Pink eye treatment for sheep

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

mariette asselbergs — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:51:05 GMT

I have read studies which say that it does not make any difference if you treat or not, the outcome isthesame.

This is not usually an acceptable approach for most clients however.

A practical solution is to inject oxytetracyclin LA. Both moraxella and chlamydia are sensitive, and red eyes have abundant blood supply!

Mariette

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Julian Earl — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:35:26 GMT

So, no-one has read my post regarding injectable oxytetracycline giving twice the cure rate of topical tetracyclines then? From a paper at Sheep Veterinary Society about fifteen years ago?

No, I am not sulking.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:46:14 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]

Have Pfizer taken the opportunity to 'revise' the cost of the stuff as well as the name and label?

[/quote]

Dunno yet!

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Evelyn Late night or early morning ?

Wynne

[/quote]

I am not a morning person.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Bob Russell — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:07:23 GMT

Have Pfizer taken the opportunity to 'revise' the cost of the stuff as well as the name and label?

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:04:20 GMT

Evelyn Late night or early morning ?

Wynne

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 10:03:10 GMT

All I can say is I'm glad I'm no longer doing farm work-and can remember the tail-end of the good days, when farmers actually asked us to treat their animals,not merely supply drugs

Wynne

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 02:10:30 GMT

Well, I've ordered some. Looks to me like a re-badged Aureomycin range frankly.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:02:16 GMT

[quote user="Heather Toft"]Is Spimetryl (Pfizer) eye ointment availble[/quote]

Aha! It's obviously new this year. So new they haven't actually sold any yet?

I will phone Centaur tomorrow. Thank you.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Heather Toft — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:47:50 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

I can remember a disciplinary case from quite a long time ago. One of the naughty things that this advancing-years single-handed practitioner treating small flocks had done was supply Streptopen mastitis tubes for sheep eyes. He was severely censured, in fact given a dressing-down for it by one member of the committee right there and then in the middle of the hearing.

Orbenin ophthalmic is **ing useless.

Sheep pink eye, in my understanding, is due to either Chlamydia or a Mycoplasma. Vet school people I have talked to feel the mycoplasma is the usual cause, round here anyway. A tetracycline is what we need.

[/quote]

Is Spimetryl (Pfizer) eye ointment availble? A quick look on the NOAH website lists that as a licensed ophthalmic chlortetracycline ointment. Doesn't seem to appear when I type it into the Centaur catalogue though...

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:29:44 GMT

Orbenin ophthalmic is **ing useless.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Virginia Campbell — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:26:19 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]Anyone taught a farmer to do it themselves? [/quote]

Yes, for a bad outbreak of pinkeye in a flock of several hundred. The farmer was a competent type who quickly learned to do the sub-bulbar conjunctival technique himself.

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]have shown a lot how to inject antibiotic into the lower lid for entropion in lambs[/quote]

Have also taught quite a few farmers how to do this; also caudal epidurals in ewes (most of them stitch vaginal prolapses themselves anyway so I figure the creatures might as well have some decent analgesia)

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Heather Toft — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:13:19 GMT

You mean in the same way they declare the off license use of lincospectin footbaths and finadyne outside of a vein?

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Vikki Halliday LLB — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:55:34 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

I see some farmers recommend a squirt of blue spray in the eye. Jeeeeeeeeeeezzzz.

[/quote]

It's not that silly a thing to do, if you have nothing else and no means of injecting, so long as you don't spray it at the cornea but pull out the lower lid, you are effectively then bathing the eye in an oxytet solution.

Wouldn't recommend except in an emergency though, as the carrier in the spray will damage the cornea.

I've seen farmers use "wound powder" in the eye, now that is worse!

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Vikki Halliday LLB — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:53:09 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]I haven't, but have shown a lot how to inject antibiotic into the lower lid for entropion in lambs.[/quote]

Hope you get them to declare off license use of the Antibiotic!

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Vikki Halliday LLB — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:51:42 GMT

[quote user="Julian Earl"]

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

[quote user="Vikki Halliday"] Nooo! I wouldn't use steroid at least if the corneal surface is not intact as you will cause delay in healing, and potentially make a non-ulcerated cornea, ulcerated.[/quote]

I know the theory and wouldn't in a pet, but not long after graduating I went to inject a batch of ~20 calves with bad eyes. I was against steroids, my boss told me to give them some. So I injected half the calves with some oxytet and some with oxytet and steroid. Did each alternate calf as they were caught. Went back a week later to re-inject a few. Can't remember the exact numbers but had ~5 to re-inject 4 hadn't had steroids, only one had. I know for certain some of the ones that got the steroids didn't have intact conjunctiva. That mini experiment sort of convinced me that they benefit from them, against current wisdom.

[/quote]

I have also both seen and carried out s/conjunctival injections with steroids but they have had iritis/uveitis and not NFD. I suspect that a lot of cases of uveitis were being diagnosed as NFD before we knew better and that that is why they respond to steroids then and now.

[/quote]

I did say if the corneal surface was not intact.

If it is uveitis, you are very unlikely to have a corneal ulcer, but true Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis will undoubtedly have an ulcer, so I maintain steroids should not be used in these cases.

Uveitis is a different kettle of fish!

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Julian Earl — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:35:04 GMT

Another thought: when talking about sub-conjunctival injection, we do mean bulbar conjunctiva and not palpebral? In cattle, I apply a minim, wait thirty seconds and use a 21 or 23 gauge needle and inject under the white of the eye and the cows don't struggle at all. They do when injecting into the eyelid itself.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:00:24 GMT

Anyone taught a farmer to do it themselves? I haven't, but have shown a lot how to inject antibiotic into the lower lid for entropion in lambs. The injection is fairly similar in technique. I'm sure a lot of brighter farmers could master it quite easily.

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]Opticlox....... is the spectrum of action correct? [/quote]

Never sampled on, but is licensed.

Orbenin Ophthalmic Eye Ointment is effective against a range of bacteria (including Moraxella spp.) commonly isolated from the eyes of cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and cats. It is bactericidal in action and its formulation facilitates persistence of effective cloxacillin levels following a single application.

The product is indicated for the treatment of ocular infections in cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and cats where susceptible organisms (including Moraxella spp.) are suspected or anticipated as pathogens. A particular indication, therefore, is treatment of New Forest Disease in cattle.

Ceporex injection lists Morexella as a species of bacteria it kills. That's the only other datasheet I have seen it written. If it was listeria penicillin would be drug of choice - Orbenin EO/Opticlox should work, but clinically seems crap. A product with some steroid on the other hand............

I have never swabbed for C&S, would only consider doing so if not getting better with subconjunctival injections, and they all improve, even if needing a second jab. It would be more academic rather than any benefit to my patient.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Bob Russell — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:19:39 GMT

We cannot get the aureomycin puffers. Can you just give a pinch of aureomycin powder? Just a thought. Aureomycin puffer had local anaesthetic as well.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

James Kerr — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:49:55 GMT

You can still get the aureomycin puffers I think. Not sure that's much better than squirting blue spray in the eye, but some people seem to swear by it!

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:50:00 GMT

Hmm, so no real alternative to Aureomycin. Opticlox....... is the spectrum of action correct?

I'm hip about subconjunctival injections, did them in cattle for many years, both transpalpebral and the other way, did 150 sheep in one day once. But I think my flockmasters (both of them) would jib a bit at the cost and trouble of treating every pinkeye case thus..... and if I visited I'd be at it all day every day. Interesting about the corticosteroid..... I wonder who first thought of that?

I see some farmers recommend a squirt of blue spray in the eye. Jeeeeeeeeeeezzzz.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Julian Earl — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:28:43 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]

[/quote]

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Michael Woodhouse — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:58:22 GMT

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Julian Earl — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:40:50 GMT

The best treatment is systemic long-acting oxytetracycline at the 1ml/10kg standard dose, preferably repeated after 4-5 days. There will be fewer relapses after systemic injection (30% c.f. 70% after topical treatment with otc) as well. Steroids are contra-indicated topically although systemic use is indicated if there is a uveitis present. Nothing will cause a bacteriological cure as far as I am aware, although fluoroquinolones might, maybe?

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Vikki Halliday LLB — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:31:12 GMT

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]pull lower lid down and inject half, and then repeat on the top lid[/quote]

You don't need to do both lids. It will get into the lacrimal secretions to a degree by seeping out of your injection site, and be taken up by the circulation therefore entering the eye just as well with only one lid as two. That is also why I always found a palpebral approach better than trans-cutaneous.

[quote user="Michael Woodhouse"]If the farmer is going to be naughty and use a milking cow tube, seems to be best if it contains a steroid[/quote]

Nooo! I wouldn't use steroid at least if the corneal surface is not intact as you will cause delay in healing, and potentially make a non-ulcerated cornea, ulcerated.

Re: Pink eye treatment for sheep

Michael Woodhouse — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:06:02 GMT

[quote user="Heather Toft"]How do you inject them?[/quote]

Usually get farmer to stand over sheep and pull head round to the side as far as possible. I go with 21G 5/8" needle and pull lower lid down and inject half, and then repeat on the top lid. Putting thumb close to lip margin and pulling up or down usually exposes plenty of conjunctiva.

I have injected through from the outside when I have done it alone [we have a few pens at the surgery that farmers sometimes leave us sheep in] and I inject through then if on my own but at a very shallow angle so needle couldn't reach the globe.

If the farmer is going to be naughty and use a milking cow tube, seems to be best if it contains a steroid. How I miss Leo Yellow.