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VETERINARY
Rot rare but serious
Whatisthelatestthinking
on Alabama rot?
Neilsays:Alabamarotwasfirst
diagnosedinracinggreyhounds
intheUSAinthe1980s.Since
2012 justover 160 caseshave
beenseenintheUK,withonly
onebeinga greyhound.The
conditionhasoccurredina
rangeofbreeds,withnoageor
weightpredisposition.There
havebeen 30 confirmedcases
inLabradors, 16 inEnglish
springerspanielsand 11 in
cockers.South-westEngland
istheworstaffectedareaand
mostcasesoccurbetween
NovemberandApril.Alabama
rotismoreproperlycalled
cutaneousandrenalglomerular
vasculopathyandbelongsto
a group of diseases known as
thromboticmicro-angiopathies.
Ulcerativelesionsonthelimbs,
bellyandmouthoccurand
manyanimalsdevelopanaemia
andacutekidneydisease.The
diseaseprocessiscomplicated
butessentiallylotsoflittle
thrombi(clots)areformed,
whichblocksmallarteries,
starvingthetissueofoxygen
sothatcellulardeathoccurs.
Alongsidethis,redbloodcells
aredestroyedbothinsideand
outsidethebloodvessels.With
treatment,casesinvolving
onlytheskinusuallysurvive,
althoughrecoverycantake
months.Theprognosisfordogs
thatdevelopsevererenalfailure
isnotsogood,unfortunately.
Thankfullyit remainsa relatively
rarecondition,thoughthe
cause remains unknown.PIGEONSRules on roostIreadwithbemusementyourarticlesintheMarch
editionofSportingGun– ‘TherewardsofFebruary ’
and‘WhenPigeonscomehometoroost ’.Inmyopinion
shootingpigeonscomingtoroostdoesnotcomplywith
thegenerallicenceandisthereforeillegal.Thatisunless
youcantellmethatastheyarecomingintoa placetorest
orsleeptheyareabouttocausedamage.I wouldargue
not.AndbeforeyouthinkI amsomedo-gooderwhodoes
notshoot,I comefrom a farming family that has shot for
over 35 years.Petersays:Questionsconcerningtheconditionsofthe
generallicencecomeupatregularintervals.I ambyno
meansanexpertinthisareabutI amfairlycertainthatthis
lawhasnotbeentestedincourttoascertainwhenandwhere
youcannotshootwoodpigeons.I suggestyoucontactBASC
toseeif theycangiveyoua definitiveanswer.Buttoreturn
totheoriginalquestion,isit legaltoshootpigeonscoming
hometoroost?If youexaminethecropofa shotbirdthat
it hasspentthelasttwohoursofitslifetryingtodestroy,I
wouldarguethatkillingthis bird would be within the criteria
of the general licence.Pickofthecrop:
thiswoodieis
replete with bounty
Nick Ridley, RichaRd FaulksVETERINARY
Heat
control
Iamkeentobreedfrommy
spanielbitchbutdon’twant
hercomingintoheatin
themiddleoftheshooting
season.IsthereanywaythatI
can manipulate her cycle?
Neilsays:Yes,butremember
weplaywithMotherNatureat
ourperil.Thereisa licensed
product,whichwillbe
familiartoyourvet,whichis
aninjectableprogestogen.
Itreliablypostponesheatif
givenmid-cycleandyoumight
expectthenextheattothen
occuraboutsixmonthsafterthe
injection.Alternatively,it canbe
usedtocontinuouslysuppress
heatwhenfurtherinjections
aregivenafterthree,thenfour,
theneveryfivemonths.Itcan
alsobeemployedtopostpone
a heat that has actually
started,aslongasit isgiven
assoonaspossible.Underthis
circumstance,bleeding,vulval
swellingandattractivenessto
dogsgraduallydecreaseover
fivetosevendays.Thereisa
downside:aftercessationof
a ‘permanent ’postponement
courseofinjections(i.e.those
giveneveryfivemonths),the
nextheatwillusuallyoccurafter
sixtosevenmonthsbut
in4%ofcasestheintervalcan
belessthanfivemonths,in
7%ofbitchesit willbelonger
than 12 monthsandupto
3%mayneverreturntoheat
again.Evenwithjusta single
injection,1%ofbitcheswill
stillnothavecomeintoseason
after 12 months.Theinjection
hasanundeservedreputation
forleadingtouterineproblems
astheseoccurinonly0.3%of
patients.Thereisa tabletthat
hasbeenuseddailyinracing
greyhoundstosuppressheat
butitsuseis‘offlicence’and
wouldneedtobediscussed
carefully with your vet.