The objective of this study was to reach a diagnosis of the living conditions of abandoned donkeys kept in a restricted farm area through the assessment of their welfare level utilizing the AWIN protocol as a methodological tool. These animals were supposed to be sent to slaughter, but after the activity was temporarily banned, they were abandoned by traders. The protocol of welfare assessment was associated with general environmental and sanitary conditions. Information regarding the mortality rates was also gathered. According to the welfare assessment results, the living conditions of these animals were acceptable in some areas, despite the insufficient shade and shelter, a 3-month food restriction period, and a mortality rate of over 70%. These results demonstrate that welfare assessment protocols must be adapted to crises and databases for welfare indicators in diverse conditions must be created.

Buffaloes are one of the important farm animals in the south of Iraq and play an essential economical role mainly acting as dairy, meat, and draft animals. This study intended to diagnose buffalo mycotic eye infections in Thi-Qar province/Iraq. Some 250 buffaloes in the herd of 3,700 animals suffered from eye infections from December 2017 to November 2018. Eye swabs were collected from each infected eye of the affected buffaloes of both sexes before treatment. The animals were in different age groups. All samples were transferred to the laboratory in transfer media, and cultured on Sabouraud dextrose (SDA) agar with and without 0.05 g/mL and 0.4 g/mL chloramphenicol and cycloheximide, respectively. Later, the agars were incubated at 25o C and 37o C. The total percentage of eye infection was (6.75%), constituting (49.2%) mycotic infections. The predominant clinical manifestations that appeared on the infected buffaloes were eye inflammation represented by congestion, lacrimation, the opacity of cornea and edema, and reduced productivity of the infected animals. Different fungal isolates were identified from the samples including Aspergillus fumigates, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium spp., Alternaria spp., Fusarium spp., Candida spp., Cladosporium spp., Rhodotorula spp., Mucor spp. and Rhizopus spp. Calves buffaloes below one-year-old were more prone to mycotic infection than one-year-old or more. Additionally, male buffaloes were more susceptible to infection than females. In conclusion, this study isolated various types of fungus from the inflamed eyes of buffaloes. Fungal eye infection and the potential risk factors for fungal keratitis in buffaloes were also investigated. The study also approved the rapid diagnosis of fungi by direct microscopic detection and culture. The author recommends future studies including large numbers of the buffalo herd in Iraq to determine the epidemiology of this condition in the country.

Sporotrichosis is a dermatozoonosis, caused by dimorphic pathogenic fungi of the genus Sporothrix. Although Sporothrix brasiliensis is the most frequent and pathogenic species identified from the Brazilian sporotrichosis hyperendemic, to the best of our knowledge this is the first report of its molecular diagnosis from a cat with ocular lesions. A 3-month old female, domestic feline presented an ocular manifestation with granuloma in the lower-left palpebral conjunctiva, in addition to mucocutaneous lesions in varied locations throughout the body. Samples were collected for subsequent cytopathology, fungal culture, serology, and molecular genotyping. Itraconazole was prescribed for the treatment of sporotrichosis and the animal was considered clinically cured at the end of 5 months of treatment and discharged. S. brasiliensis cat interactions can manifest with a multitude of clinical forms that resemble either infectious or noninfectious diseases. Both the need for meticulous cat physical evaluation by a veterinarian followed by accurate laboratory diagnosis are key Public Health measures in the Brazilian sporotrichosis hyperendemic area.

Reviewers 2021

Surgical arthrodesis is effective for treating proximal interphalangeal joint (PIJ) injuries in horses. Despite several techniques described so far, the use of a 3-hole, 4.5mm-locking compression plate, associated with two 5.5-mm transarticular cortex screws, is currently considered the “gold standard.” This review describes the anatomy of the pastern, as well as causes, indications, and possibilities for arthrodesis in the equine PIJ. A description of the current surgical technique for joint fixation is also presented.

This study aimed to verify if the process of artificial insemination (AI) characterized here as animal immobilization, the passage of the semen applicator through the cervix, and deposition of the semen in the uterus, affected cows’ welfare. For this, 18 beef calved cows were selected and divided into two groups: inseminated cows (AIG, n = 9), and not inseminated cows, the control group (CG, n = 9). Body condition score, uterus, and ovary evaluation were performed. Later, both groups were submitted into an estrus synchronization protocol and only the AIG group was inseminated. Blood components of urea, creatinine, AST, GGT, CK, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, VLDL, NEFA, BHB, cortisol, estradiol, progesterone, albumin, and total protein were measured 30 h before AI, and 4, 24, 48 and 168 h after AI. Statistical differences were considered when P <0.05. No differences between AIG and CG were observed. On the other hand, when the moment of insemination was evaluated, differences were observed for urea, creatinine, AST, GGT, CK, glucose, triglycerides, NEFA, BHB, albumin, and total protein. There was an oscillation of metabolic profiles depending on the time and procedures to which animals were exposed, even though it could be inferred that the AI process was incapable of altering those metabolic components on animals that were inseminated. Still, we can affirm that artificial insemination cannot be categorized as a negative reproduction tool on animal welfare. However, the containment and management procedures for AI may alter the metabolic profile of cows, especially the increase of CK.

This study aimed to compare the psychological profile of pet owners with the ones who didn’t own any pets. The research method was a casual-comparative study. Pet owners and people without pets were included in this research which was done in Iran in February 2017. One hundred and sixty people were selected in this sample in a nonrandom available sampling method and matched in terms of demographic characteristics. Eighty people, pet owners, were referred to the veterinary clinics and 80 didn’t own any pets. They were assessed by a psychological signs inventory. The result of ANOVA indicated that pet owners and those without any pets were indifferent in the characteristics of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, hostility, paranoid, interpersonal sensitivity, and psychosis, while those without any pets, statistically had a higher average in somatization and depression than the pet owners and it could be justified by corrective emotional experience, displacement, and sublimation in the pet owner. This statistic can be based on the fact that pet owners use these animals as an object for thrilling topics which is a factor to decrease their psychological stress and increase their physical health.

Donkeys, mules, and asses are domestic animals of worldwide distribution, found in all regions of Brazil. Although more health data is needed from these species, some sectors of today’s society are exploring alternatives to use these animals for milk production and the use of donkeys in social events and onotherapy. Donkeys (Equus asinus) are used in many everyday activities, but the animals need better welfare conditions. Although it is well known that endoparasite infections (i.e. cyathostomins, Strongylus spp., Parascaris sp.) can harm the clinical condition of the animals, there are limited clinical and laboratory supporting data, including registered therapeutic drugs for their control. The objective of the present work was to review the existing literature about parasite infections of donkeys, including their clinical implications, and the drug efficacy test to help practitioners improve their health management programs. To assist with that, we have developed a questionnaire to identify the risk factors of donkey farming, which is presented here in English and in Portuguese. Lastly, the present article also includes an original simulation using the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model with low, moderate, and severe scenarios to help visualize the risk of parasite infections. The SIR model was based on the disease condition of donkeys in Brazil, using transient interaction levels from 0.0015 to 0.0025, infectivity levels from 0.10 to 0.40, and distinct recovery rates (R) from 0.01 to 0.08. As milk production is an expanding new activity worldwide, we want to emphasize that the first comprehensive studies must take into account differences in animal age, breed, and body condition score, local climate, pasture quality, day of sampling, and the period of lactation within the lactation curve to measure the health condition of donkeys. These data are considered important and will then be correlated to the parasite egg/oocyst (EPG or OoPG) counts in the feces using coproparasitological protocols (McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC), and even DNA-based techniques, to establish a novel data bank for donkeys. Target selective treatment has been proposed to be used as a routine in horses and will also be implemented in donkeys. This technique aims to reduce the number of anthelmintic treatments and, consequently, lessen parasite selection for resistance. The dynamic variations found by the SIR model are discussed in the text and should be taken into account when deciding the best health management implementation and parasite control programs. We think that more studies are needed to evaluate the basic physiological performance of donkeys in tropical areas to better understand their thermal adaptation, assuming that the animals are kept under acceptable clinical, nutritional, and housing conditions to express their resilient behavior. Cases of neglect and ill-treatment of animals must also be studied in infected conditions as well as their negative impacts. These strategies reinforce the concept of holistic farming with the possibility to improve specific informations, thereby improving the welfare of the donkeys.

This study aimed to evaluate the role of prostaglandin F2α (PGF) on ovulation. In Experiment 1, cows were randomly allocated to two treatments to receive 150 μg of d-Cloprostenol (PGF Group, n = 12) or 2 mL of NaCl 0.9% (Control Group, n = 11) and CIDRs, were removed 4 days later. No cow ovulated in Control and PGF groups. In Experiment 2, cows were randomly separated into two experimental groups to receive 4 injections of 150 μg of d-Cloprostenol (n = 9) or 2 mL of NaCL 0.9% (n = 9). In this experiment, ovulation was not observed in any cows. In Experiment 3, ovariectomized cows receive three injections of 300μg of PGF analog (PGF Group, n = 5), 100μg of Lecirelin (GnRH Group, n = 5) or 2 mL of PBS (Control Group, n = 4). The LH concentration was higher (P <0.0001) in cows from the GnRH group than in the PGF and Control groups. In experiment 4, cows with preovulatory follicles (>11.5 mm) were treated with Saline (Control Group, n = 6); Lecirelin (GnRH Group, n = 7) or Cloprostenol Sodium (PGF Group, n = 6). There was a significant increase in the vascular area of follicles from 0 to 24 h in GnRH and PGF treatments. In conclusion, PGF was not able to induce ovulation in cows with high or low plasma progesterone concentration. Additionally, PGF alone was not able to induce LH release and follicle luteinization, but increased follicular vascularization.

This study evaluated the fatty acid composition and qualitative characteristics of meat from lambs feed in feedlot with increasing levels of canola grain. Meat obtained from 27 lambs fed 0, 8 and 16% inclusion of canola grain were analyzed. There was a reduction in the content of saturated fatty acids (SFA): lauric, heptadecanoic, and stearic; and unsaturated fatty acids (UFA): palmitoleic, oleic, and eicosatrienoic, with the increasing levels of canola grain. There was a linear reduction for the ω3 acid and the ω3: ω6 ratio, while the ω6: ω3 ratio increased. But the values observed for this ratio (ω6: ω3) were lower than 4, which is considered a satisfactory value. There was a slight increase (~2%) for the thrombogenicity index and atherogenicity index with the inclusion of canola grain. There was a reduction in the hypocholesterolemic: hypercholesterolemic ratio, with mean values of 2.09 for the diet with 0% inclusion, and 2.06 for 8 and 16% inclusion of canola. Although the inclusion of canola grain for lambs decreased the content of some UFA, reflecting alterations in the correlated nutritional properties, there is a reduction of SFA. The results for instrumental analysis, proximate composition, and sensory acceptance of the lamb meat were similar among the treatments.