVF is feared as a potential biological weapon capable of spreading the globe by the movement of infected people, animals, and insects.
Vesicular Stomatitis in Horses, Cows, and Pigs
Filed Under: Horses, Cows, Diseases, Pigs
Vesicular stomatitis (VS) is a viral disease of horses, cattle and swine that produces characteristic lesions known as vesicles and erosions. After a short incubation period of anywhere from 3 to 15 days, affected animals will have an elevated temperature, appear lethargic (depressed) and anorexic, and often exhibit drooling of saliva (ptyalism) and lameness.
Heartwater or Cowdriosis in Cattle, Sheep, and Goats
Heartwater or Cowdriosis is a disease of cattle, sheep, goats and wild ruminants endemic to Sub-Sahara Africa, Madagascar, and portions of the Caribbean such as Antigua and Guadeloupe. Heartwater is caused by obligate intracellular rickettsial organisms that parasitize macrophages (a type of white blood cell). After initially replicating in macrophages, the organism will move to the vascular endothelium where it undergoes additional replication.
Fescue Toxicosis in Cattle
Tall fescue (Festuca elatior or F. arundinace) is among the most common cool season pasture grasses grown in North America and in other countries having a temperate climate. Almost all of the pasture planted before 1980 is infected with Neotyphodium coenophialum, a microscopic fungus or endophyte. "Endophyte" describes the location of the fungal growth within the grass as endo=within and phyte=plant.
Osteoarthritis or Degenerative Arthritis in Dogs, Cats, Horses, Birds, and Other Pets
Filed Under: Dogs, Cats, Pocket Pets, Horses, Diseases, Birds
Is your pet having more difficulty getting up in the morning? Does he or she walk around still legged for the first 10 to 15 minutes in the morning to get warmed up? Is your pet limping especially on those cold, wet, rainy mornings? Does your pet limp around following that Frisbee session? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then your pet is probably suffering from osteoarthritis.
Escherichia coli 0157:H7, or E. coli
Escherichia coli, also known as E. coli, is a normal bacterial inhabitant of the intestinal tract of both humans and animals. E. coli is a gram-negative bacterial rod. Most strains of E. coli are not pathogenic, but some strains are known to cause disease. Most infections by pathogenic E. coli will cause disease in the intestinal tract resulting in diarrhea and inflammation of the intestines.