A litter of twelve German Shorthaired Pointer puppies whelped near their due date and included one mummified fetus and two stillborn puppies. One puppy died at one week of age, another died at two weeks of age, and two more were lost at three weeks of age. The remaining puppies had a poor suckle reflex…
Twelve dead adult Chukar partridges were submitted to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in Gonzales for necropsy. History noted an increase in spontaneous deaths over a few days’ period with minimal or no clinical signs observed. Upon necropsy examination, the birds had enlarged, pale, orange-colored livers and enlarged, dark spleens. The lungs…
Fowl Pox was diagnosed in three Houdan chickens submitted for diagnostic workup to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in Center, Texas. Upon examination, the birds had either one or both eyes severely swollen, due to a large accumulation of caseous exudate, and moderate numbers of dark brown, 3 mm diameter, raised nodules…
Vaginal/uterine discharge was submitted to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in College Station from an eight-year-old Warmblood mare for culture and a cytologic evaluation. Cytologically the discharge consisted of large numbers of degenerate neutrophils and marked numbers of yeast. The neutrophils were actively phagocytizing the yeast. There were no bacteria identified. The…
A skin sample from a 35-year old captive python was submitted to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) for fungal culture. The submitting veterinarian noted the snake was euthanized because it exhibited severe ulcerative skin lesions, was lethargic, and had stopped eating. The skin sample was set up on five different agar plates…
Seven dead, 16-week-old bobwhite quail were presented to the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in Gonzales for necropsy. The history provided noted increased mortality of about 15 birds per day, with no clinical symptoms. The birds were in flight pens with no vegetation. Additionally, all birds had varying degrees of feather loss around…
Recently, the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in Center diagnosed gangrenous dermatitis (GD) in three flocks of broilers 44 to 50 days of age. All the submissions had a common clinical history of sudden increased mortality, prostration, and change in color of the skin. At necropsy examination, the birds had purple discoloration of…
The Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) was contacted by a client who was concerned a group of horses had potentially consumed gopher bait containing an anticoagulant (diphacinone) as the toxic agent. Providing treatment for large animals with the antidote for anticoagulant intoxication can be challenging, therefore the suggestion was made to submit samples…
A 6-month-old Harris’s hawk was necropsied at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in College Station and was diagnosed with herpesvirus infection as the cause of death. This hawk was used as an abatement bird and had been previously diagnosed with and treated for oral trichomoniasis. The patient passed away and was submitted…
A wildlife rehabilitation center submitted a biopsy from a hawk. The veterinarian examining the hawk noted a proliferative lesion on the non-feathered skin of the left talon. There are several infectious disease differentials for lesions on the talons of birds ranging from pododermatitis (bumblefoot), often caused by an underlying bacterial infection to various viral, fungal,…