Blood L-Lactate Concentration as an Indicator of Outcome in Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) Admitted to a Wildlife Rescue Center

Animal-vehicle collisions are the major cause of rescue and need for hospitalization in wildlife referral centers. Clinicians need easy-to-use tools to make rapid decisions about whether to euthanize or treat injured animals. The aim of the study was to evaluate the data (reasons for rescue, diagnosed lesions, and outcome) from a hospitalized population of wildlife ungulates and investigate the benefits of using radiography as a diagnostic tool. Data were collected from three wildlife referral centers in Tuscany (Italy). The following information was collected for each animal: reason for hospitalization, clinical examination, radiographic examination, definitive diagnosis, and outcome. A chi-squared test was used to assess the benefits of radiography in detecting different traumatic lesions. Prevalence was reported according to the reason for hospitalization, definitive diagnosis, radiographic diagnosis, and outcome. The main reason for hospitalization was traumatic lesions due to vehicle collisions and 71.1% of the animals did not survive. Radiography was more useful in patients with traumatic axial skeletal lesions and/or multiple traumas with respect to traumatic appendicular skeleton lesions. Our results show that radiography is a useful diagnostic technique for assessing wildlife emergencies and it could help the clinician in making medical decisions.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deer Rescue in Tuscany: Retrospective Analysis and Assessment of Radiography Diagnoses

Nocera

Puccinelli

Sgorbini

et al. 2021

“…While limited, there are studies that have used lactate as a measure of welfare in other animals, including pigs raised for meat production [29,30], deer in a wildlife rescue center [31], and the effect of capture in wild tortoises, turtles, and snakes [18,32,33]. One study on zoo-housed American flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber) used lactate to evaluate the effects of capture time and difficulty, finding that lactate levels significantly increased with time of capture but not with difficulty of capture [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Blood Lactate in Assessment of Manual Capture Techniques of Zoo-Housed Crocodilians

Molinaro

Anderson

Gruny

et al. 2022

Species-specific welfare indicators are important in promoting positive welfare for zoo animals. Reptiles are a notoriously understudied group in regards to behavior, welfare needs, and husbandry requirements. Using opportunistically obtained samples, we evaluated how blood lactate is affected by variation in manual capture and restraint in crocodilians. Lactate is an indicator of anerobic metabolism in reptiles. It offers a relatively simple and indirect way to assess physiological stress. Determining the best way to reduce struggling during capture and associated stress is of great importance to these species’ overall welfare. Blood samples (N = 53) were collected from 10 different species of crocodilians. It was found that age class was a significant predictor variable of lactate levels after capture, and longer handling time seemed to cause an increase in lactate. Finally, draining enclosure pools for a small number of the captures was associated with higher lactate levels compared to other capture factors that were recorded. This study showed that welfare of captive crocodilians could be improved by shortening the duration of physical restraint events when possible. Developing objective measures of welfare and establishing baseline recommendations for care and handling of crocodilians will ultimately promote and improve their wellbeing, along with that of other understudied reptiles in zoos.

“…There are few papers regarding the reference ranges for the haematological and biochemical parameters of roe deer [ 19 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. The aim of this study was thus to evaluate the haematological and biochemical parameters in traumatised roe and to discuss their values in relation to the animals’ hospitalisation outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between Blood Parameters and Outcome in Rescued Roe Deer

Pacini

Bonelli

Lubas

et al. 2022

Veterinary facility admissions of wild animals are increasing alongside the interest in wildlife diseases. To improve animal welfare, it is therefore important to increase veterinarians’ knowledge of wild animal medicine and to improve the clinical and diagnostic procedures, especially in the case of patients affected by trauma or multiple traumas. Blood analysis can be a quick and minimally invasive way of gathering useful clinical information for adequate treatment and management, and, together with a good clinical examination, to help predict hospitalisation outcomes. Few papers have reported reference ranges for the haematological and biochemical parameters of roe deer. This study evaluates the haematological and biochemical parameters in traumatised roe deer in relation to animal hospitalisation outcomes. The study was carried out on a cohort of 98 roe deer divided into groups according to their age and hospitalisation outcome. For each animal, a panel of haematological and biochemical parameters was performed. Significant differences were found between unweaned (<4 months old) groups in terms of MCV, MCH, CK, creatinine, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, and indirect bilirubin, and between weaned (>4 months old) groups for total bilirubin. Creatine kinase, creatinine, and bilirubin may be useful indicators to correlate with the severity of trauma and help predict prognosis.