Signs of the Disease

May include all or some of the following:

• Emaciated, with a thin, flat tail
• Bones prominent at pelvis and along spine
• Lethargic and non responsive
• Sticky clear ocular and nasal discharge, sometimes bubbly, eyes often glued shut
• Sneezing a lot (healthy bobtails will occasionally sneeze to clear salt deposits formed in the back of the throat)
• Pale pink to white mucous membranes in throat (tongue is normally blue)
• Thick, tenacious mucous in throat
• Younger bobtails may show lower respiratory disease, bloated torso, gasping for breath

Post Mortem findings

• Poor body condition with fat pads depleted
• Thick mucous in throat which may form a plug in the opening of the glottis
• lungs are inflamed and can extend to full length of body cavity i.e. twice the normal length
• Lungs remain inflated
• Liver changes evident in advanced cases – pale

Medical Treatment

(under veterinary supervision)

• Treat trauma cases in the hospital first, then attend to infectious cases in an isolated area.
• Use barrier nursing- wash hands after handling each animal.
• Gradually warm the animal to preferred Body Temperature (30 ° C)
• Re-hydrate orally with warmed Normal Saline (2-5ml/100gm of body weight) spread over the first day

• Nebulise x 1 daily (see below)
• Inject Baytril 50 Intra-Muscular (I/M) in the upper body area, at 0.01ml/100g body weight, every 24 hours until gut function returns through feeding and passing stools.
• Change to Baytril 25 Per Oral (P.O.) at 0.02ml/100g body weight, 2 nd daily until a total of 14 treatments (I/M + P.O.)
• Cease Baytril but continue to nebulise for 1 week
• Cease Nebuliser and observe for signs of relapse for 1 week

The length of treatment is a minimum of 4 weeks. Relapses were common in the past when medication was given for 5 to 10 days.

More information is needed to understand the effects of medication on the unborn of pregnant females in care and if any adjustments to dose rates are needed, based on the mother’s quiescent weight. Bobtails have placentas but it is not known if the disease or medication can cross into the embryo. Newborns eat their yolk sac and placental membranes and are then separated from their sick mothers to prevent infection. The high number of stillbirths is cause for concern.

Nebuliser

• Place 1.0ml distilled water for each cylindrical chamber in use, into the nebuliser bowl (0.5ml/chamber for the white nebuliser)
• Place the top of the bowl into the central fitting of the chamber unit
• Turn unused chamber knobs to off position
• Place bobtail into chamber with its head at the opposite end to the nebulise and turn on pump unit
• Turn off pump when nebuliser bowl is empty, 10 - 15 minutes for 4 chambers
• After removing bobtail, spray inside of chamber with F10 disinfectant and wipe dry

Cases diagnosed early may not require antibiotics. Nebulisation and good nursing care may be adequate enough to allow the animal’s immune response to fight the infection. This needs to be determined in a clinical study.

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