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Behavioral problems in reproductively healthy mares are a challenging issue that is successfully treated with bilateral ovariectomy (BO). This laparoscopic procedure represents an alternative to conservative treatment for mares not intended for breeding and results in high owner satisfaction regarding behavioral improvement. However, a pathohistological explanation to justify surgical ovarian removal regarding animal welfare is lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to pathohistologically evaluate bilaterally removed, clinically unremarkable ovaries of mares with behavioral problems (bOE, n = 20) and to compare them with pathohistologically confirmed granulosa cell tumors of mares with neoplastic ovaries (GCT-uOE, n = 10). A complete data set including preliminary presentation, clinical examination, and serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and testosterone was further analyzed in both groups. Both hormones were significantly higher in GCT-uOE compared with bOE. Immunohistochemical expression of Ki-67, AMH, aromatase, epidermal growth factor receptor, calretinin, and epithelial cadherin in granulosa cells of large follicular structures in bOE did not differ from neoplastic granulosa cells in GCT-uOE. Ultrasonographically nondetectable early neoplastic changes were pathohistologically evaluated in 15% of mares and anovulatory-like follicles in 30% of mares in bOE and might be one explanation for the high success rate of BO in 85% of bOE in this study.

Infections with Anaplasma ( A. ) phagocytophilum in cats seem to be rare. The study aimed to determine whether infections in cats are underestimated and to identify the risk factors for infection. Blood samples of 1015 cats across Europe (2017-2022), sent to IDEXX Laboratories, Germany, were tested for A. phagocytophilum DNA. The influence of the cats' origin on A. phagocytophilum infection was assessed by univariable analysis, while multivariable logistic regression evaluated associations with the cats' sex and age, and the years, and seasonality of the samples' submission. Furthermore, univariable linear regression was used to determine patterns in PCR orders. The number of submitted samples increased significantly during the 6 years ( p = 0.042). Anaplasma phagocytophilum DNA was detected in 76/1015 of cats (7.5%, 95% CI 6.0-9.3%). Infections were significantly more common in Northern compared to Central ( p < 0.001, OR: 8.70) and Southern Europe ( p < 0.001, OR: 39.94). A significantly higher likelihood for infections during the summer compared with winter ( p = 0.047, OR: 3.13) was found. Bacteremia with A. phagocytophilum in European cats is not uncommon. Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection should be considered an important risk, particularly in Northern Europe. Effective tick prevention is crucial for managing feline health across Europe, not just in the Mediterranean region.

Barometric whole-body plethysmography (BWBP) is considered to be a particularly gentle method of assessing lung function in cats. However, there have been no studies to date investigating the stress experienced by cats during measurements. The prospective study included 48 healthy adult cats. Each cat was measured in the plethysmographic chamber for a total of 30 min and stress levels were determined every 10 min using a stress ethogram. At the beginning of measurements, 75% of cats were assessed as tense. Over the three time periods, a significant ( p < 0.001) reduction in the total stress score was observed. In addition, all measurement parameters correlated significantly with the stress score, with the exception of enhanced pause and tidal volume. It can therefore be assumed that cats will initially experience stress during examination in the plethysmographic chamber, but stress will decrease significantly over time. As the stress level correlates with many measurement parameters, this should be taken into account when interpreting the results.

In the present study, 33 French bulldogs with varying degrees of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) were evaluated for various parameters to provide evidence of chronic stress in the dogs. For this purpose, an owner interview, a clinical examination, and cortisol concentrations in the fur of the dogs were collected. The median cortisol concentration in the fur of the dogs suffering from BOAS (n = 19) was 0.99 pg/mg (range 0.63-66.18), while that of the control group (n = 14) was 1.13 pg/mg (range 0.3-43.45). However, the statistical analysis did not reveal a statistically significant difference; therefore, it is not possible to distinguish between dogs clinically affected with BOAS and those without clinically relevant signs of the disease. There was no statistically significant difference between the age of the animals and the fur cortisol. None of the owners in the examination and control groups indicated that their dog was suffering from chronic stress which shows that the disease is easily underestimated and remains common. Thus, a thorough clinical examination by an experienced veterinarian remains the gold standard in order to diagnose BOAS.

Post-surgical reproductive performance following ovine caesarean section has not been well studied. To assess any direct effects of surgical delivery in the absence of confounders such as dystocia or underlying diseases, we studied elective surgery performed in healthy animals for teaching purposes. Four hundred and eleven paired breeding records following vaginal delivery ( n = 233), elective caesarean section ( n = 122), and subsequent further vaginal deliveries in animals with a history of one prior elective caesarean operation ( n = 56) were evaluated retrospectively. The overall subsequent pregnancy rate was 95%. Multivariable statistical analyses did not reveal any significant influence of planned caesarean surgery on subsequent conception, stillbirth, perinatal lamb mortality, lamb birth weights, or the incidence of premature foetal death (mummification and abortion). A significantly higher number of mating attempts was, however, necessary. Also, a significant reduction in litter size was seen in the first pregnancy immediately following a surgical delivery in comparison to animals which had previously only delivered vaginally ( p = 0.001), but litter size returned to pre-caesarean levels in further follow-up pregnancies in animals with a history of one elective caesarean section ( p = 0.436). Subsequent long-term reproductive performance of sheep following elective caesarean section is thus excellent, and the results encourage retention for breeding.

Subjective pain assessment in cattle is contingent upon the observer's experience and attitude. Studies of pain assessment in cattle by veterinarians and farmers using different pain scales have been published. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to describe and compare the pain scores given by veterinarians and producers for different procedures and conditions using either a NRS or VAS. The literature search was conducted with PubMed (MEDLINE) and Agricola, using defined search terms (e.g., peer-reviewed). A total of 842 articles were identified. After screening of duplicates, abstracts, and full texts, a total of 16 articles were included in this systematic review. Different pain scales were used for the included studies (NRS 0-10 for eight studies, NRS 1-10 for six studies, NRS 1-10 and VAS 0-10 for one study, and VAS 0-1 for one study). Most studies ( n = 11) originated from the European Union. Mean values for pain scores differed significantly between studies included in the meta-analysis for both NRS 0-10 and 1-10. The findings of this study indicated that comparison of pain scoring used in different studies is difficult due to use of different pain scales and varying nomenclature, and that many variables (such as age and gender) influence pain scoring., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Many potentially noxious interventions are performed on chicken embryos in research and in the poultry industry. It is therefore essential and in the interest of animal welfare to be able to precisely define the point at which a chicken embryo is capable of nociception in ovo. The present part III of a comprehensive study examined the movements of developing chicken embryos with the aim of identifying behavioral responses to a noxious stimulus. For this purpose, a noxious mechanical stimulus and a control stimulus were applied in a randomized order. The recorded movements of the embryos were evaluated using the markerless pose estimation software DeepLabCut and manual observations. After the application of the mechanical stimulus, a significant increase in beak movement was identified in 15- to 18-day-old embryos. In younger embryos, no behavioral changes related to the noxious stimulus were observed. The presented results indicate that noxious mechanical stimuli at the beak base evoke a nocifensive reaction in chicken embryos starting at embryonic day 15.

Stress has a significant impact on equine welfare. There are some studies on the stress response in horses ridden with tight nosebands, but little is known about other stress parameters than cortisol, which potentially could address an emotional component. In this study, blood samples of a total of 74 warmblood horses were used to establish reference values for plasma substance P (SP) concentrations. Moreover, 16 of these warmblood horses were included in a stress model. Four different stress levels (level 1: horses ridden with loose noseband, level 2: tight noseband, level 3: loose noseband and overground endoscope, level 4: tight noseband and overground endoscope) were applied to evaluate SP as a potential stress parameter in horses. Blood samples were taken at rest (t0) and directly after inducing stress (noseband tightening, insertion of endoscope; t1), as well as after 20 min of riding at all gaits (t2). A ridden horse ethogram was applied and showed that horses in the tight noseband group resorted to other stress-related behavioral issues than horses with loose nosebands. Serum cortisol showed a linear increase concurrent with the increase in stress levels with a significant difference between level 1 and level 4 ( p = 0.043), proving that stress factors were adequate to evaluate the stress response, whereas SP did not show a correlation with the stress levels. Furthermore, concentrations of SP differed widely between horses but stayed within more narrow limits in the individual horse. As a conclusion, SP might not be a reliable stress parameter in horses in the applied minor stress model.

The adequate expression of cytokines is essential for the prevention and healing of bovine endometrial inflammation. This study investigated the intra-uterine concentration of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)1B and its antagonist IL1RA in cows with and without subclinical endometritis (SE). Samples were taken from 37 uteri at the abattoir and 26 uteri in vivo. Uterine secretion samples were classified as showing no signs of SE (SEneg; polymorphonuclear neutrophil granulocyte (PMN) < 5%) or showing signs of SE (SEpos; PMN ≥ 5%). Concentrations and ratios for IL1B and IL1RA were measured using a commercial and a newly established AlphaLISA kit, respectively. In both groups, a higher concentration of IL1B was detected in the SEpos group compared with the SEneg group (abattoir: p = 0.027; in vivo p < 0.001). No significant differences were observed in the concentration of IL1RA (p > 0.05). In uterine secretion samples retrieved in vivo, a lower IL1RA/IL1B ratio was detected in the SEpos group compared with the SEneg group (p = 0.002). The results of this study highlight the important role of IL1B and IL1RA during endometritis and the potential of the IL1RA/IL1B ratio as a possible biomarker for SE.

Left displacement of the abomasum (LDA) is a disease often diagnosed in high-producing dairy cattle, resulting in direct and in indirect costs for the farmer, and discomfort and death for the cows. For the present retrospective study, the aims were to assess the effect of treatment on recovery during the time of hospitalization of the cows, to investigate the influence of concurrent diseases on the recovery, and to identify prognostic indicators in laboratory findings. Metritis/endometritis (38.4% of cows) was the concurrent disease diagnosed most often. Conservative treatment (abomasal rolling) was performed successfully in 92.8% of cows; the recurrence rate was 56.7%. Neither treatment with an oral drench nor treatment with analgesics had any influence on the recurrence of LDA following abomasal rolling during hospitalization. Endoscopic abomasopexy as described by Janowitz was performed more often than right flank laparotomy (40.8% and 40.2%, respectively). A significantly (p < 0.01) higher number of cows had the outcome “recovery” compared with “death”. The results of this study show that the outcome after surgery for LDA under clinical conditions does not depend on the method of surgery. Moreover, cows with LDA often suffer from concurrent diseases. If conservative treatment is decided on, farmers should be informed that there is a high recurrence rate, and other treatment options should be discussed.

Widespread anthelmintic resistance is a concern for small ruminant health and production worldwide. The current situation regarding anthelmintic efficacy is, however, not very well studied in Germany. Thus, a nationwide field study was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of 253 treatments performed in 223 small ruminant flocks by faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) using pooled samples and a modified McMaster method. The percentage of Haemonchus contortus and non- Haemonchus eggs was determined by fluorescence microscopy following peanut agglutinin-fluorescein isothiocyanate staining. Treatments were chosen and performed by farmers together with their local veterinarian, and potentially confounding factors for FECRT results were addressed as far as possible by rigorous inclusion criteria. Reduced effectiveness was observed for treatments with all examined anthelmintic classes, but treatments with benzimidazoles and moxidectin showed significantly poorer results than monepantel, a closantel and mebendazole combination, and levamisole. Low case numbers precluded reliable assessment of avermectins. Unsuccessful treatments were frequently associated with the survival of H. contortus , but this was also observed for non- Haemonchus genera. The results are highly concerning, and sustainable approaches to parasite control are urgently needed to prevent further deterioration of this situation.

The present study evaluated the effects of two injection techniques in combination with lidocaine or mepivacaine for piglets undergoing castration. To improve ease of use, a cannula with side holes (one-step fenestrated (F)) was invented to simultaneously deliver a local anesthetic into the testis and scrotum and was compared to a two-step injection technique. The distribution of a lidocaine/contrast agent mixture using the two methods was examined using computed tomography. Piglets were randomly divided into treatment groups: handling, castration without pain relief and castration after lidocaine or mepivacaine injection using the one-step F or two-step method. Acute physiological responses to noxious stimuli were evaluated by measuring the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and nocifensive movements. Fos protein expression in the spinal dorsal cord was semi-quantitatively analyzed. Both injection techniques achieved similar distribution patterns. The one-step F method was faster and easier. Injection was not associated with significant changes in MAP or HR, but Mepi1 and NaCl elicited significantly increased nocifensive movements. Both techniques significantly reduced MAP and nocifensive movements when the spermatic cords were cut, regardless of the local anesthetic type. Compared to NaCl, only the lidocaine treatments significantly reduced HR during skin incision. Lido2 significantly reduced Fos protein expression.

Paramphistomidosis has recently been identified as an emerging parasitosis in Europe. This study estimated the prevalence of rumen flukes, Fasciola hepatica and Dicrocoelium dendriticum , in small ruminants in Germany and identified occurring rumen fluke species and potential predictors for fluke infections. Pooled fecal samples from 223 sheep farms and 143 goat farms in northern and southern Germany were examined by the sedimentation technique, and molecular species identification was performed on rumen-fluke-positive samples. In sheep, a flock prevalence of 2.2% was detected for rumen flukes. Calicophoron daubneyi was identified on four of five positive farms, while species identification failed in one flock. No rumen fluke eggs were detected in the examined goat herds. F. hepatica eggs were detected in 2.7% of the sheep flocks, while the herd prevalence was 5.6% in goats. Higher prevalence values of 21.1% (sheep) and 7.0% (goats) were observed for D. dendriticum . Mixed grazing with other ruminants and previously identified infections with rumen flukes and/or F. hepatica were identified as predictors for paramphistomidosis. The distribution of the three trematode species followed a geographical pattern associated with conditions favoring the relevant intermediate hosts. C. daubneyi is an established parasite in German sheep at a currently low prevalence.

This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of rumen flukes on German cattle farms via the sedimentation technique, and to identify the rumen fluke species occurring in Germany. Additionally, the prevalence of patent Fasciola hepatica infections was determined. Furthermore, a short questionnaire was answered by the farmers. A prevalence of 5.5% and 9.5% was detected for rumen flukes and liver flukes, respectively. Coinfections occurred on 2.1% of farms. In northern Germany, the rumen fluke prevalence was higher than in southern Germany, while for liver fluke the distribution was reversed. Rumen flukes were mostly identified as Calicophoron daubneyi , but in four cases, sequencing revealed Paramphistomum leydeni for the first time in Germany. Grazing and feeding of fresh grass, as well as organic farming, were significantly associated with rumen and liver fluke occurrence. In contrast, suckler cow husbandry only had an influence on the occurrence of rumen flukes, but not liver flukes. Trematode eggs could be detected in both, farms with and without deworming. Since there were only a few studies about Paramphistomidosis in Germany, more attention should be paid to these parasitic diseases for animal welfare and animal health reasons.

Lameness is often diagnosed in cattle with left displacement of the abomasum (LDA). Laterality of lying has an effect on the etiology of LDA, and lame cows prefer to lie on the affected limb. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible association between laterality of claw lesion and presence of LDA. The medical records of 252 cattle presented with a diagnosis of LDA and subjected to a diagnostic examination of claw lesions over a period of 11 years (2009-2019), were analyzed retrospectively. Data were evaluated for presence and localization of claw lesion, concentrations of inflammatory markers, and abomasal rolling as therapy. At least one claw lesion was diagnosed in 46.4% of cattle. There was no association between laterality of claw lesion and LDA. Presence of claw lesion or oral drench and/or analgesic treatment did not have an effect on occurrence of relapse. A high number of cattle was diagnosed with both LDA and claw lesions. Focus should lie on preventing painful claw lesions in the dry and the early post-partum period. The high recurrence rate after abomasal rolling suggests that abomasal rolling should only be considered as a therapy for temporary relief, and surgical procedures should be discussed with farmers.

The inadequate maternal recognition of embryonic interferon τ (IFNτ) might explain subfertility in cattle. This study aimed at modeling the inducibility of type 1 interferon receptor subunits 1/2 (IFNAR1/2), mimicking competition between IFNτ and infection-associated interferon α (IFNα), and simulating type 1 interferon pathways in vitro. Endometrial explants (n = 728 from n = 26 healthy uteri) were collected at the abattoir, challenged with IFNτ and/or IFNα in different concentrations, and incubated for 24 h. Gene expression analysis confirmed the inducibility of IFNAR1/2 within this model, it being most prominent in IFNAR2 with 10 ng/mL IFNα ( p = 0.001). The upregulation of interferon-induced GTP-binding protein (MX1, classical pathway) was higher in explants treated with 300 ng/mL compared to 10 ng/mL IFNτ ( p < 0.0001), whereas the non‑classical candidate fatty acid binding protein 3 (FABP3) exhibited significant downregulation comparing 300 ng/mL to 10 ng/mL IFNτ. The comparison of explants challenged with IFNτ + IFNα indicated the competition of IFNτ and IFNα downstream of the regulatory factors. In conclusion, using this well-defined explant model, interactions between infection-associated signals and IFNτ were indicated. This model can be applied to verify these findings and to mimic and explore the embryo-maternal contact zone in more detail.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of four local anesthetics on pain relief during surgical castration under standardized conditions in conscious piglets. Therefore, 71 male piglets (three to seven days) were distributed into control groups (handling, castration without anesthesia or analgesia) and local anesthetic trial groups (procaine, lidocaine, bupivacaine, mepivacaine). Then, 20 min prior to castration, animals of the treatment groups, except piglets in the handling group, received an injection of a local anesthetic or sodium chloride of 0.5 mL intratesticularly and 0.5 mL subscrotally. During injection and castration, defensive behavior was evaluated. Locomotor activity, as well as postoperative bleeding, wound healing and average daily weight gain were assessed to detect side effects. The injection caused increased defensive movements, significantly in the bupivacaine group. Lidocaine and mepivacaine significantly reduced defensive movements during castration, and procaine and bupivacaine only during severing of the spermatic cord. Impairments of locomotor activity were found in piglets injected with lidocaine, bupivacaine or sodium chloride. Considering healing, bleeding and weight gain, no negative impacts were observed. In conclusion, lidocaine and mepivacaine were able to achieve significant pain relief during the castration procedure, whereas procaine and bupivacaine only during the severing of the spermatic cord. Moreover, the injection of bupivacaine seemed to be painful itself.