A survey of diseases of working farm dogs in New Zealand

Abstract

AIMS:To record the incidence of specifi c diseases affecting working farm dogs; identify any apparent breed predispositions; determine the most important causes of loss from death, euthanasia, or retirement of the dog; and identify potential interventions that could reduce the incidence of disease. METHODS:A national questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted to identify the incidence of specifi c diseases, and circumstances of trauma affecting working farm dogs that presented to rural veterinary practices over a 12-month period, between April 2008 and April 2009. The practices were convenience-sampled on the basis of geography and size. RESULTS:Sixty-six practices were approached, and veterinarians from 30 practices agreed to participate, with representation from all major rural regions of New Zealand. Data were provided on 2,214 presentations, excluding revisits, of which 51% were for Huntaways and 39% Heading dogs. Trauma was identifi ed as a cause of injury in 848 (38%) visits. Huntaways were apparently over-represented in cases of constipation, gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), theriogenological problems, laryngitis, hip dysplasia, and degenerative lumbosacral disease. In contrast, Heading dogs were over-represented among cases of multiple ligamentous injury of the stifl e, disruption of the gastrocnemius or Achilles tendon, tarsal injuries, and hip luxation. Traumatic injury involved injury by stock (20%), automotive incidents (19%), transit across fence lines (16%), and dog bites (12%). Loss occurred following 10% of visits, of which trauma was known to be involved in 32%. The most important nontraumatic causes of loss were GDV, degenerative joint disease, mammary neoplasia and diseases involving the female reproductive tract, cardiac disease, and poisoning.CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Several important diseases appear amenable to intervention through nutrition, neutering, or behavioural modifi cation, including constipation, GDV, theriogenological problems, dog-bite injuries, and laryngitis. Altering modes of transit across fence lines has the potential to reduce large numbers of serious orthopaedic injuries to working farm dogs.

Effects of Image Plane, Patient Positioning, and Foraminal Zone on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measurements of Canine Lumbosacral Intervertebral Foramina

“…This might just be coincidence. Working dogs like the Huntaway have been reported to be overrepresented regarding DLSS in New Zealand, while the Border Collie was the main affected breed in the present study and a previous study . Most dogs affected by DLSS exhibit pain and sensory dysfunction with few showing motor deficits .…”

TeamMate: A longitudinal study of New Zealand working farm dogs. I. Methods, population characteristics and health on enrolment.

“…Zealand rarely move off the farm property, their risk of infection is much lower than in pet dogs. This is reflected in the low prevalence of suspected parvoviral enteritis in the study by Cave et al [15].…”

“…Musculoskeletal system, skin and teeth abnormalities were by far the most common, and were recorded in a higher proportion of dogs than in the surveys by Sheard [16] and Cave et al [15]. This is to be expected, as TeamMate was deliberately designed to capture all abnormalities in dogs and not just ones that were clinically significant at the time the data were collected.…”

“…Some dog owners noted that neutering a male was done due to having one male in an otherwise all-female team, which is likely to make it more difficult than usual to isolate females in heat. Cave et al [15] found that nine percent of clinic presentations of farm dogs involved a reproductive issue. The majority of these were mismatings, with mammary neoplasia being the second most common.…”

TeamMate: A longitudinal study of New Zealand working farm dogs. I. Methods, population characteristics and health on enrolment.

“…Zealand rarely move off the farm property, their risk of infection is much lower than in pet dogs. This is reflected in the low prevalence of suspected parvoviral enteritis in the study by Cave et al [14].…”