castrating badgers

Re: castrating badgers

mariette asselbergs — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:57:14 GMT

Sorry Virginia, I mainly meant to put the risk in perspective (majority of visible laesions in reactor cattle are in bronchial and retropharyngeal lymphnodes and cattle -cattle transmission is mainly through resp droplets/sputum), and suggest that precautions taken to avoid the other zoonoses from our contacts with pets would normally be sufficient when dealing with a badger submitted for surgery.

No offense meant!

Mariette

Re: castrating badgers

Bob Russell — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:17:38 GMT

Question now redundant but we now all know how to do it if we are asked!!

Re: castrating badgers

Virginia Campbell — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 14:26:58 GMT

[quote user="Lorna McHardy"]As I said, I don't know the background; and am doing my colleague the courtesy of assuming she has good reasons. I was merely hoping for an answer to a basic technical question to help her out... none of you know, fair enough! It's done now, question redundant[/quote]

Sorry I didn't try to answer your question. It was rude of me to thread hijack without even acknowledging the question asked - to which I didn't know the answer. [quote user="Lorna McHardy"]

Wow that sounds quite OTT. Are you not scared of MRSA, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, ringworm, toxocara etc?

Only a very small percentage of badgers are infective for TB and the normal surgical antisepsis and precautions would make it extremely unlikely for you to get infected. How about all the abbatoir staff in contact with TB reactors, and all vets and farmers happily testing cows which do have open TB and snort and snot in your face....!

[/quote]

Mariette, I'd rather have ringworm than TB (we do Wood's lamp anything suspicious and also dermafyt and defer surgery).

I'd rather have toxocara than TB; usual handwashing precautions.

I'd rather have salmonella than TB, ditto.

Can't stop MRSA walking in the door but usual precautions.

Would be very wary of lepto, glove gown and mask nursing and isolation for any dog that might possibly have it and wouldn't be overly keen about inhaling wildlife pee droplets, or the air in the pit of a dairy parlour with known cases either.

When in mixed practice I happily TB tested cattle - in an area with quite a few reactors/subclinical cases ie mediastinal lymph nodes affected. Theoretically these latter could be exhaling some organisms. However, I never saw a clinical case ie thin, coughing up sputum etc. They were culed before they reached this stage. Saw plenty of thin badgers squashed at the side of the road though. I bet the pathologists at the state lab wear masks when post morteming them and keep exposure to a minimum.

I grew up on a dairy farm and we used to merrily drink unpasteurised milk. Till we knew better. Then bought pasteurised milk.

Re: castrating badgers

Lorna McHardy — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:21:43 GMT

[quote user="mariette asselbergs"]

Wow that sounds quite OTT. Are you not scared of MRSA, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, ringworm, toxocara etc?

BTW, It would be illegal to castrate and release a wild badger without clinical reason.

Mariette

[/quote]

As I said, I don't know the background; and am doing my colleague the courtesy of assuming she has good reasons. I was merely hoping for an answer to a basic technical question to help her out... none of you know, fair enough! It's done now, question redundant.

Re: castrating badgers

Lorna McHardy — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:18:34 GMT

My colleague, having now done it, tells me it's like a dog, only smaller and a bit fiddlier. Just in case anyone else ever needs to know :0)

Re: castrating badgers

Hannah Wynne Richards — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:27:29 GMT

..................and all the farmers and their families happily drinking unpasteurised milk-though if DEFRA are to be believed the reason sewage sludge doesn't spread TB from humans to both cattle and badgers is we have a different strain!

Wynne

Re: castrating badgers

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 16:03:51 GMT

[quote user="Virginia Campbell"]Unless it's a Scottish badger :-)[/quote]

http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/hot-topics/bovine-tb/cattle-slaughtered-after-tb-detected-in-scottish-abattoir/49104.article

Re: castrating badgers

mariette asselbergs — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:16:10 GMT

Wow that sounds quite OTT. Are you not scared of MRSA, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, ringworm, toxocara etc?

BTW, It would be illegal to castrate and release a wild badger without clinical reason.

Mariette

Re: castrating badgers

Virginia Campbell — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 11:15:33 GMT

I'm thinking, potential TB exposure for vet clinic staff. Unless it's a Scottish badger :-) Wouldn't go near it with a scalpel till it had been blood tested/sputum sampled/ chest Xrayed or whatever they do with badgers.

Re: castrating badgers

Utlendigur — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 23:30:24 GMT

[quote user="Lorna McHardy"]

I have no idea why... the question was how. I'm trying to help.

[/quote]

Just curious. And wondering whether it was to release back to the wild, and therefore what effect that would have on a family group, or whether it was staying in captivity, whether it is for treatment or reproductive control, any/all of which could lead into ethical issues if it is a wild animal. Given they are vaguely related to ferrets would suprelorin be an alternative - interesting question for Virbac if nothing else.

Re: castrating badgers

Lorna McHardy — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:23:25 GMT

I have no idea why... the question was how. I'm trying to help.

Re: castrating badgers

Utlendigur — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:48:50 GMT

How? - more like why?