Category: Companion Animals

Count Your Faecal Parasite Worm Eggs Before They Hatch

Posted on by Les Ellison
Count Your Faecal Parasite Worm Eggs Before They Hatch

Counting parasite worm eggs in the faeces from your animals is easy and economical with Vetlab Bespoke FEC starter kits, that include flotation solutions, veterinary quality microscopes and everything you need to carry out Faecal Egg Counts.

Internal parasites of grazing animals spread from one animal to another by infective eggs shed with the faeces of an infected animal. Parasite eggs hatch into the grazing pasture where the active worms spread out and are eaten by grazing animals repeating the cycle of infection and increasing the ‘worm burden’ of all exposed animals.

Worm eggs, passed out in the faeces of infected animals, can lie dormant through the winter to reinfect grazing animals when they return to pasture in the spring. Heavy worm burdens reduce growth rate, cause a loss of weight, body condition and increase vulnerability to infection resulting in emaciation and even death.

What Is A Faecal Egg Count?

A faecal egg count or FEC is a measure of the number of parasite worm eggs in an animal’s faeces (droppings). Results, presented as the number of worm eggs per gram (epg) of faeces, gives an indication of the level of infection or ‘worm burden’ in an individual animal or for the entire herd.

The Faecal Egg Count is a useful, non-invasive method for estimating the individual worm burden of grazing animals including horses, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas. Owners of a small number of animals may be able to check every individual animal regularly, while larger herds or commercial farms may rely on representative sampling rather than each individual animal.

Why Are Regular Faecal Egg Counts Necessary?

Zero or medically insignificant Faecal Egg Counts will reassure keepers as to the internal health of their animals and to the hygiene and cleanliness of their pasture and stables. Confirming that no medical intervention is necessary will save on costs, and ensure that any veterinary treatment required is targeted where it will bring most benefit.

Medicating animals only when necessary prevents the overuse of drug treatments. In recent years, the ready availability of anti-worm medicines has led to a ‘treat first, test… maybe’ approach by some keepers. Overexposure to unnecessary medication has led to increasing drug resistance in parasitic worms and the growing risk of all available treatments becoming ineffective.

How Often Should An FEC Be Carried Out?

In the UK, Vettimes reports that FEC testing should be performed in all horses at 8-12 week intervals throughout the grazing period (spring to early autumn). Testing should also be carried out at the end of winter if horses have been grazed outdoors frequently or for longer periods.

Alpaca and llama specialists, The British Alpaca Society recommends advice from your veterinarian as permissible levels of FEC may depend on the age/condition of the animal and the type of worm. As a general rule, says BAS-UK, it is common to treat far lower egg counts in alpacas than might be considered in other animals.

For Sheep, the industry led Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep (SCOPS) recommends regular FEC testing on a 2 to 4 weekly cycle throughout the grazing season. SCOPS recognises that collecting faecal samples from every animal in a commercial flock isn’t practical!

This SCOPS link tells you how best to get a reliable overview of the parasite burden in a large flock. Collecting fresh droppings from a representative number of animals for professional laboratory or DIY testing is suggested as a testing strategy.

Can I Carry Out Faecal Egg Counts On My Own Animals?

Collecting fresh faecal samples from your horses, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas is the first step in reliable DIY faecal egg counting. SCOPS recommends wearing gloves to collect faeces less than 1 hour old and washing hands thoroughly afterwards. For large flocks, sampling 10% of the animals is advised.

Samples can be sent to commercial veterinary laboratories for testing but, with a little practice and some basic laboratory equipment, owners and keepers can carry out their own DIY in-house FEC testing to support their vet in deciding if any further treatment is necessary.

What Laboratory Equipment And Supplies Do I Need for FEC Testing?

How much DIY faecal worm egg counting you choose to do yourself depends only on your level of self confidence, readiness to gain experience and access to the appropriate and readily available laboratory equipment and consumables.

The FEC process divides readily into four stages: recovery of appropriate faecal samples, parasite egg recovery, egg counting, and interpretation of results. Depending on those results, a fifth stage might involve any appropriate veterinary treatment and any necessary changes to pasturing, stabling and hygiene practice.

How Can I Start DIY Animal Faeces Sampling?

SCOPS recommends collecting a representative number of fresh (warm to the touch) faecal samples from your animals. Disposable gloves and hand cleanser are also recommended as the minimum level of protective hygiene. Everything you need to carry out your own hygienic sampling can be found on the Vetlab Supplies Laboratory Consumables pages

What Do I Need To Separate Parasite Eggs from Faeces?

Parasite eggs are less dense than the faecal material that contains them. Left for long enough, a dispersion of faeces in water would allow the eggs to float free of the faecal material. However, this process is too slow to be practical, so gravity needs a little help to speed things along.

Mixing the faeces with a solution that encourages the eggs to float and the faecal matter to sink is made easy with Vetlab Supplies Ready-Made and Bespoke Floatation Solutions.

How Do I Count The Number Of Worm Eggs In A Faeces Sample?

Counting worm eggs sounds like a difficult task. But with a few pieces of the right kit, and a little practice, keepers can become proficient at estimating the worm burden of their animals. This count will equip keepers with sufficient information to approach their vet for advice on the appropriate anti-worm treatment.

Parasite egg counting requires one of the easy to use and economically available microscopes as recommended by Vetlab Supplies. The Vetlab helpline can guide you through the process of selecting and obtaining a microscope appropriate to your need.

Counting parasite eggs is made easy by the use of the tried and tested McMaster Worm Egg Counting Slide. The McMaster Slide holds a fixed volume of the liquid from the faeces sample. The number of worm eggs in this volume of sample can be counted by viewing the slide under the microscope.

All of the equipment required is available to purchase individually or as part of a complete bespoke kit.

How Do I Know If My Animals Need Veterinary Treatment?

A simple maths formula, calculated from how much of the faecal sample was tested, how much flotation solution was added, and how many eggs were counted on the McMaster slide gives you and your vet a measure of the worm burden for the animal tested.

With this FEC knowledge, you will be able to discuss with your vet the best course of any required treatment and helping prevent the emergence of multi-resistant worm infections in your animals.

To find out more about our range of Bespoke Parasitology Starter kits and the Vetlab McMaster Worm Egg Counting Method visit our website: www.vetlabsupplies.co.uk or call Tel: 01798 874567

Simple Equine Tapeworm Testing: Straight From The Horses Mouth

Posted on by Les Ellison
Simple Equine Tapeworm Testing: Straight From The Horses Mouth

Regular testing for equine tapeworm in horses and donkeys with the Equisal Saliva Test and Bespoke FEC Kits can increase the effectiveness of anthelmintic treatments, reduce the risk of parasite resistance and promote the long-term health of your horses and donkeys.

Overtreatment Increases Parasite Resistance

Treatment with equine de-worming medicines, known as anthelmintics (AH), effectively controls the vast majority of intestinal parasitic worms (helminths). However, the ready availability of these same medicines has lead to their overuse as a quick and easy substitute for veterinary testing and livery stable hygiene.

Tolerance to AH drug treatments in parasitic worm populations ranges from ‘highly susceptible’ to ‘highly resistant’. Overexposure to AH treatment might kill the vast majority of parasites, but the more resistant worms – though initially fewer in number – may still survive and multiply.

Without competition from the more susceptible worms, the fewer highly resistant survivors thrive, breed and pass on their drug-resistance to the next generation. The outcome is that overmedication reduces the effectiveness of each AH treatment until no useful treatment option remains.

Stronger and Stronger Doses Are Not The Answer

Increasing anthelmintic resistance (AHR) means that even stronger doses of AH medicines are needed next treatment. Continued over-treatment with the same AH medicine again and again only strengthens the resistance of the surviving tapeworms.

Eventually, the treatment becomes ineffective or, worse still, only effective in a dose so strong as to risk a dangerously adverse reaction from the horse itself. Changing the drug of choice may only begin a further round of acquired resistance ending in yet another ineffective treatment.

Strategies To Avoid Acquired Drug Resistance

Constantly changing the AH regime means that the few survivors of one treatment are less likely to survive a second, different, treatment before further resistance develops. With twice-yearly laboratory testing and good stable hygiene, unnecessary and ineffective treatment can be avoided.

With no new anthelmintic treatment on the horizon, the future relies on changes in the behaviour of owners and keepers. New strategies to counter increasing drug resistance in digestive tract parasites include regular monitoring and treating medically only when necessary.

Testing before treating not only helps prevent the development of drug-resistant tapeworms, it reduces the cost of wasteful over-treatment. The British Horse Society recommends a planned timetable of spring and autumn testing with medication, only when justified by the test results.

Good Hygiene Is Key to Equine Health

The need to resort to new treatment strategies is, perhaps, an indication that previous parasite reduction regimes have not been effectively applied. A report by UK-VET EQUINE (2009), circulated by The Horse Trust identifies the key risk factors in the spread of AHR, including:

– Poor manure collection and cleaning regimes.
– Poor pasture and paddock management.
– Frequently changing and high density horse populations.
– Grazing of younger, more vulnerable horses with older animals.
– Lack of effective quarantine measures.

UK-VET EQUINE recommended a range of effective strategies to reduce these risk factors:

– Collection of faecal material at least twice weekly.
– Rest and rotation of pasture – especially on stud farms.
– An awareness that parasites can overwinter on pasture.
– An awareness that worm larvae can migrate into pasture from contaminated field edges.

Types of Equine Intestinal Worm Infections

Horses and donkeys are at risk of infection and reinfection from a range of intestinal parasitic worms collectively known as Helminths. These worms fall broadly into three groups classified by veterinary laboratories as flukes (trematodes), tapeworms (cestodes) and roundworms (nematodes).

Animal charity Blue Cross warns that animals kept in poor, overstocked or unhygienic conditions are vulnerable to serious illness caused by five subtypes of intestinal parasitic worm:

Large Redworms (strongyles). Living in the horse’s intestine, they cause a swollen abdomen, internal bleeding, colic, weight loss and diarrhoea.

Small Redworms (cyathostomins). Feed on the intestinal tissue, these worms burrow into the gut wall to lie dormant through winter months emerging in early spring to cause weight loss, loss of condition, distended abdomen, colic and diarrhoea.

Roundworms (ascarids). Growing up to 40cm long, roundworms exploit the immature immune systems of foals under four years to cause inflammation and obstruction resulting in poor growth, lethargy, coughing, weight loss, loss of condition, distension and colic.

Tapeworms (anoplocephela). Tapeworms attach to the gut wall at the junction of the small intestine and large intestine causing impaction, colic, weight loss and even physical damage.
Tapeworm infestation is a particular problem for horse and donkey keepers because tapeworm eggs are too small for detection by routine centrifugation and McMaster slide FEC methodology.

Assessing The Worm Burden: Faecal Egg Counting

Equipped with a veterinary microscope, flotation solutions and a McMaster counting slide , the tell-tale eggs of most intestinal worms can be separated from horse faecal material. Faecal egg counts can accurately estimate the degree of any worm burden.

The tale-tale eggs of equine tapeworm are too small as to be accurately recovered and counted using the tried and tested methods of centrifugation and McMaster faecal egg counting. Detection of equine tapeworm infestation requires a new and innovative veterinary test.

Simple Saliva-Swab Test for Tapeworm in Horses
EquiSal Tapeworm Saliva Testing Kit for Horses is an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay test known as ELISA. The Equisal ELISA test searches out any antibodies produced by a horse’s immune system in response to tapeworm infection.

The EquiSal Tapeworm test works like an antibody blood test but uses saliva which horse
owners can collect themselves using a specially designed mouth swab as shown in this video . The swab is then simply packed in the preservative provided in the kit and posted to the laboratory in the freepost bag provided.

How Good Is The Equisal Saliva Tapeworm Test?

In a 2016 large-scale stables trial of Equisal, only 22% of the 749 horse tested were found to require veterinary treatment. This means that 78% – 583 horses – might have been unnecessarily and expensively treated if Equisal testing had not been carried out.

The economics of Equisal testing speak for themselves. Targetted treatment is not only economical, it also reduces the frightening prospect of runaway drug resistance resulting in debilitating and potentially lethal equine tapeworm infections.

To Treat or Not to Treat – That is The Question

The only 100% accurate way to measure a horse’s tapeworm burden would be count the number of worms within the horse’s intestines. In validation studies, the EquiSal Tapeworm test only misreported horses as tapeworm free when fewer than 20 tapeworms were present.

Parasitologists consider horses and donkeys showing fewer than 20 tapeworms to have a non-pathogenic medical condition. This means that these tests confirm the EquiSal Tapeworm Test as a success in identifying all pathologically significant tapeworm burdens.

Vets and stable owner can find all their technical questions about Equisal Testing answered in detail here, on Vetlab’s EquiSal Tapeworm FAQs page.

Check Your Rescue Dogs for Canine Brucellosis

Posted on by Les Ellison
Check Your Rescue Dogs for Canine Brucellosis

Testing re-homed and rescue dogs for Canine Brucellosis is simple with this in house testing kit.

Canine Brucellosis is on the rise for kennel keepers, puppy breeders and pet owners. Here’s why the simple and effective FASTest Brucella Canis test is now the vital off-the-shelf resource for dog rescuers, breeders and re-homers.

Rising Brucellosis Risk From Imported Rescue Dogs

The recent confirmed case of dog-to-human Brucella infection matches the steep rise in imports of rescue dogs from brucellosis endemic countries. Veterinary professionals, dog breeders and animal charities are voicing their concerns for the health of untested UK dogs and their human carers.

Human Brucellosis Risk From Untested Dogs

Before the Covid lockdown of 2020, there were just 3 UK cases of canine Brucella infection. This shot up with 97 more cases in just 6 months mostly traceable to imports or contacts with dogs from Eastern Europe. Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS) assesses the risk to human health from Brucella Canis as generally very low. But the risk may be higher for breeders of imported dogs, vets spaying and neutering infected dogs and anyone with a weak or suppressed immune system.

Symptoms and Treatment for Canine Brucellosis

Infected dogs may show tiredness and swollen lymph glands as well as stiffness and lameness. Brucella Canis infected dogs often suffer infertility and miscarriages. People exposed to Brucella Canis can suffer fever, headaches, tiredness and joint pain together with loss of appetite and weight. Most recover with antibiotics, but infection can lead to endocarditis or even meningitis if left untreated.

Confirmed Rescue-Dog to Human Brucella Infection

Imports of dogs from Belarus, Poland, Romania and Ukraine were temporarily halted after a confirmed dog-to-human Brucella Canis infection in August 2022. The BBC reported that Mrs Hayes of Stoke-on-Trent was hospitalised with constant shivering, severe headaches and severe back pain. Diagnostic tests showed that Mrs Hayes had contracted canine brucellosis. Moosha, Mrs Hayes’ recently re-homed Belarus rescue dog and most likely source of infection, also tested positive for Brucella Canis. Mrs Hayes recovered after antibiotic treatment, though her five dogs had to be destroyed to halt the threat of infection spreading more widely.

Link Between Brucellosis And Dog Imports

Most of the 11 to 12 million dogs in the UK live in domestic households with 31% housing more than one or more dog. 2023 DEFRA data shows a big increase in commercially imported dogs, including rescue dogs, rising from 41,313 in 2018 to 78,299 in 2021. Vet Times estimated that imported dogs make up 8% of the UK canine population. Of the veterinary professionals surveyed, Vet Times reported that 61% had seen increases in exotic diseases such as Brucella Canis in just two years. In April 2021, positive tests for Brucella Canis in dogs became legally reportable to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) brucella group, and to the DAERA Direct Regional Office in Northern Ireland.

Vets and Pet Charities Call for Testing

Brucella Canis is a ‘zoonotic’ infection, meaning that under some conditions it can pass from one species of animal to another. People with weakened immune systems, a prior illness or close and sustained contact with infected dogs are at greatest risk. Animal charities such as the PDSA are advising that dogs travelling from abroad should be tested for brucellosis before entering the UK. The British Veterinary Association (BVA), urges a proactive approach to reduce the Brucella Canis risk before, rather than after, dogs arrive in the UK. The Royal Veterinary College recommends testing for all imported dogs, dogs with a travel record to Brucella Canis endemic countries, and for any dog that has clinical signs that might indicate Brucella infection.

Safety For Rescue And Re-homed Dogs

UK Government advises that rescued and re-homed animals, and breeding stock not previously spayed or castrated, represent the highest risk of infection. Rescuers and prospective owners are urged to test for Brucella Canis a month before importation and to have the animals neutered where possible. Ensuring dogs are Brucella free prior to arrival protects UK dogs and people as well as avoiding potential veterinary costs. Any dog previously in contact with a dog from a Brucella Canis endemic country should also be tested. Dogs suspected of infection should be kept away from other dogs and people until testing is complete. Suspected infections should be made known to a veterinary surgeon, who can contact the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for further information and advice.

Keep Your Pets and Yourself Biosecure

The risk to human health from B.Canis is considered low. However, minimal contact with reproductive or birthing products, blood, and urine is advised. Washing hands thoroughly for a minimum of 20 seconds with soap and hot water, or the use alcohol gel sanitiser after handling such materials, is also strongly recommended. If B.canis symptoms are suspected, you should contact your GP or ring 111 with details of your possible exposure to an infected in a dog. Also discuss your dog’s symptoms with your vet. If you, your kennel staff or a member of your household, is pregnant, immunosuppressed, or a young child, consider limiting interactions with the suspect infected dog.

B.Canis Testing For Kennels, Breeders and Re-Homers

Vetlab’s FASTest Brucella.canis test Veterinary Diagnostic Test Kit provides Kennels, Breeders and Re-Homers with reliable, cost-effective Brucella Canis screening and monitoring. As simple to use as the now familiar COVID self-test kits, the veterinary in house, 20 minute easy to handle test uses a small, plastic strip that gives a clear-cut positive or ‘all-clear’ negative result supported by an integral ‘control’ line showing that the test is performing correctly.

FASTest Brucella Canis test kits and further information, on this and on the full range of animal health diagnostic kits with real-world practicality, is available from our website www.vetlabsupplies.co.uk or telephone 01798 874657

Faecal Parasite Egg Monitoring For Alpacas and Llamas

Posted on by Les Ellison
Faecal Parasite Egg Monitoring For Alpacas and Llamas

Safe, Simple and Mess Free Faecal Parasite Egg Monitoring For Alpacas and Llamas

As pets, companion animals, for commercial recreation or as a source of quality textiles, alpacas and llamas require constant monitoring for intestinal worms and parasites. StatSpin Ovatube® makes DIY faecal egg testing economical and practical for camelid owners and keepers.

Impact Of Intestinal Worms And Parasites On Camelid Herds

Veterinary research on alpacas suggests that around 90% of intestinal worms in an alpaca herd are produced by only 10% of the animals. So detecting which animals are infected is an efficient and cost effective approach to controlling the potential for wider parasite infestation.

Active intestinal parasite worms are difficult to detect because they are hidden inside an animal’s gut. Worm infections can be more easily diagnosed by microscopically examining an extract an animal’s faeces for the presence of parasite eggs, referred to by vets as oocysts or ovas.

Need For Clean, Convenient, Cost Effective ‘At-Home’ Parasite Egg Detection

In the past, lab based faecal parasite egg detection has relied on first mixing a small quantity of alpaca or llama faeces with either water or a ‘flotation solution’, and then microscopically searching a sample volume in a specialised glass slide counting chamber.

These methods are slow, messy, and relatively inaccurate, for most DIY at-home keepers of llamas and alpacas. Worse, they could miss detecting the oocysts causing the potentially deadly condition, coccidiosis, caused by the gut parasite, Eimeria macusensis.

Now For The Simple, Straightforward, On Site Parasite Egg Monitoring

The Statspin Ovatube Faecal Worm Detection Technique gives alpaca and llama keepers a worm egg monitoring test that’s not only quicker, cleaner and cost effective, it’s also more convenient than sending samples to off-site veterinary laboratories and then waiting for test results.

With Statspin Ovatube®, faecal parasite oocyst & ova detection is easily and accurately performed. A small sample of the animal’s faeces is first collected with the tool supplied with the Statspin kit. The sample is then mixed in the Ovatube with the special ‘flotation solution’.

A few minutes standing in the Ovatube Rack, and faecal debris will sink to the bottom of the Ovatube while the oocysts & ova float to the surface for collection and counting by examination under a laboratory microscope.

Alternatively, the Ovatube can be spun at low speed in a veterinary laboratory centrifuge in order to enhance oocyst recovery. However this requires a centrifuge specially adapted to hold 15ml tubes. In the experience of Vetlab’s experts, this centrifugation step entails significant extra cost and is not strictly necessary.

All this makes StatSpin OvaTube® the simple, centrifuge-free, parasite egg monitoring test that’s easy enough for the DIY camelid keeper to perform without the mess, and with little specialised equipment other than an economically priced microscope of the type readily available from Vetlab.

Statspin Ovatube: The Simple 4-Step Parasite Egg Detection Test

For keepers of alpacas and llamas, and for other animal care facilities where intestinal health is a priority, The Statspin Ovatube® Method provides for simple at-home, all-in-one, sampling, debris removal and parasite egg detection.

Follow The Simple, 4-Step, Mess Free Ovatube Test

1. Push the Ovatube sampling tool into a sample of faeces to collect around 1 gram of material.
2. Plunge the sample into the Ovatube, filled with approximately 15ml of floatation solution (specific gravity 1.27), and mix thoroughly to release any parasite eggs.
3. Insert the supplied filter tool into the Ovatube with a twisting motion to drive any large particles of organic material to the bottom of the Ovatube.
4. Place the Ovatube in the Staspin Rack and leave it to stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Finally, further twist the filter to raise the oocysts, floating on the solution, level with the top of the tube.
To recover and count any parasite eggs, place a microscope cover slip over the mouth of the Ovatube, then transfer it to a microscope slide for viewing under a microscope.

Using The Statspin Ovatube® Egg Count Test Is Simplicity Itself

The sampling tool ensures the right measure of sample is taken right from the centre of the faeces without contaminating hands, clothes or other laboratory equipment. The Statspin Ovatube ensures the right amount of a ‘floatation solution’ is always used.

Inserting the sampling tool, mixing faeces and solution, then simply leaving the rest to gravity, settles out the heavier faecal matter to the base of the Ovatube, while the parasite eggs float cleanly to the surface for easy assessment under the microscope.

While laboratory centrifugation after step 3 is an option, in the opinion of Vetlab’s experts, this is an unnecessary expense.

Professional Veterinary Endorsement For The Statspin Ovatube®

Published studies by the Companion Animal Parasitology Council (CAPC) showed that Ovatube performed as well as, and in some cases better than, standard parasite egg detection methods. The report concluded that: “Ovatube offers a much simpler and cleaner procedure than the standard centrifugal method”.

Research published in Veterinary Technician concluded that: “In our study, we found no significant diagnostic difference between CF [centrifugation] and standing flotation,” and “… that centrifugation did not increase parasite egg and oocyst detection. Thus, centrifugation was not needed…”

 

Everything you and the animals in your care need for Statspin Ovatube parasite egg detection is available from Vetlab Supplies, specialists in veterinary laboratory supplies. Just click Vetlab F.E.C  Kits & Equipment

For further information visit our website www.vetlabsupplies.co.uk or call 01798 874567

McMaster Slide Test: Starting Out in DIY Animal Parasite Load Testing

Posted on by Les Ellison
McMaster Slide Test: Starting Out in DIY Animal Parasite Load Testing

The restrictions imposed during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic forced keepers of pet, domestic and rescued animals to carry out their own parasite load monitoring using the McMaster Slide Faecal Egg Count (FEC) test.

With veterinary practices and diagnostics mostly back to normal, many keepers continue to easily and cost effectively monitor their own animals. Here’s how to get started with only the most essential of veterinary laboratory equipment and an easy to follow McMaster Slide Counting Method.

Get Started In DIY Faecal Egg Monitoring

The McMaster Slide method of estimating the parasite load of an animal is made up of just four easy to understand and perform steps.

First, separate the worm eggs from a sample of the animal’s faeces. Second, find the eggs (oocytes) using a microscope and, third, count them. Finally, knowing both the weight of faeces sampled and the number of worm eggs counted, calculate the animal’s likely level of worm infection.

Egg Counting: What You Need – Flotation Solutions

Not as obvious as the microscope and McMaster counting slide, the Flotation Solutions are the key to the success of egg counting and identification. Flotation solutions are made to a standard or customer specified, specific gravity (SG) more usually known as density.

The fluid density is chosen such that faecal matter and other debris is more dense than the solution and so sinks. But the parasite eggs are less dense, and so float to the top making finding, counting and identifying them straightforward with the right equipment.

Egg Counting: What You Need – The Microscope

Essential to starting out on faecal egg monitoring is a microscope capable of ranging from 40-times (x40) to 100-times (x100) magnification. The Vetlab Premiere Range of microscopes are economical, easy to use and popular with diagnostic and teaching laboratories.

The microscope will be used to find and count the number of parasite eggs present in a small sample of animal faeces. With a bit of practice it’ll become straightforward not only to estimate the number of eggs, but even identify the likely species of worm causing infection.

Egg Counting: What You Need – The McMaster Counting Slide

The McMaster Counting Slide is the simple yet brilliantly adapted microscope slide used and relied upon by animal health practitioners since 1939. Made in glass or tough acrylic plastic, the slide is basically the carrier for a square cavity of known volume – usually 0.15ml.

After a sample of faeces, treated with a specific ‘flotation solution’ is placed in the McMaster Slide cavity and covered with a second, thinner slide. Parallel lines etched into this ‘cover slide’ create five equal divisions. Viewed with the microscope, the floating parasite eggs – just under the cover slip – can be counted and identified within each division.

Egg Counting: What You Need – The Simple Final Calculation

With a little practice, counting the number of parasite eggs seen within the grid lines of the McMaster Slide becomes a quick and easy routine.
As long as the Vetlab McMaster Slide Counting Method has been followed precisely, all that remains is to multiply the counted number of parasite eggs by 25 to get the number of eggs per gram (e.p.g.) of animal faeces.
For more information on the Vetlab McMaster Slide Count Method, veterinary laboratory equipment, ready-made or customised flotation solutions, search or click Vetlab F.E.C  Kits & Equipment

 

For further information visit our website www.vetlabsupplies.co.uk or call 01798 874567

Hedgehogs to Llamas: The McMaster DIY Faecal Egg Count

Posted on by Les Ellison
Hedgehogs to Llamas: The McMaster DIY Faecal Egg Count

Simple, reliable and cost effective, the McMaster slide Faecal Egg Count (FEC) test equips you to monitor the parasitic load and intestinal health of your pet, commercial and rescue animals.

Left untreated, parasitic intestinal worms in animals from hedgehogs to llamas and alpacas can cause serious illness and even death to infected animals.

A wide variety of parasitic worms can reproduce inside loved and valuable animals. Infection spreads through millions of microscopic eggs shed into the faeces of even one host animal to contaminate shared bedding, stabling, pasture or foodstuff.

Impact Of Covid 19 On Routine Faecal Parasite Egg Monitoring

For pet, commercial and rescue animal keepers, restricted access to routine veterinary monitoring was one of many distressing side effects of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Managing the risks to animal health, even by such readily treatable conditions as parasitic intestinal worms, became much more critical in the absence of regular and reliable testing.

Do It Yourself Diagnostic Faecal Egg Counting (FEC) Techniques

Conveniently, for pet, commercial and rescue animal keepers, the veterinary standard diagnostic for intestinal worms can now be simply, reliably, and economically carried out as a DIY in-house test.
Although microscopic parasitic intestinal worms can be difficult to observe and identify, their eggs – and their potential to cause significant further infection – are larger and more easily observed and identified.

Identifying Intestinal Worms And Estimating Parasitic Load

Identifying and estimating an animal’s ‘parasitic load’ uses pre-prepared solutions and basic laboratory equipment, readily available from Vetlab Supplies. Vetlab’s easy-to-follow laboratory method guides you through the taking of samples, preparing the test, examination under the microscope and identifying the type and likely numbers of parasitic intestinal worms.
The straightforward method is known to veterinary surgeons as the McMaster Slide FEC (Faecal Egg Count) Test. A laboratory standard since 1939, The McMaster Slide is basically a small glass cavity of known volume with a calibrated transparent cover that can be viewed under a microscope.

The McMaster Slide Standard Laboratory Faecal Egg Count (FEC)

The McMaster Slide Test relies on the simple fact that, in specified flotation solutions, parasite worm eggs float, while most of the other solid matter in animal faeces tends to sink. So if the number of parasite eggs in a measured weight of faeces can be counted, then the parasitic load in the animal’s digestive system can be easily calculated.
And, because the eggs of different parasites have different characteristics, so the careful use of a veterinary microscope and a guided choice of specific flotation solutions, the type and species of intestinal worm can be identified for relevant treatment and control.

Identify Parasites With Off The Shelf Or Custom Made Flotation Solutions

Vetlab Supplies offers a range of off the shelf and customised faecal flotation solutions ideal for general and species specific egg count testing. Matching the density (specific gravity) of the flotation solution to the density of the target worm species eggs allows a qualitative as well as quantitative estimate of an animal’s parasitic load.

For McMaster Slides manufactured in glass and robust acrylic, together with all necessary flotation solutions, as well as economical easy to set up and use microscopes, just click or search Vetlab Supplies F.E.C Kits & Equipment

 

For further information visit our website www.vetlabsupplies.co.uk or call 01798 874567

Pandemic Pet Boom

Posted on by Les Ellison
Pandemic Pet Boom

Pandemic Sees Pet Ownership Boom. But What About Life After Lockdown?

Data released by the Pet Food Manufacturers Association (PFMA) showed that 3.2 million UK households had expanded their family by acquiring a companion animal since the start of the pandemic. But what are the dangers for pets in life after lockdown?

Almost two thirds of this growth is accounted for by new pet lovers from Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and Millennials (born between 1981 and 1994/6). Unsurprisingly, perhaps, over half of pet-acquiring households have children at home.

UK Pet Population Soars to 34 Million Says PFMA

With the UK pet population now reaching 34 million, data shows that cats and dogs share the top place at 12 million each. Guinea pigs coming in next at 3.2 million and tortoises (with their turtle cousins) bringing up the rear at 400,000.Other popular pets – including rabbits, hamsters, indoor birds and aquaria – make up the remaining six and half million or so.

1 In 5 UK Households Find New Pet Care ‘Challenging’

All of this means there are now around 17 million UK households carrying the responsibility for one or more animals. Further questioning of new pet-owning households revealed that nearly one in five found the experience more challenging than expected. Sadly, in family situations, more than one in ten found keeping an animal companion so difficult that they had to give up their new pet.

Pet Charities Worry For Pets After Lockdown

PFMA deputy CEO, Nicole Paley, voiced her reassurance that pet ownership had brought mental health benefits to pet owners during the pandemic lockdown, but expressed concern that pet owners may need support when life returns to normal.

RSPCA pet welfare expert, Dr Samantha Gaines, said that the animal welfare charity had real worries that life post-lockdown, both in terms of a new routine and spending time alone, could be really difficult for pets, who might yet face a crisis of their own.

Resumption Of Routine Veterinary Treatment

Lockdowns have inevitably reduced pet owners’ access to veterinary surgeons and practices. Consequently many owners, on BVA (British Veterinary Association) advice, have had to postpone routine vaccinations in order to protect veterinary staff.

The Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) have had to pause their primary health care services, such as neutering, vaccinations, microchipping and flea/worm treatments, to protect their own staff from Covid infection.

Vaccination And Testing For Adult and Young Pets

Restarting routine vaccinations for adult pets, and first-round vaccinations for pups and kittens, will be essential for their continued protection against preventable diseases such as parvovirus, leptospirosis and infectious hepatitis (canine adenovirus).
Hopefully, where illness and infection are suspected, pet owners may soon have renewed access to veterinary diagnostic testing for ailments including Canine Parvovirus and Feline Leukaemia and Immunodeficiency Virus (FeLV/FIV).

Until normal veterinary service can be fully resumed, it will be vital that owners keep unvaccinated and vaccination-lapsed pets secure from infection risks such as other unvaccinated pets, and other potentially infectious animals.

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Dogs In Lockdown

Posted on by Les Ellison
Dogs In Lockdown

Why 8 Out Of 10 Dogs Love Lockdown

8 out of 10 dogs suffer separation anxiety when left alone. With many owners unable to go about their normal away from home activities, many more dogs have their owners undivided attention. And they’re loving it!

RSPCA researchers found that 8 out of 10 dogs don’t cope well with being left alone. A dog’s obvious delight at the return of their owner may be a sign of a deeper, more serious separation anxiety. But with pandemic-enforced working at home, all that changed.

Working At Home = Running With The Pack

Dog owners, weary of endless Zoom calls and screen-working, have been only too ready for that pleading look that says ‘take me for a walk and take me now’. Being more in control of their own time, owners have been more than happy to take longer walks, find different routes and socialise – at a Covid-safe distance – with other walkers and their dogs.

Essentially pack animals, dogs are never happier than when they’re surrounded by their home pack. With their human pack-partners spending more time at home, dogs feel an increased sense of belonging with all the security and stability that togetherness brings.

Mental Physical and Emotional Health Gains

Dogs thrive on company and attention. This is not only good for their mental and emotional health, but for their medical well-being too. Increased attention from their owners means an increase in opportunities to spot tell-tale signs and symptoms that something is not right with their pet.

Early diagnosis and testing is key to getting the most appropriate veterinary treatment especially in difficult times. This is true both for common canine ailments and for the more unusual or serious illnesses that can have a severe impact if not recognised and treated quickly.

Bad Behaviours Exposed In Lockdown

Of course, for every silver lining there has to be an overlying cloud. For dogs this the fact that, with their owners around more often and for longer, what they get up to in the absence of their human companions is no longer their guilty secret alone.

Bad-dog behaviours, such as sleeping on their owners beds, destroying items of furniture and clothing, forcing access to food cupboards and drinking from the toilet bowl, previously unseen by absent owners, have been openly and shamefully exposed.

More Dog Time Is Good For Owners Too

Not only has lockdown been good for dogs, dogs in lockdown have been good for owners. More time out exercising the dog means more physical activity for owners with all the health benefits that brings.

Keeping company with their dogs has long been known to reduce anxiety and stress levels in owners. During the upheaval and disruption of lockdown, the consistent company and attention of their dogs has provided a much needed sense of stability and contentment in life’s ‘new normals’.

Love For Dogs In And Out Of Lockdown

Dog charities have reason to be both thankful and fearful so many homes sought to adopt or acquire a new canine companion. Battersea Dogs and Cats Home reported a surge in applications to foster animals, while Dogs Trust revealed a spike in puppy prices to an all time high.

Animal charities remain concerned that the current boom in dog ownership may result in a wave of abandonments once owners return to their busy, time starved lives. But, for the moment, there is no doubt that well loved dogs are loving lockdown, and loving owners are loving more time with their well loved dogs.

Visit our website www.vetlabsupplies.co.uk or Tel: 01798 874567

Cats In Lockdown

Posted on by Les Ellison
Cats In Lockdown

Could 8 Out of 10 Cats Loathe Lockdown?

While dogs seemed to have thoroughly loved locking down with their human companions, research indicates that cats haven’t enjoyed this constant attention quite so much. Responses to a survey of cat owners suggests many cats seem to have become depressed, stressed-out and even aggressive to their owners during the government imposed Covid lockdowns.

Some Cats Don’t React Well To Change

Findings by professor of veterinary behavioural medicine M. Leanne Lilly, of Ohio State University explained that pets – like people – show a variety of responses to change. Some animals love the fact their human companions are marooned at home, some don’t notice that their owners’ routines have changed at all, but still others are finding the sudden disruption of their routine a stressful experience.

Cats Become Resigned Rather Than Depressed

Graduate of the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioural Medicine, Dr Emmanuelle Titeux, argues that a diagnosis of ‘depression’ isn’t appropriate for animals.

Dr Titeux says that, in animals, what we call depression is actually a sort of ‘resignation’. The animal finds itself in new a situation but has no way of adapting to it. Instead, it enters a state of apathy. Such a situation might well be the sudden and constant intrusion of human attention. And just when they’ve got used to it all, everything changes yet again.

Preparing Cats For Life After Lockdown

While cats are very independent animals, they become deeply attached to human company during lockdown. Researchers for Petplan found that 49% of cat owners were concerned about their pet suffering separation anxiety when normal working life returns.

Suddenly being left alone may be confusing and stressful for cats who’ve grown used to the lockdown-love of constant company. This is especially true for cat breeds such as Burmese or Siamese, specifically bred for their suitability as house cats.

Patience Is Key To The Return To Normal

Cats and kittens, potentially stressed by the absence of human presence, need preparing for something more like normal feline behaviour. Petplan offers online advice on preparing potentially anxious cats for a stress-free home-alone life stress-free life after lockdown ends. The key to helping cats readjust to their owners’ absence is patience in resisting the urge to punish stress-related bad-behaviour.

Places to Rest, Play and Hide Away

Think how you might encourage your over-socialised cat back into its natural role of solitary independent hunter. Engaging them in short bursts of activity; such as by dangling toys or rolling balls of screwed up paper for them to hunt and chase. Hiding dried food for them to search out or to extract from an activity feeder will rekindle their curiosity and problem-solving ingenuity as well their natural dexterity, drive and determination.

A Feline Fortress Of Solitude

Cats need consistency and value cleanliness. So when you return to your daily out-of-the-house routine, make sure their indoor litter trays are accessible with plenty of room in and around, and topped up with clean dry litter. And even though you’re not at home, give your cat a place of safety to which he or she can retreat whenever the need is felt to hide away in their very own feline fortress of solitude.

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Post Pandemic Pets

Posted on by Les Ellison
Post Pandemic Pets

Post-Covid Cats And Kittens Look To Life After Lockdown

Housebound cat lovers have sought out feline companionship to get them through the government enforced lockdown. In October 2020, the RSPCA posted a more than 188% rise in internet searches for ‘Kittens near me’ in just a few months.

Now, with lockdown easing, pet charities are concerned for the health and well-being of cats and kittens homed or re-homed during the Covid pandemic.

Pet owners are being urged to consider the long term physical and mental health of their companion animals as life returns to normal. But normal for owners is a disruption to their new pets’ settled routines of feeding, exercise and near constant human company.

When Lockdown Life Is Normal Life

Pets most likely to experience tough times post-lockdown are cats and kittens adopted into homes during the pandemic. Adult cats are creatures of habit. Kittens too become settled into everyday routines and take time to adjust to changing circumstances.

Felines joining a household under lockdown will not have experienced ‘normal life’ in terms of where and when their food is served, or when and how they can get outdoors and back in again.

Home-Alone Kittens In The Post Covid World

Kittens are adept at finding mischief when bored or unattended. Starved of the stimulation provided by human company, they’ll soon find ways to entertain themselves by scratching furniture, chewing cables, eating cat-poisonous house plants, getting trapped in small spaces and even falling into sinks and toilets.

Keeping Kittens Healthy and Happy Alone Indoors

Given even the most basic items and materials, home-alone kittens have the imagination to make their own entertainment. Scrunched up paper bags, empty cardboard boxes, table-tennis balls and something to scratch – other than your furniture – can turn any space into a cheap and safe feline adventure park.

Every play-park needs some where to rest, somewhere to find refreshments and adequate hygienic toilet facilities. Equip your post-lockdown feline fun-room with easy access to clean water, sufficient dry food for the day, a soft warm bed to crash out on and at least one clean litter tray.

Preparing Cats and Kittens For The Great Outdoors

Looking to the future, as your new kitten approaches the end of its four-month stay-at-home, you’ll want to make sure your pet is fully protected for entry into the big exciting and potentially dangerous world outside your door.

The RSPCA’s guide to Looking After a New Kitten offers plenty of good advice to new cat owners both in and out of lockdown. Most important is checking with your vet that your new kitten is fit, healthy and fully vaccinated against those highly infectious feline viruses that cause cat flu, feline infectious enteritis and feline leukaemia even before it goes outdoors.

Until that day dawns, and as you re-enter your own world of pre-pandemic normality, a word of warning. Setting your home-bound kitten to play as you attempt to embark on your old post-lockdown daily routine, could be so distracting that you completely forget to leave for work at all!

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