Dysphagia and salivation

Question 1

Clinical signs of mouth lesions

Answer 1

Profuse salivation and/or dysphagia

poor abdominal fill

Dehydration

Halitosis when infection present

Question 2

Management of prognathia and bradygnathia

Answer 2

careful husbandry ensuring an adequate diet including concentrate feeds to maintain growth rates to slaughter

Question 3

How many deciduous teeth does the calf have

Answer 3

20

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3130

Question 4

How many permanent teeth do adult cattle have

Answer 4

32

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3133

Question 5

When does M1 erupt

Answer 5

6-12 months

Question 6

By what age do cattle have all their permanent teeth

Answer 6

by 48 months (4yrs)

Question 7

Problems that can occur with incisor teeth

Answer 7

○ Absent incisors
○ Rotation
○ Crowded (overlapping)
○ Inter-dental spaces, often found in older cattle
○ Attrition - may be associated with acidic silages

Question 8

Problems that can occur with cheek teeth

Answer 8

More likely to result in dysphagia
○ Retained deciduous caps
○ Absent cheek teeth, mainly PM2
○ Hooked molars, mainly posterior extremity of maxillary M3
○ Inter-dental spaces
○ Attrition

Question 9

Aetiology of actinobacillosis (wooden tongue)

Answer 9

Actinobacillus lignieresii

Normal commensal

Injuries to the oral mucosa or skin become infected, initially as a cellulitis that develops to a pyogranulomatous infection

Yellow-white cheesy accumulations develop with the pus or pyogranulomatous soft tissue lesions (sulphur granules)

Extremely fibrous feed and other oral foreign bodies have been incriminated

Question 10

Clinical signs of actinobacillosis

Answer 10

diffusely swollen firm tongue that fills the oral cavity

Excessive salivation

Anorexia or reduced feed intake

Pyrexia may be present

pyogranulomatous masses and fibrosis of the tongue and other tissues

Question 11

Treatment of actinobacillosis

Answer 11

Parenteral antibiotics for 5-7 days with penicillin and streptomycin combinations (PenStrep) being a useful first line

Oxytetracycline or potentiated sulphonamides may also be used

iodide therapy to break down granulation tissue

Question 12

Aetiology of actinomycosis (lumpy jaw)

Answer 12

sporadic debilitating disease

infection of the mandible or maxilla by Actinomyces bovis

Infection of the bone and teeth occurs after injury of the oral mucosa by fibrous feed or through dental eruption

Question 13

Clinical signs of actinomycosis (lumpy jaw)

Answer 13

Early infeciton: warm, painful swellings, with distinct oedema overlapping a firm, painful bony swelling

Later: bone enlargement becomes obvious and soft tissue oedema is less apparent. Salivation and dysphagia may be observed

Once established in bone: swelling becomes hard and often painful and severe cases have distortion of the teeth in the affected bone. Pyogranulomatous infection of the bone and associated soft tissue evolves and granulomas develop at the site of draining tracts

Question 14

Treatment of actinomycosis (lumpy jaw)

Answer 14

often unrewarding

often only arrests the lesion in the current state due to the bony changes

Long-term antibiotic therapy for 30 days is necessary

Streptomycin or penicillin-streptomycin combinations

Surgery has been suggested for maxilla lesions, with surgical debulking or removal of large pyogranulomas and debridement and curettage of the affected bone

Question 15

Aetiology of papular stomatitis

Answer 15

Bovine papular stomatitis virus (BPSV) a parapox virus

usually seen in calves and spread by contact

Zoonotic

Question 16

Clinical signs of papular stomatitis

Answer 16

One or more raised papules on the muzzle or nares

Papules on the palate, tongue or lips are more common but less likely observed

appear crusty or brownish-yellow in the oral cavity and may have roughened edges

may be flat and confused with erosions

Some papules develop a necrotic white centre that sloughs leaving an ulcerated area within the raised papule

Most cases are asymptomatic and go undiagnosed!

Question 17

Treatment of papular stomatitis

Answer 17

No specific treatment or method of prevention other than housing calves separately

Question 18

Foot and mouth disease

Answer 18

Notifiable

Viral disease caused by foot and mouth disease virus (FMDv)

Clinical signs include pyrexia, blisters in the mouth and feet.

Question 19

Vesicular stomatitis

Answer 19

Notifiable

Caused by vesicular stomatitis virus which is an arbovirus

Clinical signs are indistinguishable from foot and mouth disease

Horses can get this so can put a horse in and see if it gets sick.

Question 20

Bluetongue virus

Answer 20

Notifiable

Caused by bluetongue virus (BTV) an orbivirus transmitted by culicoides midges

Most infection in cattle are asymptomatic

Signs are similar to foot and mouth disease

Question 21

Rinderpest

Answer 21

Notifiable

Eradicated worldwide in 2011

Caused by a morbillivirus

clinical signs of pyrexia, shivering, hyperpnoea, watery or mucous nasal and ocular discharges, later blood in discharge

Usually fatal in 6-10 days

Question 22

Classical rabies

Answer 22

Notifiable

Dysphagia and salivation are common clinical signs of classical rabies in cattle

Question 23

Aetiology of malignant catarrhal fever (head and eye form)

Answer 23

Severe lymphoproliferative disease

Mostly sheep-associated caused by sheep gamma herpesvirus (OvHV-2)

Question 24

Clinical signs of malignant catarrhal fever

Answer 24

Persistent pyrexia, corneal oedema, mucosal erosions and lymph node enlargement

Dramatic clinical signs of multisystemic inflammatory disease

Per-acute disease: may die within 1-2 days, overwhelming viraemia and vasculitis, Minimal clinical signs

Head and eye form: Pyrexia, lymphadenopathy, severe nasal and oral mucosa lesions, ocular lesions and depression, Sloughing of nasal mucosa can result in diphtheritic crusts, Salivation and copious nasal discharge, Bilateral ophthalmitis results from vasculitis throughout the eyes, corneal oedema

Question 25

Mucosal disease

Answer 25

caused by bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDv) can mutate and cause a severe, cytopathic form in persistently infected animals inflammation and damage of MM of digestive tract difficulty swallowing, leading to dysphagia, and may excessively produce saliva

Question 26

Aetiology of tongue lacerations

Answer 26

accidental bites, traumatic injuries, rough handling during restraint, or from consuming sharp objects

Question 27

Clinical signs of tongue lacerations

Answer 27

depends on the extent and depth of the laceration pain, reluctance to eat or drink, excessive drooling, difficulty in swallowing, and bleeding from the mouth

Question 28

Treatment of tongue lacerations

Answer 28

controlling bleeding, managing pain, and preventing infection may require suturing or surgical intervention Topical antiseptics and antibiotics pain management with NSAIDs temporary change in diet

Question 29

Aetiology of pharyngeal trauma

Answer 29

injury from coarse or fibrous feeds, awns, metallic foreign bodies or iatrogenic injury Acute pharyngeal injury results in cellulitis or pharyngeal abscessation

Question 30

Clinical signs of pharyngeal trauma

Answer 30

Local effects include pain, reluctance or inability to swallow, salivation, cellulitis Systemic effects may occur due to damage of the vagus nerve branch in the pharynx, resulting in problems with bloat, due to effects on rumen motility and eructation Respiratory signs may be seen also, with a nasal discharge, inspiratory stridor and inhalation pneumonia. Subcutaneous emphysema may be seen.

Question 31

Treatment of pharyngeal trauma

Answer 31

Broad spectrum antibiotics for 7 to 14 days NSAIDs and supportive therapy If abscesses have formed these will need lancing Resolution of the dysphagia is a good prognostic indicator Rumen fistula or trocar may be used to enable feeding and hydration during recovery

Question 32

Aetiology of calf diphtheria

Answer 32

Infection of the soft tissues in the oral cavity after mucosal injury Fusobacterium necrophorum

Question 33

Clinical signs of calf diphtheria

Answer 33

abscesses in the cheek region and mild salivation and may refuse solid feed Infection can spread amongst claves fed from common equipment

Question 34

Treatment of calf diphtheria

Answer 34

5-7 days course of antibiotics usually penicillin based

Question 35

Other diseases causing dysphagia and salivation

Answer 35

Alimentary neoplasia – Due to bracken poisoning or sporadic or Enzootic Bovine Leukosis (EBL) Anaphylaxis Pharyngeal or oesophageal foreign bodies Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) Botulism Organophosphate poisoning Rabies Tetanus

Question 36

Clinical signs of URT disease

Answer 36

Inspiratory dyspnoea Audible snoring sounds Stertorous breathing

Question 37

Congenital mechanical or obstructive disorders of URT

Answer 37

pharyngeal cysts of respiratory epithelium origin, nasal cysts, cystic nasal conchae, skull abnormalities, laryngeal malformations, brachial cysts

Question 38

Acquired mechanical or obstructive disorders of URT

Answer 38

Usually caused by enlargement or inflammation of tissues and structures external to the airway itself including retropharyngeal abscess and neoplasms. Granulomas caused by Actinomyces bovis and Actinobacillus lignieresii may be found in the nasal mucosa.

Question 39

Frontal sinusitis

Answer 39

May be acute or chronic Acute frontal sinusitis is more common usually following dehorning Clinical signs: pyrexia, unilateral or bilateral mucopurulent nasal discharge, depression and ‘headache’ type pain, often a purulent discharge at the site of dehorning Infection is usually opportunistic with T. pyogenes, Pasteurella multicide, E. coli and anaerobes

Question 40

Maxillary sinusitis

Answer 40

Rare in cattle can be a spontaneous primary condition or secondary to diseases teeth roots, occasionally it may be associated with osteomyelitis conditions of the skull such as lumpy jaw most common presenting sign is a chronic purulent unilateral nasal discharge mild upper airway noise

Question 41

Treatment of sinusitis

Answer 41

Acute frontal sinusitis associated with dehorning, cleansing of corneal wound and lavage of sinus System antibiotics for 7-14 days and NSAIDs For chronic cases trephining of the sinus at two sites to allow lavage and drainage For maxillary sinusitis correction of the inciting cause such as disease tooth roots or maxillary osteomyelitis

Question 42

Aetiology of necrotic laryngitis

Answer 42

atypical form of calf diphtheria, Fusobacterium necrophorum infection.

Question 43

Clinical signs of necrotic laryngitis

Answer 43

progressive inspiratory dyspnoea and pyrexia may be present painful, short cough is observed when the calf attempts to eat or drink necrotic odour may be present on the breath.

Question 44

Treatment of necrotic laryngitis

Answer 44

Long term antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are necessary Tracheostomy may be necessary in cases with severe dyspnoea Chronic cases have a poor prognosis and surgical procedures such as tracheotomy, tracheolaryngotomy or arytenoidectomy may be considered as salvage procedures

Question 45

Laryngeal chondritis

Answer 45

uncommon condition in cattle Clinical signs: dyspnoea, stertor