It’s frustrating for veterinarians to try and make a definitive diagnosis of an ongoing health challenge if they lack the tools in the toolbox to help the situation. One such disease of young suckling piglets is Rotaviral enteritis (diarrhea). Rotavirus: the organism While there are many devastating viral diarrheas on western Canadian pig farms, Rotavirus […] Read more
Tag Archives animal health
Biosecurity farm practices are often just common sense
With the arrival of calving season, now is the time to talk about biosecurity. Just like we have learned principles to prevent the spread and contraction of COVID-19 between humans, similar principles apply to most infectious diseases in livestock production. The diseases vary between species, but many principles remain the same. Cleaning and disinfection in […] Read more
Animal health emergencies share similarities with COVID
I want to talk about two potential threats in Canada — foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever. Both possess huge threats from an animal health perspective. There is no doubt COVID-19 has made the average consumer more aware of how viral transmission occurs, plus the steps we can take to mitigate its spread. The amount […] Read more
Cattle movement benefits from quality stockmanship
With the fall run in full swing, I’ve had the opportunity to be at a number of feedlots where they were processing fall calves. As I watched the processing crews, I was impressed at the stockmanship that I witnessed. There was no shouting, everybody was calm and quiet and animals were moved through the system […] Read more
Managing weight in ponies critical for optimum health
It is tempting to classify ponies as small horses and treat them the same. They are the same species, Equus ferus caballus, but the smallest equines in our care have some unique characteristics that require particular attention for optimum health. Ponies are especially good at using their groceries to put on weight, making obesity a […] Read more
Copper deficiency in spring can lead to reproductive losses
It has been a relatively busy spring for our Disease Investigation Unit at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. The cases we’ve seen include scenarios of lead toxicity, abortions and several cases of unusual disease syndromes in young calves including neurological disease and blindness. After years of being involved in various disease outbreaks […] Read more
Clostridial bacteria often behind horse intestinal ills
In my previous column, I discussed clostridial infections in the muscles of horses, most often following injections, that can lead to the disease known as malignant edema. In addition to serious muscle infections, clostridial bacteria can also be an important cause of intestinal disease in foals and adult horses. Two main species are involved, clostridium […] Read more
Move to early sales may force producers to recheck bulls
Purebred bull sales in all breeds appear to be getting earlier and earlier, some even happening in December. This is months before many cattle producers are going to use them in their breeding programs. It sometimes creates difficulty for veterinarians to get the bulls’ semen evaluated ahead of time. Sellers and buyers of these bulls […] Read more
Streptococcus suis is common and deadly on hog farms
Many health challenges come and go within pig populations. Recently we have had a lot of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus on Manitoba hog farms. Influenza virus and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus are also a frequent challenge on some farms. African swine fever gets a lot of attention around the world. One disease that […] Read more
Reduced weaning stress is important goal for producers
If you drive into many small towns on the Prairies with a livestock auction yard at this time of year, you might be greeted by the chorus of bawling calves. Most of these calves are headed to feedlots after being recently weaned at their home ranches. Weaning is a stressful event for calves and it […] Read more
