Radiographic findings in several joints of nine bears

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dans la plupart des articulations. La prévalence de l’ostéoarthrite se révèle être importante dans la population d’ours examinée de cette étude. Cependant, la corrélation entre le diagnostic radiographique et la clinique ne se révèle pas toujours évident. Mots-clé: ours, boiterie, ostéoarthrite, radiographie, zoo, maladie dégénérative des articulations, vieillissement Introduction The conditions of keeping wild animals in captivity are improving and the longevity of these animals is increasing. Consequently, management of long-living species and age-related diseases are becoming common, some of which may be difficult to diagnose and treat, thereby potentially compromising welfare. 1 Animals in captivity invariably live longer than their wild counterparts. 2-4 There are many consequences of old age in captive mammals 1 including problems of skeleton and teeth. 1,2,5-13 This is also one major problem of captive bears, because they usually live a long life in zoos. Individuals of most bear species may live more than 20 years and for the larger species, some individuals get till 30 years old and beyond. 14 The care of these animals and especially the decision to perform euthanasia of geriatric zoo bears is usually a highly complex procedure involving ethical, medical, emotional and sometimes political factors.. In old animals, euthanasia has to be considered, but it is very difficult to evaluate the appropriate time. Besides the medical aspect, the zoo veterinarian must take into consideration the different interests of zoo managers and staff, visitors, animal welfare organizations, sponsors and possibly the needs of the respective breeding programs (e.g. European Endangered Species Program). Consecutive necropsy of animals often shows that the pathological changes of organs and / or the musculoskeletal system are already advanced. Therefore we hypothesize that the decision to perform euthanasia might be often delayed to the detriment of the animal’s welfare. The aim of this study was to gain radiographic data from joints of zoo bears in order to evaluate the incidence of osteoarthritis. The radiographic findings then serve as one parameter of a scoring system to support the decision making for euthanasia in geriatric zoo bears and zoo mammals (publication in preparation). Material and Methods Several joints of nine zoo bears (in the following text numbered from 1 to 9) of four genera, examined for health problems, were radiographed. The bears live in five European zoos. Four adult brown bears (Ursus arctos) (1-4) and one polar bear ( Ursus maritimus) (5) suffered from lameness and / or gait abnormalities or paraparesis. One sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) (6) and three black bears (Ursus americanus) (7-9) revealed no gait abnormalities and have been anesthetized for other reasons (Table 1). 36
Table 1 Age, sex and clinical signs of examined bears (n = 9) Bears Age Sex Clinical signs Brown bear (Ursus arctos) (1) 29 F mild lameness forelimb right, mild dysorexia, mild weakness, mild reluctance to move, apathy Brown bear (Ursus arctos) (2) 23 F severe lameness of the left forelimb and the right hind limb, severe reluctance to move, pain when standing up, mild dysorexia, cachexia Brown bear (Ursus arctos) (3) 33 F mild gait abnormalities, mild dysorexia Brown bear (Ursus arctos) (4) 33 F mild lameness of the forelimb right, stiff neck, mild dysorexia Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) (5) 27 M paraparesis since one week, mild dysorexia Sun bear (Helarctos malayenus) (6) 21 M Control of the oro-nasal sinus tract, control of the eyes Black bear (Ursus americanus) (7) 17 M no, check-up Black bear (Ursus americanus) (8) 15 M no, check-up Black bear (Ursus americanus) (9) 11 M no, check-up A brown bear (1) was immobilized with etorphine/acepromazine (0,02 mg/kg IM, Large Animal Immobilon ®, C-Vet Veterinary Products, Leyland, UK); two brown bears (3, 4) were immobilized with tiletamine/zolazepame (2,5 mg/kg IM, Zoletil 100 ®, Laboratories Reading- Virbac, Carros, England) and with medetomidine (42,5 µg/kg IM, Domitor®, Orion Corporation Animal Health, Turku, Finland). Another brown bear (2) and the polar bear (5) were immobilized with S-ketamine (1,5 mg/kg IM, S-Ketamin, non-commercial preparation, Graeub AG, Berne, Switzerland) and with medetomidine (20 µg/kg IM, Zalopine ®, Orion Corporation Animal Health, Turku, Finland). Following endotracheal intubation, anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane (IsoFlo ®, Abott AG, Baar, Switzerland) delivered in O2 100% using a large animal circle system (Matrx VML Large Animal, USA). The sun bear (6) was immobilized with ketamine (3 mg/kg IM) and medetomidine (0,07 mg/Kg IM, Zalopine ®, Orion Corporation Animal Health, Turku, Finland). Two bolus of ketamine (1,25 mg/kg, Ketasol-100 ®, Graeub AG, Berne, Switzerland) were administered IM to prolong anesthesia. The three black bears (7- 9) were also immobilized with tiletamine/zolazepame (5mg/kg IM, Zoletil 100 ®, Laboratories Reading-Virbac, Carros, England). Radiographs of all bears were performed in autumn 2004 and spring 2005 with three different mobile x-ray equipments. The systems consisted of a Mobilett® (Siemens, Germany) with a performance of 20 kW at 100 kV for four brown bears (1-4) and one sun bear (6), a Unimax 200® (Generay, Italy) with a performance of 32 kW at 100 kV for the polar bear (5) and a Gierth HF 80/15 plus® (Gierth, Germany) with a performance of 24 kW at 80 kV for the three black bears (7-9). All radiographs were registered by fifth generation phosphor storage plates (ST V, 18 x 24 / 24 x 30 / 35 x 43 cm) from Fuji. For the reading out of the plates two different systems were used: a Fuji FCR 5000R (Veterinary Clinic at the University of Berne) and a Fuji XG1 (Human Hospital of the University of Basel). The radiographs were scored by the presence of either none to mild, moderate and severe signs of osteoarthritis. In three bears (7-9) the radiographic examination of the hip joints and of the stifle joints were not performed (Table 2). 37
Page 1: Institut für Genetik, Ernährung u
Page 5: Table of contents Summary 7 I. A sc
Page 9: Part I A scoring system to evaluate
Page 12 and 13: Mots-clé: euthanasie, gériatrie,
Page 14 and 15: Retrospective and prospective cases
Page 16 and 17: Familiae Neoplasia (n = 17) Dysfunc
Page 18 and 19: Scoring system to evaluate physical
Page 20 and 21: ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT Breeding inte
Page 22 and 23: Age and pathology Animals with neop
Page 24 and 25: efficacy and disappearance of sympt
Page 26 and 27: we cannot justify euthanasia in all
Page 28 and 29: Nimmervoll H, Eggenberger U and Rob
Page 30 and 31: Pathologies of the group “Dysfunc
Page 33: Part II Radiographic findings in se
Page 38 and 39: Table 2. Radiological examination o
Page 40 and 41: Discussion In the literature skelet
Page 42 and 43: 5. Colman RJ, Binkley N. Skeletal a
Page 44 and 45: Figure 3. Brown bear, 23 year-old,
Page 47: III Remerciements J’aimerais reme

Radiographic findings in several joints of nine bears

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