A pastured Holstein-Friesian heifer of 9 month-old was hospitalized with the chief complaint of staggering hind limbs. Medication was ineffective and the cow experienced astasia. On physical examination, knuckle-like forelegs, weakness of hind limbs, and loss of the tail force were observed. Knee reflex and flexion reflex of hind limbs decreased, and crossed extension reflex was enhanced on neurological examination. Necropsy showed no significant lesions. Histopathological examination revealed axonal degeneration in the white matter throughout the spinal cord and focal area of brain stem. Central distal spinal axonopathy was diagnosed based on the distribution and quality of the lesions in the proximal and distal spinal cord and the brainstem. There are no reports that concurred with the past pathological characteristics and the present case. Histopathological findings and distribution of the lesions in the present case resembled those of inherited progressive spinal myelopathy in Murray Grey cattle with unknown etiology.

This report demonstrates that squeeze-induced somnolence provides sufficient restraint of Thoroughbred neonatal foals for minor procedures. Sixty-two procedures were carried out using squeeze-induced somnolence on 22 foals (1 day old to 6 weeks old, 12 colts and 10 fillies). Procedures in this report included intravenous injection of oxytetracycline, application and removal of fiberglass cast, surgical correction of entropion, through-and-through joint lavage, joint injection, intravenous regional limb perfusion, wound management, fluid therapy, intravenous injection, blood sampling, and urinary catheter placement. The restraint technique was performed without difficulty 61 of 62 times, excluding a case in which a foal became less somnolent and required a sedative drug to complete a procedure. In conclusion, squeeze-induced somnolence provides adequate restraint for minor procedures, without sedation, in the majority of cases.

Veterinary clinical education requires learning a variety of techniques, but unnecessary use of laboratory animals should be avoided as much as possible. Therefore, videos and alternative non-living animal models have been used; however, in order to provide a more realistic feeling in practice, virtual reality (VR) materials were created and evaluated. The teaching materials were filmed with a 360-degree camera, played back in a specific mode using a smartphone application on a VR head mount, and viewed by veterinary students. As a result of the survey, 142 students reviewed the VR materials, with 78 students (53.1%) responding “very good”, 51 students (34.7%) responding “good”, and 13 students (8.8%) responding “not good”. These results were similar to those of the online video materials, with many students rating both materials similarly. There was no significant difference in the evaluation of VR teaching materials by students who wished to practice using live animals and alternative models. In summary, VR teaching materials were considered useful to stimulate students' interest and motivation as an introduction to small animal clinical education.

We isolated Salmonella from cecal content and ileocolic lymph nodes of finishing pigs, and examined the usefulness of ileocolic lymph nodes. We also examined the enrichment culture time of the ileocolic lymph nodes. Three of 25 farms (12%), and 13 of 250 (5.2%) pigs harbored Salmonella. Then, we examined Salmonella isolation in pig carried by positive 2 farms. In total, we found 52 of 340 (15%) pigs possessed Salmonella. The Salmonella-positive rate of the cecal content was 10%, which was not statistically different from 11% of ileocolic lymph nodes. However, the results of only the cecal content showed that the Salmonella carriage rate of the test pigs was 10%, but the carriage rate increased to 15% when the results of the ileocolic lymph nodes were combined. Therefore, it is considered that the use of ileocolic lymph nodes as well as cecal content as materials can provide a more accurate picture of Salmonella carriage in pigs. As for the enrichment culture time of the ileocolic lymph nodes, the positive rate of the 48-hour culture was 11%, significantly higher than 7.9% of 24-hour culture.