Asian Small-Clawed Otter Husbandry Manual (1998)

calculi present in the left kidney, right kidney, and urinary bladder should be recorded on the postmortem report.GROSS POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONA veterinarian should perform a thorough post mortem examination as soon as possible after death.Please use the standardized necropsy report included at the end of this section for recording the results.This form is also available in the pathology module of MedARKS.LESIONS• Cultures: Cultures (aerobic, anaerobic, and fungal) should be taken of any lesions before theyare contaminated.• Freeze tissues: Samples of lesions should be frozen at -20 o or -70 o C.• Histopathology: Make sure all lesions are saved for histopathology (2 sets).UROLITH ANALYSISUrinary calculi should be collected during the necropsy procedure and submitted to Dr. Carl Osbornefor analysis. The appropriate submission form along with the address is included at the end of thischapter. Currently there is no charge for this service. Uroliths from the kidney and urinary bladdershould be kept separate and labeled appropriately.FORMALIN FIXED TISSUESTwo sets of tissues should be collected and placed in 10% buffered formalin. All tissues (except theuterus and ovaries) may be placed together in a single container as long as the volume of formalin is atleast 10 times the total volume of the tissues collected. Tissues should be no thicker than 0.5 cm. Achecklist of tissues that should be preserved in formalin is attached. In addition, include sections of alllesions in formalin. The entire uterus (with longitudinal cut into the lumen) and ovaries should be placedin a separate container for formalin for Dr. Linda Munson.HISTOPATHOLOGYOne set of fixed tissues should be sent to a pathologist, preferably one that is familiar with exoticspecies. If you would like the names of qualified pathologists, please contact the veterinary advisor.The second set of fixed tissues should be mailed to the veterinary advisor. The uterus and ovariesshould be submitted to Dr. Linda Munson as part of the AZA contraceptive pathology survey. Aseparate submission sheet is included at the end of this chapter for this submission. Dr. Munson’saddress is: Dept. VM-PM1, Haring Hall, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California,Davis, CA 95616.FROZEN TISSUESPlease store 3-5 cm sections of the following tissues in plastic bags at –20 to –70 o C.• Liver• Brain• KidneyAsian Small-Clawed Otter Husbandry Manual/Health Care-28-