George Williams BVetMed (Hons) MRCVS Newsletter January 2021 Solantel Pour On is a NEW product launching in autumn 2021 for treating liver fluke in cattle. The active ingredient closantel which kills late immature and adult fluke including any that are triclabendazole resistant. It is best be given 7 weeks after housing to ensure that all fluke burdens will be cleared. Solantal Pour On is suitable for all beef cattle and dairy youngstock. It is not licenced for dairy cows or for dairy heifers in the second half of pregnancy, Within the UK cattle industry effects of infection on growth rate and milk yield are estimated to cost up to £40.4 million annually. Studies have shown cattle with low fluke burden take on average 31 days longer to reach slaughter weight, whilst animals with high fluke burden take 77 days longer . Worming and fluke treatments and timing will vary by farm as different burdens and levels of immunity will exist. The right product at the right time of year and also considering the grazing environments and presence of the intermediate host (the mud snail) means it is therefore good practice to discus what is the most appropriate treatment and prevention approaches for your farm. Alternatively speak to Jules or Helen our registered animal medicines advisors (RAMA). Best foot forward into 2022! If you have any foul, digital dermatitis or slurry heel-related headaches, it may be time to give your foot bath some thought. The aim of a footbath is to treat any existing infectious foot diseases, and prevent any new ones arising. In addition, it aims to harden the foot, reducing the incidence of non-infectious causes of lameness too. So what does the perfect foot bath look like? The perfect footbath needs to be deep enough to cover the whole foot and heel (ideal: 6 inches), long enough that every foot gets dipped (ideal: 8 foot, with a 2-foot central island), and wide enough to allow one cow to pass another. The recommended minimum you should change the solution is 1L per cow per use, for example a 200L footbath should have a full change after 200 cows have passed through. More frequent changes will only be beneficial. Finally, smooth cow flow through the bath maximizes its effectiveness. A relaxed cow is more likely to walk through slower (prolonging contact time) and is less likely to splash solution (reducing waste and teat contamination). Frequent use, a non-slip surface and a bath 2-cows’ width all help relax cows and smooth the flow through. An easy judge of this is relaxed cows will walk through with their heads down whilst watching their foot placement. If you are seeking more information, please speak to one of our vets. As cows pass through the dip, they dirty and dilute the bath with their dung, meaning the bath becomes less and less effective. It is sadly the lame cows that fall to the back of the group, and need the dip most, that then pass through the dirtiest and most dilute bathing solution; massively reducing the effectiveness of having a dip installed. The best way around this problem is frequent changing of the solution. Solantel Pour On The Crux; Frequent Changing A Registered Animal Medicines Advisor (RAMA) is an animal medicines advisor, a legal category of professionally qualified persons who are entitled to prescribe and/or supply certain veterinary medicines under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations. Our RAMAs can advise on all category POM- VPS medicines. In broad terms, the POM-VPS medicines are those in farm animals and horses used to reduce or prevent effects of endemic disease in herds, flocks or individual animals (e.g. internal and external parasites in farm animals and horses, and some vaccines). It is the duty of a RAMA to ensure that the statutory requirements in respect of the prescription and/or supply of certain veterinary medicines are respected. They are also responsible for advising animal owners on the correct choice of medicine and their safe and effective use, as well as other strategies, contributing to the health and welfare of their animals. The RAMA is responsible for ensuring this irrespective of how the product is supplied. You may be aware of the expected shortage of Spectam Scourhalt. This is the only medicine licensed in the UK for the treatment and prevention of Watery Mouth in lambs. However, it is not the only solution. Most of our sheep clients have significantly reduced their use of antibiotics in newborn lambs. Some of you have successfully eliminated antibiotics at birth entirely. We would urge you to take the below steps instead of relying on the crutch of antibiotics. Antibiotics give a day or so of protection. A good dose of colostrum protects for months and encourages a healthier gut. Good nutrition and hygiene have massive positive knock-on effects for lambing and early lamb performance. Lambing ewes in their proper body condition score means; Fewer cases of twin lamb disease,fewer difficult lambings,better lamb birth weights,fewer weak lambs requiring assistance to suckle, better colostrum production and milkiness Regular BCS and scanning will allow you to feed ewes accordingly. Early lambers may benefit from additional high quality protein in the last three weeks of pregnancy such as Lifeline Ewe and Lamb buckets, or soya meal. Torch Vets can help you with ration analysis and creating a ration- please speak to one of our sheep team for further information Consider underlying diseases which may affect ewe performance. Have you screened for liver fluke, Johne’s Disease, Maedi Visna or CLA? Are your ewes’ needs for iodine and cobalt adequately met? Hygiene: Watery mouth is an infection of the gut with e.coli which is found in manure therefore reducing the amount of faecal matter that lambs come into contact with will help reduce watery mouth cases,Dock ewes crutches and bellies,Bed pens well and frequently.Keep stocking rates low. Allow ewes out by day if weather permits. Colostrum intakes: lambs need colostrum to fight infections. The antibodies in colostrum will continue to provide protection for up to 12 weeks. Check lambs’ bellies for fullness/having suckled Top up any lambs which meet the following criteria, Difficult birth, maiden mums, thin mum, Triplets, Dopey or weak, empty-feeling bellies Ideally top up with colostrum stripped from a single-bearing ewe with spare. Cow colostrum is probably the next best option. If using powdered colostrum, We would only recommend a high quality product such as Immucol Platinum Gold. Whey-based products may be a similar price, but won’t give the same protection. (Look at the pack when you purchase or ask us for advice) Try to ensure lambs have their best start in life with 10% of their body weight in colostrum, consumed within the first 12 hours. A 4kg lamb needs 400mls – or 2 meals of 200mls. We understand that despite all these measures, sometimes we still end up with a few cases of watery mouth and joint ill. Most often, these are in the second half of lambing. We will have alternatives to Spectam Scourhalt available, both in injectable and oral formulations. These are not licensed for use in lambs. For more information, see the article on our website How to choose a good a good colostrum powder . 2022 Rugby Matchday Hospitality date Spectam Scourhalt shortage Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations to Helen Thomas who not only helps look after all things Pharmacy but has recently qualified as an AMTRA RAMA! We are really proud of Helen & her fantastic achievement! What is a RAMA? Bideford RFC – 8th January More details to follow soon! Page 1 of 2